Ah, yes, Passion was great.
Let’s not forget The Wish and Dopplegangland.
5x07 is my fav.
Where Spike recounts killing Slayers. It’s just so badass. Made Spike my favorite character, and then really made it even more disappointing when he never re-attained badguy status.
That is the BEST Spike episode ever. And Spike is easily the best character from the show.
Some of my favorites:
Once More with Feeling
Hush
Tabula Rasa
Pangs
Dopplegangland
Life Serial
Checkpoint
Season 3 was the best. 5 was close. 4 had some GREAT episodes, but the story arc was weak. 2, 6, and 7 were all great. 1 was just kinda cheesy, but yes, the action got better every season.
Yes!
My girlfriend can’t stand the show. Its too much of the teen stuff for her. Also, she prefers the movie.
Danger Will Robinson!
They had a good Hong Kong trained fight choreographer named Jeff Pruitt from season 2 through season 4 before he was ousted for stepping on the directors’ toes. They went through a few different coordinators in the last three seasons, but the fights were just never as good. The stunt double for David Boreanez, Mike Massa, was one of Pruitt’s guys and went on as stunt coordinator for the spin-off, so the fights were pretty good for Angel’s entire run.
Yes, my favorite episode as well. “Fool for Love” I think it was called.
I also loved: The Zeppo, Amends, The Body, and Band Candy.
I like Buffy.
I like Nathan Fillon.
But the above statement is just a lie and you sir, you should be ashamed.
Nathan Fillion was great in Buffy.
Yeah, he was. That character was intense and perfectly realized, IMO. Buffy got pretty bad towards the end, IMO. Seasons 5-7 were all awful. 1-4 are some of the greatest things in television overall. Hush is my favorite episode. I can’t stand The Body. I think it’s very effective in that regard, but I will never watch it again.
However, nothing in Buffy was ever as bad as the 4th season of Angel (do I have the number right? Not the last season, which I liked, but the one with the beast and Conner and evil Cordelia and all that crap).
I must be in the minority for hating Tara. Not because she made Willow gay or anything, just that she replaced Oz, who I really liked. The episode where she died really have an impact on me becuase I was thinking “Good”
I didn’t care much for Tara at first but she grew on me in later seasons.
I did miss Oz but I would blame his departure on Seth Green wanting more of a movie career.
Started watching buffy on the second episode. From there, the gang of friends I had became glued to the show; about seven of us that would gather for dinner and then watch.
- Once More with Feeling
- Hush
- The Body
- The Zeppo
- Lie to Me
The one scene that I will never get out of my head is the little girl stepping up to bat.
I like where the fourth season went, because it got really truly apocalyptic what with the Hot God Woman being all creepy and weird and whatnot. I loved season 5, though, mostly because of a) Spike being added to the cast, b) Mexican wrestlers, and c) Muppet Angel.
I never liked Tara, something just didn’t sit right with me.
If I ever have to defend Buffy to someone I just make them watch a few episodes and the problem is solved. I have yet to show it to someone and have them not become a convert.
The fourth season of Angel worked great for me, though I thought the first half was better than the second. I too liked the apocalyptic stuff and I really enjoyed “bad ass Wesley”.
Everything about season seven didn’t work for me.
For my money “Once More With Feeling” was the last good episode of the series.
At that point they essentially dropped any pretense of being character driven and let the plot drive the show. I also thought Fillon’s character basically just coasted on the memories of better, more well rounded character’s from the past.
Anya basically gets dumped in a ditch in the last episode.
I guess I’m in the minority. Season five of Buffy onward and season three of Angel and onward were unwatchable with the exception of a very few episodes. Season five of Angel had some good Spike stuff, but season four was an abhorrant miscarriage where it seemed the writers were changing the plot every episode in response to criticism on the internet.
Buffy could ended with her dying in season five and I woulda been sad, but I wouldn’t have been disappointed. It is, after all, a slayer’s primary job to die saving the world. Big time kleos.
I like Nathan Fillion, but the GOOD GOLLY DOES I HATES WOMEN! character of Caleb was some ham-fisted bullshit. I wish the guy could get into a show that doesn’t go up in flames. Sorry, Nate! I tried to watch Drive! Really!
Unmentioned thus far:
Anne (S3). Buffy is sucked into another dimension. “I’m Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And you are?”
Superstar (S4). Jonathon alters reality such that everyone adores Jonathon. Evil Geek Supervillians FTW.
The Replacement (S5). It’s like that episode of Star Trek where Kirk gets split into a tough guy and a wuss, except it’s Xander not Kirk.
Villains (S6). Willow goes all veiny; stitches Warren’s mouth, shoots him in slow mo with the bullet that hit Buffy, finishes by flaying him alive (“Bored now”).
Normal Again (S6). In which we find out what’s really going on.
Xander: Anya’s dead? < shrugs >
I didn’t see the comic books of “Season 8.” Are they good enough to be material for a movie?
I always found Buffy & Angel to be very uneven in quality: some great highlights, but a lot of filler-y stuff dragged the franchises down, too. Firefly maintained a more consistent level of quality, IMHO. [Though, yeah, with half a season vs 12, it didn’t exactly have to sustain momentum for very long.]
Still, the standout moments make it worthwhile. Case in point:
Who got mauled by a werewolf.
Classic.
I didn’t hate her, I just found her dull and uninteresting in the episodes I saw, especially compared to the other women on the show. I dunno whether to blame the actress or the writers; but when the “pretty lesbian witch who turns Willow gay” character is boring, then you know that’s a character in need of serious improvement. So no, I don’t miss her either.
The show did more or less a double-bell curve for me. Seasons 1 and 2 were OK. Season 3 was my favorite, I hated seasons 4 and 7 (the whole thing with Riley and the Initiative was a terrible, TERRIBLE plot line, and I wanted to punch Buffy in the face constantly throughout season 7). 5 and 6 were better, I thought “The Body” was brilliant and “Once More With Feeling” was a lot of fun, but I agree with whoever it was that said that that was the last good episode in that show.
Oh yeah, and Anya was my favorite character, so everyone’s nonchalance about her death really bugged me, damn it.
I’ve been slowly working my way through season 1 of Angel but haven’t really gotten into it yet; it’s more something to have on in the background while I do other stuff. I’m glad to hear it gets better, but I hope I don’t have to trudge through 3 more seasons before it does.