My Blog

Yeah, as I said, seasons 2 & 3 are the best. I like the epic feel of season 3, but it does suffer from a serious lack of Spike. I think the one episode with him coming back in season 3 is the best of the season. Once Angel leaves, Spike is really the only reason to watch the show.

Spike has quickly become one of my favorite characters in the Buffyverse. Spike seems to straddle the line between good and evil. If he were a D&D character, he would be Pure Chaotic (or Chaotic Neutral if you use the old nomenclature). And if what I read about seasons 4 and 5 is correct, I'm definitely interested in seeing how the Spike character evolves, as chaotic characters always have interesting motivations behind their actions. Spike seems to flip flop between good and evil. On the one hand, he views humans purely as food. On the other hand, he also has the unique ability among vampires to sympathize with their very human situations. As a failed poet, Spike understands how peer pressure and the will to succeed can affect a person's life. Spike puts a lot of stock into what people percieve of him and really just wants to be noticed and loved by somebody - anybody. As a vamp without a soul, this makes him unique as well. You can't very well be soulless and truly love someone. However, a blind infatuation is not out of the question, especially when the basic need for recognition has been ignored. When Dru left the Spike, she deprived him of this recognition and support and basically starved the character.

Yeah, Willow is great. That's why I think it's stupid that they just kill the character development in Season 4 just to have something controversial, as I explained. Maybe I missed something, and maybe once you finally watch it you'll love season 4. I just think it's teh poopie. More on that in the next episode.

From what I've read, the transition seems to be more gradual than you suggest if you take the hints. However, I agree with you overall without seeing the eps. This seems like a lame excuse to pidgeonhole a good character that no longer has any practical development to do other than gain attention.

Well, obviously the Angel thing changes in season 4. Or at least you'd like to think that. Buffy gets a couple of new boyfriends (kinda). One just uses her for sex quickly, then ditches her. When she goes to talk to him about their relationship, he starts talking about how it was nothing special, using the same words Angel (or should I say Angelus) used after he lost his soul. I thought that was an interesting angle to take, show how for some guys, sex is what girls are all about, and once that is achieved they no longer have a use for the woman. Suggesting that some people don't even need the excuse of not having a soul to be an asshole. Unfortunately, who steps up and defends her "honor" (for lack of a better term) in a later episode? Her new guy, Riley. Yet another reason I don't like season 4, this guy is a carbon copy of Angel. A buff brunette guy who fights evil while trying to maintain a relationship w/Buffy.

Spoilers, AHOY! I already knew about the chip. It basically forces him into chaotic neutral land as mentioned earlier. In fact, even before the chip, Spike was the only purely chaotic character on the show except for Anya (who starts pure chaos and is turned into true neutral). In fact, depending on her future behavior, she might even be classified as Lawful Evil, the closest evil alignment to good. That's an extreme interpretation of the character, however. As a sidebar, I think it's interesting that all the characters in the Buffyverse fall neatly into one of these alignments. Think Joss plays D&D? As for this Riley character, he seems to become a regular guy on the show. And besides, maybe Buffy isn't truly attracted to your run of the mill guys. Either that or she's attracted to him because he reminds her of Angel. Unless you're about to tell me he's Angel's single-season-stunt-double.

That's exactly it. The continuity, while giving the shows a much more "epic" feel (good for the die-hard fans), make it hard to catch up (bad for new viewers). That's one of the big changes in Angel season 5. The WB ordered that they make more stand-alone episodes after season 4 (which, admittedly, had a grand total of 0 stand-alone episodes). They knew the die-hards would keep watching and wanted to capture some new viewers.

Gee, WB. Way to mess with the formula. I find it funny that shows get cancelled more frequently after a network tinkers with it. Let the fucking artists do their goddamn art and leave the business side to the suits for christ's sake. Sheesh.

And yeah, the shows do look silly from the outside. I remember telling my sister, after seeing Lorne in a commercial during Smallville, "I just couldn't take a show seriously with a character like that." Boy, this is some good crow!!!

I remember the first time I saw Lorne, he was standing inside Wolfram & Hart somewhere in season 5. People were walking around, minding their own buisness. Nevermind the green guy. He's a cast member. WTF! No noticices the GREEN FUCKING DEMON walking around in your goddamn lobby? Jesus, was I wrong.

I think that's one of the things that led to the decline of the show in recent years. After 16 years (or is it 17? I'm not sure) you've picked over all the bad spots of that onion, so you've got to go over the exact same spots 3, 4, maybe even 5 times. This year's season premiere? Marge finds a great guy who wants her to leave Homer for him, but she decides she really does love Homer. Watching this show's classic years over again on DVD made me realize how wretched the show has become. They actually commented on the continuity thing in the episode "Homer loves Flanders", from season 6 I believe. Homer and Flanders became friends. Bart was worried about it, but Lisa explained "Don't worry, something will happen and they'll be back
to how they were before next week." When nothing happened, Bart questioned Lisa, and she couldn't explain it. It then flashes forward to "One week later." Homer is explaining another crazy scheme when Flanders comes over. "Hidelly-ho neighborieenies". "Get lost Flanders" "Oakely Dokely". You wouldn't find a joke like that within 100 yards of a recent episode.

I haven't watched the show recently, but this doesn't surprise me.

Nothing to add here, other than to say that Fox totally screwed Firefly. The show exploded on DVD, the movie ain't doing too bad, and it will also make a killing on DVD.

Either you missed the subtext, or ignored it. Give the show a goddamn chance for christ's sake!

Cowboy Bebop is kinda like that. I don't know if you've seen the whole thing, but only 6/22 episodes deal with an overall story arc. The rest are stand-alone. I actually like continuity. Like I said, it gives it a more epic feel. It's why I like Trigun more than Cowboy Bebop. It's why I like Angel more than Forever Knight (which Angel basically ripped off). See if this sounds familliar. A centuries old vampire, one of the baddest around, doesn't want to kill anymore. He moves to a big city, becomes a detective, and helps the helpless while driving around in a 60's convertible. That's the premise for Forever Knight, an early 90's genre show. There is a quality difference between it and Angel (the show pre-dates Hercules and Xena, so the budget wasn't the greatest), but the main reason I like Angel more? Continuity.

Nothing to comment on here, except continuity makes a damn good show with a solid fan following.

Oddly enough, I think the show where Joss Whedon achieved a perfect balance between continuity and stand-alone? Firefly. Each episode (aside from the pilot) is stand-alone, yet each develops at least one character a little bit. Maybe it's because it never had a chance to bloom, but it has that perfect balance.

When's my turn with it coming up? :P