Well, well, here we are, at the somewhat end of the rewatch. For now. It’s been a long, arduous, and entertaining journey and I think, if nothing else, I truly was able to experience one of television’s most important series like no one has before. It’s a rare gift. And I’m not even done yet.
I have to be honest, going into this (re)watch of sorts, I was mostly interested in finding out what the big hullabaloo of Buffy the Vampire Slayer actually is. There’s no denying that it’s one of the fundamental shows of our lifetime — constantly being references in different media, cited as the startpoint for the female hero, and of course with a loyal following behind it. So watching Buffy at the beginning was more about doing my television homework. Otherwise, how else can I even call myself a television blogger? It’d be like if a film blogger had never watched Citizen Kane.
Okay, maybe not Citizen Kane because (A) that movie is MAJOR popular and (B) have you watched Citizen Kane? Boooooooring. Spoiler alert: he means the sled. Zzzzzzz.
It’d be more like if a film blogger never watched The Sixth Sense. Okay, here me out: The Sixth Sense is a film that debuted near the cornerstone of new cinema and drastically changed the way audiences and writers view plot and storytelling. People don’t give The Sixth Sense enough credit for that. Alas, people claim others don’t give Buffy the Vampire Slayer enough credit either. And here we are.
After three seasons of Buffy, I can’t exactly attest to that. I haven’t watched any other dramas from the late ’90s to know. But I can understand what made the series such a cult classic. It’s the camp. And you can try to say it’s a multitude of other things, but truthfully, it’s that self-referential campiness that sort of just resonates with people when they watch. You’ll never say: “Let me just pop in that episode of The Vampire Diaries for old times’ sake” or “Remember that one episode of Breaking Bad where…? Yeah, let’s pop that one in!” It just doesn’t happen. At least it would never happen to me. (Well, that’s not entirely true. A couple of months ago I said to myself, “I really want to watch that episode of Veronica Mars when she goes on jury duty” and then did. I haven’t watched that series in a long time.) But you might just think: “Remember that time Buffy fought a dummy?” or “That one with the alternate reality?”
It’s that sense of being able to watch an episode and just be entertained by a standalone 45 minutes because you know the universe so well. Since we so often comare Buffy to the likes of True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, the difference I’m trying to delineate here is that there’s an added element of entertainment with our old Buffy here — it’s a sense of joy. True Blood and The Vampire Diaries (especially the latter) offer exhilaration but that novelty sort of wears off after the first viewing, when you know what’s going to happen next. Buffy keeps you gleeful. You come back for that camp.
And that, my friends, is why it has stuck with audiences for so long.
Or at least that’s my very shitty analysis of events. I’m sorry I’m not more smarter. Speaking of which, these posts are going to be even more sporadic (if I get the energy to write about season 4 and beyond, since I’m still watching actually). But if you feel like you’re in need of some Buffy-ness, check out these recaps on TOR.com written by one Alyv Dellamonica. I found them last week when they used the #BuffyRewatch hashtag and read a couple. This Dellamonica lady is definitely much more smarter and more better than me is.
All right, let’s get to it, y’all. The ending to season three is perhaps the biggest shift in the series as of yet. All of our characters are trying to figure out their self-worth in their own little universe and how they standup in regards to the importance of their roles — in life, yes…but mostly in the show. Meanwhile, the mayor is closer to, I don’t know, devouring everyone, and Angel is beginning to realize that he and Buffy will just never work and it’s in both of their interests to separate sooner rather than later. Also, you know, MORE MONEY can be made with TWO shows rather than one and whatnot. But that probably wasn’t a factor.
Probably.
LOLJK it totally was obviously.
Anyway, that’s what we have going in for the end of the series as we begin “Doppelgängland.”
In “Doppelgängland,” Willow is feeling a little bit too predictable. While unwittingly helping Anya, she taps into “The Wish” universe of Sunnydale and somehow extracts her vampire-self. Needless to say, shenanigans ensue…but everyone’s okay and vamp-Willow gets back to her universe, ready to die just two seconds later.
The Grade: One the series’ best episodes, if I’m being honest. As mostly a standalone, the episode is sort of Willow’s “The Zeppo” and really added a lot for her character. Besides that, it was just extremely entertaining and funny. Although, I am still severely disappointed that Willow didn’t have sex with herself.
They’re SO LOUD with their making out OMG.[*]
[*] But not as loud as Buffy and Spike.[**]
[**] Oh yeah I’ve seen that episode already.[***]
[***] Bahaha hilarious!
