Buffy

[schneefink]

Because I apparently reached a critical mass of recs for Buffy the Vampire Slayer I watched the first three episodes this week. I've been told very often that it gets better after the first season, so I'll probably try it at least until then. In the meantime, a few impressions: The only one I'm currently interested in is Buffy, and a bit her relationship with her mom. Buffy seems pretty awesome, coping with this vampire shit while she just wants to be a normal teenager.
I sort of see the potential with Giles, maybe. Angel so far seems only like a dick, but to be fair he had maybe five minutes. Willow is very bland, does she get more interesting? I don't like Xander. Cordelia could be interesting.
I only saw three episodes so far, so I can't really judge yet, but it seems like the show relies a bit much on its witty lines and humor, which are admittedly sometimes very good but sometimes also a bit much.
I already want crossovers, for example with Lost Girl (4x1 was cool!).

Comments

[giandujakiss]

Buffy gets so good you have no idea. Stick with it. It's uneven for a while, starts to hit stride in mid S2, really gets amazing by S3. Everybody gets development - Willow's arc in particular is actually unbelievably good. So's Cordelia's, actually. As for Angel, if you don't already know what happens there, avoid the spoilers and allow yourself to be on the edge of your seat.

[schneefink]

I know bits and pieces of what happens with Angel and Willow. It'll be interesting to see what actually happens ;)

[astridv]

Oh, I really hope you'll stick with it, you have no idea how good this show's gonna get! Buffy (and Angel) still range #1 in my favorite shows of all time, even before The Wire. I still rewatch it all the time. The show gets incredibly complex, with layers and layers. It gets pretty dark too, at times, and also hysterically funny. Sometimes both in the same episode; and Joss makes it work. I really hope you'll enjoy it!

[schneefink]

Sounds good! I'm not really looking for something complex to watch right now, more something to relax, but maybe I can ignore a meta level or two.

[astridv]

You can enjoy the show at a casual level too, definitely. (The fandom, back then, was very much into meta and we'd spend days analyzing the symbolism in the episodes. Good times. :)

[extempore]

Bleib dran. Die erste Season ist ziemlich kübelbar, aber später wird es wirklich gut. Mich hat Xander erst in Kombination mit Spike gepackt (war eines meiner ersten großen Slash Pairings), und Willow ist "an acquired taste". Mich hat fasziniert, wie unerwartet ernst und düster die Serie später wird. Ich habe nachher auch Angel (sozusagen als Fortsetzung) gesehen und mochte die Serie ebenfalls.

[schneefink]

Ich dachte, Spike kommt erst in späteren Staffeln? Mal sehen. Ich werd mir auf jeden Fall die zweite Staffel anschauen und dann entscheiden.

[saphirablue]

Season 1 and the rest of the show are like two different shoes...

And that's all I'm saying because I don't want to accidently spoil you.

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

I'm wary of predictions like these because I heard the same about Farscape and for me it ended up being the opposite of what I heard, but I'll stay optimistic :)

[sholio]

You know, I'd actually say the opposite of the above. If you find the show's particular style of humor grating and the characters don't grow on you, I really don't think you'll ever find it appealing. I rewatched some favorite episodes with my sister when I visited her last fall, and although I still have a built-in fondness for the show and characters, I was a little surprised that I now find the characters' constant quipping hard to take (or, at least, an acquired taste that I haven't re-acquired) and the show in general is a little ... something, I don't know if I'd go so far as to say not as good as I remember, but possibly whatever used to appeal to me about it now appeals much less than it did then.

I think a lot of the fannish hype surrounding Buffy -- that it's the most brilliant show or the most feminist show ever; that it's a lot of people's favorite show of all time -- obscurs what I think were the big reasons why it got so popular: because it was one of the first SF shows to do consistent long-arc plotting, and also one of the first to have a diverse array of female characters whose plots and character development were as complex and interesting as the guys'. Now that those things are no longer rare, I think the show doesn't stand out nearly as much. There are other shows that do what Buffy was trying to do, and do it better -- but in part because of having Buffy as a platform to stand on.

... which isn't to say that it's a bad show at all (I still have fond memories of it!) but I think if you go into it expecting it to be mind-blowingly brilliant, you'll be disappointed. And the show's general style is something you'll either like or you won't (my mom hates the show, even though she likes SF genre shows in general).

I think the first season is a pretty good indicator of whether you'll like the whole show, really. It does get better later on, but the style doesn't change much; it just starts to do interesting things with what's already there.

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

Strangely, one of the reasons why I hesitated for a long time to watch Buffy was that before I encountered all the "Buffy is so feminist" praise I found the backlash, detailing many things that the show doesn't do well, and without the context it made me not really interested in watching. Though maybe that's better than with Firefly, where I saw only the praise beforehand and then found the show itself disappointing.

Yeah, I'll just see if the characters grab me, and if the humor overweighs the annoyance of the constant sarcasm.

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

Ah, BtVS - my first (fandom) love.... *nostalgic sigh*. But like all things it's was a child of it's time. It's appeal nowadays might not be the same, because a lot of what the show trailblazed is now common place. I'd say give it til the end of season 2 (if you can) - that's when it really found it's pace, and if you don't like it then, you'll never will.

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

The clothes and the hair are so different! I'm not sure how much of that is the 90s and how much of that is the US. Probably more the former.
The first season isn't very long, so that's good too.

[lilly-the-kid.livejournal.com]

I think season one was one of the last seasons I watched, so I don't share you're experience there. I watched season two first and LOVED it, still do, it remains my favorite season. I watched the show in such a strange order cause it depended on which British VHS tapes I could find on ebay at the time (talk about dated :) ).

Anyway, for me season one is not the best, but I think it's ok and I enjoyed later seasons more.

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

You mean Farscape? I think I would have season two more if not for the comparison with season one. The internet is a huge advantage in watching! But I find it harder to find Buffy than current shows.

[lilly-the-kid.livejournal.com]

I was actually talking about Buffy, sorry, if that wasn't clear :) (I've seen Farscape in chronological order and love it.)

[guingel.livejournal.com]

It's no guarantee that you'll magically fall in love with it, but I'd definitely skip ahead to seasons 2 and 3 rather than slogging all the way through season 1. They really are pretty different, and quite a bit better - although you still just might not connect with the characters, in which case... oh well! I started watching seasons 3 and season 7 simultaneously because they were what was airing on TV (in repeats, on two different networks) when I got interested and it was fine - I occasionally had to flesh out my knowledge with the internet, but I'd started reading fanfic before I watched the show so that was the case anyway. ;)

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

I might do that if season 1 becomes too boring, but usually I like to watch shows in order. (SGA and Teen Wolf were exceptions.) I could get caught up online, but I probably would get spoiled at the same time, and I'm trying to avoid that - even though I already know a lot simply through fannish osmosis ;)