Buffy Rewatch
Mar. 26th, 2013 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
author_by_nightSo I'm on a Buffy rewatch, and thought that I would talk about the episodes I rewatched here. I won't be doing every episode of every season - I'll probably dance around most of season WTF six. But I think now that I've seen all of the seasons, and given that it's been thirteen years since the show first aired, there's a lot of commentary to had. I'll use the tag "rewindage", because hey, Buffy speak is apropos.
Feel free to read even if you haven't seen Buffy, although it may be a little confusing. And spoilery. These posts will be half recap, half commentary, at least for now - I trust everyone to let me know if it's confusing.
I just realized that Darla is the first character we meet! She is sneaking into Sunnydale with a guy who says he used to go there. I love how Joss Whedon completely inverts the trope of the girl being eaten by the monster by having Darla be the monster. I don't think he always managed to be as "male feminist" as he wanted to be, but it certainly works here.
It also works when Angel is following Buffy to The Bronze - Buffy's onto him, not the other way around, and kicks him down with her high heels. And speaking of Angel, I have to see him as the show goes on, but Angel of episodes one and two is completely different from the Angel I remember being in the rest of Buffy. He seems more AtS Angel - no bullshit, all tactic, close but not too close. I'll have to see if this continues even as he and Buffy develop a relationship, or if I'm remembering wrong.
But I've gotten ahead of myself. Let's look at Sunnydale and our Scoobies.
First, Sunnydale is very much "Hollywood high", right down to teenagers talking in what I call "Bubblegum."
"There's a new girl named BUFF-ee. And guess what I heard? She got KICKED OUT." "Nay."
"Yay!"
While some kids I new kind of talked like that, but here it's very exaggerated, which makes me wonder if this was part of the overall "high school parody" early Buffy kind of was. (And why I think it lost something after they graduated, but I'll get to that later.) Cordelia is definitely The Libby, Willow is the shy nerdy girl, and Harmony really is the one who "should have" decided she'd had enough of Cordelia's ways and become part of the Scoobies, but instead that was Cordelia herself. Again, inversion, if not by much (since I don't think "mean girl becomes nice" is that original - though Cordelia never really became "nice", just less full of herself). And of course we haveWatcher Feeney Giles the teacher who sticks around (a little too) long after graduation. Aww.
Buffy is definitely a bit of a Cordy type here, although on a smaller scale. Interestingly enough, she is initially drawn towards Cordelia, but seems really bothered when Cordelia taunts Willow. Whether she's just grown wiser and realizes that's not nice or realizes she's slipping back into her old shoes, I'm not sure.
Then there's Xander and his friendJesse, who I don't think gets mentioned ever again. I think it's just as well that we got rid of him, because really, he was pretty much Xander. I sort of wish they'd dealt more with Xander losing his best friend - I've always figured his exceptional hate towards vampires has something to do with that, but I'm not sure. Interestingly Willow doesn't seem to consider his original abduction-by-vampires as much of a blow. Maybe he was never really her friend? I don't know, just throwing that out there. (I'm sure someone has said this is proof Willow was always evil. More on that later.) I do think killing off a teenage character is pretty dark to start with. Also, apparently Jesse has feelings for Cordelia - I wonder if Xander knew, given that he dates her later on? Maybe Jesse's supposed to have been retconned completely, because there's one place he could've been mentioned and never was.
Let's talk about Willow. She's adorable in these episodes. I remember being surprised that she was straight when I first watched, though, because I knew before watching the show that she was a lesbian. I'd assumed she always was, so when Willow admitted to Buffy that she didn't know how to talk to boys, I was confused. In any case, while I really don't think she was evil from the start, I do love how she's at least got this devious side to her - fun devious. Telling Cordelia that DEL meant "Deliver" was cute, although now of course any savvy sixteen year old would probably know that. Funny how times change.
Giles is very much a Watcher darling when the series starts; I actually like the look on his face when Buffy tells him that he can't teach her to lose her friends, to lie to people, to deal with all the hardships that come with being a Slayer. Because Giles has probably been trained more for Kendra types, who just slay vampires and move on. Buffy carries baggage with her, and she wants a normal, non-Slayer life. Even Faith never really seemed to want that - for her, Slaying was really all she had. Anyway, I think Buffy really surprises Giles - and he realizes he's not dealing with who he thought he'd be dealing with. Buffy also doesn't take him seriously at all, which is fun to watch. Everything he says gets a smartass comeback.
