Buffy Rewatch Review: My quick judgements on episodes 1x01 - 1x04

Buffy Rewatch Review: My quick judgements on episodes 1×01 – 1×04

By Mike | Sat May 26, 2012, 2:42am ET
Follow @michaelcollado

UPDATE: Haha, okay, you guys. I wrote this at about 2am and spent a short time. These are just observations. And they’re here to humor you! I liked these four episodes. I mention that below. These are just three or so observations I made. My humor is hard to explain.

Okay, the first night of Buffy Rewatch just ended (we trended worldwide!!!!), but I already have some thoughts. Now, this is the first time I’ve ever watched Buffy. Truth be told, I’m not exactly seeing what made Buffy the huge hit it has become. Yet. Don’t kill me, fandom. Then again, it’s only the first four episodes and everyone has told me to wait until season 2. So, anyway, here are my quick and snappy judgments on the first four episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Well, for one: Buffy, you know, the vampire slayer, spends a lot of time slaying non vampires. Okay, first, you’ve got the Bug Lady thing.

And the entire episode is focused on the Bug Lady. There are, like, zero vampires. I mean, there are three or so, but Buffy kicks their ass in about 30 seconds. And the episode prior to this one was about witches. That’s half of the first four episodes of a show with the word “vampire” in it, that doesn’t directly deal with vampires.

Speaking of kicking asses, I love how ’90s fight scenes included choreography where you didn’t exactly see the person kicking the other person’s ass.

Or like in the witch episode, where we seriously didn’t even see Buffy actually kick anyone.

So, yeah. Those are just a couple of things. Another thing I noticed is that parents in the Buffy world are, in a word or two, utter crap. They’re not winning any awards any time soon. Unless it’s the Razzies. Buffy’s mom, Joyce, is like a cross between Mrs. Archibald from Gossip Girl (in that she constantly looks dumbfounded) and a urinal (in that she just doesn’t give a s—).

Oh, and also, Joyce thinks her daughter is the devil or something. It’s like every time she talks to her she has to tiptoe around everything because she thinks her daughter is Carrie. Buffy did burn down a gymnasium. So, I’m kind of on Team Joyce on this one, but it’s like she’s trapped with a stranger in her own home.

And then the one time she actually acts like a parent, she completely effs it up.

And finally, I love how everyone just knows that Buffy is a vampire slayer and/or has connections with creepy supernatural stuff and no one cares.

Even when she helps that girl in “Witch,” the girl is just dandy that her mom died and giggling about her murder like it’s all good with Buffy, whom she doesn’t question at all.

It’s almost like, why not tell your mom, Buffy? Maybe then she won’t think you’re Lucifer. Anyway, that’s what I can think of for now. Of course, I have thoughts about the supporting cast and whatnot. But it’s about two hours or so since the first rewatch ended and I’m not exactly in the mind to think critically or anything. Overall, I had a great and fun time watching Buffy for the first time. And I can’t wait to watch the next three episodes, even though everyone says to skip them. A lot of people said “Teacher’s Pet” is the worst thing ever and I found it to be kind of entertaining. Maybe it was the community that helped.

Until Monday!

About Mike Follow @michaelcollado

Creator I try to live every moment as adventurously as I can. LOLJK I just sit on my couch and watch TV. My favorites: "Chuck," "30 Rock," "Veronica Mars," "Breaking Bad," "Homeland," "The Americans," oh and anything that has ever aired on TV ever.

http://www.facebook.com/cory.allen.125 Cory Allen

I love season 1, but maybe that is just me. I found it to be wonderfully cheesy and hilarious. A lot of the stuff you mentioned, I thought about when I watched it the first time also, but that’s what made season 1 so superb. I love “The Master.” Season 2 is great! It lacks some of the cheese that made me LOL in season 1 though. Season 3 is bloody awful. Season 4 is fun. Season 5 and 6 are my all time favorites. And Season 7 is the WORST!!!
- Queenoftherant
  
