Topic purged again while I was on my trip. No big, as I expected it to happen. If anyone wants to know my opinions on an episode, just ask and I'll do my best to remember my thoughts on it (though don't expect too much). I'm currently in the middles of Season 4 of Buffy and Season 1 of Angel (episode 11 of both, actually, so exact middles). I'm using this order to watch the episodes:
Buffy - 1 Angel - 1-2 Buffy - 2-3 Angel - 3-4 Buffy - 4-7 Angel - 5-7 Buffy - 8 Angel - 8 Buffy - 9 Angel - 9-10 Buffy - 10-12 <-- you are here Angel - 11-13 Buffy - 13-14 Angel - 14-17 Buffy - 15-18 Angel - 18 Buffy - 19 Angel - 19 Buffy - 20 Angel - 20-21 Buffy - 21-22 Angel - 22
I'm pretty sure this order is meant to maximize viewing of story arcs so as not to interrupt the flow of important plots by switching between the two shows. It was rough at the beginning, but as each season started finding their stride, it's become a positive viewing order.
For those just joining us and curious: Buffy season rankings: Season 2 > (at the moment, Season 4 would go here) Season 3 > Season 1
Another update will probably come later today, so re-tag and stay tuned!
In which the end of the world is yet again imminent, Buffy and Riley become a thing, and Spike can hurt demons.
I got called into work while watching this episode, so I may be foggy on some of the details from the beginning.
The first thing I noticed was Riley in the credits. I did not expect this to happen and I found that a neat feature put in. I don’t expect Riley to stay in there, and after this episode, I think there’s a chance that Riley sacrifices himself at the end of the season. From reading the back of the DVD box (kind of dumb but whatever), the group that Rile is a part of becomes a bit of a threat, and my beginning prediction is that it’s a case of Riley realizes he’s fighting the wrong fight or something or other and sacrifices himself to save Buffy and the gang. But it’s probably not that.
The plot was whatever. Apocalypse oh no. It basically served as a means to get Riley some heroic action in and convince Buffy that they could work.
Spike was pretty awesome this episode, and his realization that he can hurt demons should only make him more awesome. His ending the episode was pretty brilliant with his eagerness to go beat something up. I’m looking forward to see how he becomes more part of the team after this.
From: SlymDayspring | #017 something dumb I think might have already been mentioned by Zazi- Netflix uses angel season 5 DVD cover as it's logo for the series -_-
.... oh okay.
Netflix is stupid.
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No amount of planning will ever replace dumb luck.
I have not noticed any of the trailers for next episode he was talking about though. Maybe that only happens when you watch it on computers/for certain series, but everything I have watched so far has not had it.
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I'm "kind of a big deal". http://img.imgcake.com/cyclo/Cyclopngegpngre.png
I imagine its a streaming function. When you watch it on console or what have you, they just have the episode summaries listed before you click it. Then again, maybe they got some negative feedback regarding it and changed it. I'm not sure since I've been using DVDs/pausing at the credits.
In which Giles is a demon and The Initiative becomes suspicious.
The plot in this episode was okay, but what I cared about and enjoyed most was the introduction of things that could affect the rest of the season. But before I try getting into all of that, let me first just express my love for Ethan Rayne. He is the greatest Mid-Boss in television history (though I might just be saying that as simple hyperbole to get across my point about how much I love him). Somebody who gets off on chaos always provides fun obstacles to overcome, and I appreciate every episode Ethan is involved in. I hope The Initiative doesn't rough him up too much so that he can still get away only to come back again for more antics. The best part is that Ethan actually provided some plot substantial information, which is just pleasing to me because the guy is awesome and deserves more plot focus.
I'm left wondering what happened to Spike. Sure, he eluded The Initiative, but he crashed shortly after. What was to stop the commandos from capturing him right there? If Spike shows up all fine and dandy when I return to Buffy, then I'll just assume the crash was there for comedic purposes and not think too much into it.
