Best of Buffy Review

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After writing up my Buffy Season 1 impressions I dove into season 2 hoping to see the series really come to life.  But after hitting the half way point in season 2 I realized that the week to week 90s-ness of the show isn't for me.

There are too many filler episodes and tons of episodes that don't move the overall narrative arc forward.  I know Buffy isn't really a horror show but it's setting is definitely "horror" for lack of a better word.  That genre/setting has never appealed to me and the monster of the week formula quickly got stale.

But I could see the core of the show and there was still something there that I liked.  The core cast and central story arcs are good.  So I googled "best buffy episodes" and "essential buffy episodes", consulted a bunch of lists, and then kinda mashed them together in my brain.

Then I started skipping.

Sometimes just a couple episodes at a time and later almost entire seasons.

But I really enjoyed it this way.  Buffy overall isn't a show for me, but I really like the highlights.

If you're curious and only want to check out a couple episodes I would recommend Angel (S1E7), Prophecy Girl (season 1 finale), Innocence (S2E14), Becoming (Season 2 Finale), Lover's Walk (S3E8), Graduation Day (Season 3 Finale), Hush (S4E10), New Moon Rising (S4E19), Once More With Feeling (S6E7).

I watched a lot more than these but personally this list has my highlights.

I should call out Hush and Once More With Feeling as my all time favorite 2 episodes.

In the episode Hush within the first 10 minutes the monster of the week takes away the ability to speak from everyone in town.  The next 30 minutes of directing/acting/show production are amazing because they tell an entire story without being able to use any dialog.  It's an amazing episode of TV.  It was almost my favorite Buffy episode, but in the end it holds the number 2 spot for me.

My favorite episode is Once More with Feeling.  A demon shows up that turns the entire town into a musical and everyone is liable to random burst out into a musical number.  It's fantastic.  If you watch one episode of Buffy it should be this one.  Even without having a greater context for the show you can still get a lot out of the craft of this musical episode.

And that concludes my venture into the world of Buffy.  It didn't provide as much entertainment as I anticipated and I don't think its one of the greatest shows ever but hitting all the highlights turned out to be a lot of fun.

Comments

  1. MagsonJanuary 7, 2016 at 9:25 AM

    I wish I'd been able to see just the highlights..... my wife made me watch the whole damn thing.

    That musical episode was hilarious. I don't remember Hush, though. Oh well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VoidJanuary 7, 2016 at 9:28 AM

      Hush and Once More With Feeling were my absolute favorite two episodes. Watching the highlights turned out to be a really good way to experience Buffy.

      Delete
  2. ChestnutJanuary 7, 2016 at 1:23 PM

    Tweeted you regarding it, but The Body is also an amazing episode. I also love Once More, With Feeling. It has to be my overall favorite episode, and the soundtrack is super-catchy (and also on Spotify)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VoidJanuary 7, 2016 at 1:51 PM

      Part of my "best of" list included The Body and you're totally right. It's an amazing episode.

      If you liked Once More, With Feeling you really need to check out Dr. Horrible.

      Delete
  3. Don NielsenJanuary 9, 2016 at 9:27 AM

    I never watched all of Buffy either but did watch quite a few episodes. Once More With Feeling is my favorite. Haven't seen it for a long time. May need to watch it again.

    I haven't watched Buffy in many years. I never watched all of them. Many were not that great. But here is what I recall as some of the appeal, way back when they first aired.

    Buffy came at a time when women were still struggling to be recognized as equals in the world. A female who has enough power and the will to slay terrible monsters was a pretty amazing thought back then. Women's lib in a different format.

    Another part of the appeal of Buffy was her discovering just what powers she had, and her personal struggle dealing with the life role she was given by fate. Not all episodes showed this.

    I also remember a large part of Buffy, at times, is the essential role friends, and a group of people working together, play in your life. Who knows who you really are? Do they support you and who you really are? Can you count on them, especially when the going get tough?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VoidJanuary 9, 2016 at 1:46 PM

      That's interesting. I didn't really have the perspective of the time when it was released.

      Delete

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