  How can you hate season 3?! I had the biggest girl crush on Faith. She was on my ‘list’ haha:) So was Spike. I am quite the tart when it comes to crushes on Buffy characters. Seasons 2,3 and 5 are my faves.
  - http://www.facebook.com/cory.allen.125 Cory Allen
    
    SPOILER FREE POST. haha
    - Queenoftherant
      
      Haha I was so careful not to give anything away and you are spoiler central;) First time watchers look away! Well all your reasons are reasonable, though I am a Faith lover (and enjoyed the mayor) I will allow it. However I counter with my personal additional s3 highlights being Seth Green’ monosyllabic deadpan dialogue and the awesome good times in band candy. And of course the brief appearance of Spike. The final scene in that band candy ep is still so amusing. And I’m sorry but the sheer campiness of the ‘CGI’ (generous term) snake was brilliant. It was so cutting edge at the time….
      - http://www.facebook.com/cory.allen.125 Cory Allen
        
        I just found the whole season to be a bad combination of everything. However…I wouldn’t have wanted them to NOT bring Faith on the show. As much as I hate her, I can’t imagine her not being there. Only…they could have handled it differently. Either have her there all the time and hanging out with the group, or keep her away until she absolutely has to be there—and make her more likable. Seth Green was great in season 3, not so much in season 4. What I mentioned about Angel in the other post though—that’s what just killed it for me. The S2 finale was PERFECTION. Why oh why?!
      - Queenoftherant
        
        Well yes I agree season 2 finale was perfection, and season 3 consequence were slightly off at first but in all fairness Joss Whedon did do a lot more with the character, both here and on Angel so it is forgivable I think.
      - http://www.facebook.com/cory.allen.125 Cory Allen
        
        To met it felt like a cop out. I tried getting into Angel but…idk, it didn’t do it for me. I L-O-V-E-D that tragic element of the S2 finale. It was like…sweet, first love then BAM. What followed was just a constant adrenaline rush, and it ended just beautifully. S3′s consequences were not just slightly off imo, I think they were a complete cop-out, especially since nothing was accomplished in the third season at all. Also, ‘Angel’ easily could have been a prequel. Cordelia could have stayed on Buffy and maybe become a vampire with Harmony. Lesbians vamps? Sounds okay to me! =D
      - Queenoftherant
        
        Haha you are really anti-season 3 huh? Angel could have been a prequel, true, but harder to sell to the viewers at the time. All the crossovers and stuff helped ratings on both shows. I remember Angel being marketed more to guys, I know a lot of guys who ended up preferring it to later seasons of Buffy. I liked the first two seasons, the dance of joy alone made it worth watching. Lesbian vamps….isn’t there a movie dedicated to those? Might make your day!
      - Queenoftherant
        
        http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020885/
        
        There you go lol:)
    - http://mamanervosa.com/ Lauren
      
      OMG. S3 is the best. You be crazy. My least fave is S4. But I agree — more Spike is ALWAYS better!
Queenoftherant

Never fear. This is why ppl said to skip season 1. Angel (ep7) and the finale are both important but mostly the rest is fun but nowhere near the brilliance of the rest of the series. Much like sex and the city (am i showing my age?) Random thoughts: yeah, vampires are just one of the many dark beasties which show up- that’s the case for the whole show. I think Joss Whedon got the tv deal based on the success of the movie (which only had vamps in it) so had to keep the name but had a different vision for the show. My fave part of the old eps is how SLOW the fight scenes are compared to later seasons. Seriously….BIFF….longest pause ever…..DOOF etc.
I promise you that by the time you have watched to the end of ‘Innocence’ in season 2 you will be completely under Buffy’s ‘thrall’ (a little in-joke for fellow rewatchers). Enjoy Monday:)
- http://mamanervosa.com/ Lauren
  
  Buuuut, just like you can’t really understand S&TC without watching those first painful few episodes with the weird guy interview cutaways, it makes sense to start with Buffy S1. I did and it didn’t mess up my fandom or throw me off the scent of becoming totally hooked. It’s a slow build but it’s worth it!
  - Queenoftherant
    
