Flashback: 30 Days of Buffy Meme
Jun. 18th, 2014 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatOkay - I first did this meme back in January of 2011. Let's see if I still have the same answers, three years later. Considering I haven't watched an episode of the series in at least five years and my obsession with it has more or less disappeared, along with my obsession with a certain vampire.
Well that was then, this is now. My memory is less clear and I find myself to be a tad more critical of what I once loved and adored with blind abandon. So the following may ruffle a few feathers?
Day 1: Favorite Season
Hard one. I'm leaning towards 4 for the excellent stand-a-lone character centric episodes such as HUSH, Who are You, This Year's Girl, Restless, A New Man, Pangs, Something Blue. Season 6 had the excellent Once More With Feeling - which made fun of itself and did a sort of twisty meta-narrative on musicals as a story-telling device.
But other than that, was let's face it - a bit of a mess. It did however have a few risky and ground-breaking episodes in there for network television in the early part of the 21st century - such as Dead Things and Smashed. But at times it did feel like I was watching the theater of the absurd, or writers doing a high wire act. And it did occasionally fall into the dreaded soap opera/comic book cliche (Seeing Red, Two to Go, Grave). Five - had some interesting concepts, plus two great stand-a-lone episodes (Fool for Love and The Body), but missed the mark with the villains and the plot sort of got diffused in the middle. Three - had by far the best plot arc not to mention villains in The Mayor, Trick and Faith, but dreadful stand-a-lone's, also the Buffy/Angel will they or won't make it as a couple arc almost dragged down the momentum being built up with Faith and the Mayor. Four - in direct contrast to three - had the worst plot arc (let's face it once Professor Walsh left it became a mess), but by far the best stand-a-lones, and best character development/arcs. While the Riley/Buffy relationship threatened to drag it down a bit, it was never a huge enough focal point to really matter - since equal time was given to Xander/Anya, Spike, Giles, and Willow/OZ, Wilow/Tara. Seven - much like Four - had some excellent character driven stand-a-lone episodes, but a difficult and preachy arc that didn't quite work and fell apart towards the end. Two - like Season 3, had a great plot arc, and an excellent trio of villians in Angelus, Spike and Drusilla (possibly the best villains of the series due to the fact that two of them became heroes later on and the third was a victim of one and the creator of the other - talk about layered villains), but much like 3 had horrible stand-a-lone episodes. I'd say 2 was actually better than 3, in that the B/A relationship at this stage of the game was still compelling and not a general drag, plus Marsters and Landau's wild performance as the incestuous and somewhat trippy punk vampires Spike and Drusilla were far more fun than either Trick or Faith turned out to be. Season 1- eh, had a decent plot arc, but nothing to make it stand out. At this stage the series was pretty much as advertised - a campy tween vampire show.
So, I'm thinking Season 4 at the moment.
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Once More With Feeling - it's well crafted episode that includes a hilarious meta-narrative/commentary on musicals as story-telling devices.
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
The most descriptive character song was Pavolov's Bell by Aimee Mann. Which haunted me long after. Favorite is probably Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan - at the end of S2. Although I'm also rather found of We Are the Lucky Ones by Biz Naked, and Key by the Devices (Crush). The theme song by the Nerfherders - definitely deserves comment. And Joss Whedon's trippy "Blue" - the song sung at the beginning of Conversations With Dead People.
So favorite? Full of Grace. There's a pathos to that song that just grabs at my gut.
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Buffy. A character I admittedly had an love/hate relationship with. But overall - moved me the most and I ultimately identified with the most.
Willow...worked up to a point, but then...didn't. I felt that Whedon went a bit too far with Willow - and then fell down on the job. A cautionary tale in why falling in love with your own characters can be detrimental to your story's health.
Tara - was never developed enough for me to care about strongly.
Harmony - while more developed than Tara, sort of one-joke pony. And often grated on my nerves.
Anya - was interesting, but they didn't really get around to developing her until S7, then they just sort of dropped the ball.
Cordelia - similar to Anya. Her character really doesn't get developed until Angel, and much like Willow - they go too far, then drop the ball. Although I think Willow ultimately fared better in part because of Whedon's relationship with the actress and various personal issues that had zip to do with the story on screen.
Dawn - similar to Tara was never really developed to my satisfaction. She was up to a point, then the writers just seemed to lose interest or didn't know what to do with her.
Guest stars?
Drusilla
Day 5: Least Favorite Female Character
Eh. Regarding the contract or main players: Probably Tara for the reasons stated above.
