The black and white versus grey issue is exactly why Angel, in my opinion, was always the more grown up show. Towards the end, BtVS did start to get a little greyer - in the beginning it was simply 'Humans good, demons bad', but by the later seasons we had some sympathetic demon characters, like sweet Clem. Angel, in contrast, always lived in the grey - W&H are predominantly human, but they're the bad guys, while demons are largely shown to be just people - some are evil, but most just want to live their lives, like Doyle's species. And sing karaoke.
Ooh, good overview thus far. Season 5 was indeed very all over the place, and I think that continues in the 2nd half of the season - but despite some really quite poor bits, there are also some brilliant episodes in this season. I think the episode I probably like best in the whole season is Destiny. It's bloody and gritty and painful, and it really gets at something important. Of course, I like it because I love Spike, and in this episode we get to see that below the humour and bad attitude he has moral fibre and courage. Of course, those of us who watched Buffy already know this, but Spike as used in the early episodes of this season (and sadly occasionally later) is something of a caricature of himself, not the finely delineated person he'd become in Buffy season 7. But anyway. Yes. Destiny is a great ep. I also really enjoyed Lineage and You're Welcome in the half of the season you've seen thus far
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Spike as used in the early episodes of this season (and sadly occasionally later) is something of a caricature of himself
*nods* I wondered, for example, if Souled Spike would really try to boink Harmony first thing upon regaining his physical form. :)
I found a good article by writer Jennifer Crusie, called "The Assassination of Cordelia Chase", which I'll read in full sometime soon and post a link to. I didn't want to spoil myself for the remainder of the season yet, when I first saw it...but anyway, it's about how the writers ill-used Cordy's character. Crusie also wrote one about why Spike/Buffy was about the greatest thing a romance writer could watch. :)
Ditto on S5's weird schizophrenia. Some really, truly lame-ass eps and some really awesome ones. Have you seen "Smile Time" yet? I couldn't decide which category that ep fell into, but either way it was a laugh riot. Definitely one of the crackier plots.
"The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco,"My sister, husband and I after seeing this ep
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*chuckles in agreement on your conversation on "Numero Cinco"*
I do like the schizophrenic aspect of the season generally, though. Never know what you're going to get when you hit "play" on the next episode!
Re. Andrew: I hope by now you've seen the Andrew-centric episode "Storyteller" from "Buffy." It's beautiful and hilarious.
"He's alive, Frodo!" Y'know, it makes more sense that way, but the subtitles said "He's my Frodo." They could of course be wrong, as they have been in the past...
You know, I didn't even notice that your version of the quote and yours weren't the same. Hm. I heard "alive" which does make more sense, but...eh. Who knows. I could easily have mis-heard and the subtitles could just as easily be off. *shrug*
While I always roll my eyes at Numero Cinco when I'm watching it, I think of it fondly due to the line "Hermanos! The devil has built a robot!" which makes me chortle madly at inappropriate times.
Oh, how I love Season 5! It's been a while since I've seen it, but I did stumble across Cordy's goodbye on TNT a few weeks ago. :::sob::: I cried so much when that originally aired. I was such a Cordy/Angel shipper and they never got their happy ending.
I can't wait for you to finish this season. :::bites lip::: Hurry up and watch it!!
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Meant to say I loved Clem. :)
And I think the setting makes a difference too: boring sweet Sunnydale vs. gritty dangerous LA.
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*nods*
I wondered, for example, if Souled Spike would really try to boink Harmony first thing upon regaining his physical form. :)
I found a good article by writer Jennifer Crusie, called "The Assassination of Cordelia Chase", which I'll read in full sometime soon and post a link to. I didn't want to spoil myself for the remainder of the season yet, when I first saw it...but anyway, it's about how the writers ill-used Cordy's character. Crusie also wrote one about why Spike/Buffy was about the greatest thing a romance writer could watch. :)
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"The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco,"My sister, husband and I after seeing this ep ( ... )
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I do like the schizophrenic aspect of the season generally, though. Never know what you're going to get when you hit "play" on the next episode!
Re. Andrew: I hope by now you've seen the Andrew-centric episode "Storyteller" from "Buffy." It's beautiful and hilarious.
"He's alive, Frodo!"
Y'know, it makes more sense that way, but the subtitles said "He's my Frodo." They could of course be wrong, as they have been in the past...
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Anyway, true on that line--and Wesley's seriously spoken "El diablo robotico" also made me snicker.
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I can't wait for you to finish this season. :::bites lip::: Hurry up and watch it!!
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