I enjoy the "rivalry" between Giles and Walsh. I don't like Maggie Walsh either, so it's good that somebody starts off not liking her too. I'll be on team "told ya so" with Giles when it turns out she is a baddie (as was suggest by the "314" door she walked into at the end of the episode). She doesn't seem to see Buffy as a threat, which is interesting. She must have something planned to stop the Slayer, and I'm anxious to see what her ulterior motive with The Initiative is.
To go along with this, Riley is playing the "oh The Initiative is great" thing way too heavily, but I think it's on the side of being oblivious. He is obviously oblivious which makes me think that he won't end up being a baddie. Either way, I have found it curious (and disappointing) how Riley made it into the credits yet Anya has not. It could be something along the lines of contractual issues, or it's an intentional diversion by Joss Whedon. Either way, Anya needs more to do.
Finally, there is something not right with that Tara girl. She's awkward as hell and seems to know more about the black arts than she leads on. She seems like she'll be a big deal later on. I really enjoy how subtly characters are introduced in this series. Their not made to be a big deal. People like Anya and Ethan appeared to be one-shot characters before making returns, and I'm not sure if that is intentional or the writers deciding they just want to go back to these characters and were able to get the actors back as well. But anyways, back to Tara. I don't understand why Willow would say she wasn't with her when the rose thing happened. Seems unnecessary to hide that fact that she was practicing magic with someone. My initial prediction is also that Tara is the one involved with the disruptive black magics and not The Initiative.
So yeah, lots of stuff I paid attention to during this episode, which is nice. The plot just served as entertainment, and I took it for that. Not really much need to talk about it. The key thing is that the main arc is really starting to get rolling now.
Next up: Angel 11
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snowpork I wanna be a SuperNiceDog when I grow up!
Yeah, Anya was accidental. They had no intention of having her in more than one episode. Then they came up with Doppelgangland and realized she'd be a good character to bring back for the episode. And after that, when they had The Prom, and trying to figure out a good date for Xander... I guess they just figured that going with Anya would be the most interesting choice. Eventually they just kinda fell for the character and felt they had to bring her back. It's all a happy coincidence...
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Nominate B.B. Hood for CB IX http://miniurl.org/ntI
In which we meet Angel's pupil, and then kill him.
I was most excited to see the opening credits. I enjoy when new people are added to them, and it was nice seeing Alexis Denisof as Wesley in there. Still, if I had to choose between Wesley and Doyle, I'd take Doyle. It's unfair to say that at this point, since Wesley has only had two episodes to make his mark while Doyle had ten (and only ten, dammit), but he just seemed to fit better with the team, even at the beginning. Ahh well. C'est la vie. Right now, Wesley still doesn't seem like part of Angel Investigations. Hopefully that moment where he is fully embraced comes soon. Despite Doyle's superiority, I still very much like Wesley.
Right, so this plot centered around Angel's past as Angelus, which is always a treat. It also served as the means for Kate to learn Angel's true identity, which is necessary and hell, maybe she'll become a better character for it (doubt it). Angel's exchanges with...come to think of it I can't remember his name. Whatever. He's Angel's pupil who has daddy issues. Anyways, their exchanges were fun. That's what I wanted to say.
Cordelia has been seeing some real character growth lately, and it was neat to hear her so adamant on calling Angel her friend. For a character whose main role is comic relief and distress figure, she seems to be involved in a lot of the moral statements and whatnot.
I felt that Doyle worked much better than Wesley at first too, and really missed Doyle, but Wesley really grows on you, he actually is probably my favorite character in the series.
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I'm "kind of a big deal". http://img.imgcake.com/cyclo/Cyclopngegpngre.png
From: SlymDayspring | #029 I felt that Doyle worked much better than Wesley at first too, and really missed Doyle, but Wesley really grows on you, he actually is probably my favorite character in the series.
Pretty much exactly this.
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"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land." -Toad, SMB3
This is probably that "Wesley is accepted into Angel Investigations" moment that I was hoping would come by soon. It's nice that I didn't have to wait. Wesley is already fast growing on me, and he provides some great comic relief. It also marks Cordelia's ascension into something a little more than comic relief and distress figure. Sure, she was still a distress figure, but Angel and Wesley's reactions this time felt much different, and Cordelia's subsequent thanks felt different. Angel said it best when he called himself a family member. These guys are starting to truly seem like a family. It's neat to watch.