Guest stars? Harmony for reasons stated above.
Day 6: Favorite Male Character
Spike - had by far the most interesting and for me at least unpredictable arc.
Angel - liked for a bit, but his arc sort of peetered out when they decided to flip him over to his own series, where he'd be the hero. Angel is one of those characters, much like Spike, in which less is more. You reveal too much...and you lose the mysterious allure. Also the writers didn't know what to do with the curse, it seemed to hamper them at times.
Xander - was interesting up until the mid-way point of S5, then sort of fell by the wayside or into cliche territory. His arc seemed to diminish. Also, his self-righteousness and hypocritical attitude got on my nerves - it was understandable when he was a teen, not so much when he got older.
Giles - much like Xander, his arc seemed to peeter out or diminish somewhere in Season 5. They clearly did not know what to do with him. And the actor wanted to move on.
Riley - poorly developed. Started out to be interesting but ultimately became little more than a wooden solider who liked to speechify. Sad waste of a decent actor and a potentially interesting character.
Robin Wood - ill-concieved and poorly developed, also weirdly played - the actor clearly was being given mixed signals - should I be a villain? Am I good guy? Am I smug bastard? I know I'll play all three.
Andrew - a rip off of Xander and Jonathan, and not nearly as funny or interesting. Truth is they didn't have much time to develop him and used him mainly as comic relief or for thematic purposes. At any rate the character never quite worked for me.
Day 7: Least Favorite Male Character
Andrew for the reasons stated above.
Day 8: Favorite Friendship
I was going to say Spike and Angel, but that's the wrong series. Uhm...I'd have to go with Willow and Buffy - whose friendship was by far the most complex and developed. It had a lot of twists and turns. And one of my favorite bits was towards the end of Wrecked, where Willow reveals her deepseated envy of Buffy and her own self-hatred and insecurity. Willow in many ways is a foil for Buffy. Buffy wants to be the normal girl, while Willow would give anything to have Buffy's power - even it turns out her soul.
Day 9: Favorite Romance
Jenny and Giles was by far the sweetest, adult and most constructive. Also well developed.
Spike and Buffy was by the most interesting - and compelling. Not to mention hot and wildly unpredictable. I still have no idea where it stands in the writers eyes, they continue to portray it ambiguously.
Buffy and Angel started out compelling and intriguing but after season 2 rapidly became predictable, annoyingly repetitive/circular, and cliche. I gave up on it after S4 of Buffy.
Buffy and Riley ...was never very well developed and didn't go anywhere.
Anya and Xander - one of the more interesting relationships in the series and did a very good job of furthering both characters. One of my favorites.
Willow and OZ - cute and interesting, although the werewolf bit never worked for me.
Willow and Tara - cute and interesting, and in some respects better developed and far more intriguing than Willow and OZ. Unfortunately they didn't do any better a job developing Tara than they did with OZ.
Cordelia and Xander - also a favorite. But I think Anya and Xander was better developed.
I'd have to go with Spike/Buffy as my favorite.
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Season 1 - see Day 1 for reasons why. Season 1 was basically just a campy teen show about a vampire slayer in high school. I watched it for Giles and Angel and the quippy humor.
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Buffy and Riley for the reasons listed above. It started out well enough, albeit admittedly on the cliche side of the fence, but then somewhere in the middle of S4, the writers lost focus and didn't quite know what to do with them. The loss of Lindsey Crouse as Professor Walsh sort of put a wrench in the whole Buffy/Riley relationship arc. As a result the relationship sort just hovered in limbo never quite taking off or getting examined. Then in S5, Riley does some odd things. Buffy gets understandably furious as his odd and somewhat self-indulgent behavior, not to mention outright creepy. He gives her a bizarre and outlandish ultimatium. She tells him to shove it. Then gets talked into running after him at the last minute by Xander (who is projecting his guilt regarding Anya onto Buffy's relationship), and misses him by seconds. Only to have him come back with a perfect wife (who is creepily reminiscent of robot April) in S6. Ugh. It's enough to wish they'd never done it.
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
As You Were. The plot. The characters. The story. Just did not work.
And it had some of the most cringe-worthy dialogue of the entire series. It's possibly the only episode I've had difficulty re-watching.
Day 13: Favorite Potential Slayer
Don't remember the name - but she's the one they discovered during Potential, who was a friend of Dawn's, somewhat clutzy, and told Buffy how she tended to get into fights with guys she liked. I adored her.
