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Wacky Watches: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Chosen - It's a good episode. It's really tightly written. It's a normal length episode but Joss fits a lot in. He knows how to write. The cookie dough scene isn't as bad as people say? I mean Angel says "do I have to go with the cookie analogy" so he knew it was stupid. Buffy points out that The First is really "The Taunter" and it's kind of like Joss is saying "yeah the First was kidn of lame." Kennedy says she's a "brat" so they must have been aware that everyone hated Kennedy by now. And she doesn't do anything bad here. But she's still Kennedy.

It's telling that I forgot to mention the subplot with Buffy having Xander drive Dawn out of town. Dawn kicks Buffy in the shins here, which was nice, but that's all that comes from it. Was this the payoff for "Buffy won't choose you"? WHAT WAS WITH THAT ANYWAY? It really really seems that they had a plan for a Dawn arc with her not trusting Buffy and then they just completely dropped it as she never mentioned it again after Potential. If it was just supposed to be the First then it was completley ineffective and why did it go to so much effort to make Dawn think it was Joyce? If it was Joyce...what was she warning Dawn about? If Dawn had done something important in the finale or even DIED then it would have made sense. Anyway it just annoys me because Dawn was so underused this season while Michelle was really really great. Whereas in season five when she wasn't yet at her best Dawn was overused. I wish it was different.

I still don't really like that Andrew and Anya (and Dawn and even one-eyed Xander) are expected to fight Ubervamps in the final battle? They aren't good fighters. Couldn't they have been given something to do more appropriate for their characters? I feel like in previous finales they would have been but there was too much to get through here.

Andrew telling a story to Xander about how Anya died is very good, of course.

Faith and Wood actually do have decent chemistry together but it just feels like it's there to give Faith something to do in the final. And she says "yo!" twice having never said it previously.

Buffy makes her best speech of the season. I wish the Potentials had been better characters so I could enjoy the scene of them being empowered more, but I do like Vi saying "these guys are dust" and the montage of girls throughout the world.

I think I used to wonder "couldn't they have just sent Spike down on his own then no one else would have had to die?" but they didn't really know what the amulet would do and I think the idea is that the Slayers beat the Ubervamps and Spike is there to cose the Hellmouth. But this isn't really shown well.

Spike saying "I feel my soul now, it's really there!" makes it sound like Spike had an arc all season where he couldn't feel his soul. But he didn't?

So yeah it's a good finale. Could have been better if everything leading up to it had been better.

DISCUSION QUESTIONS

1) What do you think of 'Chosen" as a finale for Buffy: The Vampire Slayer?
2) What do you think of the tv series Buffy: The Vampire Slayer as a whole?
 
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I liked Buffy as a series, I remember enjoying the finally at the time, but I havn't seen it since.

So Joss Kills Buffy (twice) then brings her back, kills Angel, and brings him back, kills Spike, then brings him back.

Remind me again why he is so anti Coulson's return?
 
Because most viewers have only seen the movies and don't know Coulson was resurrected so it would be needlessly complicated to slow down already packed movies by explaining to the viewer how Coulson came back.

Are you going to watch Angel season 5 now?
 
I was imagining it would take longer for you to get through these.

At the moment I don't have the time, that might change soon, but don't wait for me, you watch them at your own pace.
 
I never watched more than six episodes a day. That's restraint! (I only watched six episodes a day once actually.)
 
It has been great reading all the reviews.

There are many shows I wanted to watch with my boy, but turns out he didn't actually like any of them, but one day I will have a farscape rewatch, Buck Rogers, the old BSG.

Maybe even season 4 of 24 if I ever find that missing disc.
 
Just to clarify, 24 was not going to be watched by the boy, maybe when he is 16, but by then I imagine that will be old hat for him.
 
Conviction - This is a "written and directed by Joss Whedon" one and it's probably the best seaon opener of Angel? Or either show, maybe? It establishes the new setting with one of those Joss one take shots of everyone walking around the new set (and it's an impressive set!) and the writing is really good and it's a really good episode at showing where everyone currently stands and hinting at what is to come. And Harmony's back! She says "the secret ingredient is otter" and it's hilarious? And there's the part where Angel gets through to an automated ritual sacrifice line. Eve also appears for the first time so that literally everyone will say "IT SHOULD BE LILAH INSTEAD." Lilah was a great character, but no, it shouldn't? I didn't get the impression that Wolfram and Hart had dead employess working in the real world again. If they did, why not just put Holland Manners back in charge after he died? Lilah coming back to make the offer was a one time thing. She's working in Hell now. And Eve does things soon that it would make no sense of Lilah's character to do. ANYWAY, this episode is very good and they save Spike until the very end but it's not exactly a surprise since he's in the opening credits already...

