S3 wrap-up

[snick_backup]

Yes, I'm back. Two thoughts:

1. Buffy and Faith are my favorite thing about S3. I love the early-season tension ("Oh, look, now she's getting along with my fries."), the mid-season kinship ("Tell me you don't get off on this." "Didn't suck.") and united front against Wesley ("New Watcher." "Screw that." "Now why didn't I say that?"), the late season high-conflict:

FAITH: "You know, I come to Sunnydale, I'm a Slayer, I do my job kicking ass better than anyone, and what do I hear about, everywhere I go? Buffy. So I slay, and behave, and do the good-little-girl routine, and who does everyone thank? Buffy. [...] You get the Watcher, you get the mom, you get your little Scooby Gang, what do I get? Jack squat!

I love that the writers used Faith to explore potential outcomes of Slayer power, since they were apparently unwilling to use Buffy herself (see "Ted" And "Living Conditions" for muffed chances).

The one thing I don't like is when the writers needed that high conflict, they used Angel to get it. So happens I hate, loathe, and merrily stomp on love triangles - one of my tics - and of all the tension between them and all their differences, the fact that they end up fighting over Angel, whom Faith got over pretty quickly after "Enemies" and only wanted in the first place because he was Buffy's, and whom Buffy wasn't even dating (or at least, she hadn't been until Angel broke up with her) is just a cheap shot. Yanno, we wimmens do sometimes fight over something other than boys. Blech.

2. I'm now into S4 with the housemate, and man, did things change over that summer hiatus. Willow, especially - love the haircut, could do without the attitude. I never really like her again. What happened that summer? When did Willow's self-assurance tip over into brattiness and self-centeredness? And why the big push to get Buffy to sleep with Parker? What, now that Willow's had sex she's feels comfortable directing everyone else's sex lives?

Otherwise, it's just a more adult show from here on out, with dirtier jokes and more of them, not to mention the general sexathon that is S4. (Between Adam, the overabundance of sex, and Restless, which I found bewildering the first time through, I nearly gave up after S4. I'm, uh, glad I didn't.)

Comments

[rahirah]

Huh. I never thought of S4 as being overwhelmed with sex. I guess if someone doesn't lose their soul, it doesn't register...

[snickfic]

Well, you've got: Buffy/Parker, Buffy/Riley (lots of it, thanks to Where the Wild Things Are (and isn't that title copyright infringement?)), Xander/Anya, Willow/Oz, Oz/Veruca, Willow/Tara (very discreetly), Faith/Riley, Spike/Harmony (!), and even Giles/random English woman. Just the number of sexual pairings in S4 trumps the total number of encounters in all three previous seasons combined.

(edited because I forgot one)

[next_to_normal]

Where the Wild Things Are (and isn't that title copyright infringement?)

I highly doubt it. I'm not a copyright expert or anything, but lots of TV shows get their episode titles from references like that, books, movies, song titles or lyrics, etc. If there is some sort of copyright protection, I'm sure they'd have paid for it, but I'd guess that the title is fair use.

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

What, now that Willow's had sex she's feels comfortable directing everyone else's sex lives?

Probably, yeah.

No, really. Willow's just out of high school and trying out her new "Geek Chic" identity. Part of that revolves around her not being a virgin anymore. Woo hoo! She had sex! She's so cool and adult cause...she had sex! Sex, sex, sex! Ohmigod! Buffy should have sex, too!

It's annoying (especially as Willow does a complete 180 once Parker reveals he's a douchebag), but it makes perfect sense for her character.

[snickfic]

You're probably right. I do wish she'd shown even the tiniest bit of remorse or, I dunno, reevaluation of her positions after the Parker incident.

[next_to_normal]

Between Adam, the overabundance of sex, and Restless, which I found bewildering the first time through, I nearly gave up after S4. I'm, uh, glad I didn't.

Heh, yeah. I don't know that I considered giving up - I don't think my roommates would have let me, but I powered through the series so fast I didn't really stop to think about it much anyway - but Season 4 is definitely one of my least favorite seasons.

[deird1]

I dunno. I generally think of it as one of my least favourites, but a lot of the episodes I really like come from then. Something Blue, Who Are You?, Hush, Restless...

[next_to_normal]

Yeah, I like several individual episodes, but I always like a bunch of individual eps in a season. What sunk it for me was the long term stuff: the Adam storyline, not being interested in the Buffy/Riley romance, and Giles, Xander, and Spike having nothing to do for huge chunks of the season.

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

Really? Huh. I thought it was refreshing after S3, the season that just couldn't end fast enough for me. But I think I like S4 more for the standalones and humor and general light-heartedness than anything else.