Day 14: Favorite Female Villain
Faith. I know, I know, you thought I was going to say Drusilla. But seriously, Faith was the best developed female villain on the series. And by far the most complex. She was actually more interesting as a villain than as a good guy. The actress does a better job with edgy characters or villains.
Day 15: Favorite Male Villain
Angelus. The Mayor was fun and layered in his own right. But Angelus was the most interesting and compelling. Much like Faith above, I almost preferred David Boranze as a villain than a hero - he certainly seemed to enjoy it more.
Day 16: Episode You Like That Everyone Else Hates
I don't know. I tend to like the one's everyone likes. I know I liked Spiral better than most people did.
Lies My Parents Told Me, Get it Done, Wrecked, Gone, all come to mind. Also, Beer Bad - I liked Beer Bad - I thought it was funny in places. And a lot of people including the writers hated Beer Bad.
So going with Beer Bad.
Day 17: Character You Relate To The Most
Probably Buffy.
Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Tara and OZ - both were poorly developed and only seen in relation to Willow. Anya and Cordelia in comparison actually got fuller arcs. Heck, Harmony got more screen time.
Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Not sure there is one? I'll go with...Glory and Ben - who I found to be more interesting than most fans did. Although I also appeared to like Riley better than a lot of people did.
Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
Fool for Love. Although Beneath Me and Lies My Parents Told Me are contenders. But Fool for LOVE is by far the best. Crush is problematic and doesn't quite work in places. Fury was trying to do too much there, and it got muddled, plus some of the humor just made me cringe. I find that episode hard to re-watch in places. Beneath Me - like CRUSH has cringe-worthy moments regarding the B-plot line with the worm. Lies - also has a few cringe-worthy moments regarding Robin Wood and it's patronizing attitude towards women - which I might add is also a problem I had with CRUSH - both David Fury episodes.
Fool for Love's only draw-back is the silly Riley as vampire slayer sub-plot that doesn't really go anywhere.
Day 21: Best Willow-centric Episode
Dopplegangland - from S3, and one of the few really good stand-alone episodes in S3.
Day 22: Best Xander-centric Episode
Xander, let's face it, got crappy episodes. I'm going with...The Replacement. Although I know the Zeppo is considered better - but the parody felt a bit over-the-top to me, and the meta-narrative too one the nose.
Day 23: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Well, everyone sort of did at one point or another? I sort of wanted Xander and Willow too, but they did sort of. Or Giles/Joyce - but they also sort of did. Faith and Willow in S7 would have rocked. But the writers clearly chose to keep Faith straight. So, I'll go with Faith/Willow.
Day 24: Hottest scene
The fight/sex scene with Buffy and Spike and the building falling down at the end of Smashed in S6...seriously, is there hotter one?
Day 25: Favorite Buffyverse Saying
Hmmm...have three: "I'm going to be a fireman when the floods roll back."
"Fire Bad, Tree Pretty". "Bored Now."
Day 26: Favorite Scooby Moment -
The sing-along in the library in Once More with Feeling, the beginning of Primeval.
Going with the group hug scene in Dopplegangland, where everyone hugs Willow - realizing she's alive or the scene in The Body - where they exchange thoughts about Joyce.
Day 27: Cutest Moment
Willow and Tara watching Miss Kitty Fantastico - I'm sorry but watching a kitty is painfully cute. Other cutest moment? Spike in Xander's shirt, really upset about it and Xander upset he's wearing it.
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Uhm...Angelus or The Mayor
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Everyone Else Loves
Storyteller. Still don't understand the appeal.
Day 30: What You Think Made Buffy So Great
This is an essay in of itself. I think I wrote it once upon a time. Can't find it.
What made it great is that it managed to do the coming of age tale in a whole new way - through the blending of various narrative styles and genres. It also took some serious risks that few television series at that time contemplated.
It also commented on various tropes in some new and interesting ways, creating in the process the much ballyhooed meta-narrative.
But ultimately what it did was it told the story of a series of powerful women characters coming of age in a difficult and painful universe. And by doing so, it commented on various horror narratives that came before and after it. Buffy was amongst the few series that featured a powerful female character, who straddled the gender gap.
She was girly but strong.
It was funny and tragic - creating the dramedy. And insanely innovative with episodes like Restless, Once More With Feeling and HUSH.
And it found a way to discuss what it feels like to be cut out, excluded, criticized and bullied with healing humor and grace, and empowerment. It empowered the geeky lonely ostracized nerd in us all.
Well that was then, this is now. My memory is less clear and I find myself to be a tad more critical of what I once loved and adored with blind abandon. So the following may ruffle a few feathers?