In this episode, Faith and the Mayor hatch a plan to kill Buffy and make Angel evil yet again. And for most of the episode, it appears as though Faith is getting her way. However, it’s a bit misguided, don’t you think? Everyone sort of just believes that if Angel just has sex with anyone, he’ll lose his soul. That idea is greatly shallowing the depth of the situation at hand, and it’s mostly why Faith loses this battle. Unfortunately, given that I know about what happens next, I wasn’t exactly shocked with the twist here. But I was sort of weirded out by Faith’s downward spiral.
The Grade: It was quite all right (sorry, Kassie).
When this scene ended, I was actually almost completely shocked. I knew that it had to be 1999 when this episode aired and so I immediately googled to check how close to the Columbine Massacre it was. Turns out, very close. So much so that The WB decided to hold of almost half a year before it aired this fantastic gem.
Also, once again, this show is so Friends. Did you know — yes, fun fact — season 8 episode 3 “The One Where Rachel Tells…,” in which Monica and Chandler go on their honeymoon, had to be reshot? It’s true! Their storyline was originally that Chandler got stuck in airport security for saying the word “bomb” as part of a joke. However, after the events of September 11th, even though the episode was already shot, the writers wrote the story about how there was a couple in front of them getting all the perks and shot it really quickly.
Warner Bros. has some weird timing with real-world horror stories, including this year.
Anyway, it shocked me. And it wasn’t just the weird timing. It was just how great this episode was. I seriously found my second Buffy writer after Joss Whedon: Jane Espenson, who also wrote the fantastic “Band Candy,” but some less than stelar season 4 episodes. Though, I think “Pangs,” as stated, is really funny.
The Grade: Fantastic. I’m serious. I was so afraid of having to see more layers to one of my favorite characters, Jonathan, but the actor handled it so well and…ugh, it was just so good all around. Plus, Buffy totally got Sookie Stackhouse on errbody. And I actually enjoyed the Buffy/Angel scenes, y’all. THIS IS HOW GOOD THIS EPISODE WAS. I ENJOYED THE BUFFY/ANGEL STORYLINE. WHAT? Oh, and I was actually one of those who thought Joyce and Giles only made out. But they did MORE. TWICE! AHHHH.
Willow gets kidnapped. Then she reads some books. And the gang knows about the ascension and blah blah blah.
The Grade: Forgettable.
Okay, to be quite honest with you, the only reason this entire episode works is for the actual prom scenes. It takes a lot of muddling around to finally get there…but when it gets there, look out for the onion ninjas because you will be a-cryin, y’all!
Before we get to it, also important in this episode is Joyce coming in going “Angel, you should probably leave to your own show. Salary bump!” And Angel’s like “Yeah, makes sense.”
Anyway, back to prom. I can’t with Jonathan’s speech while presenting the Class Protector award. I’ve been trying to find it on YouTube so that I can post it here and we can all cry about it some more but to no avail.
What I HAVE found is a spoiler pertaining to which episode someone’s death takes place (UGH) and the unaired pilot just looking for this video. By the way, WHO in the hell is that in the pilot? That is NOT Willow. OH GOODNESS.
The Grade: This ten-minute episode was pretty good.
Hey, look at that! The first time a two-parter’s first part isn’t awful.
In this episode, the mayor is planning to ascend on graduation day because it’s convenient. Meanwhile, Angel’s been poisoned…and he needs to drain a slayer dry to live. Then, Buffy stabs Faith in order to get her blood, but Faith sort of dumps her body on the slowest moving truck that Buffy could have definitely run after but didn’t. A lot of stuff happens, including Buffy letting Angel drink from her and Willow and Oz doin it and doin it and doin it well, and then it’s graduation day and everyone is a BAMF!
Here’s how the second part went. Somewhat.
Buffy was almost drained dry, so Angel took her to the hospital because DUH. And the doctors were like, “We got dis B. Medical degrees and shit.” So he figured she was fine.
And then the mayor tried to kill Buffy because he has actual patriarchal feelings for Faith and it was so hilarious.
This lady was the absolute worst person to prevent this. She wasn’t even trying. LADY!!! OH MY GOD.
And then a lot of stuff happens, like a very insightful dream of Buffy’s where she acts almost analogous to the last time she thought she killed a human, including the following:
How this was even a storyline. BLEGHHGHGSDbflas;d’flkSDF EWWWWWW UGHbajskldgf ew. It’s like the most disgusting thing on this show. And you guys know how I feel about the parasites!!!!!
