3,2,1,4
I didn’t care for 5,6 and 7.
Or, alternatively : 8. 6. 7. 5. 3. 0. 9.
Yo’ mama.
I did a thread during S7 on rating the show season by season. I left off S7 since it was in progress, but now I think I’d slot it just by default in a tie for last place. I liked quite a bit of S7 but overall it was just didn’t hang together. Other than that I think I stand by my ranking.
Start from the beginning, Ravenman. Every season is worth having on DVD, and this way she can move through systematically. You could also get her the Angel or Firefly sets, which she might never have seen.
–Cliffy
I’m with Otto. The Body is the best depiction of death I’ve seen in my (limited) tvwatching experience. And Glory is a phenomenally cool villain. Angel doesn’t come close.
Daniel
Gotta back **Otto **here, too. Not sure that it’s the BEST season, but season 5 kicks some proverbial ass. I have the first 6, and I’ve been watching again in order (The Gift is up today.) The Body is almost too painful to bear repeated viewing though. Watching Spilke struggle with his feelings - he hasn’t really given in to them yet - in Season 5 is more interesting than Spuffy (though I was a Spuffy fan).
The early seasons, while fun, suffered from one terrible drawback - David Boreanz’s early acting attempts. Ouch. He definitely improved with time, but go back and watch some of the early stuff without your Angel-colored glasses on. It’s pretty awakening.
I know I’m in the minority but I didn’t really like Glory as a villian. She was kind of whiny and annoying–bit of a one-note character. The reason I loved the mayor as big bad so much was because he was so, so bad, yet so darn likeable. I really bought into his relationship with Faith and I actually thought it was kind of sweet in a really twisted way. I’m also a big fan of season 6, which many, many fans hate with a firey burning passion and I really didn’t like season 4 at all. (not including “Hush,” which is some of the finest writing/acting I’ve ever seen on television) I think my order would be 6,3,2,1,5,7,4. On the other hand, most Buffy fans don’t agree with me, so feel free to completely ignore my opinion here.
Oh, yeah. The very first episode he’s dreamy to look at, but that there’s some bad actin’! However, he vastly improved by the end of season one and season 2 was flat out heart-breaking. I think he’s great as Angelus. He’s so gleefully evil it’s really fun to watch. Disturbing. But fun.
Hm. So the consensus seems to be emerging around seasons two and three, or just starting at the beginning. I appreciate all the replies!
As a new buffy fan who just (nearly*) completed watching it over the course of the past few months, here’s my opinion. (*I missed one: “I was made to love you,” and I’m waiting for it to roll around again on FX)
Season 2 is the best. Spike, Dru, and Angel together were the best villians. Great character developments, Heartbreaking ending.
Season 6 is a close second. Despite the dire warnings I read online, I loved it. The darkness of the emotion was expertly balanced with the goofiness of the Trio. More Heartwrenching stuff, more great character stuff, plus the brilliant Musical.
After that, I would go:
7(In many ways, simply a continuation of 6. uneven, but good.)
4 (Hey, I liked the initiative, what can I say? plus Hush),
3(Good, but I don’t like it as much as most do),
5 (It was great, except for the whole Glory story, which knocks it down),
1 (Still good, but just getting started, missing some of the best characters).
How much do you want to spend? Amazon sells seasons 1-4 in a box set for about $125.
You’re not alone. I like season 5, but Glory is what keeps it down for me (well, her along with Spiral and Weight of the World, blech!) and keeps it from ranking above seasons 3, 2, 4, and 1 for me.
Gonna have to go with 2, Surprise/Innocence, Passion, I Only Have Eyes For You, Bewitched/Bothered/Bewildered, Becoming Part 1 and Becoming Part 2. No other season has more of my favorite episodes.
I remember I taped Becoming Part 2 since I couldn’t watch it when it aired. I watched it, rewound the tape immediately and watched it again.
Amazing stuff.
Ditto with that last part. Season 2 has most of the episodes which, in my opinion, so richly showed what sacrifices a slayer has to make while trying to be a “normal” girl. A lot of those episodes were heart-wrenching in their poignancy.
