Kitchen sink post - fan meme, Ringer, Memphis, books

[shadowkat]

1. So, I'm trying to watch Ringer again. This is what I'd call an example of a bad soap opera. Where the plot is imposed on the characters as opposed to the other way around and twists are used for shock effect. I don't know why I'm still with it - curiousity I suspect. Also...it's fluffy and I can do other stuff during it. Oh and this episode they have both Jason Dohring and Misha Collins guesting. Plus this is the episode where they explain why Siobhan (Shiv) hates Bridget and is seeking revenge. And it makes no sense. None. Siobhan doesn't have a good reason. Is she insane?

So, Bridget allowed the father, Dylan to take her and Siobhan/Dylan's kid Scean to the fair, after Siobhan told her not to let him anywhere near Scean, because he apparently got her pregnant and left her. After the fair, driving home in the rain, while they are talking, a truck barrels into them. The Trucker fell asleep at the wheel. How is that Bridget's fault? Is Siobhan nuts? And while I can see blaming her initially...for seven years? Also it's no where near as bad as the horrible things Siobhan has done to Bridget and everyone else. Talk about nasty irredeemable anti-heroes.

This is just stupid. I can understand hating Dylan. But Bridget? Also it was an accident. If it was deliberate...but it was an accident.

And so the Mother's the plotter behind the cry-rape scam on Andrew? Alrighty then.


Still half-way wish they'd bring in James Marsters - maybe as their father because that would be hilarious. What? It's not worse than anything else he's done. This is my problem with doing the mindfulness exercises - I multi-task all the time. Focusing on one thing is hard for me to do after a week of multi-tasking.

2. Missed this week's Merlin because the dang DVR (setup) refused to tape it for some reason. I called the Momster who told me it was skippable. She said halfway through, she felt she'd seen this story before. She had, just not on Merlin. It's the quintessential spiderwoman episode that every single sci-fi/fantasy show this side of the Pecos has done. Even Doctor Who and Star Trek and Space 1999. You know the trope, spiderwoman shape-shifts into a beautiful woman, seduces the men, then turns into a nasty creature. Even Buffy did it in S1. It's an annoying overdone trope that symbolizes the male fear of women, and I wish writers would stop doing it. So I decided not to spend $3 to grab Merlin on itunes, due to it not being taped. Oddly Lost Girl, which I gave up on, sort of has that character at its center...a succubus.

3.Just made the turnip/leek soup with apples and bacon again. Quite tasty. Especially for a cool windy day. And watched the Broadway musical Memphis via PBS Great Performances this morning. It's good. The songs catchy. But the male lead's voice grated on my nerves, an exaggerated Southern nasal accent. Spoke with the Momster who lives in South Carolina and she said - that this was not a southern accent, it was too nasal and sounded more Northern. I'd agree. It was exaggerated hillbilly and I found it grating and offensive. I think, if I saw it now, on Bway with Adam Pascal, I might like it better. He had a great singing voice but his regular voice was hard to listen to. It's a realistic bio-pic musical about the DJ (Dewey Phillips and Alan Freed intermixed) who introduced rock and roll to the airwaves in the 1950s. He was the first to put white and black singers on the radio and on television. In the musical he falls for a beautiful black singer. It's a story about the creation of rock and roll, but also about racism in the US. I'm wondering if it would be better on stage.

4.As a follow-up to that meme regarding favorite episodes from each season of you favorite tv series (ie the one you can actually remember episodes from which for me is just Buffy for some reason), come up with a list of no more than five episodes from each season that you loved. It can be anywhere from 1 -5. Best way to do it, is not to think too hard, just pick the one's you'd love to rewatch several times right now.


