BuffyAngel Viewing Order ? (1 Viewer)

[Andy_Bu]

I am about to embark on watching Buffy and Angel for the first time and I have two questions:

1) Should I watch the feature length movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer before starting the series?

2) Once I get to season 4(I think), what is the correct order to watch Buffy and Angel? Should I watch one Buffy and one Angel, then repeat, or is it the opposite, one Angel, one Buffy then repeat? (This assumes that there is a cross over story or two).

Thank you

Andy

 

[Daniel-M]

Seeing the movie is not neccesary

Buffy Season 4 and 5/Angel Season 1 and 2: Start with Buffy and then Angel then a Buffy again and then Angel

Season 6 7 3 4 are more complicated

 

[Kevin Grey]

Don't bother with the movie.

As for viewing order recommendation- I recommend what I did with a few lessons learned (this might seem a bit complicated but...)

Buffy S4/Angel S1- Alternate discs. Technically you should probably alternate episodes but that's more trouble than it's worth.

Buffy S5/Angel S2- Three options here:

1) Watch all of Angel S2 first *except for the finale* or more specifically the last ten minutes of the finale which spoils what happens in Buffy S5's finale.

2) Watch Buffy up to, but not including, the episode "The Crush" which spoils the major developments of Angel S2 to that point. Then switch over to Angel and back to Buffy.

3) Alternate discs again- best for maintaining the surprises but will probably hurt the pacing for both shows but Angel in particular which really develops into a much more serialized show at this point than Buffy ever did.

Buffy S6&7/Angel S3&4- Watch Angel S3&4 first and then Buffy S6&7. There were no crossovers during Buffy S6/Angel S3. The crossovers for Buffy S7/Angel S4 are very light and mainly would only spoil events on Angel so best to watch that before Buffy.

And then Angel S5 and you're all set.

Or ignore all of that and enjoy the shows however you find necessary though a few big surprises will be spoiled.

 

[Andy_Bu]

>Buffy S4/Angel S1- Alternate discs. Technically you should probably > alternate episodes but that's more trouble than it's worth.

I won't mind alternating episodes as we usually only watch one episode at a time and then change discs anyway as we watch numerous series at the same time on DVD.


>Buffy S6&7/Angel S3&4- Watch Angel S3&4 first and then Buffy S6&7.

Would alternating for these seasons work out as well instead of just watching Angel by itself?

And if I do alternate, should I always use Buffy-Angel-Buffy-Angel in that order for all seasons?

Thank you again for the info, I am going to have to book mark this thread


Andy

 

[Nick Martin]

ANGEL S3 and Buffy S6 don't crossover, and there's no need to alternate shows from that point. One tiny exception to that occurs in mid-to -late season 4 of ANGEL and season 7 of Buffy, but it would really become an annoyance alternating both shows for the entire run of both series.

Stories don't continue from one episode to the next - it's just a few times (two or three) for Buffy S4/ANGEL S1, and the same for Buffy S5/ANGEL S2. Nothing at all to lessen the enjoyment of either series.

 

[ethanTo]

I am currently rewatching through Hercules and Xena and pondered this same question. (Hercules is always one season ahead, for those not 'in the know', both have six seasons)

So I tried the alternating disc thing....ehhhh...more trouble than it is worth really for these types of things. I'm guessing that the cross-overs in Angel are really few, to be honest, 1 or 2 a season? In Xena and Hercules, they are very rare, more often than not the guest stars rather than the main characters. On top of that, I think that shows tend to flow better when watched a season or a time, for me anyways, as I can get more 'into' what is going on with events in a given show. Dividing the attention back and forth, especially when the plots are completely independent of each other, I think actually distracts me.

So I watched Hercules season 1, til the end where Xena is introduced. Then I watched Xena up until the end of season 3, where the finales depend upon certain events in Hercules involving Callisto, so I went back to Season 2 (where I am now) and going to watch til I get caught up, which is to the end of Season 4 (Season 6 being an abbreviated one for Hercules, I may just watch it to the end at this point, the events in Xena season 5 and 6 take place in the future anyways I believe...lol)

Umm, a point...a point, there must be one. I guess just that the alternate episode or disc thing didn't work well for me, I would suggest watching it in season clumps at a time until you feel it is a good place to switch back to the other series and catch yourself up (either a good stopping place, or the events of the other are now relevant)

 

[Daryl L]

Below is info I copied from someones posts awhile back, hope this is helpfull.

