Catching up on my media consumption

[laceblade]

So, I'm done with season 4. I felt like the conclusion of the season was pretty "Meh..." and predictable, although Buffy going all anime-style on Adam was pretty sweet. Where did Riley go? I assumed he was a 1-season dude, but it seems like he's still around.

I'm assuming that the Jonathan alternate reality episode was a setup for the beginning of season 5.

Overall, I didn't like watching Buffy and her friends grow apart, or Xander's and Giles's stagnations. I know it's a metaphor for college and it does happen, etc. Maybe I'm still bitter about it happening to me and my high school friends. I don't know. Thus far, I like the high school years of Buffy better. I really miss Angel, too.

There were some individual episodes that pwned, of course. Hush, Something Blue, and I LOVED, loved the episodes with Faith in them.

Also, OMG I LOVED THE LAST EPISODE, "RESTLESS"!!! If it's representative, I think I'll love season 5. We'll see. Either way, I loved it. IT really felt like a dream, in that each dream had its own logic but was still absurd.




As for Angel. I watched the first episode. And in doing so, I realized I really, really missed Angel. I do like that in this first episode, he doesn't save the girl. His killing of the Vampire Boss Guy was sweet and badass. I love his and Buffy's tortured love, and that (I'm fairly certain) they'll always be in love. So, after seeing only 1 episode of Angel, I think I'm going to dislike it very much if Angel gets together with Cordelia. WTF.


I really want to just watch Buffy season 5, but I want to go in a semi-order. I must keep reminding myself how much I miss Angel.

Plus, my mom likes David Boreanaz's character on the TV show Bones, so I will watch Angel at home over break.....*cackle*

Also, OMG, Fray looks amazing. Does anyone know how much Buffy I have to watch in order to not spoil myself while reading it?

Comments

[goldjadeocean.livejournal.com]

I'm under the impression that you don't need much Buffy at all for Fray, since it's so far past Buffy they don't know very much about her.

[snowystingray.livejournal.com]

Thus far, I like the high school years of Buffy better. I really miss Angel, too. There were some individual episodes that pwned, of course.

That's pretty much how I feel about post-high school Buffy. I still love it because I love all the characters and will of course watch them in anything, but it's more of just a few episodes of PURE AWESOME sprinkled throughout the later years. Granted, I don't think anything could ever match the awesomely tight plotting of season two, but the last few seasons just don't connect for me as much as the first three season do. But, well, I'm sure that by this point in time you're quite attached to all the Scoobies, so it is definitely worth finishing out the series, even if it does kind of wind down towards the end.

[lavendersleeves.livejournal.com]

Although I originally thought that earlier episodes were better plotted, now I'm not so sure. For instance, they were talking about Dawn 2 whole seasons before she came in the picture. I was repeatedly surprised by things that came about, having realized that their roots were much, much earlier. Also, I rewatched an old favorite episode and realized that 1) it wasn't as intense as I originally thought, and 2) there were a lot of mistakes in it. For example, they said that Angel was Spike's sire.

And, as I get older, I have more trouble relating to the earlier versions of the characters. They're so...young. And wimpy. And they have bad hair.

[sasha-feather.livejournal.com]

I read Fray without having seen much Buffy at all. Go for it.

[were-duck.livejournal.com]

I have Fray and you can defo borrow it. There's just one thing in Fray that you get excited about if you've seen the last season of Buffy, but it doesn't spoil anything in Buffy for you. Otherwise it's totally off the Buffy map.

I like the later seasons of Buffy best, especially on a second viewing. They dig deeper into issues like addiction and greif and love and loss and deal with those things more complexly than they do earlier in the show- for instance, much as I LOVE Angel, I never really bought the chemistry between him and Buffy as being soulmatesforeveromg. But there are relationships later in the show that I found lots more believable.