And then Angel says “I’m not saying goodbye!” and she’s like “But then how will I know you left?” and he goes “Oh, yeah, good point, I should probably say goodbye by just staring at you creepily behind some fog” and Buffy goes “K, good ol’ fashion Angel style.”
Anyway, but then graduation happens…
and the mayor is speaking and his head starts to do THIS:
AND THEN THE CLASS DOES THIS!!!!!
AHHHH!!! The best scene of the series thus far, y’all!!!! Everyone pitched in to take down the mayor and it was GLORIOUS. And just like the prom scene, everyone KNOWS. They’re not oblivious idiots! (It’s like that scene in season four, when Harmony tells Willow: “I haven’t seen you since graduation. Big snake, huh?”) Loved it all!
Except we did have some casualties. RIP Snyder. RIP Larry…? Maybe? I don’t know. But Buffy defeats it by blowing up YET ANOTHER SCHOOL.
And then Angel doesn’t say goodbye.
I think it was supposed to be romantic.
The Grade: Quite all right. This seriously was the more pivotal of the finales — everything in Buffy’s world is about to change; she even stopped working for the council! What will happen next!??!!!
Well, thankfully, I sort of know what happens next as I’ve watched all the way up to the episode before THE BEST EPISODE EVER “Hush.” And, if you were wondering, I’m also watching Angel in the correct viewing order with Buffy. And yes, I have thoughts. And yes, I plan to write about them. I don’t know when! But soon enough. Probably tomorrow. Who knows!
(But not tomorrow because I have no time tomorrow!)
For now, however, I just want to thank you for coming back week after week and reading my thoughts here. I’m being one hundred percent serious when I say that I don’t take that lightly and it genuinely means a lot to me. You have no idea how much that means. I hope you’ve had an okay time reading what I think and putting up with my antics. And thank you for navigating me through this universe.
Oh and did I tell you that about a month ago, whilst in a conversation that escalated WAY too quickly, I said: “WHAT is your childhood trauma?!” I REFERENCED THE SHOW OH EM GEE YOU GUYS. Anyway, that happened!!! And I never said anything because it just never felt like the right time.
I’ll leave you with three of my favorite episodes from each of the first three seasons, just in case you were wondering.
Season one: “Angel”; “The Puppet Show”; “Prophecy Girl”
Season two: “Ted”; “Killed By Death”; “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”(; “Passion”)
Season three: “Band Candy”; “Doppelgängland”; “Earshot”
Thanks for listening to my rambles! And don’t forget, the rewatch is still happening every Mondays with Buffy season 4 and Tuesdays with Angel season 1.
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Michael, I've enjoyed the ride and even if there isn't any more posts, it was still worth it. Its interesting to see your experience and viewpoint. Watching them so quickly (in comparison to the 7 years it took us) has to alter the experience and your relationship to certain characters. I'd compare it to my own experience watching the entire series of Greek in quick succession. That being said, Your analysis so far is spot on! Buffy is camp. Full of fleshed out characters and heart warming / wrenching moments, but camp none the less. Its a series I can watch at any moment and enjoy the ride.
Here is where I'm going to take a moment and let you in on a little insight. One I've observed over the years since watching Buffy and one you're probably picking up on through this experience. There are two types of Buffy fans, the ones like myself (and you I suspect though I don't want to put a label on you) who thoroughly enjoy the show and appreciate it for what it is, and the others... The ones who take it so seriously it threatens to suck the joy out of the show and actually turn you off of it. They over analyze every single aspect of the show. They present themselves as the all knowing, all seeing, been there since the beginning (a mantle I can claim myself but not one I feel the need to bring out), ultra fan base and anyone who isn't like us isn't a fan fan base.
Watch out for those guys. Don't think too much about what they have to say. It can be enjoyable to skim their statements and think, wow, you really need a hobby or something. It's like when you were in high school and your English teacher made you read Great Expectations, To Kill a Mocking Bird, or Romeo and Juliette. All great reads to be sure, but then you had to have a class discussion or book report discussing the character motives, the between the line themes, or comparisons to the life and times of the author. No, they were just good reads. Why, dear god why? Just enjoy the ride.
It looks like you have. And I applaud you for it :)
There's a reason why this fanbase has remained active for more than ten years since the show's end. And those "weird" fans who actually are in love with the show and appreciate dozens of layers Joss Whedon has put into it are exactly the reason why the fanbase is alive.
If stuff is deep, stuff can be explored and discussed for years. Its not a "guilty pleasure" or TVD/SN/whatever. It has far more depth and it has had far more impact upon the popular culture than to just "enjoy the ride and forget".
