Argh! I've only gone and got into bloody Buffy!

[The Groke]

Stupid show.

Never paid it much interest before but, having become rather enamoured by Firefly and having subsequently run out of episodes of that to watch, I got drunk and accidently bought series 6 (not as random as it seems - a Buffy-Fiend friend of mine cited it as his favourite) of Buffy.

Hooked now



I am now already looking for the next DVD set to buy.

I have not finished 6 yet, but I am sure I will need closure after that ends and so am tempted buy moving on to series 7 next.

However I am also mindful that I should probably wind back a bit and start earlier on. I have heard lukewarm things about the first series and great things about no.3 so I was also thinking about going there next and watching in order from that point.

Any thoughts Urban-Buffy-Addicts?

(I dread finishing Buffy and being forced to move on to Angel next. Not sure my wallet can take it )

 

[Stigmata]

Firefly remains a better show IMO.

 

[gucci piggy]

Season 2 is the best imo, followed by three. I wouldn't bother with 4 though.

 

[The Groke]

Season 2 is the best imo, followed by three. I wouldn't bother with 4 though.

Heh - the one thing I love about the show already is that everyone has a different favourite season and everyone seems to hate or dismiss different seasons for various reasons.

I have also heard great stuff about 4 for all sorts of reasons.

I think I will just buy the lot and make up my own mind

 

[Reno]

I thought Buffy was one of the smartest, most adventurous and best written shows ever and I'm someone who generally stays well away from anything too soapy or involving teenagers.

Everybody has different ideas of which seasons are the strongest. The overall consensus seems to be that 2 and 3 are the best and 4 and 7 are the weakest years, but I liked them all. 6 seems to be where opinions are split the most.

I'd start at the beginning, because the show constantly builds on previous events. Unlike with many shows the characters genuinely develop and change over the years, often in unexpected ways. The first season sets up characters and premise well enough and only lasts 12 episodes. It's enjoyable, but only hints at what the show would become. Buffy really gets going with season 2, which together with 3 many would regard as the strongest season of the lot. The premise and overall storyline of season 4 isn't as strong as the previous two years and Buffy is saddled with a dull boyfriend, but I find it very underrated. It features some of the strongest individual episodes, including what I think are two of best hours on television ever, the episodes Hush and Restless. 5 is a strong season and is where the show was originally supposed to end. Season 6 is my least favourite year, maybe because it seems obvious that it was when Joss Whedon was least involved. Many think 7 is the weakest, but I rather liked it and thought it was a fitting end to the show.

The spin-off series Angel is also well worth checking out. A bit wobbly at the start it develops into a show every bit as gripping and witty as Buffy. There are also quite a few cross overs between the shows where character arcs and storylines start in one show and continue in the other.

 

[The Groke]

*Awaits the appearance of the Buffy-haterz to tell me just how many kinds of idiot I am*



Which series is Riley most prominent in? He is a bit of a cock.

 

[Reno]

*Awaits the appearance of the Buffy-haterz to tell me just how many kinds of idiot I am*



Which series is Riley most prominent in? He is a bit of a cock.

4 and 5 feature Riley most and he exits halfway through 6.

The people who knock the show generally haven't seen much of it and tend to criticise it for exactly the elements the show subverts so successfully, so there is no need to apologise for liking it. Buffy also isn't easily understood from seeing a couple of episodes here and there, because it's the long term investment in the show which really makes it pay off. I didn't get it till I stumbled across one truly exceptional episode, Hush from Season 4 and from then on I was hooked.

There also exists a rather misogynistic bias against the show as programmes that focus on young women are considered girly and uncool. Many people take the fantastical aspects at face value, when really they are used in an often sophisticated metaphorical way.

Like any show it has flaws and some duff episodes but overall it contains some of the sharpest writing and greatest risk taking of any series ever made and is every bit as worthy of praise as something like Six Feet Under or The Sopranos.

 

[gucci piggy]

*Awaits the appearance of the Buffy-haterz to tell me just how many kinds of idiot I am*



Which series is Riley most prominent in? He is a bit of a cock.

Riley's problem is that he replaces the delicious, complex Angel, and suffers in the comparison. As Reno said, he's dull.

 

[andy2002]

I got drunk and accidently bought series 6 (not as random as it seems - a Buffy-Fiend friend of mine cited it as his favourite) of Buffy.

No offence to you or your mate but series six is the worst one and seven isn't much better. Start at the beginning - series one is fun, two is terrific stuff with Angel, Spike and Druscilla and three is the best of the lot as we meet Faith and the Mayor (my favourite Buffy villain). Four isn't bad despite the appearance of the wretched Riley (Spike's bigger role and the episode Hush are best bits), but five marks the start of the show's slide in quality with a silly villain, the introduction of Buffy's sister Dawn and a crap ending.

 

[The Groke]

No offence to you or your mate but series six is the worst one and seven isn't much better.

Heh - the one thing I love about the show already is that everyone has a different favourite season and everyone seems to hate or dismiss different seasons for various reasons.

I thought 6 was great - although I can only hope that you are right.

I will be proper impressed if the earlier ones are better!

I love the whole Willow/Magic addiction bit.

 

[ovaltina]

i liked buffy, but then i also watch the oc, smallville and des housewives. i like watching something easy after a hard day at work

 

[andy2002]

I thought 6 was great - although I can only hope that you are right.

If I'd seen season six before any of the others I'd have probably enjoyed it. It's just that the Willow we meet in those episodes bears no resemblance to the character we'd followed for the previous five seasons - addiction or no addiction. Also, the levels of angst in six are just totally off the scale. Of course, there were always elements of it in seasons 1-5 but it was always handled with a deft lightness of touch that made you empathise and laugh at the same time. Season six was too much sturm und drang!

 

[Lava]

I *heart* buffy.
It's possibly the best tv show evah!

 

[May Kasahara]

Ahhh, Buffy - my favourite show of all time.

IMO you should definitely watch it from the beginning - as others have said, the characters and story arcs develop in a sustained way throughout the whole span of the show, as well as having individual bite-size bits in each episode.

I loved every series until 7 - am totally torn between 3 and 5 as my personal vote for strongest of the lot - 3 probably edges it, but 5 is just so sad and moving, and I personally found Glory an excellent villain. Then again, I love Dawn where loads of people find her really annoying, so.

Totally agree with Reno about series 4 having some of the strongest episodes of all - when I first saw it, I thought it was a real drop in quality, probably because 3 is just so storming, but it's quite a slow grower and on repeated watching the real quality starts to shine through. The last two eps represent something very intriguing in prime time 'teen' drama, I think, and the writing is superb...but then, it was rarely anything else.

*feels warm glow of nostalgia tinged with sadness, kicks self for overidentifying much*

 

[Cid]

There should be plenty of torrents out there if you don't wanna fork out for the DVDs.

 

[The Groke]

There should be plenty of torrents out there if you don't wanna fork out for the DVDs.

yar - we have yet to get re-connected to t' interweb at home following our move.

Besides, the access in DUbai kinda sucks, so I will be better off with the DVDs for now I think