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Wacky Watches: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Band Candy - This is Jane Espenson's first Buffy script and it's a great one. It's the funniest comedy episdoe so far (sorry Bewitched, Bothered Bewildered, you were fun) but also it has a scene with vampires stealing babies from a hospital so it's not exactly an out and out comedy. Anthony Stewart Head is so much fun as teenage Girles that they should make a Ripper spin-off series on the BBC or something! And Snyder is stoked. I like Ethan Rayne and his amusing facial expressions too. THIS IS GREAT STUFF.
 
Revelatons - Well Faith's relationship with authority figures is certainly a thing. Her last Watcher was brutally killed in front of her, her new Watcher turns out to be evil. I feel for her and Dushku does a good sad confused look! Xander is in full on "LET'S KILL ANGEL I'M A DICK" mode but does kind of realise maybe they shouldn't just kill Angel without finding out if he's evil first before the end. I liked the glove because it's like something out of a Zelda game maybe. Good episode.

Giles knocked out count: 11

Lovers Walk - I haven't really cared much about the Xander/Willow subplot (don't hate it though!) but it pays off pretty well here. But really this episode is about Spike being pretty fucking great. Marsters was already very good in season 2 but he's just awesome here and everything Spike does is so much fun. Like when he's taunting Angel by making faces behind Joyce's back. And that Sunnydale sign! There's the awesome part where he tells Angel and Buffy about their relatiosnhip and it's a really Whedon-y thing to have a scene where the villain tells off the heroes with a truthbomb. The magic shop returns and it looks different now! It's on that street set they started using this season. It's still pretty small though. Oh the part where it looks like Cordy's dead but it's someone else's funeral. This is a great episode.
 
The Wish - Turns out Marti Noxon isn't the enemy of fun at all, as this episode is great? I love how it starts like it's going to be a Cordelia episode but then she dies halfway through. Harmony's back and she's nasty to Jonathan who's drinking a Big Gulp. Sexy bisexual vampire Willow is great. The Master is great! With his insane scheme to put straws in humans or whatever. Anya is nothing like she'll be as a regular character, which makes sense. Season 3 is pretty great.

Amends - We get more Angel flashbacks so there's Boreanaz's bad Irish accent again. The best thing about the ending (which is pretty touching on its own!) is that Jasmine probably sent the snowstorm to save Angel because she needed him alive to help her enslave humanity in the future.
 
Gingerbread - After I got through Beauty and The Beasts I thought "hey there aren't any more bad episodes in season 3!" Because I forgot about this one. This one is pretty bad. Joyce being annoying (I know she's being influenced by Hansel and Gretel...or something.) Willow's mom makes her one and only appearance and she doesn't really work. They suddenly inject some comedy at the end (Oz and Xander falling through the vent) probably because the episode was pretty boring and annoying. Amy's a goth now but she's still nice and doesn't seem to be someone who would hang out with a "magic dealer"...

Giles knocked out count: 12 (this episode does have Cordy's awesome "one of these days you'll wake up in a coma" line.)
 
Helpless - Buffy trying to ask Giles to take her to the ice show is adorable. Hank Summers is becoming the deadbat dad now (I think the only time we see him again is in the asylum episode.) It's Giles who stands up to authority now as he helps Buffy against the Watchers' Council's wishes. Really the Council are kind of dumb. Like how many Slayers have died in their stupid test? I like the crazy vampire. The actor does a good job and because Buffy's depowered it makes the scene where he talks her very entertaining. She finally uses holy water for something useful! Good episode. Also, REED ALERT! On his way from being "the white guy in Desmonds" to being "Reed from Enterprise" Dominic Keating made a stop in Sunnydale. So there's that.

The Zeppo - Yeah, sorry, this is a good episode. Like even if you hate Xander you can still recognise that this is a good, funny episode. I WILL SAY though that they do up Xander's dorkiness a bit in the opening scene, to make the part where they others decide not to have him help them work. It doesn't really ring true? Maybe if it had built for the rest of the season it would have been better. But Xander feeling useless when all his friends have super powers certainly makes sense. The undead teenagers are a lot more fun than the undead teenagers in Some Assemply required. This is a fun episode. I like when the Buffy/Angel sad romance music cuts out when Xander walks in. Nicholas Brendon does a good job playing Xander's range of Xander feelings in it. It's good.
 
Bad Girls - It's Wesley! I like that guy. He'll be around for a while. He's a prat here, yeah, but he's just doing what he's been trained to do. After what happened with her previous Watches, Faith takes one look at him and is like "fuck this" and tries to convince Buffy to do bad stuff with her. Buffy starts enjoying a bit, but then they end up beating up some cops and it's not so much fun. There's also that obese demond guy who needs moistened all the time. He's memorable. The Mayor has a list of mundane things to do with "become immortal" on there as well. "You just killed a guy"/"I don't care" is a very good way to end an episode. Sarah Michelle Gellar is a really great actress at this point and Dushku's doing a good job as Faith as well. STRONG EPISODE.

