My older daughter - the one who swore she would never watch Buffy finally caved after I showed her The Body. We've just started season three, and there are some things I had forgotten
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I find myself liking Xander, which is new too me (in the last few years at least). And I'm amazed how much Willow keeps that perky personality thing forever - she really is an amazing character (and actress).
One of these days I'm going to watch it all from the beginning again. There are still episodes from season 1,2, and 3 that I have never watched because I started watching Buffy for Spike's sake only.
This is what I am actually doing. I know I skipped some in the first viewing, and skipped the same when I watched with my granddaughter. But my older daughter refuses to miss an episode so I am getting a whole new view of the show. I don't think I ever quite realized how much being on a hellmouth meant to even minor issues.
Try it without skipping a single scene - it's really kinda fascinating.
Try it without skipping a single scene - it's really kinda fascinating.
Good for you - I watched it originally straight through in a marathon (and believe me some early S1 - S2 eps were a tough sit) and I can't imagine seeing it any other way. Every episode references other episodes in some way or another.
Yeah, the foreshadowing and story planning was pretty solid with this wonderful show. :) I think the only character who's story just kept getting changed because they didn't know what to do with him was Spike. :P LOL
As for Willow, last time I rewatched, I noticed how early they were foreshadowing the path she would take, and I read recently that her arc was one of the very few that was planned basically from start to finish, from very near to the beginning of the show. Like, at some point during season one it was already decided that eventually her magic was going to become so powerful and such a force with her that it would take her dark. I thought that was pretty cool. :)
Xander is kind of my least favorite character LOL - but I still don't hate him, and I think his character progression makes a lot of sense, too. These are some of the best, most fully formed characters I've ever seen on any show. (I think the only one I think did it better even by a little bit is Supernatural ;) )
I agree - and it's a credit to Marsters that he was that adaptable.
Wow - that is so cool - I wondered if I was reading too much into the early warning that restoring Angel's soul was opening a door into dark magics that she may not be able to close. Which now makes me wonder if Willow had talent from the start - or if the dark magic amp up her talent from the start.
I have dislikes Xander in the early showings but this time around I like him a lot more. I'm also really enjoying Cordelia, and seeing a lot more through her eyes. Hard to give your all to a guy who gives his all to two other girls before you even rate!
I think the only character who's story just kept getting changed because they didn't know what to do with him was Spike. :P LOL
I'd add Giles, actually. He starts out the stereotype of a "British librarian" (except for a bit of wit and snark, and WTTH); and he's very shy around Jenny as if he's never been with a woman - then come S4 and he's got an entire history with Olivia, is far more sexually confident and mature (if not emotionally confident), then somewhere down the line it turns out he was independently wealthy.
In the Witch he casts a spell and calls it "his first" (and the way the ep is played, I think it's a sincere statement) but then the writers changed their minds in S2 and gave him the Ripper backstory, and thank goodness.
I took it as having pushed the whole Ripper identity so far away that he actually was somewhat disconnected in ways. And - extra point bonus since I just saw this - Olivia refers to him as Ripper. I think he was trying to do an Angel - Angel(us)thing on his own but circumstances (Ethan) sorta blew that apart. Like he said, he didn't want anyone seeing him this way - sort of re-virginated. But then, that's all my head canon.
Okay - so why don't I recall the independently wealthy? Is that comics?
I really like Faith - Dushku does a lot with that character. Except for a few dance scenes she really dresses more conservatively than Buffy. Pants or shorts instead of tiny skirts - tee shirts instead of spaghetti straps and no bra - but she definitely wears more make-up. Without having much to work with beyond that she really manages to create some extremely delicate nuances. You see that she wants to fit in but not lose herself. She'll never be like Buffy, or any of the other girls - and eventually this is what does her in. I like to see the part of her before her trust was betrayed. And I so much know that this is a common class issue. People from the middle class would look at Faith with distaste, and she knows that. But people in her class and neighborhood would see her for real. I have to say that more than race, religion and ethnicity - class is the big divider
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Yeah, they snark and fight but she was willing to give up her life to fit into his. I don't see that he gave up anything to be with her.
Rewatching X/C, esp in Anne, they felt very proto-Spuffy to me in their snark and banter. And I think they would have been better off as friends.