    Very true. You can’t watch SATC without seeing how Carrie and Big met, or how bad Miranda’s hair was!
- http://www.facebook.com/cory.allen.125 Cory Allen
  
  LOL. I loved the first season of SATC…am I the only one?
http://www.facebook.com/cory.allen.125 Cory Allen

Also her mom remains a clueless bimbo throughout, but a very sweet woman imo. Razzie city though for sure. In reference to the club…I am pretty sure her mom didn’t mind because “The Bronze” doesn’t serve beer. I know it’s an underage club though, because they hang there during the entire series run and only turn 21 in season 6. Or, at least I think it doesn’t serve beer…
Twanz

I didn’t try to watch it wit u but wen tvd came up I tried to watch Buffy n cudnt.. I thought everything was weird bcs if how Good I am critiquing tv now than then.. The 90′s ugh.. But I will let Buffy remain a legend in my mind without watching
Heba Bsat

I basically agree with everything you just said. The whole slaying non-vampires, her mom, and the fact that she does her thing in front of everyone were things I wondered about while watching. But nonetheless, the show is very entertaining and SMG is awesome in it. I can’t wait for the rest of the episodes and reading your reviews about them. Watching this show for the first time with all those semi-photorecaps is gonna be totally fun.
http://twitter.com/jennyad Jen Dickson

Ok, definitely joining in live next time, but HAHA to your caps! The first time I watched Buffy was as part of a 90s party. It involved fruit roll-ups, squeeze its, etc. and I LOVED the 90s campiness but was totally caught off-guard by how obsessed I later became. One thing to keep in mind with Buffy is that it doesn’t exactly take itself seriously, it’s more comic book inspired than trying to be realistic inspired. But yeah, it is just absurd fun season one and gets really good in season two.
- http://www.facebook.com/cory.allen.125 Cory Allen
  
  Squeeze its! I forgot about those!!
http://twitter.com/invinyourfuture Borednow

Well thats generally why people sort-of skip Season One.

Season one is one big huge Pilot episode and works more like a miniseries than a normal season.; Frankly Apart from three episodes – “Angel”, “NIghtmares” and finale it does not have much going for it apart from occasional horror movie references and the build up of friendship with core cast members.

However overall I’d say the season one helps a lot to understand Buffy’s motivation and as well as on why her mom acts so awkwardly around her, but sadly apart from that most of S1 is but a build up for an awesome finale.
- Queenoftherant
  
  @borednow, great username:)
GuinevereDeRaymaeker

I loved these 4 episodes, mostly because it’s still the 90s there! I lol’d several times, like when Cordelia pulled out her antenna out of her cellphone ‘I have to call everyone I know about this B—-’ And yeah you’re right it should be ‘Buffy the monster slayer!’
http://twitter.com/CLBeanz Cassandra Bean

Well, welcome to the Buffyverse, first of all. Secondly, your snap judgments are were made just that way, snappily. What Buffy fights every episode, whether it is a vampire or some other kind of demon, are actually metaphors for every teenage (and then adult) person’s life. On the surface we have jokes and quips, but underneath it all, you will see amazing character development and the rise of confidence and empowerment, and what a strong friendship foundation can do for a person’s life. Keep watching, and you, too, will be enthralled with the world that Joss Whedon (and gang) were able to create. Buffy most certainly changed my life, and I have no qualms about admitting to that. I’m proud to ask myself, in any situation, WWBD? (what would Buffy do?)
http://twitter.com/ngory07 Nicole Gory

You are missing the point. Yes the monster of the week is not always a vamp but the show is deeper than that. Joss is trying to show them growing up, evolving, that isolation you feel on high school from being different whether it’s a slayer or gay or poor or nerdy. Ive been watching since I was 10. This show has so many metaphors. I feel like I know them. I can relate.
- http://nowhitenoise.com/ Michael Collado
  
  I think a lot of people are missing my point. I don’t care that it’s not always a vampire. It’s just an observation. I understood the relation to teenage struggles, especially when they screamed it out in “Witch.” I just didn’t mention that and the bajillion things I thought because I only spent a short time on this post. I’ll delve deeper on Tuesday.
  