Consquences - This episode is pretty great. Everyone gets good stuff to do (okay all Cordy doees is start the thing with Wesley. You can't really blame him for thinking she's a teacher when she looks exactly like a 30 year old.) Willow crying over Xander. Xander going to see Faith and her nearly killing him. Yeah Marti Noxon wrote a scene where a woman forces herself on a man and nearly chokes him to death, kind of foreshadowing a more famous attempted rape scene she'll write later. She's got issues. The scene really works in the episode anyway. Angel tries to help Faith starting their long relationship. Mr Trick dies and I liked him but I'm not sad to see him go or anything. He served his purpose. Faith goes full heel by going to the Mayor at the end. Shit is getting serious. Season 3 is great.
 
Dopplegangland - Written and directed by Joss Whedon? That sounds promising! I feel like I haven't praised Alyson Hannigan enough in this thread because it has to be said again that Alyson Hannigan is really really really fucking good. This is probably the best episode to show that. The whole first part of the episode is such a great look at Willow's character with the "lunchtime be damned" scene and everything. And that's before Vamp Willow shows up! She's awesome as Vamp Willow too. As well as just being a great character episode for Willow this episode is hilariously funny. And there's the bit where Giles hugs Willow when he finds out she's alive. There's even a very good Faith/Mayor Wilkins scene at the start and some funny Wesley/Cordelia stuff. I LIKE THIS EPISODE.
 
Enemies - It's weird how the first time I watched these episodes I was probably mostly thinking "FAITH IS HOT" rather than "I like this character and her story arc." Watching it now I'm mostly thinking the second one (the first one is still true, of course!) which shows that I've grown as a person! The moment where the Mayor cheers her up by suggesting miniature golf is really quite touching. It's good that Cordy's part of the gang again (though maybe she's just there because she wants to shag Wes.) THE RUN OF GOOD EPISODES CONTINUES.
 
Earshot - I keep typing "Sarah Michelle Gellar is a really good actress" a lot and I think this episode is another great example of it! I like how it explores Buffy's telepathy all the way from "funny" to "scary" to "helping her understand how Jonathan feels". This is a good Espensonisode.

Choices - This is good too! They all talk about the future and stuff! Willow takes a vampire with a floating pencil. Snyder says "why can't you be dealing drugs like normal people?" But the best bit is Faith being sad to leave her new knife behind. Poor Fatih.

The Prom - Is this the best thing Marti Noxon's ever written? Because this episode is great. And sad. But also happy. I dare you not to cry at the class protector bit. And then Angel shows up for one last dance. Squeeee.
 
Graduation Day Part 1 - When Faith says "Look at you. All dressed up in big sister's clothes" had they actually planned Dawn (or had a vague idea Buffy would have a mystical sister at some ponit) or was it just a happy coincidence? The "I prefer to think of it as graduation" line is pretty badass. Faith and Buffy crash through a window together when they fight just like they did in Revelations (I should have mentioned that back then.) This episode is very good.

Graduation Day Part 2 - I never know if I should count the two-parters as one episode? But these two were definitely shown on different weeks. In fact this one was shown two months later because of Columbine. That must have been annoying! Becoming maybe has the bigger emotional moment when Buffy has to kill souled Angel to save the world, but really it's pretty hard to compete with that. This one feels more epic? I like how all the recurring students come back. There's lots of great moments. Buffy kissing coma Faith is sweet. The bit where the vampires are like "get the kids!" but the kids are already charging at them with weapons. All those kids graduated from being victims to understanding that they live in Sunnydale and have to like know how to fight. (Too bad it would have encouraged kids watching at home to attack vampires at their graduation after their mayor turns into a giant snake.) Wesley comes back to help and maybe he could be a heroic character eventually! Snyder just wants order. Willow sure seems to enjoy having sex with Oz. SOME LESBIAN SHE IS. I'll miss the high school stuff.
 
CaptainWacky said:
Graduation Day Part 1 - When Faith says "Look at you. All dressed up in big sister's clothes" had they actually planned Dawn (or had a vague idea Buffy would have a mystical sister at some ponit) or was it just a happy coincidence?
Click to expand...

They're making a bed in Buffy's spare room (that would later become Dawn's room). Buffy dreams about making the same bed in Restless ("Be back before Dawn").
 
Elvis Costello did a song in 1981 called Big Sister's Clothes

But it's easier to say "I love you,"
than "Yours sincerely" I suppose
All little sisters like to try on big sister's clothes

They probably weren't alluding to this BUT I LIKE TO ADD ELVIS TO EVERYTHING so maybe they were.

[YOUTUBE]o3wPnwq5Ww8[/YOUTUBE]
 
I'll probably take a short Buffy break and watch some Community and then return with Buffy AND Angel.

I'm listening to the Dusted podcast and the woman is arguing that Reptile Boy is a better episode than Lie To Me(!?)

Eggs Mayonnaise said:
Elvis Costello did a song in 1981 called Big Sister's Clothes
Click to expand...

Faith's line "Look at you, all dressed up in big sister's clothes" is a reference to the Elvis Costello song "Big Sister's Clothes" on the album Trust. Since Joss was said to have planned much of the show out early on, this could be a subtle reference to Buffy becoming a big sister later on.
Click to expand...

I don't know how reliable Buffyverse Wiki is though...
 
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