1. Season 1:

* Nightmares
* The Pack
* Angel
* Welcolme to the Hellmouth
* Prophecy Girl

2. Season 2
* School Hard
* Lie to Me
* Innocence
* Passion
* Becoming Part II.

3. Season 3
* Lover's Walk
* The Wish
* Dopplegangland
* Enemies
* Graduation Day Part II

4. Season 4
* Something Blue
* Hush
* Who are You
* The Initiative
* Restless

5. Season 5
* Out of my Mind
* Fool for Love
* Intervention
* The Body
* The Gift

6. Season 6
* Afterlife
* Once More with Feeling
* Tabula Rasa
* Dead Things
* Villains

7. Season 7
* Beneath You
* Selfless
* Conversations with Dead People
* Sleeper
* Lies My Parents Told Me



Now for a bit of fun, the least favorite episodes of each season or the one's you didn't like. Up to 5, no more than 5. You can do under 5. Also best way is to pick the one's you'd skip if you were rewatching or have little interest in seeing again any time soon.



1. Season 1
* Teacher's Pet - sigh, the evil bug lady who kills men to forward her race is annoying misogynistic trope that must die! (Every sci-fi/fantasy series on the planet does it. Merlin just did. Guy's - are you really that afraid of us? )
* I Robot You Jane
* Puppet Show
* Out of Sight Out of Mind
* The Harvest

2. Season 2
* Some Assembly Required
* Bad Eggs
* Ted
* Go Fish
* Inca Mummy Girl

3. Season 3
* Dead Man's Party
* Beauty and the Beasts
* Gingerbread
* Revelations
* Amends

4.
* The I in Team
* Living Conditions
* Where the Wild Things Are
* Superstar
* Goodbye Iowa

5.
* Shadow
* Buffy vs. Dracula
* Family (actually this may be my least favorite episode of the entire series)
* I Was Made to Love You
* The Weight of the World

6.
* Wrecked
* Doublemeat Palace
* Older and Far Away
* As You Were
* Seeing Red (except for the Spike/Clem scene and only if I can get rid of the flashbacks)

7.
* Bring on the Night
* Showdown
* Get it Done
* Storyteller
* Empty Spaces

I won't explain why. Figure it out on your own. ;-) Although I clearly didn't like Andrew or Jonathan that much.


Hmmm..Whedon managed to write my favorite and least favorite episodes of the entire series.

5) Reading the latest Rachel Morgan novel at the moment, entitled A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison, who while not as technically good at writer as Butcher is a lot better at world-building and character development. She also is a bit more innovative on the fantasy front and a little less black and white in her mythology.
In some respects I find Harrison's stories to be less derivative and more surprising.
She blends science fiction in with the fantasy, which most urban fantasies don't do.
And her characters continue to evolve along with the world. Plus she introduces bi-sexuality and homosexuality without issue. As much as I love Butcher, there's an underlying and somewhat unsettling religious undertone and sexism that bugs me.
So one is better "technically", while the other is better story wise.

Interesting. Both are noir in some respects. But one is more...boilerplate noir and less ambitious - Butcher's, which explains why the plot is tighter, and more consistent and technically better. He doesn't try to do as much as Harrison or take as many risks.

Comments

[local-max.livejournal.com]

Agreed on most of the best and worst list, though I love Revelations and Seeing Red. Also -- poor "Family." I have big problems with the episode as a standalone, but I love it as part of the series arc. It sets up Willow's spell in All the Way/Tabula Rasa -- she learns from Tara. Tara's spell, where she blinds the Scoobies to the demon part of her, and they are nearly killed as a result, is eerily similar to Willow's erasing Tara's memory of their fight, and of Willow's dark side -- and then erasing the evidence of her 'demon' and her mistakes from Tara and Buffy, which leads to the gang nearly getting killed in a demon attack on the Magic Box once again. The show never draws the connection explicitly -- but we are given all the information in advance about how Willow constructs her skewed morality. W/T is so much more complicated than the surface presents.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

While I agree that the Tara/Willow relationship is incredibly complicated and fascinating on multiple fronts...I'm not sure I agree with your analysis..completely, in regards to the spell.

It sets up Willow's spell in All the Way/Tabula Rasa -- she learns from Tara.

If so? It teaches her the wrong things. Because Tara's spell almost got everyone killed.

Although I'm not sure you can draw that straight a line - since Tara's spell wasn't a forget spell, it didn't play with minds. It just made it possible for Tara to hide. The difference between Tara and Willow is similar to the difference between Willow and Buffy. Willow wanted to be special, to be paranormal. Ordinary Willow...wasn't good enough. Remember Willow unlike Tara was invisible to her parents, they didn't see her. And Willow is invisible to her friends. Until she has power. They don't start to take notice until she begins to wield power. While Tara...is always noticed for her power, and wants to hide, because her family hates her for it. Derides her. Despises her.