Day 1: Favorite Season
Hard one. I'm leaning towards 4 for the excellent stand-a-lone character centric episodes such as HUSH, Who are You, This Year's Girl, Restless, A New Man, Pangs, Something Blue. Season 6 had the excellent Once More With Feeling - which made fun of itself and did a sort of twisty meta-narrative on musicals as a story-telling device.
But other than that, was let's face it - a bit of a mess. It did however have a few risky and ground-breaking episodes in there for network television in the early part of the 21st century - such as Dead Things and Smashed. But at times it did feel like I was watching the theater of the absurd, or writers doing a high wire act. And it did occasionally fall into the dreaded soap opera/comic book cliche (Seeing Red, Two to Go, Grave). Five - had some interesting concepts, plus two great stand-a-lone episodes (Fool for Love and The Body), but missed the mark with the villains and the plot sort of got diffused in the middle. Three - had by far the best plot arc not to mention villains in The Mayor, Trick and Faith, but dreadful stand-a-lone's, also the Buffy/Angel will they or won't make it as a couple arc almost dragged down the momentum being built up with Faith and the Mayor. Four - in direct contrast to three - had the worst plot arc (let's face it once Professor Walsh left it became a mess), but by far the best stand-a-lones, and best character development/arcs. While the Riley/Buffy relationship threatened to drag it down a bit, it was never a huge enough focal point to really matter - since equal time was given to Xander/Anya, Spike, Giles, and Willow/OZ, Wilow/Tara. Seven - much like Four - had some excellent character driven stand-a-lone episodes, but a difficult and preachy arc that didn't quite work and fell apart towards the end. Two - like Season 3, had a great plot arc, and an excellent trio of villians in Angelus, Spike and Drusilla (possibly the best villains of the series due to the fact that two of them became heroes later on and the third was a victim of one and the creator of the other - talk about layered villains), but much like 3 had horrible stand-a-lone episodes. I'd say 2 was actually better than 3, in that the B/A relationship at this stage of the game was still compelling and not a general drag, plus Marsters and Landau's wild performance as the incestuous and somewhat trippy punk vampires Spike and Drusilla were far more fun than either Trick or Faith turned out to be. Season 1- eh, had a decent plot arc, but nothing to make it stand out. At this stage the series was pretty much as advertised - a campy tween vampire show.
So, I'm thinking Season 4 at the moment.
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Once More With Feeling - it's well crafted episode that includes a hilarious meta-narrative/commentary on musicals as story-telling devices.
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
The most descriptive character song was Pavolov's Bell by Aimee Mann. Which haunted me long after. Favorite is probably Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan - at the end of S2. Although I'm also rather found of We Are the Lucky Ones by Biz Naked, and Key by the Devices (Crush). The theme song by the Nerfherders - definitely deserves comment. And Joss Whedon's trippy "Blue" - the song sung at the beginning of Conversations With Dead People.
So favorite? Full of Grace. There's a pathos to that song that just grabs at my gut.
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Buffy. A character I admittedly had an love/hate relationship with. But overall - moved me the most and I ultimately identified with the most.
Willow...worked up to a point, but then...didn't. I felt that Whedon went a bit too far with Willow - and then fell down on the job. A cautionary tale in why falling in love with your own characters can be detrimental to your story's health.
Tara - was never developed enough for me to care about strongly.
Harmony - while more developed than Tara, sort of one-joke pony. And often grated on my nerves.
Anya - was interesting, but they didn't really get around to developing her until S7, then they just sort of dropped the ball.
Cordelia - similar to Anya. Her character really doesn't get developed until Angel, and much like Willow - they go too far, then drop the ball. Although I think Willow ultimately fared better in part because of Whedon's relationship with the actress and various personal issues that had zip to do with the story on screen.
Dawn - similar to Tara was never really developed to my satisfaction. She was up to a point, then the writers just seemed to lose interest or didn't know what to do with her.
Guest stars?
Drusilla
Day 5: Least Favorite Female Character
Eh. Regarding the contract or main players: Probably Tara for the reasons stated above.
Guest stars? Harmony for reasons stated above.
Day 6: Favorite Male Character
Spike - had by far the most interesting and for me at least unpredictable arc.
Angel - liked for a bit, but his arc sort of peetered out when they decided to flip him over to his own series, where he'd be the hero. Angel is one of those characters, much like Spike, in which less is more. You reveal too much...and you lose the mysterious allure. Also the writers didn't know what to do with the curse, it seemed to hamper them at times.
