S1 rewatch

[snick_backup]

As previously mentioned, I got the housemate hooked on Buffy, via S4. We're now going back to the beginning and watching S1.

* Principal Flutie! Aw, Principal Flutie. Although I love to hate Snyder, I wouldn't have minded at all if we'd gotten a bit more Flutie first. Also, his death quite unnerved the housemate. She turned to me and said, "So, the only people I should get attached to are Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander, because I know they'll be around for a while." And I said, yep, pretty much.

* "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date": Wow, the writers really harked back to Owen when they developed Riley, didn't they? Tall and blond, thinks Buffy's a mystery, gets a kick out of danger and death-defying.

* "The Pack" was definitely the first really effective ep of the series, I'd say. Lots of emphasis on character dynamics and psychological creepiness, and very little on the mechanics of the thing. Plus, Nicky Brendon is darn good as a total jerk. I'd forgotten that.

* "Angel" gets less effective every time I watch it. OTOH, Angel pushing Buffy's buttons looks a whole lot like Angelus pushing Buffy's buttons. Could definitely see some of Angelus's creepy cheeriness in this ep.

* "I Robot, You Jane": still one of the stupidest eps ever. OTOH, yay Jenny Calendar (and nascent Jenny/Giles), yay the "We're doomed" closing speech (even this early, Whedon already knew how to end an ep), and yay this: "To read makes our speaking English good."

Comments

[deird1]

The Pack is rather incredible. One of the first chances for Joss to show what he could do.

Although, I think the title of "first really effective ep" should actually go to Never Kill A Boy On The First Date. It's cheesy, and not very complex, but I love the theme, and the way the whole emotional dynamic between Giles and Buffy changes through the conversation at the end. It did a very good job of setting up "sacrifice" as one of the show's main themes.

[snickfic]

I did very much like the Giles&Buffy emotional dynamic, you're right. I still feel that the theme was, hmm, expressed rather too directly for my taste. "The lesson Buffy learned this ep is..." But it's certainly a more thematically serious episode than, say, "Teacher's Pet."

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Wow, the writers really harked back to Owen when they developed Riley, didn't they?

Yep. Although with one big difference... for Owen we were obviously supposed to realize he was wrong for her. ;-)

* "Angel" gets less effective every time I watch it.

Word to everything you said about it. The one thing I remember from when I watched it the first time was that I'd already guessed he was a vampire and I was surprised they hadn't dragged it out longer (not realizing, at the time, that it was only a half season). But yeah... it actually shows a bit of the brilliance of the writers, taking aspects of his personality that were already there and weaving them into a more expanded backstory as the series progressed.

[snickfic]

Although with one big difference... for Owen we were obviously supposed to realize he was wrong for her. ;-)

Well, yes, there is that. *g* Although, the more I watch the Buffy/Riley arc, the more it seems like the writers built in a lot of the incompatibility intentionally. So maybe the viewers weren't supposed to notice the problems right away, but it looks to me like at least some of the writers were expecting them.

But yeah... it actually shows a bit of the brilliance of the writers, taking aspects of his personality that were already there and weaving them into a more expanded backstory as the series progressed.

True. And they did a much better job weaving in aspects of his personality than aspects of his backstory -- Darla talks about them together "in Budapest at the turn of the century," but the last time they were together was in China in 1900, and they'd been separated for two years before that. I guess it was just a matter of Spike's backstory trumping Angel's, which, hey, I'm not gonna complain about. *g*

[next_to_normal]

Darla talks about them together "in Budapest at the turn of the century," but the last time they were together was in China in 1900

Well, Angel does say, "Last time I saw you it was kimonos," in the same conversation, which tracks with the last time they were together being China. Darla doesn't say when they were in Budapest, just "turn of the century" - I can't seem to find out when the earthquake was, but she could be talking about the turn of the 19th century, not the 20th.

[snickfic]

she could be talking about the turn of the 19th century, not the 20th.

Der. Yes. I'm just thinking along too short a time scale! *g*

I looked up earthquakes in Budapest, too, and the only significant one Google told me about was in 1997. Hmm.

[riccadonna.livejournal.com]

Regarding The Pack, I have only one word for you: CRUNCHY!

[snickfic]

:P

[seapealsh.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm doing a season 1 rewatch too! Have to see it on our new LCD TV. I've still got two more eps to go - the Nightmare one and Prophesy Girl. I really am enjoying it. Although there's no way Buffy should get away with wearing what she wears to school!

[snickfic]

I know. My gosh, those skirts!

[next_to_normal]

Re: The Pack - I don't know if you have the Chosen Collection DVDs, but in there, Joss lists his favorite 11 episodes (that he didn't write), and The Pack is one of them because that was when they realized how dark they could go. (He also says the episode wasn't working at all until they realized one of the gang had to be affected.)

[snickfic]

Hah. Yeah, that's one of the reasons that I like it: it's actually dark as opposed to the cheesy horror in most of the first and a lot of the second season.

(He also says the episode wasn't working at all until they realized one of the gang had to be affected.)

I can definitely see that.