Just Rewards - This episode isn't quite as good and it takes place almost entirely in the office and one other set and a generic graveyard. It feels cheap and that's because they had their budget slashed and it was cheap. But it's still a good episode! The highlight is the Angel/Spike interaction. Spike is already a lot more fun here than in Buffy season seven. I know he was forced into the show by "the network" but he works well right from the start.
 
Unleashed - The one with the werewolf girl. It's okay. They spend a lot of time tracking down the girl and Angel spends a lot of time feeling bad about not finding her in time. The scenes where Nina is alone with her family are quite good. Then there's the food people who eat werewolves and Phlox gets bit and Angel's all "in a month you can eat him!" but they actually closed the place down so that's undone. Spike continues to be a ghost with Fred. It's okay.
 
Hell Bound - It's a Spike centric episode. He's a ghost and there's an evil ghost trying to suck him to Hell because this ghost sends other ghosts to Hell so that this ghost doesn't have to go to Hell. I think! It's pretty good! Much better than all the stuff with Spike and The First in Buffy. Fred and Spike interacting is good. There's a bit where Fred says "Spike's a champion, like you" and Angel says "God I hate that word." That's funny. Angel locks the evil demon in a box where he can't ever move again FOREVER at the end while Eve looks happy about Angel doing evil things.
 
Life of the Party - It's a comedy episode about Lorne. I like Lorne and he's good here. The episode is mostly fine. Things Lorne says start coming true (a bit like the Buffy Episode 'Something Blue' but not as good) so Angel and Eve have sex and Gunn pees everywhere(!) and Fred and Wesley get drunk. It's just maybe not enough plot for a whole episode as it starts to drag by the end and by the time the Hulk Lorne shows up I was just like "oh it's a Hulk Lorne." The stuff with Lorne having to pretend to be nice to demons wearing human skin or pylean skin jackets is the best part.

The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco - There's been no "previously on" for any episode this season. I assume this was THE NETWORK asking them to tell more standalone stories. But every episode has had a scene where the characters just outright state the premise of the season. "We work for an evil law firm now and we're worried about being corrupted!" It's kind of annoying. This episode at least has a story about Angel being worried about not being a hero anymore. The flashbacks to Nummero Cinco's time as a "champion" (even he uses the word!) are geat. The Devil built a robot. Angel and Spike both show an interest in the Shanshu prophecy. This episode is good.

Lineage - Wesley's not quite Dark Wesley of season 4 anymore and maybe that's down to the "Connor Forgetting" spell (but we do find out here that he remembers his relationship with Lilah and her murder.) We meet his father for the first time (OR DO WE) and it's a pretty great episode! Wesley goes back to clumsy Wesley in his presence but then at the end he just fucking shoots his father dead for threatening Fred and that's pretty stone cold and cool. It doesn't really matter that it's not really his father because Wesley thought it was at the time. Spike gets a lot of funny lines in this episode (his delight at finding out Wesley was "head boy") and there's the part where Angel and Spike both try to make Wesley feel better by talking about murdering their own parents. We don't find out who the Cyborg Ninjas were or how they managed to make a perfect version of Welsey's dad but maybe we would have in seaosn 6. Cyborg Ninjas are cool.

Destiny - We get flashbacks with Spike, Angel and Dru and they're good. Make up for the bad use of Dru on Buffy last season. But this episode is all about Spike versus Angel and they have a pretty great fight scene in an opera house (I remember when this was on tv I could hardly see what was going on because the picture was so bad but it looks fine on DVD.) They also do a lot of talking about being a "champion" but it's very good talking! It's good that they tackle the whole "who is the propechy about" issue now that there's two vampires with a soul (but don't resolve it) and it's the first big fight scene between Angel and Spike and they jump around and shit and it's fun. Meanwhle it's revealed Eve is sleeping with Lindsey(!) and that's quite the cliffhanger. The last three episodes have been a great run.

Harm's Way - I believe this was the first episode back after a two month break. Which is unfortunate after the big cliffhanger before that break as this episode doesn't really touch on the arc stuff at all. But it's a good comedy episode! I'd rank it above Life of the Party. Harmony has always been a great character and I like how she's actually good at her job and genuinely trying to make it as a single undead lady in the big city. She gets a cool fight scene with a vampire girl. The Wolfram and Hart corporate video at the start is really funny with Angel's awkward delivery. It's good seeing more of the culture inside Wolfram and Hart too. So yeah this is good but maybe not the best way to return after a long break but what are you going to do.
 
Soul Purpose - Restless was one of the best depictions of dreams I've ever seen on television. So it's hard not to find this episode extremely disappointing as the dreams are pretty standard "tv dreams". The only really inventive bits are when the bear appears and when Angel dreams of being the new mailman like Numero Cinco. But all the dreams do is repeat "ANGEL FEELS LIKE HE ISN'T A HERO ANYMORE" again and again. We get it! It's the theme of the season! It's really unsubtle. The stuff with Spike and Lindsey (who gives the name Doyle) is better but this is definitely the weakest episode of the season so far.

