Since my oldest and I are Joss Whedon fans, he had me start watching Buffy a few years back. I was in the middle of Season 5 (which has been a wild ride, with arrival of Dawn and her learning she's the Key) but in no way was I prepared for the sudden death of Buffy's mom in episode 16. It kicked my ass. I later read that this episode is considered one of the best hours of television ever produced. Joss' use of tracking shots, the absence of music, the acting...I was floored. Fans?
Oh yeah. There have been melodramatic deaths on countless TV shows. Some of them have been quite sad, but none of them has had the impact that The Body had for me. Very well done.
I have written about this episode in the past. The Body is probably the single greatest hour of television ever broadcast. First, it captures the absolute horror of an unexpected death, the stages one moves through to acceptance, and the realization that even though life will never be the same, it still has to go on. It captures reactions unique to each of the characters, from Xander's anger at something, anything he can blame, to Willow's inability to make the right decision what to wear for fear of sending the wrong message, to Tara's calm acceptance and support for Willow (and their first kiss on TV) "strong like an amazon," to Dawn's unhappiness at school which soon is to become real pain as opposed to just kids being nasty, and to the great speech by vengeance demon Anya that resonates so much.
Tara's support for Buffy comes out of the blue; no one knew her mom died when she was 17, so her answer to Buffy- "No. Yes, it's always sudden" carries huge weight for when we later meet her family.
But I lose it with the brilliant scene where Buffy tells Dawn at school, and we cannot hear what is being said, only Dawn's reaction.
Moving, powerful, realistic.
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
Such a great show. So many great moments. The Body was excellent as was Hush (I believe that's the title - the one where no one can talk?).
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
(River Song mode) Spoilers!) (River Song mode off)Originally Posted by rickawakeman
All seriousness aside, I never really watched the series. I remember seeing the movie when it played on TV, probably CInemax back in the early 90's, but I never got into the series.
I never did either until a couple of years ago I was snowed in and my wife, who loves it, had left the first season DVD box out and I decided to watch an episode or two for lack of anything else to do and discovered it wasn't quite as silly as I expected it to be. There is some cheese early on, but that went away quickly and ended up enjoying the entire series.
Bill
She'll be standing on the bar soon
With a fish head and a harpoon
and a fake beard plastered on her brow.
The series has very little similarity to the movie. Rhea and I decided to give Buffy a chance after watching and loving Firefly. Borrowed season 1 from the library and then the other seasons after we became hooked. We finally ended up buying the boxed set of the complete series. It's worth checking out.
I love any episode with Faith in it....
I catch a load of spit for loving this show. I don't care, everyone can eat spit for all I care. This show was great.
I'd put The Body at #3 all time Buffy episodes, behind Hush and Once More, With Feeling leading the list. Although The Zeppo has some credence, a great storytelling style.
Carry On My Blood-Ejaculating Son - JKL2000
Did you watch Dollhouse, too?I love any episode with Faith in it....
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Dollhouse, Tru Calling, all kinds of bad movies plus a few good ones. Wrote an instrumental that Pinnacle recorded that was inspired by her.
Dollhouse was a huge mistake. It was where I realized that Joss Whedon was not nearly the feminist people thought he was. Dollhouse falls apart over the issue of consent. Echo had none, and primarily the dolls were used for sex, not secret agent shit.
Buffy the movie was a camp failure. Buffy the TV show is superb TV. More than 40 academic books have been written about it. It is a very rich text. I am re-evaluating the show in light of recent revelations about Whedon, though.
But Hush, that was great. I am a Willow and Tara fan, and that is where they meet. My favorite episode of all 144 is New Moon Rising. Amber Benson has become an online friend, too, with me.
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
BTVS was a great series! The movie was a joke. I can't say I recall specific episodes at this point. I wish a good film would be made.
Gotta admit, never saw the movie. Does it in any way enhance watching the show?
Not really, except historical value. Kristy Swanson plays Buffy as an airhead, Rutger Hauer is the big bad and word is he was a huge pain on set to deal with as was Donald Sutherland. And, get this, PeeWee Herman was in it as well, Paul Reubens.
Last edited by Dana5140; 12-14-2018 at 05:12 PM.
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
My niece moved to LA years ago and got a gig in the Buffy art department, set design kind of stuff. My wife and i were pretty big fans of the show before we knew of her involvement. I told her one of our favorite episodes was Beer Bad, when they wrapped up the show she sent me a script from that episode and a bunch of other Buffy swag. Rumor has it they might re-boot the series (you didn't hear it from me)
Last edited by progholio; 12-14-2018 at 03:27 PM.
The Buffy reboot has undergone a number of clarifications. It is now not a reboot- that is, it will not feature the same characters and be set exactly as before. The new slayer will be a POC. When it was first announced, as a reboot, the fandom was honestly upset- how can you reboot perfection? There is no Willow without Alyson Hannigan, no Buffy without SMG. Here is one article about this: https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/26/1...er-fray-comics
But truth is, they have already done a lot to "reboot" the show- 5 years of comics, a movie that did not get developed, a new comic series set back in high school and with the original characters, etc. The comic was pretty bad, in my opinion- more consent problems (Buffy's big bad is someone called Twilight- yes, Twilight- who turns out to be Angel, and they have cosmic sex- that is, Buffy has sex with the person trying to kill her, i.e. her abuser- under the spell of Twilight- so she did not really consent to the sex, or she had it with the man who was abusing her...). Anyway...
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
This was the series that got me back into looking TV. It was aired every saturday night on French TV and I got hooked nearly from the beginning. I have all seasons on DVD but I never got back to it. As I watched all shows in the dubbed French version I was a bit surprised when I heard for the first time the original voices.
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
I will always contend that seasons two and three of Buffy are as good as TV gets.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Bump, just because I got into this brilliant show this year and became a total fan of it. A channel here in the UK ran the whole thing from start to finish. I started watching in June and it finished last week. (Series 1/2 one episode per weeknight, 3-6 two episodes a night and the last series back to one...bizarre scheduling!)
I thought the last series had some major issues, so I'm not sure it went out on a high exactly. But the first quarter of that series was great and the last couple of episodes were strong.
The same channel also started running spin-off Angel in September...the second series of that starts up tonight. Obviously it made too much sense for this channel to show the two shows together, as originally happened!
I still have issues with the finale. Anya got a pointless death and deserved better, the whole thing felt rushed.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
I never took to Anya that much, to be honest, but yeah, a rubbish exit. The episode Selfless would have been a better one.
I'd have happily put a stake through Andrew. Unbearable character.
Glad you finally gave it a chance! I passed on it for years simply because the title of the show seemed so stupid. I agree that the final series wasn't its best, but there were still some gems in it. Angel is well worth watching too!
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