So Tara wields power to blind her friends to her anything that is a demon, or not human. She wants to hide her demon side.

Willow isn't doing that. Willow wants to make Tara and Buffy forget things.
Because if they forgot, they'd be happier. She wants to control their perception of the world. Not their perception of just Willow. Tara on the other hand only wanted to control their perception of Tara...

Tara's act is understandable and sad, almost pathetic...something that breaks your heart with sympathy for her - which is why everyone forgives instantly. It's the reaction of an abused child. Tara didn't intend harm.
She just wanted to hide what she thought she was out of fear.

Willow's act is less understandable and unlike Tara's, deliberate, Willow knows what she is doing - her intent is carried out, and she knows how dangerous it is - she does it anyway. It's not a mistake. She deliberately made Tara forget. She deliberately tries to make Tara and Buffy forget again.

And...here's the thing? I don't think you can link her knowledge of how to do it to Tara, because she did a similar spell in Something Blue - long before she ever met Tara. A lot of Willow's knowledge ironically comes from
Amy. The episode Witch and Something Blue and Gingerbread are all quite interesting in retrospect - because those episodes tell you a lot about Willow. In Witch and Gingerbread - there's a cautionary tale via Amy and her Mom - where Willow could be headed if she isn't careful.

Willows spell in Something Blue is so powerful it drew the attention of the head of the vengeance demons - for it was done in anger and vengeance. That spell however has more in common with Family in that it was not intended to hurt her friends, she didn't want to control them. She wanted to control her own emotions, herself. She was using magic to erase her pain about OZ. (Foreshadowing of what would happen if anyone close to her were to die. After Something Blue - it should not have been surprising that Willow would take it upon herself to bring back Buffy, would attack Glory for hurting Tara or become DarkWillow when Tara is killed by Warren. Willow has always used magic to make herself feel better or to be important in some way.)

My problems with Family, interestingly enough are similar to my issues with Caleb in S7, Amends, and Whedon's latter work...

Whedon gets preachy in this episode. The theme of the episode is too obvious and the metaphors beat into the audience. He doesn't trust his audience or the story. He gets caught up in the message he wants to relate and falls into cliche and sentimentality as a result. Getting preachy is always a mistake in fictional writing, I think.

[local-max.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree with all that -- I sometimes use too much shorthand. I think Willow's spell is worse on many levels, and it is certainly not set up only by one single thing. I think it's more that Family reinforces what is going to happen and shows some more layers to it.

What I find interesting is that Willow doesn't hold Tara's spell against her at all: she doesn't seem to recognize that there was anything wrong with it. The similarities to Tabula Rasa are, I think, intentional: Family and TR are the first and last time the eight members, and only these eight members, of the 'family' of the Scoobies are together -- Buffy, Willow, Xander, Dawn, Spike, Giles, Anya, Tara. The demon attack resulting from the spell is very similar in both cases, in that the spell prevents the gang from being prepared the way they usually would be.

The reason for the parallels is I think this. Willow is willing to do spells on herself, and in relationships that are ending -- she almost does the delusting to get AWAY from Xander, the SB spell to get OVER Oz. She hasn't yet started doing spells to maintain relationships. Tara does. Tara's intent is not nearly as bad as Willow's I completely agree. But there is a dynamic at work between the two of them (whose relationship starts in Hush!) that they are carefully maintaining a somewhat idealized view of each other, and somewhat idealized presentation of themselves, and can't talk about their problems. And Willow takes this to ludicrous extremes in s6, but it starts early on, and we are told in Tough Love that they never fight.