 

[ethanTo]

By the way, check out the Buffy thread here (the one going on 6 pages!) if you haven't already. It would mean slowing your pace quite a bit, since we will only be watching a disc a week, but if you don't mind that, might be fun for you. I've only seen the first three seasons of Buffy and no Angel and I'm going to give it a try.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Alternating seasons would work fine. I mainly said that because Angel 3 & 4 play like one, single long season.

As for alternating- if you go episode by episode then, yes, it goes Buffy first then Angel. Same applies disc by disc. But on a bigger picture not necessarilly since it depends on what is being spoiled.

Big Picture:

Buffy S5 episode "The Crush"- spoils Angel S2 to to that point.

Angel S2 Finale: spoils only Buffy S5 finale.

Buffy S7 episode "Dirty Girls"- spoils some signficant parts of Angel S4.

That's pretty much all you have to worry about. There are a few direct crossovers in Buffy S4/Angel S1 (hence the alternating episodes) and an "indirect" crossover at the beginning of Buffy S5/Angel S2 that you wouldn't even know was a crossover if you didn't see them back to back.

 

[GuruAskew]

I know next to nothing about "Buffy" and "Angel" but I'm currently alternating between "X-Files" and "Millennium" in strict chronological order and I fail to see how doing so is the least bit inconvenient. If you have both shows on DVD, just look at the airdates and alternate.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Inconvenient in the sense that you have to pop the disk out at the end of every episode, wait for the initial menus to load every time, etc.

 

[Jay_B!]

actually, without spoilers. When I saw "The Crush", I had not seen an episode of Angel at that point and it didn't spoil a thing for me. It wasn't as obvious as the S4/S1 crossovers

 

[Kevin Grey]

That's pretty much Angel S2 to that point (about 2/3 of the way through) in a nutshell.

 

[GuruAskew]

I never watch more than a single episode per day during my Ten Thirteen marathon but even if I was watching multiple episodes I wouldn't mind the "downtime" while switching discs. Look at it this way: television episodes were designed to be watched a week apart and with 3 or 4 commercial breaks that are each longer than the time it takes for a disc to load, plus we're both dealing with Fox DVD's and if the "X-Files" and "Millennium" dvd's are any indication you can skip all the menus, warnings etc. on the DVD's.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Heh, we clearly have different viewing experiences. While I had to watch Buffy and Angel all by my lonesome, when my wife and I watch TV on DVD, I actually get flack if I take a bathroom or coffee break in between episodes.

 

[Nick Martin]

I did the alternating thing once - when I rented Buffy season 4...I'll never do it again. Once I've seen them, I just remember what the Buffy episode featured when getting to the ANGEL half of the crossovers.

 

[Jay_B!]

oh yea, you're right about that spoiler. I guess it was because two years passed before I first watched "Crush" and finally got to see season 2 of Angel that I had pretty much forgotten that being a spoiler at the time.

 

[Andy_Bu]

There are so many different suggestions here and it is getting confusing.



I know for the Babylon 5 universe I can go to the Lurkers Guide online and find an exact viewing order.


Does such a link exist online for the Buffy/Angel universe?

Thanks

Andy

 

[Jay_B!]

regarding the "weak latter seasons" of Buffy, they actually need repeated viewings. If you didn't like them the first time, a second time might make it better. I wasn't so hot for season 6 upon first view and it became one of my favorite seasons after a few views, same with season 7. 7 gets much better on repeated viewing though I didn't "love" that season.

 

[Nick Martin]

I tried season 6 a second time....never again. The biggest letdown for me was Willow and her pathetic 'magick=drugs' addiction and that whole 'evil' nonsense at the end...what a disgrace for such a fine character.