I'm so glad you chose to watch this series (and that you enjoyed it)! The best thing about Buffy is that no matter what is happening in the (mostly consistent) mythology, the writers never forget about character development. Everyone will break your heart then heal it then break it again.
Even if you don't write major posts anymore, I hope you'll keep us updated on your progress, reactions to big moments and whatnot.
And although it's probably too soon, my advice is that after you finish the series, wait a little while and then go back and watch it all again.
Thanks for being so cool and humoring us all this summer. I look forward to Gossip Girl in the fall!
Agreed! Seeing someone mostly "new" to the buffyverse react to things is always enjoyable and most of the entries have been thoroughly enjoyable to read. Let's Hope for at least some updates over time as he progresses through the show because its sufficiently entertaining and sophisticated and funny ride to read through ;]
I love Choices for same reason as Doppelgangland - since its essentially an episode about Willow's growth. The fact that Willow actually stakes a vampire (and how), the fact that she actually stands up against Faith and that she actually did so much in the face of danger, feels like a sort of pay-off for all the development she has been getting.
As Willow said in Doppelgangland(when she talked to Anya pretending to be Vamp-Willow),she feels like she is in the way of her friends, like she is weak and useless. And Choices essentially helps to show this new Willow who wants to be something more than just "useless book girl". At the same time I just got to love on how the episode showcases the perfect harmony of the Scoobie dynamics - how everyone knows what they have to do, how flawlessly the group works. And how Wesley is an outcast in the group.
Doppelgangland is full of so much awesome. A second use of "bored now", that brilliant scene of vamp-Willow walking in the Bronze(with a haunting "virgin state of mind" song by K's Choice playing in the background), the (un)intentional hilarity of scoobies finding she is "dead" and that she is alive and the way Angel gets so utterly confused by the same thing....hilarious and awesome.
Graduation Day, both parts, really showcase on why Angel and Buffy need to stay away from each other. Bad decisions and disregard for your own safety are their defining factors of their relationship and, IMO, by this point both of them know it. Otherwise its nice to see more of Buffy/Faith dynamics and Buffy's own darker sides and her potential of being awesome(like how she organized everyone into that fight).
I mentioned that Wesley is clearly portrayed as outcast, but so is Angel and Cordelia. I always felt its sort of a build up for Angel The Series as essentially ATS cast IS "outcasts of the outcasts" - someone who due to tragedies or mistakes they made had nothing left in their previous social circles and had to find a new family. You have all those people trying to figure out where they stand and to turn their lives around.
As for Wesley/Cordelia. I just LOVE that show acknowledges how icky it could have been by having them both be incredibly grossed out by that kiss and going "well, okay, nothing will ever happen there".
Doppelgangland- I love this episode so much foreshadow happen here and of course my favorite funny moment is in this episode (considering how funny this episode is) and it between Buffy and Angel when it came to one's personality as a vampire. I also like episodes that are centered on the support than the Buffy, it adds more perspective, which is why I love this show. Alyson really showed her acting chops.
Yeah looking back I can see how one can take Angel leaving creepy, that ish was romantic in the 90's (though I was more sad as hell as we were not told yet, Angel was getting his own show yet).
And yeah medicine actually means something in BTVS because vampire blood are not the cure to everything.
Yep. Its kind of sobering and strange to watch a show where you can't just cure everything with supernatural. BTVS has certain rules in supernatural world that do not bend easily if ever, thus death is final and magic and medicine does not really go together.
Every real injury is real and you can't just "shrug it off" with some spell or a pint of vampire blood.
In Buffyverse, Natural and Supernatural are NOT meant to mix. they are opposing forces of nature, of everything that is the universe.
Supernatural beings might have their own rules, each species a different
set of, that they can't break, but if you are human - you are pretty
much fragile and no magic spell will help you. Because magic is unpredictable and in buffyverse, magic always has a very hefty and horrible price.
The "Class Protector" scene is not on YouTube but it is on Vimeo ... LOVE THIS SCENE!!
https://vimeo.com/18973985
omfg. The feelings I feel about your feelings about this show are too great to describe accurately. I don't have any witty insight on anything but I figure I've been creeping on this shit long enough and I should post my adoration. Love you tons, can't wait to get married. Get Boranez on the horn to officiate. <3
Agh I just love reading your Buffy thoughts so so much, they make me smile. I want to know what you think of all the episodes!!! Hope you find time to write about s.4 soon. :)