The reason Willow erases the fight from Tara's memory, and tries to erase knowledge of heaven from Buffy's, has some roots in learning from Tara. Obviously it is the wrong lesson, I agree! Not all. Or maybe it's better to say that Tara reinforces it. Because part of it is to make the world better for Tara and Buffy, as Willow sees it. But part of it is also to maintain a fiction that *Willow* doesn't have a dark side -- it's to erase Willow's own mistakes from existence. Her harshness in the Tara argument; her bringing Buffy back when she didn't want to be back. That is in a lot of respects similar to Tara's reason; Willow fears there is something evil inside her, and tries to reshape reality to make that go away. This goes hand in hand, of course, with Willow's fear that she is weak and that her 'good' nerdy side is terrible as well; the fact that Tara is not afraid of her nerdy side is part of what gives her an equilibrium and an ability to love more unambiguously than Willow does.

I agree that Family is preachy. I think I appreciate it if I think of the episode as being super-explicit in Tara's case so that we can see the parallels elsewhere. Between the way the Watchers Council keeps Buffy in line and the way Tara's family keeps her in line. Our later knowledge that Buffy has part demon in her, and compare this with Tara's relief at being all human: what will Buffy do when she finds out? The implicit comparison between Tara here and Willow later. The way the floating at the end gets echoed in the floating in OMWF. It is also partly about storytelling -- the episode begins with "tell me a story," and ends with W&T floating, to a song which apparently was written about a TV set -- so I think we are told in the episode, in a subtle way, that this is an idealized/simplified story, which is part of a bigger narrative.

I agree that Witch/Gingerbread tells us a lot about Willow, through Amy, Amy's mother, and indeed Willow's mother.

Argh, hope this was clear.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agree with what you said above, but it doesn't make Family any less annoying or any more enjoyable to watch unfortunately. Does it do a good job of explaining Willow and Tara - not really, that could have been better and had been elsewhere. I don't think Family was needed. It overstated several things that I think had already been addressed elsewhere in the series and in far better and more interesting ways.

Tara's co-dependent relationship and enabling of Willow's Dark Magic is seen throughout S4 and S5. We don't need Family. I wish they'd gone their original route and made Tara a Wood nymph, not human - that might have been more interesting, I don't know. Or they could have made her family less extreme, less cliche. At any rate it was too over-the-top. So while, yes, it does provide insight into Willow, it distances the viewer at the same time.
Amends did the same thing, it provided insight into Angel, but also distanced me. Both were heavy handed.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

That said? I will admit, the Spike scenes from that episode were welcome comic relief and quite interesting. Whedon was actually better at writing for Spike then he was for Tara or Angel for that matter - which I've always found to be fascinating.

That's the episode with Harmony talking about shopping. And Spike wondering why she didn't just kill the clerk - I think. Also, he goes to watch the demons kill Buffy and ends up helping her instead much to his own considerable annoyance. And in the end helps more than anyone else does.

Spike basically saves that episode, which again, odd.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

I agree with most of your picks, and can't quibble much with the rest.

Some of my all time least favorites (mostly from your list).
Teacher's Pet was not only trite, it wasn't done very well!
I Robot You Jane - Ugh!
Bad Eggs is pretty much the standard by which sorry Buffy episodes are measured.
Dead Man's Party was one of those times when I think Joss really botched things and pretended it wasn't his fault.
Where the Wild Thing Are - I can't think of an episode that deserved the label "filler" any more.
Very happy to see you listed I Was Made to Love You with your least favorites. It might not have been the worst episode that year, but I thought it was opressively heavy handed.
Wrecked pretty well messed up a nice set-up from Smashed, and made a broad spectrum of Buffy fans unhappy.
I'll add one least favorite of my own here, "Grave" as the worst season finale of the entire series.
I found Andrew endlessly annoying, so I probably down rate a number of episodes of season seven he had a substantial role in that really weren't so bad.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agree with everything you said above.

I'll add one least favorite of my own here, "Grave" as the worst season finale of the entire series.

I'd have to agree Grave was the worst season finale. Two-to-Go and Grave didn't work. Nice set up from Villians, then pure camp. I was emotionally moved at all. It was however, admittedly funny in places - unintentionally so.

Chosen, (and I know this is a unpopular opinion for 90% of the Buffy fans on my flist), is a close second. I had issues with that ending as well - also weirdly over-the-top in places and jarring in others. I'm sorry I found the whole amulet/scythe bit to be incredibly silly. Whedon came up with these last minute bits to save the day...which sort of came out of nowhere and felt like a last minute idea.