Glory was nothing more than a one-dimensional bully; she didn’t have any character depth, but if she did, it was shallow enough to be almost non-existant. (Although I like a part of what she represented: a totally powerful being from whom there is little or no protection. The challenges in facing something like that are amazing.) Now, that said, “The Body” and “The Gift” were excellent episodes. I bugged my then-girlfriend over and over until she watched “The Body” with me. (For some reason she failed to be impressed. Silly woman.)
I say start at the beginning. It’s fun to see everyone so, well… young in the first season, and the writers make many references to the first season throughout the series–including the final episode in Season 7. (Which was very touching.) Also, I love the scene in Prophecy Girl where Buffy tells Giles she quits. I thought it was one of the few times that Gellar acted convincingly.
This is the wrongest thing I have read today. While you personally may prefer to be stalked by a sociopathic vampire with a “sense of whimsy” to a hell god, it was much, much, much harder for Buffy to fight Angel than Glory. As villains go, Angel was, imo, one of the great TV villains of all time, just because the hero was almost totally unable to fight him. There wasn’t any inner turmoil with fighting Glory - she was a bad guy, that’s it. And as sad as “The Gift” was, does it emotionally compare to “Becoming”? I submit that they aren’t even in the same ballpark. (Ever heard that Sarah McLaughlin song playing elsewhere and immediately get teary? Um, yeah, me neither.)
That said, Season 3 is the best. They changed the film between seasons 2 and 3 and 3 just looks better. It has great storylines about what it means to be a Slayer, leather-clad vampire Willow, Spike has a great one shot episode, it has my most favorite episode ever (“Band Candy”), and they aren’t even above mocking the absurdly melodramatic Buffy/Angel relationship (see “The Zeppo” for one of the funniest moments on the show, in any season). The Mayor isn’t particularly scary, but so awesome. Come on, season 3 rules!
After that, it’s 2, 4, 5, 1, 6, 7. Every season has at least one great episode (6: "Once More With Feeling, 7: “Storyteller”) but the last two seasons don’t really mesh very well. And I found 6 to be too dark and disturbing, unpleasantly so.
Pissed-off Giles. Baseball bat.
Yes, someone does beat Angelus when he’s bad.
Um. Also, Buffy, Faith, and Willow have all kicked Angelus’ ass. Well, Willow didn’t so much kick his ass as…make him go away, but yeah. It’s conceivable that those three have a few more skills than most of us. I think everyone agrees that Angelus = not nice. Still, often amusing, always entertaining, and wears leather pants!
I share your pain. I’ve attempted to share my Buffy addiction with many an ex, and I’m inevitably disappointed and stupified when they fail to at least appreciate these two episodes. It comes close to being a deal breaker for me, lol.
I recently forced my roommate to watch the musical episode, if only to get him to appreciate the LARGE poster I have in our living room. I was tickled pink when he managed to laugh a few times, as a non-addict. It’s sickening how happy that made me. I’m truly a sad, sad woman.
And, may I add… Willow as the vampire? Rowrrr. The first thing, years ago, that made me gain my fetish for red-heads.
- Rebekkah
I concur. I SO desperatly wanted to see the spin off where they fleshed out Giles’ character, reported to be forthcoming on the BBC. I was very disappointed when it didn’t happen.
Love love love Giles.
/addict
- Rebekkah
I came to Buffy late in life, and as a result of having seen later seasons episodes first, I have a rather skewed view.
2, 5, 6, 7, 3, 4, 1
However, if I were buying the DVD sets I’d probably get them in this order
4, 6, 5, 2, 3, 7 (I don’t think I’d get 1, unless I developed a hankering for a complete set)
They’re on every day (for now) and admit it, you still have a few buffy tapes somewhere in that cabinet. The DVDs are most useful for showing non-buffy fans. I went with 4, one of my least favorite overall seasons, 1st because it has a handful of episodes that are great and require little buffy knowledge to enjoy. Anyone who doesn’t like Hush…I can’t even think of anything extreme enough.
The same goes for 6. The one-two punch of Once More With Feeling and Tabula Rasa is enough in and of itself to justfy the purchase.