It doesn’t pertain to the current conversation, but Something to Sing About from OMWF just queued up on my player and gave me chills.
I think I need to pull out my Season Six DVDs.
Actually, it’s about 12 weeks. And, yes, it is somewhat weak.
Heh.
My bad.
Wait, why was I even trying to say “12 weaks”? I think I meant 12 episodes. 12 episodes, that were kind of week…I mean weak.
Yeah, that’s it.
:smack:
Yes, Mr. Whedon, I get it. Sex is bad.
Just saw two more great eps - ‘‘New Moon Rising’’ in Buffy Season 4
Even if the network won’t show Willow and Tara kissing, I’m glad they at least made their relationship explicit. I was worried it was just going to be episode after episode of Willow’s ‘‘special, secret friend’’ without making it obvious to anyone in the show’s universe that they were an item
and
‘‘Five by Five’’ in Angel Season 1.
[SPOILER]
Poor Wesley. And Angel refusing to kill Faith is just, ugh, insult to injury. Waaaaah she’s so misunderstood just like meeeeeeee Waaaaah. Whatever. That bitch is way more trouble than she’s worth.[/SPOILER]
I love getting more backstory on Angel though. That was something I hoped they would do ever since Buffy.
Sex is bad? Ill-considered sex, maybe. But there are numerous repercussion-free boinkings in the Whedon-verse. (Not WTWTA, of course. That episode was just stupid.)
You are now heading into three very good episodes to wrap up Season 4. Pay very close attention to the last one.
blink
blink blink
Really? When?
I mean, he *says *it, ironically, in the commentaries. More than once. “Sex is bad” is a leitmotif for the man! (Do I believe he really believes that? No. Do I believe he really believes it makes good television? Absolutely.)
Dude’s got his own subsection under this trope on Television Tropes, for goodness’ sakes!
Yeah, but on the other hand, we got to see Giles the god of acoustic rock!
Wash/Zoe, Inara/Everybody, Jayne/whores, Giles/Olivia, Giles/Joyce - just to cover what olives has seen.
Then there is Angel/Eve, Angel/Nina, Gunn/Gwen, Spike/Dru, Spike/Harmony…
Agreed, that episode was worth it just for that.
(not going to bother with spoiler boxes here).
I never thought Angel refusing to kill Faith had anything to do with Faith. And I don’t think he believes she’s simply misunderstood like him. I think for Angel it’s far more than that. He doesn’t just identify with her, he needs to save her because he needs to be saved himself. Of course, Angel is so full of self-loathing that he probably thinks he doesn’t really deserve his redemption, which makes him fight all the harder for others (like Faith this time, though it’s a recurring theme for Angel).
On a side note, I hate Five by Five. I hate seeing Wes tortured. It’s especially awful because I want to see some comfort after that hurt, and nobody is there for Wes at all. (Also, I ship Wes/Faith and brutal torture is always difficult for a ship to endure. Even in the Whedonverse).
If anyone is curious but doesn’t know what “Five by Five” means – Willow even lampshades this idea by telling Tara that nobody understands it – it is a two-way radio term. Radio operators report (to each other) on signal strength and signal clarity on a scale of 1 to 5.
If you pick up the radio and ask how well you can be heard, and the answer that comes back is “five by five,” that literally means “loud and clear.”
Huh. I always thought it meant, ‘‘square’’ (5x5 dimensions would be square, yeah?) Not as in ‘‘dorky’’ but as in, ‘‘all good.’’ Thanks for that.
Yes, that’s just what I meant to imply. That’s how I see it too.
Still stupid. And yes, it’s awful for Wesley to go through all that torture and then stumble outside to see Angel comforting Faith. It’s total bullshit. If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my aaangry dome.
On the other hand, this is an important moment for Wesley. He never knew Angelus personally, and it’s easy to be on the “Angel deserves forgiveness” train when Wesley isn’t the one who has to forgive him. But now…now this is personal. Can Wesley still be committed to redemption, to the idea of atonement and forgiveness, after such a personal and devastating attack? Faith is as much a test for him as she is for Angel.
But she wouldn’t be a problem if some British guy hadn’t barged in and taken her just as Angel was making progress…
heh.
Indeed. It’s really too bad the British guy didn’t know any better at the time.
There was a B-17 named “Mr Five by Five”–on this page. (Also, off topic, one was named “Pogue Ma Hone.”)
FINISHED SEASON 4 of BUFFY and SEASON 1 of ANGEL (Spoilers to follow):
Overall impressions of BUFFY SEASON 4… well, what can I say. It’s not the best, it’s not the worst. It started off by frontloading some pretty terrible episodes but then got pretty good by the end. I’d put my season ranking order at: 2, 3, 4, 1.