I found Andrew endlessly annoying, so I probably down rate a number of episodes of season seven he had a substantial role in that really weren't so bad.

Agreed. Had much the same problem. The writers clearly adored Tom Lenk, I did not. Perfect example of writers screwing up a story to play with a new favorite toy.

It's also the reason that as much as I loved Never Leave Me and Conversations with Dead People...I struggle with both episodes - they made my list, because I love aspects of them. But the Andrew sections? Ugh. Although he's less annoying than elsewhere - maybe because he's still a villain and they aren't trying to redeem him? I don't know. Or he serves an actual purpose?

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Heh. We have a tons of overlap in our favorites, and quite a bit in the dislikes, as well. I do like Jonathan and Andrew, though. And my absolute least favorite episode of the whole series is definitely "Amends", for a whole host of reasons, though I'm not sure preachiness is one of them. I don't like seeing the "hand of god" in Buffy, though. Especially on Angel's behalf. Bleargh. If anybody is going to get magic snow on Buffy, it should be Buffy, IMO. Also, objectively excellent episodes where beloved characters die (Passions, The Body, The Gift) are unlikely to end up on my "favorites" list. I don't enjoy the pain all that much, even if I can appreciate the craft.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh my difficulty with Amends wasn't preachiness but the cloying and manipulative sentimentality. It was over-the-top. Come on, the snow? Really?
Also whenever Whedon did the hand of god thing - I became aware of the writer, and was taken out of the story.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

But the male lead's voice grated on my nerves, an exaggerated Southern nasal accent

I could only get through half of it because of Huey. I loved all the black performers and the music but he drove me up a wall, it was like nails on a chalkboard.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I loved all the black performers and the music but he drove me up a wall, it was like nails on a chalkboard.

Yup. I almost gave up on it for the same reason. Wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been the lead. This may explain why the musical isn't as popular as they want it to be.

I watched the making of, afterwards, and they were deliberately looking for a guy who was like this - had a great singing voice and was like a crazed hillbilly on speed with that quirky voice. (Sigh). I know Adam Pascal doesn't have that same voice - but if that's what they wanted, I have a feeling everyone in that role will do the same things.

[tomomakimou.livejournal.com]

Hi! I've been reading your blog for a while now and I really enjoy it. I hope you don't mind that I added you as a friend. :)

Here is mine (the least favorite episodes of each season);


1. Season 1 (?)

I have to rewatch it once more in order to pick my 5 least favorites.

I've started rewatching Buffy along with Mark when he started reviewing the series, but I just couldn't bring myself to watch S1 again. I only watched the entire series two years ago, and I remember it was VERY difficult for me to sit through this season....

Had I not known better things were to come, I didn't stick with the show (and would have regretted it very much !!)


2. Season 2

* Some Assembly Required
* Inca Mummy Girl
* Ted
* Bad Eggs
* Go Fish

Again, I wasn't a fan of a large chunk of this season (especially the first half) when I initially watched it, but I enjoyed it much more on my re-watch. I liked - and now I adore - some of the quintessential episodes (Passion, Surprise/Innocence, Becoming etc), but I still find nothing to squee about. Probably I could have appreciated more, had I watched it when I was much younger. But then, I was never a fan of Romeo/Juliet type of story, so ....


3. Season 3
* Beauty and the Beasts
* Homecoming
* Band Candy
* Amends
* Gingerbread


4.
* Living Conditions
* Fear Itself
* The I in Team
* Where the Wild Things Are
* Goodbye Iowa


5.
* Shadow
* Listening to Fear
* Into the Woods
* I Was Made to Love You
* The Weight of the World


6.
* Doublemeat Palace
* As You Were
* Seeing Red (but like you said, except for the Spike/Clem scene.)

I can't pick two more episodes, since S6 is my all time favorite of all the shows I have ever watched. (And unlike earlier seasons, I rewatched S5 - S7 over and over.)


