Buffycation: the end is nigh
Mar. 7th, 2010 02:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xparrotIn fact, it's here for Buffy the Vampire Slayer; I finished watching the show last night. Loved the finale. Season 7 was up and down, but the end run was awfully exciting, and the final episode was one of the very best episodes of the entire show, and the best finale ep since "Graduation Day" back in third season. It was epic and exciting and touching and funny (we kept having to rewind because we were laughing hard enough to miss lines.) I really like how it ended, both plot-wise and with most of the characters. Returning to the school, destroying the Hellmouth, activating all the Potentials were perfect conclusions to the show's main conflicts.
For all my issues with Joss Whedon, the man can really write the hell out of a screenplay. So many great moments! D&D! The just-before-the-end Scoobie meeting in the school hall, with the kids talking about shopping and Giles going "We're doomed" - SO CUTE. Buffy herself was awesome and badass and she really is one of my favorite heroines; I love that girl. Principal Wood surviving (Without going evil, even!! Yays!! ...I think I was expecting the worse thanks to SPN) and his little "Surprise" to Faith - awwwww. Really like what they did with Faith this season - I liked her in Angel and I liked her a lot in the end of Buffy, made up for how they screwed up her storylines before.
The one thing I didn't like was Anya's death. It wasn't quite as pointless as other Whedon executions (*does not think of The Movie That Never Happened*); it had a certain dramatic point, with Andrew surviving when he (thought he) deserved to die, failing to step forward and find the courage to watch her back because he's just not strong enough; and Anya going out saving a human life...it was appropriate. And hey, big battle, someone main had to die...but Anya, why Anya, in all her fantasticness? Anya, who isn't this way because she was a demon, she's always been like this (HEE to her flashback ep). And she and Xander were working it out. Why couldn't it have been Dawn? Heck, I'd trade both Dawn and Xander for Anya. SIGH.
Spike, on the other hand, had a totally awesome hero's death, and it would have been a really satisfying way for his character to go out. That said, I'm not exactly resentful that he was resurrected, because hey, more Spike, not gonna pass that up! Especially Spike on Angel, because there is no way that cannot be awesome. ZOMG Spike & Angel in the finale - Angel's sulky " I started it, the whole having a soul thing" and Buffy's amazing, "OMG are you twelve?" and then Spike with the little Angel drawing on the punching bag - HAWWW.
(Buffy/Angel/Spike is officially the OT3 for me. They're perfect! Spike being around will make sure Angel never hits the dangerous perfect-happiness threshold; Angel being around will provide the masochism in the relationship that Spike needs; and two vampires should be nearly enough to satisfy Buffy's sex drive. Not to mention the competition between the guys will serve her well - imagine the gift-giving arms' race come Valentine's Day!
Buffy herself is totally on board with this plan, what with her plot to lock them both in a room and have them "wrassle" it out - "There could be oil of some kind involved!" BUFFY I <333 YOU FOREVER.)
Nathan Fillion was a fantastic bad guy - also genuinely scary; I'm kind of glad I saw Firefly before this because it would have taken a little getting used to Mal after Caleb. (and heh to Angel coming in on Buffy's fight with him, and then stepping back and just watching the show. Totally made for each other, those two. Even if she didn't chop off Caleb's head before getting with the kissing, come on, people, haven't you ever fought the supernatural before?! But yeah, the cookie conversation was happy-making.)
Some of the lead-up to the finale I wasn't as partial to - the ep where they voted Buffy off the island was one of those forced-characterizations-for-the-sake-of-plot that seem to always happen in the show in the last few eps. (As in, I could maybe imagine it happening, but not like that.) The Willow/Kennedy never quite hit the right note for me (I didn't dislike them, just didn't love them, either.). And some of the stuff with the potential Slayers could have been done differently. But I loved them being all activated, around the world (even if those Slayers not present didn't get a vote). Especially since I'd been wondering since 2nd season when Kendra turned up why they didn't just make more, if all it took was a moment of heart-stoppage...(Willow's strategy was more effective, though. And her little falling over after channeling white magic - hee! Love Willow 'til the end!)
So yeah - final round-up, I really enjoyed Buffy, am glad I watched it, both to get references in future fan discussions, and because for all its flaws it is a great, unique show.
Now I suppose I'll have to track down the Buffy s8 comics, as I'm curious where it goes from here.
And then there's Angel season 4... Of which I totally get why people have such extremely mixed feelings about. I'm not entirely sure how I feel myself. We finished it last week (only just started s5 last night, though, as we had to finish watching BtVS first) and I'm still not sure. There was stuff I loved and stuff I hated, and where the scale balanced, I can't say.