As for the Master... my god, I thought Voldemort from Harry Potter was written into cheese. (Most of you know I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd, but I always found Voldemort scarier off the page.) I can only hope this was, again, due to the fact that the show did begin as a parody of sorts. (At least I think it did. Maybe I'm thinking of the movie, which I've never seen.)
I think the first two episodes did a good job of setting up the series and, to an extent, Angel. For all the changes in tone and character, in the end, the dynamics didn't really change that much. And of course, Giles utters the line that he will add a "definitely" to in the last episode: "The earth is doomed." Not to mention Buffy's suggestion that she blow up the school.
Fortunately, the show wasn't. Well, until season six, but it's going to be a while before I get there. Thank God.
Feel free to read even if you haven't seen Buffy, although it may be a little confusing. And spoilery. These posts will be half recap, half commentary, at least for now - I trust everyone to let me know if it's confusing.
I just realized that Darla is the first character we meet! She is sneaking into Sunnydale with a guy who says he used to go there. I love how Joss Whedon completely inverts the trope of the girl being eaten by the monster by having Darla be the monster. I don't think he always managed to be as "male feminist" as he wanted to be, but it certainly works here.
It also works when Angel is following Buffy to The Bronze - Buffy's onto him, not the other way around, and kicks him down with her high heels. And speaking of Angel, I have to see him as the show goes on, but Angel of episodes one and two is completely different from the Angel I remember being in the rest of Buffy. He seems more AtS Angel - no bullshit, all tactic, close but not too close. I'll have to see if this continues even as he and Buffy develop a relationship, or if I'm remembering wrong.
But I've gotten ahead of myself. Let's look at Sunnydale and our Scoobies.
First, Sunnydale is very much "Hollywood high", right down to teenagers talking in what I call "Bubblegum."
"There's a new girl named BUFF-ee. And guess what I heard? She got KICKED OUT." "Nay."
"Yay!"
While some kids I new kind of talked like that, but here it's very exaggerated, which makes me wonder if this was part of the overall "high school parody" early Buffy kind of was. (And why I think it lost something after they graduated, but I'll get to that later.) Cordelia is definitely The Libby, Willow is the shy nerdy girl, and Harmony really is the one who "should have" decided she'd had enough of Cordelia's ways and become part of the Scoobies, but instead that was Cordelia herself. Again, inversion, if not by much (since I don't think "mean girl becomes nice" is that original - though Cordelia never really became "nice", just less full of herself). And of course we have
Buffy is definitely a bit of a Cordy type here, although on a smaller scale. Interestingly enough, she is initially drawn towards Cordelia, but seems really bothered when Cordelia taunts Willow. Whether she's just grown wiser and realizes that's not nice or realizes she's slipping back into her old shoes, I'm not sure.
Then there's Xander and his friendJesse, who I don't think gets mentioned ever again. I think it's just as well that we got rid of him, because really, he was pretty much Xander. I sort of wish they'd dealt more with Xander losing his best friend - I've always figured his exceptional hate towards vampires has something to do with that, but I'm not sure. Interestingly Willow doesn't seem to consider his original abduction-by-vampires as much of a blow. Maybe he was never really her friend? I don't know, just throwing that out there. (I'm sure someone has said this is proof Willow was always evil. More on that later.) I do think killing off a teenage character is pretty dark to start with. Also, apparently Jesse has feelings for Cordelia - I wonder if Xander knew, given that he dates her later on? Maybe Jesse's supposed to have been retconned completely, because there's one place he could've been mentioned and never was.
Let's talk about Willow. She's adorable in these episodes. I remember being surprised that she was straight when I first watched, though, because I knew before watching the show that she was a lesbian. I'd assumed she always was, so when Willow admitted to Buffy that she didn't know how to talk to boys, I was confused. In any case, while I really don't think she was evil from the start, I do love how she's at least got this devious side to her - fun devious. Telling Cordelia that DEL meant "Deliver" was cute, although now of course any savvy sixteen year old would probably know that. Funny how times change.