The plot was nice. Seeing Ken Marino was interesting. I've been a fan of his ever since seeing Party Down, but this is, like, the only other thing I've seen him in. Still, good job. He can come off as a scumbag well. I also liked the creative way of taking down the baddie, though I'm lead to question where Angel so readily got some nitrous oxide (that's the cold stuff, right?). Ahh well. Plot convenience and the like that I can easily look past. One gripe is that a lot of time was spent on the "oh my gosh what is going on" and it got kind of slow moving, but I'm sure that was a means to show how much Angel and Wesley care about Cordelia, so I was understanding.
I can take the viewpoint of "oh hey Angel is a superhero so he probably has a stock of random stuff like that just in case punch punch kick doesn't work."
In which some other dimension is fighting each other on Earth.
That was a bad episode, and probably the first one of the series that I didn't like. Part of that is probably because I had trouble following along the intricacies of the other dimension people, and it all just seemed like too much explanation was needed to fit into a 45 minute episode. Women are slaves, and the men are jerks about it, and these people burn up or something when on Earth for some reason I didn't really catch. I don't know. It was just a mess.
From what I could gather, the motive was "I need to save my people, and will do so at the cost of your people" and Angel was all "No you won't. I will help you but not at the expense of my people" and then she was all "nuh uh I'm independent and strong and don't need you *runs off*" and then Angel is like "oh man I need to go help her because I'm the good guy, dammit" and then she was all "oh thank you but now we are rivals (only we'll never see each other again)." Something like that.
Also, I couldn't tell if that was sexual tension between Angel and the girl, or if it was just awkward acting. Since the ending seemed rather inconclusive about anything regarding what had happened in the episode, I thought maybe the female warrior girl would come back again at some point in the series. Since this episode bugged me so much, I felt the need to find out right away by iMDBing Bai Ling, and nope. Just one episode. Laaaame.
Even the humor seemed forced, as I didn't really go along with the groveling Wesley bit. The head in the clouds helper guy wasn't funny, either. The best part was the beginning, honestly, which did illicit some out loud laughs. But it all went downhill from there.
I will say, though, that "special" guest star Bai Ling was looking mighty fine in that outfit throughout the episode.
Let's just move on from here.
Up next: Buffy 13-14
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snowpork I wanna be a SuperNiceDog when I grow up!
Bai Ling makes everything suck. "She" is generally considered the worst episode of Angel. Not even the Angel-Wesley dance-off in the credits could save it.
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http://www.smkgp150cc.com/images/toadspin.gif SuperNiceDog ate all my bananas.
When is Buffy going to learn that having sex leads to bad things?
This episode was interesting. Lots of main arc development with the expected heel turn of Walsh and then her unexpected (presumed) death. We learn that Riley probably isn't in cahoots with whatever ulterior motive The Initiate has given his "an order is an order" mentality and his reaction to Walsh's heel turn. We are introduced to what is probably the Big Bad of the season, though I expect someone like the researcher guy will end up being the true threat by controlling this Adam.
We also have developments of Spike, in that he's resistant to the Scoobies help, but is realizing he needs it. Xander and Anya are still around, but there relationship seems to be going nowhere at the moment and is starting to become slightly stale, despite Anya's continued great brand of humor. Giles and Spike have had great exchanges, though, and I look forward to the more that are sure to come. Also, the relationship between Willow and Tara is just ****ing weird. Tara is awkward as hell and Willow is so secretive about everything and I still don't know why. I don't like Tara, and I like Willow even less when she is around Tara. I sympathize with her feelings when it comes to Buffy + Riley, though. Hoes before bros.
I'm most interested in seeing how Riley comes out of all this. He probably doesn't trust The Initiative anymore, but without the equipment provided by them, it'll be difficult for him to be all that much help, and especially because the people he pals around with are probably still loyal to The Initiative.