Those Cordelia fans who quit the show after season 4, oh man, I feel your pain. What the hell happened there? She was so severely shafted - that we didn't get pretty much any real Cordelia for the entire season, ouch. Whyyyy? I wasn't as heartbroken as I might have been because the Angel/Cordelia stuff so annoyed me that I was cooling on her character already by the end of s3...but that hurt anyway, because I loved her so, so much in the first couple seasons. Argh. (That pretty much all of Cordelia's part in that can be explained away by the demon in her, that helped, but not enough...)
Speaking of the demon in her, so pissed off that Skip was responsible. It makes sense plot-wise, but I loved loved loved that the side of the angels included this scary-looking but perfectly friendly demon, so that he turned out to be evil after all...SIGH. That ruined one of my favorite bits in the show for me, no lie.
I didn't like how Cordelia was pulled into/inserted herself into the Connor-Angel dynamic - but I loved the Connor-Angel stuff. Such the most dysfunctional father-son dynamic...Angel's about a good a father as he is a Champion; about 55% fantastic and 45% absolutely horrible, so he comes out ahead but just barely. Poor Connor. Such a screwed-up life...the reverse-Dawn really might have been the only solution for him. But ow, what a sacrifice. (I do want to know more about the details of that spell - everyone forgetting Connor, was that one of the conditions of the spell, and Angel was the exception? Or did Angel specifically request everyone's memories be wiped? Because that is the kind of unilateral decision Angel is prone to making for other people for their own good, which tendency Buffy is going to have to beat out of him, eventually...)
The end of the season was a lot of fun, with Team Angel running around together, taking on the rest of the city (actually the bits with them brainwashed were also pretty awesome. Poor Fred, though, when she was all on her own! Don't be mean to Fred!!) and felt more like the older show, no real romance, but adventure and effort. And then, Wolfram & Hart offering them the LA office, as a reward for ending world peace - HEEEEE. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" - give the good guys power and count on it to corrupt them, such an awesome tactic. Loved how they all turned up for the limo - and I totally knew Lorne was going to be inside. Oh, Lorne! <333 Shame that Lilah won't be coming back to be their go-between (she's not in s5, as far as I could tell...sigh, I'm going to miss her. Wesley trying to free her from her contract, though, awww...)
So, yeah, I liked a lot of it...but I can't really trust the show with my fannish heart. Not after what it did to Cordelia...in some ways, AtS reminds me of Torchwood, in that it's not quite the show I want to be watching. It's not even the show's fault, it just gives some false impressions. It comes across like a team show, the adventures of a family of misfits, and it does that stuff marvelously - I love that kind of show, and AtS's execution of it is exceptionally appealing. But really that's not what the show is about; it's really about Angel, the friends and families he makes and loses and all the joy and pain he experiences for those relationships; same as Torchwood is in the end all about the trials and tribulations of Jack Harkness. And the thing is, I absolutely love Angel (more than TW!Jack, really) and it's not like the show pretends it's anything else (it's called Angel, after all!) but I love the team-family show even more, and miss it when it's lost.
...That being said, the little moment near the end of s4 when Angel returns to the hotel and the gang's all there and he says, "You're alive," completely blankly, because he's way too beaten by then to feel relief, but you can still see him getting snapped back into the world, knowing he's still got them after all - awww! Yeah, the problem with the show is that I can't help myself; when it's out to push buttons it hits mine hard. Even if I should know better...
And now I've got season 5 to watch! Have seen the first two eps and the prospect of Spike & Spike/Angel is very promising...they are so ridiculously snarky and petty (zomg Angel not mentioning to anyone that Spike a) saved the world and b) has a soul - oh, Angel, you colossal jerk!) and yet they work together flawlessly on incredibly risky plots to take down evildoers - hee! (Though I'm curious how Angel seemed to know the details of Spike saving the world, even if he hadn't said anything about them to anyone - had he talked to Buffy or what?)
Can't believe I'm almost done all of it - but it's quite a ride!
For all my issues with Joss Whedon, the man can really write the hell out of a screenplay. So many great moments! D&D! The just-before-the-end Scoobie meeting in the school hall, with the kids talking about shopping and Giles going "We're doomed" - SO CUTE. Buffy herself was awesome and badass and she really is one of my favorite heroines; I love that girl. Principal Wood surviving (Without going evil, even!! Yays!! ...I think I was expecting the worse thanks to SPN) and his little "Surprise" to Faith - awwwww. Really like what they did with Faith this season - I liked her in Angel and I liked her a lot in the end of Buffy, made up for how they screwed up her storylines before.