7.
* Help
* Bring on the Night
* Showtime (except for the Spike/Buffy scene in the end.)
* Get it Done
* Empty Places

I'm well aware that S7 is often the least favorite season among fans, but it gives me all kinds of feelings and I LOVE it. I agree that it's far from the most consistent season, but at its best, it hit me emotionally like nothing else out there. ("Beneath You")


Probably I'm not what people called a "true fan" (whatever that means), but I love this show very much in my own way. :)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Don't mind at all, friend away.

Probably I'm not what people called a "true fan" (whatever that means), but I love this show very much in my own way. :)

No, you are a true fan. People use that term to attack fellow fans who have opinions or watching habits they disagree with or upset them or differ from theirs. Silly people. Why people think everyone is going to love and hate the same episodes and watch it the same way - I've no clue.

At any rate - my definition of a fan is someone who can remember the names of the episodes and gets emotionally invested in any aspect of the series to the point they will rewatch episodes over and over again. In other words?
If you could do the meme you are definitely a true fan. ;-)

And thank you for responding.

[jaymi-leaf.livejournal.com]

Favourites:

S1 - Prophecy Girl, Witch, Nightmares, The Pack, Angel
S2 - School Hard, Innocence, I Only Have Eyes For You, Becoming pt1, Becoming pt 2
S3 - Anne, Doppelgangland, Earshot, Graduation Day pt 1, Graduation Day pt 2
S4 - The Freshman, Something Blue, Hush, Who Are You, Restless
S5 - Fool For Love, The Body, Forever, Intervention, The Gift
S6 - Bargaining pt 2, After Life, Once More With Feeling, Dead Things, Villains
S7 - Beneath You, Conversations With Dead People, Never Leave Me, Storyteller, Chosen

Dislike: (though I'm a completist so will watch all of these in a rewatch... also I usually find something to like in these episodes)

S1 - I Robot, You Jane
S2 - Reptile Boy, The Dark Age, Bad Eggs, Phases, Killed By Death
S3 - Dead Man's Party, Homecoming, The Wish, Enemies, The Prom
S4 - Wild At Heart, Pangs, Superstar, Where The Wild Things Are
S5 - Buffy vs Dracula, Out Of My Mind, Into The Woods, Spiral
S6 - Wrecked, Gone, Older and Far Away, As You Were, Normal Again
S7 - Him, Get It Done, The Killer In Me, Empty Places

It's a bit of a mix between episodes I actively dislike (Dead Man's Party, Into The Woods, Older and Far Away etc.) and ones that seemed alright first time around but now bore me (The Wish, Enemies, The Prom, Pangs, Superstar, Spiral, Gone etc.)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Yep, for me as well - mix between what I actively dislike and one's that bore me.

[sophist.livejournal.com]

Favorites, huh? I take that to be different from "objectively best". The easy example of the difference is The Body, which is IMO the best episode of S5 (and maybe the series), but not a "favorite" because it's too painful. With that explanation, and in no particular order:

S1: The Pack, Angel, The Puppet Show, Prophecy Girl
S2: WSWB, School Hard, Lie to Me, Phases, Becoming 1&2
S3: Earshot, The Prom, GD1, Doppelgangland, Choices, Lover's Walk (I know that's 6)
S4: The Initiative, Hush, The I in Team, Primeval, Pangs
S5: FFL, Checkpoint, Intervention, The Gift, Triangle
S6: OMWF, Tabula Rasa, Smashed, Dead Things, Normal Again
S7: Beneath You, Selfless, CWDP, Storyteller, Chosen

Least faves:
S1: Teacher's Pet, IRYJ
S2: Inca Mummy Girl, Reptile Boy, Go Fish
S3: Dead Man's Party, Homecoming, The Zeppo; don't care much for Amends either
S4: Living Conditions, Beer Bad, A New Man, Goodbye Iowa, WTWTA
S5: The Replacement, Listening to Fear, Into the Woods, IWMTLY
S6: Wrecked, Gone, DMP, TTG, As You Were. Agreed that Grave is the weakest finale.
S7: Help, Potential

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Favorites, huh? I take that to be different from "objectively best".

Basically episodes you'd rewatch many times, as opposed to ones that may be amazing objectively but you'll skip over either because too painful or just isn't interesting.