Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Pobman]

Gonna watch the 7th episode of each now.

The one bit of dialogue that sums of Spike best was during a fight that went something like
"I had a plan. It was really good and well thought-out"
"So what happened?"
"I got bored."

As the ultimate id character, they wrote him in a way that nothing has to make any sense and he can do whatever for any reason at any time, so now he can love Buffy or whatever I guess.

Blimey, you're getting through these quickly. I am 6 episodes away from the very end of Buffy (I watched the first 5 seasons of Buffy first time round and quit a few episodes into season 6, but I am now rewatching them all with my wife).

Despite the speed you are viewing these at, I think I will start a separate thread when I finally get to the end, so I can discuss it freely without spoiling it for you.

 

[KoshFan]

Tara also is not a "rebound" relationship. Harmony might have been for Spike. Speaking of... what's up with him loving Buffy now? That just sort of flew in from nowhere. But then this show does that.

Not quite nowhere. Remember the conversation Spike had with Faith in Buffy's body?

I think Spike's always had latent feelings for Buffy -- he connects sex and violence so closely, and Buffy is his greatest antagonist -- but when Faith talked about how she could ride him until his legs turned to jelly, that's when he realized that Buffy is also freakin' hot.

In the very next episode, we see Spike caress Buffy's face (she tolerates it because she's been playing second fiddle to Jonathan), and in the episode after that, Spike spontaneously volunteers to help Buffy out of a jam. He talks himself out of it, but the impulse was there.

As the ultimate id character, they wrote him in a way that nothing has to make any sense and he can do whatever for any reason at any time, so now he can love Buffy or whatever I guess.

Oh, he's the ultimate id character, and therefore what he's doing now makes a lot of sense. At least to me.

 

[GKarsEye]

This is pretty much my only entertainment these days, all the other TV shows I liked are either over (Lost), on hiatus (Breaking Bad, Treme), or are no longer interesting to me (Burn Notice, Family Guy). Louis just started to there's that but it's only half an hour. No movies I really wanna see. And I just bought Red Dead Redemption for PS3 but I'm not really getting into it yet. So when I'm home these days, I'm chillin' with Buffy 'n' pals.

Didn't get to episodes 7 last night so that'll be tonight...

The two biggest mysteries at the beginning of season 5 was revealed: what's the deal with Dawn (some sort of energy McGuffin that Buffy has to protect) and what's the deal with Tara (misogynistic family- including Amy Adams!- uses demonology as a metaphor for gender discrimination). I also got an arch-villain, clearly modeled after every man's worst ex-girlfriend-turned-nightmare: beautiful, fashionable, and fucking crazy.

 

[vacantlook]

Fun actress fact: the chick playing the Big Bad of season five was in Bring It On, which also had Eliza Dushku. The character in Bring It On that she played was the one that was known for not wearing her underwear or whatever under her cheerleading uniform and she was best friends with some asian chick, who was also in an episode of Buffy (the alternate reality episode "The Wish" in season three) as well as the original unbroadcast pilot for Buffy.

 

[GKarsEye]

"My soul is wrapped in harsh repose,
Midnight descends in raven-colored clothes,
But soft... behold!
A sunlight beam
Butting a swath of glimmering gleam.
My heart expands,
'tis grown a bulge in it,
Inspired by your beauty...
Effulgent."


London goth settings, ninja and afro slayers, Darla's reactions to Drusilla's wackiness. This episode made me effulgent.

Bring It On, which also had Eliza Dushku.

Oh, ever red-blooded American man knows that she was in that movie. Even now, to me she's a cheerleader before she's a vampire slayer.

 

[KoshFan]

Fool for Love is always one of my very favorite episodes.

 

[vacantlook]

Fool for Love is always one of my very favorite episodes.

It's one I particularly enjoy too. I love seeing past slayers, and I love the ending on the porch.

 

[GKarsEye]

So there's only one slayer in the whole world at one time, and there are vampires and demons everywhere? That hardly seems fair.

 

[KoshFan]

Nope! There's a reason there's only one slayer, though; you'll learn it later.

It's also worth noting that we frequently see or hear of ordinary humans dealing with vampires and demons, if only by sheer weight of numbers; Drusilla was nearly killed by a mob in Prague, and the Judge was dismembered by an army. Angel (the show) also gives us numerous examples of human vampire fighters, usually working as a team. You've met Gunn already; you'll meet several more.