The one thing I didn't like was Anya's death. It wasn't quite as pointless as other Whedon executions (*does not think of The Movie That Never Happened*); it had a certain dramatic point, with Andrew surviving when he (thought he) deserved to die, failing to step forward and find the courage to watch her back because he's just not strong enough; and Anya going out saving a human life...it was appropriate. And hey, big battle, someone main had to die...but Anya, why Anya, in all her fantasticness? Anya, who isn't this way because she was a demon, she's always been like this (HEE to her flashback ep). And she and Xander were working it out. Why couldn't it have been Dawn? Heck, I'd trade both Dawn and Xander for Anya. SIGH.
Spike, on the other hand, had a totally awesome hero's death, and it would have been a really satisfying way for his character to go out. That said, I'm not exactly resentful that he was resurrected, because hey, more Spike, not gonna pass that up! Especially Spike on Angel, because there is no way that cannot be awesome. ZOMG Spike & Angel in the finale - Angel's sulky " I started it, the whole having a soul thing" and Buffy's amazing, "OMG are you twelve?" and then Spike with the little Angel drawing on the punching bag - HAWWW.
(Buffy/Angel/Spike is officially the OT3 for me. They're perfect! Spike being around will make sure Angel never hits the dangerous perfect-happiness threshold; Angel being around will provide the masochism in the relationship that Spike needs; and two vampires should be nearly enough to satisfy Buffy's sex drive. Not to mention the competition between the guys will serve her well - imagine the gift-giving arms' race come Valentine's Day!
Buffy herself is totally on board with this plan, what with her plot to lock them both in a room and have them "wrassle" it out - "There could be oil of some kind involved!" BUFFY I <333 YOU FOREVER.)
Nathan Fillion was a fantastic bad guy - also genuinely scary; I'm kind of glad I saw Firefly before this because it would have taken a little getting used to Mal after Caleb. (and heh to Angel coming in on Buffy's fight with him, and then stepping back and just watching the show. Totally made for each other, those two. Even if she didn't chop off Caleb's head before getting with the kissing, come on, people, haven't you ever fought the supernatural before?! But yeah, the cookie conversation was happy-making.)
Some of the lead-up to the finale I wasn't as partial to - the ep where they voted Buffy off the island was one of those forced-characterizations-for-the-sake-of-plot that seem to always happen in the show in the last few eps. (As in, I could maybe imagine it happening, but not like that.) The Willow/Kennedy never quite hit the right note for me (I didn't dislike them, just didn't love them, either.). And some of the stuff with the potential Slayers could have been done differently. But I loved them being all activated, around the world (even if those Slayers not present didn't get a vote). Especially since I'd been wondering since 2nd season when Kendra turned up why they didn't just make more, if all it took was a moment of heart-stoppage...(Willow's strategy was more effective, though. And her little falling over after channeling white magic - hee! Love Willow 'til the end!)
So yeah - final round-up, I really enjoyed Buffy, am glad I watched it, both to get references in future fan discussions, and because for all its flaws it is a great, unique show.
Now I suppose I'll have to track down the Buffy s8 comics, as I'm curious where it goes from here.
And then there's Angel season 4... Of which I totally get why people have such extremely mixed feelings about. I'm not entirely sure how I feel myself. We finished it last week (only just started s5 last night, though, as we had to finish watching BtVS first) and I'm still not sure. There was stuff I loved and stuff I hated, and where the scale balanced, I can't say.
Those Cordelia fans who quit the show after season 4, oh man, I feel your pain. What the hell happened there? She was so severely shafted - that we didn't get pretty much any real Cordelia for the entire season, ouch. Whyyyy? I wasn't as heartbroken as I might have been because the Angel/Cordelia stuff so annoyed me that I was cooling on her character already by the end of s3...but that hurt anyway, because I loved her so, so much in the first couple seasons. Argh. (That pretty much all of Cordelia's part in that can be explained away by the demon in her, that helped, but not enough...)
Speaking of the demon in her, so pissed off that Skip was responsible. It makes sense plot-wise, but I loved loved loved that the side of the angels included this scary-looking but perfectly friendly demon, so that he turned out to be evil after all...SIGH. That ruined one of my favorite bits in the show for me, no lie.