I've grown really invested in the main arc as these latest episodes have put a lot on the table regarding it. I'm enjoying how unpredictable the show can be, as I was expecting them to slow burn the question of what Walsh is up to a little more. Ahh well. I'm just along for the ride, which is alright with me. Don't disappoint me, Season 4.
In which we are dealing with a Frankenstein’s Monster, and Riley is more than human.
Oh my goodness this title mentions Iowa and I’m typing this while in Iowa RIGHT NOW because I live here and oh my gosh I remember that Riley is from Huxley and I know where Huxley is! Funny story about Huxley, I got pulled over in the stupid town. It’s a speed trap and the cops there are total dicks. There’s this curve in the middle a town that appears like it’s going to go back to highway, and so you start to speed up, and when you get around the curve you see that oh there is still more town and the speed limit hasn’t changed and there’s a cop just sitting there. Got a ticket when he said I was only going to get a warning. It was my first time ever being pulled over and the cop was acting like he was understanding saying it would be fine and just a warning and then BAM I’m gonna give you a ticket because I’m a self-righteous dick. **** Huxley, IA and the cops who patrol there. Also, their high school wrestling team recruits which is just unsportsmanlike.
Oh. Nobody cares. Okay.
Well then. I’m not sure if I like the direction that this has all taken, mostly concerning Riley. If Riley was conflicted due to all his beliefs having been brought into question, that’s one thing. But for him to be conflicted because of having been programmed or something, that’s another thing and just kind of lame. So, Buffy has had sex with both a human and a cyborg or something. Spike was right: she really knows how to pick them.
But yeah, the most interesting part of this, I think, will be to see how all the other Initiative members react. They seem to be resistant the belief that The Initiative is no good, but now that it appears two of their leaders have been killed, I’m not sure what they’ll do. That will probably be addressed when Washington gets there. Still many questions, but some of them seem really confusing. Hopefully they are all addressed in quick time, as in, the next episode that I have to wait four Angel episodes until.
Also, the obvious was finally confirmed: Something isn’t right with Tara. Now, whether she’s actually a demon or just a bad witch, I don’t know, and I really hope they don’t just let that linger. I find it interesting how this has just been some side plot going on in the midst of all this madness with the Initiative, and I’m curious to see how important or dangerous it will end up being. Is this the beginning of Willow’s heel turn that I know will be coming at some point (and I know I shouldn’t have to say this, but I’m going to because I really don’t want to be spoiled, but don’t answer this question)?
Demons disliking Spike because he’s embraced his ability to hurt and kill demons is an interesting plot that I didn’t even think about. It was fun hearing of a “demon code” that states demons and the like don’t kill other demons and the like. However, it’s a code that Spike seems to have already broken before and nobody seemed to care. But maybe the code is different among vampires. Plus, I don’t think people cared too much about The Annointed One. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see if this forces Spike’s hand in fighting on the side of good.
Development has been made, but it has a potential to be lame. I’ll put my faith in them, though, because they haven’t disappointed me much.
And the updates just keep on coming (not much else I want to do today, really). Angel – Season 1, Episode 14: I’ve Got You Under My Skin
In which the team performs an exorcism.
More MotW stuff. While it’s all been consistently entertaining, I’m starting to get a little disappointed by the lack of a main plot. The show is, at the moment, too much like a supernatural cop drama.
I did like the Ethros demon’s explanation at the end, though. That was interesting how he had given up because there was no soul in the child and he couldn’t escape, and how in essence he was attempting to do good just to get out of everything. Though I'm left to wonder: if the demon wanted out so bad, why did he still play those games in an attempt to resist? The father was an interesting character, too, and came away as the most likable character in the group.
I don’t know, there’s really not much else to say. I like the slight reminder of hey Doyle still existed and they haven’t forgotten about him just because Wesley is around.
Up next: Angel 15
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snowpork I wanna be a SuperNiceDog when I grow up!
Yeah, Angel Season 1 is a bit like Buffy Season 1 in that they are much more episodic and have a much weaker over-arching plot. Season 1 is certainly the weakest season.
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No amount of planning will ever replace dumb luck.