So yeah, the Slayer's on her own, but humans aren't totally helpless if they know what's going on.

 

[vacantlook]

It's also worth noting that we frequently see or hear of ordinary humans dealing with vampires and demons, if only by sheer weight of numbers; Drusilla was nearly killed by a mob in Prague, and the Judge was dismembered by an army. Angel (the show) also gives us numerous examples of human vampire fighters, usually working as a team. You've met Gunn already; you'll meet several more.

Another one to add to the list is the knight that originally stabbed Acathla in the chest with the sword that turned the demon to stone. And Whistler shows that there are some demons even that work to try to prevent demon badness from occurring.

 

[KoshFan]

Another one to add to the list is the knight that originally stabbed Acathla in the chest with the sword that turned the demon to stone. And Whistler shows that there are some demons even that work to try to prevent demon badness from occurring.

Like Spike at the end of Season 2, for instance. He likes people; he doesn't want them all offed.

 

[vacantlook]

Like Spike at the end of Season 2, for instance. He likes people; he doesn't want them all offed.

I don't think I'd count Spike in the good guy collumn at that point. As much as he helps Buffy, he does so out of self-interest: he hates the control Angel has over Drusilla. And he's still has no problems with killing anyone, he just doesn't want them all dead at once. Later on in the show though, yeah. As much as he might remain antagonistic with Buffy and friends, he does seem to develop genuine protective feelings toward Dawn and respect for Buffy's mom.

 

[GKarsEye]

Spike likes Buffy's mom because she consoled him and made him cocoa when he was pining over Drusilla.
He's essentially a 200 yr-old teenager- fickle, moody, and selfish.

Speaking of demon hunters, last night I watched Riley leaving on a helicopter with his military buddies to go fight Brazilian monsters. Making a metaphor of crack addiction vampires was weird. Buffy and Spike wandering around the vampire crack house was perhaps in part an homage to the famous crack-house scene in Jungle Fever? (Wesley Snipes looking for his brother, Sam Jackson. "Where's the TV, Gator?" "I smoked the TV!") It's one of those creative decisions that was ambitious and interesting but didn't quite work, especially coupled with the ending modeled after the classic romantic comedy reconciliation scene, with a friend telling one person to run after someone, but they fool you and make her late. It's like for this super-important episode (which has the potential to have huge consequences now that Buffy will regret letting the Best Guy Ever leave), they decided to throw a bunch of different ideas at it.

Julie Benz is not a bad singer.

 

[KoshFan]

I don't think I'd count Spike in the good guy collumn at that point. As much as he helps Buffy, he does so out of self-interest: he hates the control Angel has over Drusilla. And he's still has no problems with killing anyone, he just doesn't want them all dead at once.

Well, it's a small point, but it's sort of the one I was making: Spike was willing to prevent an apocalypse. And since such things threaten with disturbing frequency, demons who take out other more world-ending demons might account for all the times the world hasn't ended, despite there only being one slayer.

 

[GKarsEye]

Spike doesn't want people dead, he wants to kill them.

 

[KoshFan]

Exactly!

 

[GKarsEye]

14 episodes into seasons 5 and 2. Spike is openly in love with Buffy, Drusilla took a break from helping Darla raise a demon army to get Spike and failed, Dawn knows what she is, Buffy and Giles are back with the Watchers Council, Angel broke up with his bestest buddies.

What was the fans' reaction to Angel by this point? It's not only "darker," but really going out of its way to be so. There are characters standing around saying "boy Angel, you sure are dark, huh?" Like it's deliberately make a point of telling us how different it is than Buffy.

 

[vacantlook]

I don't remember how people reacted to Angel for its first 3 seasons, honestly. Personally, for me, it really depended on the episode.

On Buffy, you're just a bit shy of one of the most memorable episodes ever of the show.

 

[KoshFan]

There are characters standing around saying "boy Angel, you sure are dark, huh?" Like it's deliberately make a point of telling us how different it is than Buffy.

I think that's more motivated by the characters aiming to try and keep Angel on the straight and narrow than by the writers trying to distinguish their show from Buffy. (Buffy has its dark moments too, after all.) Remember, Angel loses his soul, and Wes and Cordelia are definitely going to be first in line for the death list. Plus stopping him would be nigh-on impossible.

 

[GKarsEye]