  My sense of humor is gonna be difficult to explain to new people XD
http://twitter.com/Toni5683 Toni Stutler

I don’t think a lot of Buffy fans will attack you for this, Season 1 is painful, but it is very important your first time through, and I’m happy you didn’t cut it out. Just don’t knock season three of four when we get there. They are, pretty much, the greatest TV. Ever. The last few seasons ger really tough for me too, too much story arc and not enought MOW (Monster of the Week). Just hang in there through this first season and season’s 2-4 will have you rollin’. I promise you are not going to stop watching when Buffy Rewatch officiall ends in the fall. You will continute to season four. You’ll be so hooked.
- http://nowhitenoise.com/ Michael Collado
  
  I think I must have been expecting something AWFUL and lowered my expectations because I liked these episodes. Even “Teacher’s Pet,” even though everyone keeps telling me they’re awful XD
  - http://twitter.com/invinyourfuture Borednow
    
    First of all let me say that season One is “NOT” Awful. Okay I lied, I Robot You Jane is awful, but still majority of Season One is bearable.
    S1 is more like a mini-series with lower budget, etc. Its main purpose is just to set up characters and the setting. But its certainly enjoyable and without a doubt somewhat important, because of how it builds up characters and connections the characters have to each other.
    
    I’d go as far as to say that the last seasons(that are VERY personal explorations of characters and ideas, instead of more monster-of-the-week approach) would not be possible without this build up.
    Season One is important because its essentially Buffy’s “childhood” in what essentially is story of her growing up into adulthood. Its a great point of reference to how relatively calm and relatively nice and relatively stable(as much as it can be considering her line of work) her life has been.
    Its one huge pilot episode that introduces more major concepts like some of supernatural creature types (witches, vampires, etc), builds up an empathic connection to those characters for the viewer, etc…
    Its just lower in terms of quality and depth that longtime fanbase usually got from latter seasons after it, so its generally viewed as “the worst season”.
http://mamanervosa.com/ Lauren

Hang in there, it gets better. I watched Buffy for the first time at age 29 and yeah, it will live up to the hype. In the meantime, enjoy Buffy’s weird office-wear-for-women-in-their-30s wardrobe.
merrywandererofthenight

BAHAHAAA!
“Bitch. You. Is. Stayin.”
Thanks for the throwback!
http://twitter.com/srolutola Miss S

S1-3 to me = the true essence of Buffy even though S1 is CAMPY AS HELL. But the peak was definitely S2 and 3. Just (no pun intended) slayed everything. S4-7 have their good points, but honestly, S4 was a little boring, S6 was downright awful and S7 it was time to end the show. Lol, kind of like Supernatural (except for some reason Supernatural keeps happening).
- http://twitter.com/invinyourfuture Borednow
  
  I don’t know, for me, S6 and S7 were the best seasons. They built up so much and explored the very depths of psychology behind each of surviving characters. It was a nice progressive build up as Buffy moved onto to more appropriate problems and dilemmas of her age.
  
  S6, S7 and S5 are the best seasons for me, followed by S2 and S3, with S4 and S1 as the worst.
- jordanwebb2011
  
  I feel like everyone hates season 4, but if you look at them as standalone episodes I sometimes think this is one of the best seasons. You have Restless, Pangs, Hush, Something Blue, This Years Girl/ Who are you and The Yoko Factor. And some of my personal faves: Superstar and Where the Wild Things Are. I will admit the big bad is the worst in comparison to the others, but I just feel like people need to look at the episodes individually. If you compare these classics (in my opinion) to season 6….its like completely clear season 4 was not the worst by far.
Eric Pharand

To recap, 2-3 seasons are great, 3 are terrible, and 1-2 are good? I’ll pass, thanks.
- http://twitter.com/invinyourfuture Borednow
  
  It all depends on point of view.
  