Early on Cordy reminded me of the girls who used to make fun of me all through school, but somewhere in S3 she started to grown on me - and then the Xander/Willow thing and my heart broke for Cordy, because she really had tried to be the best girlfriend she knew how to be to Xander.
Probably so, although I admit I've willfully suppressed most of it it. And there were so many years of bullies and being bullied and teased that it all turned into a blur at some point.
There was the time I got get fed up with some guys who constantly harassed me on the bus in high school, and I got off at my stop one day where one of them also got off, threw down my books and in sight of the entire bus full of kids called him names and dared him to come fight me. If he'd taken up my dare there would have been no way I could have fought, but he just hung his head and mumbled, embarrassed, and never bothered me again.
That was one of my favorite memories in high school! But it came after many many years and finally being fed up. My mother had taught me "turn the other cheek" but that really wasn't helpful; I endured a lot (like the proper Catholic martyr she'd been raised to be) but it didn't offer me skills to cope or to turn the tables and change the situation.
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Gabrielle
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The foreshadowing really is amazing though.
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Try it without skipping a single scene - it's really kinda fascinating.
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Good for you - I watched it originally straight through in a marathon (and believe me some early S1 - S2 eps were a tough sit) and I can't imagine seeing it any other way. Every episode references other episodes in some way or another.
Reply
As for Willow, last time I rewatched, I noticed how early they were foreshadowing the path she would take, and I read recently that her arc was one of the very few that was planned basically from start to finish, from very near to the beginning of the show. Like, at some point during season one it was already decided that eventually her magic was going to become so powerful and such a force with her that it would take her dark. I thought that was pretty cool. :)
Xander is kind of my least favorite character LOL - but I still don't hate him, and I think his character progression makes a lot of sense, too. These are some of the best, most fully formed characters I've ever seen on any show. (I think the only one I think did it better even by a little bit is Supernatural ;) )
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Wow - that is so cool - I wondered if I was reading too much into the early warning that restoring Angel's soul was opening a door into dark magics that she may not be able to close. Which now makes me wonder if Willow had talent from the start - or if the dark magic amp up her talent from the start.
I have dislikes Xander in the early showings but this time around I like him a lot more. I'm also really enjoying Cordelia, and seeing a lot more through her eyes. Hard to give your all to a guy who gives his all to two other girls before you even rate!
Reply
I'd add Giles, actually. He starts out the stereotype of a "British librarian" (except for a bit of wit and snark, and WTTH); and he's very shy around Jenny as if he's never been with a woman - then come S4 and he's got an entire history with Olivia, is far more sexually confident and mature (if not emotionally confident), then somewhere down the line it turns out he was independently wealthy.
In the Witch he casts a spell and calls it "his first" (and the way the ep is played, I think it's a sincere statement) but then the writers changed their minds in S2 and gave him the Ripper backstory, and thank goodness.
Reply
somewhat disconnected in ways. And - extra point bonus since I just saw this - Olivia refers to him as Ripper. I think he was trying to do an Angel - Angel(us)thing on his own but circumstances (Ethan) sorta blew that apart. Like he said, he didn't want anyone seeing him this way - sort of re-virginated. But then, that's all my head canon.
Okay - so why don't I recall the independently wealthy? Is that comics?
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Rewatching X/C, esp in Anne, they felt very proto-Spuffy to me in their snark and banter. And I think they would have been better off as friends.
Early on Cordy reminded me of the girls who used to make fun of me all through school, but somewhere in S3 she started to grown on me - and then the Xander/Willow thing and my heart broke for Cordy, because she really had tried to be the best girlfriend she knew how to be to Xander.
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There was the time I got get fed up with some guys who constantly harassed me on the bus in high school, and I got off at my stop one day where one of them also got off, threw down my books and in sight of the entire bus full of kids called him names and dared him to come fight me. If he'd taken up my dare there would have been no way I could have fought, but he just hung his head and mumbled, embarrassed, and never bothered me again.
That was one of my favorite memories in high school! But it came after many many years and finally being fed up. My mother had taught me "turn the other cheek" but that really wasn't helpful; I endured a lot (like the proper Catholic martyr she'd been raised to be) but it didn't offer me skills to cope or to turn the tables and change the situation.
Reply
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