I didn't like how Cordelia was pulled into/inserted herself into the Connor-Angel dynamic - but I loved the Connor-Angel stuff. Such the most dysfunctional father-son dynamic...Angel's about a good a father as he is a Champion; about 55% fantastic and 45% absolutely horrible, so he comes out ahead but just barely. Poor Connor. Such a screwed-up life...the reverse-Dawn really might have been the only solution for him. But ow, what a sacrifice. (I do want to know more about the details of that spell - everyone forgetting Connor, was that one of the conditions of the spell, and Angel was the exception? Or did Angel specifically request everyone's memories be wiped? Because that is the kind of unilateral decision Angel is prone to making for other people for their own good, which tendency Buffy is going to have to beat out of him, eventually...)
The end of the season was a lot of fun, with Team Angel running around together, taking on the rest of the city (actually the bits with them brainwashed were also pretty awesome. Poor Fred, though, when she was all on her own! Don't be mean to Fred!!) and felt more like the older show, no real romance, but adventure and effort. And then, Wolfram & Hart offering them the LA office, as a reward for ending world peace - HEEEEE. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" - give the good guys power and count on it to corrupt them, such an awesome tactic. Loved how they all turned up for the limo - and I totally knew Lorne was going to be inside. Oh, Lorne! <333 Shame that Lilah won't be coming back to be their go-between (she's not in s5, as far as I could tell...sigh, I'm going to miss her. Wesley trying to free her from her contract, though, awww...)
So, yeah, I liked a lot of it...but I can't really trust the show with my fannish heart. Not after what it did to Cordelia...in some ways, AtS reminds me of Torchwood, in that it's not quite the show I want to be watching. It's not even the show's fault, it just gives some false impressions. It comes across like a team show, the adventures of a family of misfits, and it does that stuff marvelously - I love that kind of show, and AtS's execution of it is exceptionally appealing. But really that's not what the show is about; it's really about Angel, the friends and families he makes and loses and all the joy and pain he experiences for those relationships; same as Torchwood is in the end all about the trials and tribulations of Jack Harkness. And the thing is, I absolutely love Angel (more than TW!Jack, really) and it's not like the show pretends it's anything else (it's called Angel, after all!) but I love the team-family show even more, and miss it when it's lost.
...That being said, the little moment near the end of s4 when Angel returns to the hotel and the gang's all there and he says, "You're alive," completely blankly, because he's way too beaten by then to feel relief, but you can still see him getting snapped back into the world, knowing he's still got them after all - awww! Yeah, the problem with the show is that I can't help myself; when it's out to push buttons it hits mine hard. Even if I should know better...
And now I've got season 5 to watch! Have seen the first two eps and the prospect of Spike & Spike/Angel is very promising...they are so ridiculously snarky and petty (zomg Angel not mentioning to anyone that Spike a) saved the world and b) has a soul - oh, Angel, you colossal jerk!) and yet they work together flawlessly on incredibly risky plots to take down evildoers - hee! (Though I'm curious how Angel seemed to know the details of Spike saving the world, even if he hadn't said anything about them to anyone - had he talked to Buffy or what?)
Can't believe I'm almost done all of it - but it's quite a ride!
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Date: 2010-03-12 07:07 am (UTC)Dawn I resented in a large part because she was stuffed into the show so late but we were expected to care about her as much as the others (...or not; her char did have some strange 4th wall commentary aspects); and also because I'm not a big fan of teen angst, and she was introduced just when the other chars were outgrowing their own teen angst, so to have another new teen, with new angst, was frustrating. She also suffered from incredibly inconsistent writing - some of the writers tended to a write her more like 9-10 than 15.
If you missed some of s3 AtS then you missed a large chunk of Connor's story; I found some of what they did with him irritating, but like the char himself. He's not my favorite in the show, but his and Angel's relationship is so fantastically dysfunctional that I can't help but like it. (...then, too, I really do love Angel; I don't even know why. I totally get why people don't like him, he's kind of a tool...but I can't help myself!)
So far I haven't really found much fic of what I'd really like - I admit I've been trying mostly B/A and B/S/A, but everything I've found seems to be either ridiculous gooey romance (mostly OOC and not very well written) or horribly depressing, torturous AAAAANGST, where in the chars do one another more harm than good, and half the time someone's dead by the end (not nearly as OOC because Whedeon chars lend themselves to angst, but not what I want in my entertainment!) I crave something in between, angsty with a mostly happy, maybe slightly dysfunctional end. (I'm getting the feeling that might be easier to find with B/S or A/S, but...I like B/A, dangit. And it seems that both A/S and B/S fic often gets into dissing that pairing bad ^^;)
But there's a LOT of fic out there, so I have hopes of finding something that scratches this itch...