Giles is very much a Watcher darling when the series starts; I actually like the look on his face when Buffy tells him that he can't teach her to lose her friends, to lie to people, to deal with all the hardships that come with being a Slayer. Because Giles has probably been trained more for Kendra types, who just slay vampires and move on. Buffy carries baggage with her, and she wants a normal, non-Slayer life. Even Faith never really seemed to want that - for her, Slaying was really all she had. Anyway, I think Buffy really surprises Giles - and he realizes he's not dealing with who he thought he'd be dealing with. Buffy also doesn't take him seriously at all, which is fun to watch. Everything he says gets a smartass comeback.
As for the Master... my god, I thought Voldemort from Harry Potter was written into cheese. (Most of you know I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd, but I always found Voldemort scarier off the page.) I can only hope this was, again, due to the fact that the show did begin as a parody of sorts. (At least I think it did. Maybe I'm thinking of the movie, which I've never seen.)
I think the first two episodes did a good job of setting up the series and, to an extent, Angel. For all the changes in tone and character, in the end, the dynamics didn't really change that much. And of course, Giles utters the line that he will add a "definitely" to in the last episode: "The earth is doomed." Not to mention Buffy's suggestion that she blow up the school.
Fortunately, the show wasn't. Well, until season six, but it's going to be a while before I get there. Thank God.
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no subject
Date: 2013-03-27 10:06 am (UTC)Now I want to watch the episodes again too XD
The movie really disappointed me - I don't recommend it.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-28 11:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-27 03:21 pm (UTC)I love old school Buffy. Sometimes it is nice to go back to before it got so dark, for sure.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-28 12:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-28 12:46 am (UTC)Anyway, I love the Buffy movie! It is awesome! Well not in a good film way or the plot or characters or anything really. I just love it. Then again I love what some people might call "awful films". It is entertaining though!
no subject
Date: 2013-03-27 05:05 am (UTC)Willow was later pretty upset with Xander for secretly making out with Cordelia and brought up the We Hate Cordelia club, of which Xander was the treasurer. I think Jesse was in the club too, but I don't know if I'm just mentally retconning that for myself. Jesse really could have been mentioned more; when Xander is surrounded by Potentials in season seven, at one point he says, "I miss Oz," but Jesse doesn't rate a mention.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-27 11:20 pm (UTC)I'm not sure if Jesse was in the club or if that's just the assumption. Hm. I'll find out. :) It'll also be interesting to see if there are even vague possible references to him as I rewatch.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-27 01:35 pm (UTC)I think in Pilot episodes especially, writers rely on some tropes for characters to get people on board. I think Joss is no exception, but I think he does it really well. Have you ever seen the unaired pilot of Buffy? It's really different. Like, really really different. I like this pilot MUCH better. The girl they cast as Willow was... completely not the right fit. BUT I DIGRESS.
Giles was one of my favorite characters from the beginning. For lack of a better word, even though he's the authority figure, he has a bit of sass to him. He's still GILES, and I like that his development proves that. He's just so well written, and probably one of my favorite characters ever. When you get to Season 6 (a favorite season of mine, overall, but I do have issues with some of it) I'll discuss how I even took Giles' side over Buffy's most times.
This is gonna be a fun rewatch.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-27 11:34 pm (UTC)I plan on it! :) I'll probably start after Buffy season three, just to keep things relatively chronological. Like you, I liked Angel better in the series but with a loooot of caveats. But even then, to be perfectly honest... my issue was always less with the characters (in both shows) and more with where Joss and the rest of his team took them. I felt like they were always pushed as far as they could. And the whole "Immortal Man" thing did get kind of trite. The show really should've only been a few seasons - well, it was, but it wasn't planned that way, so it was unfinished and unresolved.
I rarely meet people who liked season six! It's funny because while I didn't like it, I feel like it made a lot of fans angry, and it didn't really make me angry. It was just so intense in a way that made it uncomfortable. I actually didn't mind some things that usually bother people, like the Scoobies being sort of distant (this happens in groups , sadly - they're just lucky they got back) and Dawn being Dawn (I never hated Dawn), that sort of thing.
I love Giles too, and it's fascinating to watch his character develop, as well as his relationships with Buffy and Willow. It's a little strange that he kind of starts to try and let her "loose" from his Watcher Nest, because it almost becomes a running gag, but that'll be easier to observe as I rewatch.