  First and Second season are more episodic, even thought the episodic nature of the show slowly vanishes in S2.
  
  S3 is great, S4 is around a quality of S2.
  
  S5 starts a darker period of the show, with darker, more psychological stories and more focus on characters and what makes them tick. S6 is the darkest season and S7 is epilogue of all of that.
  
  People who liked more “light hearted” and less deep campy show obviously ended up not liking the latter seasons, but i’d say its a logical progression of the show, as its essentially a coming-of-age story for all those characters.
- Queenoftherant
  
  Everyone has their preferred seasons/storylines, but let me assure you that the great seasons are so very great that when someone calls another season ‘terrible’ in comparison it is still so much better than the majority of shows on tv. Usually it is because the viewer was less moved by the season’s arc. It remains a smart, funny, moving and fascinating show which can be watched again and again, no matter how much time has passed. I constantly see storylines in other more recent shows that are lifted straight from Buffy- there are many things it did first which will have a lasting impact for a very long time. It will be your loss if you pass….
http://twitter.com/acshillings Amber Shillings

I agree with and chuckle at all your observations! Will you do short “wrap-up” posts all summer?

In a sense, I went to high school with Buffy and the Scooby Gang (99-02), so the production values, pop culture references, “fashion” (oh, the fashion), were all judged so differently compared to watching it now.

Even then it was campy, but that’s deliberate. Plus, Buffy is still in denial of her “destiny” and wants to be a care-free kid. Won’t last long.

Joyce is awesome!
- http://twitter.com/invinyourfuture Borednow
  
  Exactly! Buffy’s big theme is denial and hypocrisy. She tries to deny her destiny, she tries to cling to normal life, all at the same time trying to paint herself as infallible just hero, in order to overcompensate for her trauma and loss. Its all about Buffy discovering herself and accepting herself.
- http://nowhitenoise.com/ Michael Collado
  
  Yes, I plan on doing wrap ups of some sort all season long. Planning and doing are different things, but I will dedicate myself!
- http://www.facebook.com/cory.allen.125 Cory Allen
  
  Best fashion = Season 3. I love how Buffy dresses like a hooker all year long!!! =D
- Queenoftherant
  
  I personally still have a soft spot for season 4 ‘fashion’. That moment when she walked down a corridor wearing a big red bow tied around her chest (A shawl? A scarf? Who knows?)…*sigh* good times:)
Brian

But bro…..if all she did was fight vampires, that would get boring. They are just spicing it up. Plus the big bad is a vampire. And yes….Joyce is crap.
http://twitter.com/jennkellysays Jennifer Kelly

Bitch.You.Is.Stayin. made an appearance! Already the rewatch is a success! Totes psyched for tonight’s batch!!
Mary

I think this is your most accurate reaction: “the worst thing ever and I found it to be kind of entertaining.” Even when Buffy is terrible, there are reasons to watch and things to care about and things to laugh at. But it’s usually not terrible. I have serious Buffy feels, and I watched it 10+ years ago.
supernana494

OOO I wish I were you! Being able to watch Buffy for the first time would be so cool! I’m a big fan of Buffy and your rewiews so this article is totally made for me!!! As always you made me laugh so much! I love Buffy but I admit it was sometimes so ridiculous or “Kitsch” and you’re the perfect person to notice those kind of things! You will see season one is just the appetizer for the rest Even after ten years and all the amazing shows I’ve watched I still think Buffy is the best one ever! so ENJOY!
http://www.facebook.com/katherine.franke.71 Katherine Franke

At first I didn’t understand what was so great about Buffy either; for nearly the entire first season I held the opinion that it was extremely corny and…well, just plain silly, I guess. It really grows on you after a while, though, especially once season 2 begins. And if it doesn’t, well, to each their own, I guess. I don’t understand why so many people are getting so upset…

Buffy Rewatch Review: My quick judgements on episodes 1×01 – 1×04

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