I still don’t particularly care for Riley. He’s every teenage girl’s fantasy-in other words, incredibly boring. They couldn’t even make him interesting as a government operative. He’s a nice guy and all, but yeah, kind of disappointed they didn’t kill him off. It could be just Angel-related angst, but I feel like no mortal guy can be Buffy’s equal. Riley just looks kind of ridiculous and impotent at her side.
I did really enjoy the Season Finale (The Yoko Factor/Primeval) quite a bit, particularly the way they all came together at the end to support one another. Also, it’s clear they went all-out with the budget, and it pays off. When Buffy is ‘‘possessed’’ and can stop bullets and shit, it’s totally badass. And lots of good explosions.
Restless was the coolest of the cool. I loved it. Great direction, and each dream sequence seemed true to the character. I am particularly fond of the cheese guy. I think one of my favorite episodes of the series.
We have watched the first two eps of Season 5 so far, and it looks like it has real potential.
Buffy v. Dracula is a hilarious premise in the first place, but I like how they used it to serve the bigger picture. Not only do we have Buffy exploring her slayer-identity, but it sounds like Xander’s about to experience some changes as well.
Dracula said something to her that sounded very familiar, but I can’t remember if it was repeated from an earlier episode of Angel or an earlier episode of Buffy:
‘‘You think you know who you are, what is to come, but you’ve only just begun.’’ (something like that.) Ominous.
And, by the way, the fighting choreography looks a LOT slicker in Season 5 so far. I’m kind of a martial arts/combat enthusiast and there are some impressive fight scenes in the Dracula ep.
And then… Real Me. Dawn, WTF, WTF, WTF? Don’t even tell me, I don’t even want to know if she’s a permanent character or just in for a few episodes. I’d like to see how this unfolds. But seriously, WTF?!!!
Overall impressions of ANGEL SEASON 1. I love Angel. I love Angel, and Wesley, and Cordelia, I love them forever. The growth of these three characters seems really organic to me, and it’s not something you would have expected out of either Wesley or Cordelia when they first popped up in Buffy. There are just so many subtle things that just make this show more complete for me, as a character study. Like when Cordelia makes a joke about death, Wesley admonishes her that this is serious business, and Angel remarks under his breath, ‘‘I thought it was funny.’’
Now, as for individual eps:
Sanctuary - I think Angel lost his goddamn mind taking in Faith. Having said that, however, Buffy was a total bitch when she discovered them together. I think her hangup is that she struggles to admit that she has selfish motivations sometimes, but the wounded puppy act was totally misplaced here, and she hurt Angel’s feelings on purpose by emphasizing the trust she felt she shared with Riley (this was also a misrepresentation, because she still hides things from Riley.) She deserved to be told to get the hell out of his face. That he would then feel the need to come all the way to Sunnydale to apologize is complete and utter bullshit.
**
War Zone**- did anyone else notice that after this episode, in which he is forced to slay his own sister, Gunn becomes Mr. Personality? I like his new personality better, but jeez, talk about a 180.
**Blind Date **- Interesting. I liked getting more character development with Lindsay, and the execution of this episode was great. Wolfram and Heart began to feel more like a real organization with real people rather than just a faceless Supervillian. The idea of personal choice to do good or evil seems to be a recurrent theme on Angel.
To Shanshu in L.A. - the Series Finale. I believe this was the best episode out of the entire season. Angel is just getting progressively better and better. Cordelia’s vision/torment situation seemed crucial to the development of her character; empathy is something Cordey has generally lacked – now she’s in a situation where she has no choice but to feel the pain of others. This must change her perspective.
Other things I love about this episode:
-We’re going somewhere, finally. Angel gets to be human, eventually, if he fulfills his destiny. There are prophecies that must be fulfilled. The oracles are slain. Strange things are afoot.
-Angel finally laid the smack down on Kate. I think one of his flaws is he allows himself to be treated like a doormat because of his guilt for past wrongs. I’m glad he finally just told her to quit slinging her shit on him.
-Angel totally threw an axe and cut off Lindsay’s hand! Awesome.
Have only watched the first episode of Angel Season 2 so far, and all I can really say about it is that the scene where they storm the health club, kick in the mirror, slay the demon and walk out while everyone else stands there stuttering is awesome. Though I really think Angel has an edge with the billowy trenchcoat. Everything is cooler with a billowy trenchcoat.
I think they just did this so they could set up Riley v. Angel. Or do I have my episodes turned around? I remember when this originally aired and I was pretty gleeful at the idea of Angel kicking the shit out of Riley. I didn’t really dislike Riley, honestly, but I was annoyed with his angst about how he could never live up to Angel. Because he couldn’t. He was a nice boy from Iowa that Buffy liked and Angel was a tormented resouled vampire (in a billowy trenchcoat) with whom Buffy had a ridiculously melodramatic relationship for three years. Come on, you know he couldn’t measure up to that. He should have just sucked it up.