Damage - This is really our only chance to see some of the consequences of 'Chosen' (I know there's comics but they're a MIXED BAG at best.) Andrew shows up and he's okay here and has some funny lines ("vampyres") but feels kind of out of place? SHAME IT WASN'T GILES. And that Vi doesn't show up with Andrew's Slayer bodyguards at the end. It's good to have an episode where Angel does the right thing and Spike's the one getting things wrong. Spike gettting his fucking hands chopped off is pretty brutal (and it's well established that Wolfram and Hart can reattach body parts so it's not too much of a cop-out when he gets fixed.) The final scene with Angel and Spike talking about the nature of their past evil is strong. It's a good episode.
 
You're Welcome - We haven't seen the real Cordy since season 3 (well apart from her floaty head in the higher realm and maybe 'Spin The Bottle) so just having Charsma back and actually acting like classic Cordy makes this episode feel joyous. It's a good, fun episode with a cool fight between Angel and Lindsey and lots of funny lines. And Harmony wanting to torture Eve. And Fred getting all turned on by Wesley doing magic. And Spike playing Donkey Kong. Having Angel and Lindsey face off really makes it feel like "classic" Angel even if Lindsey's motivations here are still really murky. I mean I think the writers didn't really know what his motivations where yet and just rushed his story here because they got Charisma to appear in the hundredth episode. He says something about "that vampire taking my job" but he didn't want anything to do with Wolfram and Hart the last time we saw him. But maybe we'll learn more later. I guess the only downside with this episode is that it's repeating the same basic "Angel feels depressed about his new position, gets a confidence boost" storyline of several season 5 episodes (it's literally the same plot as The Cautionary Tale Of Numer Cinco?) But it's Cordy being back and all the little fun things that elevates this episode to being great. And that ending with the "thank you." That was well done. I felt human emotions.
 
Why We Fight - We've had the "an old vampire Angel sired shows up for revenge!" thing before. We've had "someone tells Angel he's a dick for working at Wolfram and Hart!" before. This episode has them both! It's a weird episode. Was it a late replacement for another episode or something? It feels like it. Suddenly Wolfram and Hart's office is empty and this vampire can just walk in and easily capture Wesley, Fred and Gunn. Spike's in the submarine flashbacks because they wanted to put Spike dressed as a Nazi in the previews. There's also literally no reason why 1940's Angel wouldn't have just staked Spike like he did the other two (the Prince of Lies was cool though let's give them that.) So yeah outside of a few funny lines ("I was Rasputin's lover!") this isn't very good.

Smile Time - This is very good! Actually it's great! It's fun and funny but also pretty creepy with the grinning kids and the puppets acting like child molesters. No one shows up to tell Angel he's a dick for working at Wolfram and Hart! That's really good. It's also very funny and everyone gets good stuff with Fred and Wesley finally getting together (I'm sure that will last!), Gunn agreeing to help a creepy doctor in exchange for a brain upgrade and Lorne and Spike getting funny lines. Nina is used well too. But really just seeing Puppet Angel doing anything is hilarious because it's a fucking Puppet Angel, y'all! Self esteem is for everyone.
 
A Hole In The World - This is a good episode to show someone who asks you "what is a Joss Whedon episode like?" It's like this. It starts off with a nice flashback to Fred with her parents (the best parents in the Buffyverse) then the episoe starts quite light with the "cavemen or astoranuts?" debate (which is thematically relevant!) and we get to see all the characters being happy and remember why we like and care about these characters. Then Fred sings and Lorne gives a look and it's fucking ON. Fred dies in a a really brutal way and everyone's sad because they love Fred. I remember people complaining that they seemed to care more about Fred than Cordy, but they'd already kind of grieved for Cordy since she was in a coma for six months and you can't really hold that complaint against this episode anyway because this episode is great and it's a stupid complaint. The stuff with Gunn realising he's responsible and seeing himself in the White Room is really good. Knox's part is played perfectly. And Wesley tumbles back into "Dark Wesley" and it's sad because Dark Wesley is a mask he wears to hide his inner pain okay. The Deeper Well is a cool setting, Drogon is a good guest character and "there's a hole in the world. Feels like we ought to have known" is a great line. And poor Fred. Oh but now Amy Acker is playing a new character!?

Shells - A rare "previously on" for season 5! This one is great too and if it's not as super great as the previous it still doesn't feel like a step down or anything. I like all the stuff with Illyria powering up and making her suit and slowing down time and just generally being awesome. Amy Acker is awesome. Wesley stabs Gunn and shoots Knox dead but in the end he begins a weird relationship with Illyria that is going to be good to watching playing out over...six episodes? That's all? Fuck. That end scene with Fred leaving home is brutal.
 
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Of those two episodes, when they originally aired, Shells is the one that made me cry. I still get very emotion when I hear A Place Called Home.
 
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