[next_to_normal]

See my response to deird1, lol. Also, I thought S3 was fine, overall, so I didn't need to be refreshed. Tone-wise, I didn't think it was lacking for humor and light-heartedness. I thought it was a nice balance between the campiness of S1 and the nonstop angst of S2.

[snickfic]

Actually, I like it much better now than I did the first time through. All that rewatching for Seraph let me appreciate the individual eps without getting too fussed about the arcs, and there is a run of really fun eps from The Initiative through A New Man. Plus Restless, of course, which has also grown on me quite a bit.

[next_to_normal]

I'm still not much of a fan of Restless, but The Initiative - A New Man is a good stretch.

[snickfic]

I liked Restless a lot more once I started to get a better sense of the symbolism. I still don't get all of it, but having the general thread helps. FWIW, this piece of meta went a long way in helping me appreciate the ep.

[next_to_normal]

I do appreciate all the symbolism that went into it, but dream sequences in general just aren't my thing, and Joss loves them a little too much. :)

[snickfic]

He does have rather a thing about them. I mostly don't mind too much, since I think he handles them a lot better than most TV/movie folks seem to.

[bobthemole.livejournal.com]

"Whatever Happened to Willow Rosenberg?" is a fic I want to read now.

I *liked* the girl in high school. She cared about the people around her. Then it's like she registered for college classes, lost all her empathy and became a control freak.

[snickfic]

It seems worthy of a fic. Willow's not a character I've ever written much. But maybe someone out there wrote one? Maybe even one that isn't, for once all about Teh Sex (although considering her attitude in "Harsh Light of Day," it'd probably need to be at least partly about sex).

And, yeah. She goes to college and all that sweet spazziness is just cover for All-About-Me Girl. Like in Fear Itself: "I am not your sidekick!"

[aadler]

I, like you, was put-off by Willow’s college transformation, and — though she still had the occasional good moment in the following seasons — found her increasingly unlikable thereafter. (In fact, I was deeply disturbed by her behavior and attitudes well before the ‘Dark Willow’ characteristics became obvious in canon.)

I offered some opinions of my own regarding this shift in her outlook and behavior in “None So Blind” (Part 5 in particular), and a more detailed treatment in the last chapter of “the Still, Small Voice”. (Neither of those, however, address her new meddlesomeness in Buffy’s sex life.)

[snickfic]

I don't think I became conscious of disliking her until sometime in S6, or maybe late S5, but I lost all sympathy for her pretty early on in S4. I look at it now and see all the set up for the Dark Willow arc. It's very consistent and convincing, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Word. I started losing sympathy for Willow during this season, too. I think this is where her arrogance begins pushing aside her humility and common sense.

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

Yay for your return!

I finished that series of drabbles about faith in the Buffyverse, btw:
http://ladyofthelog.livejournal.com/503547.html

[snickfic]

Yeah, it was a short break. But I needed it - I got lots of stuff done this week.

Ooh! Yay! I'll comment over there when I've given them sufficient thought. :)

[silverusagi]

I hadn't realized how much sex there is in S4. Everyone is having sex. I guess when I think of Buffy and sex, my mind just goes to S6, LOL.

[snickfic]

Everyone! Even shy repressed British librarian Giles is having sex with random British lady. It's like the show suddenly felt the need to show how, er, grown-up it was. Or something. 'Cuz most of the sex this season, actually not handled in a particularly adult way...

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

1. Buffy and Faith are fun. Their relationship is so various-kinds-of-sisterly that I just love it.

YES. The whole Angel love triangle thing is stupid stupid stupid. And insulting to Faith. And Buffy. I dislike it greatly.

2. YES AGAIN. I never like Willow again after S3. She's so selfish and bratty.

Huh. I hadn't really thought about the levels of sex in S4. I guess because I've only watched it all the way through once, and even though there are individual episodes I've watched tons of times ("Something Blue," "Pangs," "Hush," "Restless," really), those episodes aren't heavy on that stuff, really, so I never noticed it.

I also moved super fast through S4 and just went through to S5. I wonder if I'd've had a different reaction if I watched it with more of a break between the two?

This comment basically means: I agree with you! How shocking! ;)

[snickfic]

RE Willow, I don't know what happened. Because I still like her fine in "Graduation" and pretty much can't stand her by "Harsh Light of Day."

RE sex, I refer you to my reply to Barb above. LOTS of sex.

I've actually warmed up to S4 quite a bit - it was all that rewatching for Seraph that did it. There are a number of light fluffy episodes that I like really well, plus of course "Hush" and "Restless"), and it's just so, yanno, angst-free. It's a nice vacation before the three seasons of Angst, Woe, and Doom (respectively).