Xander - was interesting up until the mid-way point of S5, then sort of fell by the wayside or into cliche territory. His arc seemed to diminish. Also, his self-righteousness and hypocritical attitude got on my nerves - it was understandable when he was a teen, not so much when he got older.
Giles - much like Xander, his arc seemed to peeter out or diminish somewhere in Season 5. They clearly did not know what to do with him. And the actor wanted to move on.
Riley - poorly developed. Started out to be interesting but ultimately became little more than a wooden solider who liked to speechify. Sad waste of a decent actor and a potentially interesting character.
Robin Wood - ill-concieved and poorly developed, also weirdly played - the actor clearly was being given mixed signals - should I be a villain? Am I good guy? Am I smug bastard? I know I'll play all three.
Andrew - a rip off of Xander and Jonathan, and not nearly as funny or interesting. Truth is they didn't have much time to develop him and used him mainly as comic relief or for thematic purposes. At any rate the character never quite worked for me.
Day 7: Least Favorite Male Character
Andrew for the reasons stated above.
Day 8: Favorite Friendship
I was going to say Spike and Angel, but that's the wrong series. Uhm...I'd have to go with Willow and Buffy - whose friendship was by far the most complex and developed. It had a lot of twists and turns. And one of my favorite bits was towards the end of Wrecked, where Willow reveals her deepseated envy of Buffy and her own self-hatred and insecurity. Willow in many ways is a foil for Buffy. Buffy wants to be the normal girl, while Willow would give anything to have Buffy's power - even it turns out her soul.
Day 9: Favorite Romance
Jenny and Giles was by far the sweetest, adult and most constructive. Also well developed.
Spike and Buffy was by the most interesting - and compelling. Not to mention hot and wildly unpredictable. I still have no idea where it stands in the writers eyes, they continue to portray it ambiguously.
Buffy and Angel started out compelling and intriguing but after season 2 rapidly became predictable, annoyingly repetitive/circular, and cliche. I gave up on it after S4 of Buffy.
Buffy and Riley ...was never very well developed and didn't go anywhere.
Anya and Xander - one of the more interesting relationships in the series and did a very good job of furthering both characters. One of my favorites.
Willow and OZ - cute and interesting, although the werewolf bit never worked for me.
Willow and Tara - cute and interesting, and in some respects better developed and far more intriguing than Willow and OZ. Unfortunately they didn't do any better a job developing Tara than they did with OZ.
Cordelia and Xander - also a favorite. But I think Anya and Xander was better developed.
I'd have to go with Spike/Buffy as my favorite.
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Season 1 - see Day 1 for reasons why. Season 1 was basically just a campy teen show about a vampire slayer in high school. I watched it for Giles and Angel and the quippy humor.
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Buffy and Riley for the reasons listed above. It started out well enough, albeit admittedly on the cliche side of the fence, but then somewhere in the middle of S4, the writers lost focus and didn't quite know what to do with them. The loss of Lindsey Crouse as Professor Walsh sort of put a wrench in the whole Buffy/Riley relationship arc. As a result the relationship sort just hovered in limbo never quite taking off or getting examined. Then in S5, Riley does some odd things. Buffy gets understandably furious as his odd and somewhat self-indulgent behavior, not to mention outright creepy. He gives her a bizarre and outlandish ultimatium. She tells him to shove it. Then gets talked into running after him at the last minute by Xander (who is projecting his guilt regarding Anya onto Buffy's relationship), and misses him by seconds. Only to have him come back with a perfect wife (who is creepily reminiscent of robot April) in S6. Ugh. It's enough to wish they'd never done it.
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
As You Were. The plot. The characters. The story. Just did not work.
And it had some of the most cringe-worthy dialogue of the entire series. It's possibly the only episode I've had difficulty re-watching.
Day 13: Favorite Potential Slayer
Don't remember the name - but she's the one they discovered during Potential, who was a friend of Dawn's, somewhat clutzy, and told Buffy how she tended to get into fights with guys she liked. I adored her.
Day 14: Favorite Female Villain
Faith. I know, I know, you thought I was going to say Drusilla. But seriously, Faith was the best developed female villain on the series. And by far the most complex. She was actually more interesting as a villain than as a good guy. The actress does a better job with edgy characters or villains.
Day 15: Favorite Male Villain
Angelus. The Mayor was fun and layered in his own right. But Angelus was the most interesting and compelling. Much like Faith above, I almost preferred David Boranze as a villain than a hero - he certainly seemed to enjoy it more.
Day 16: Episode You Like That Everyone Else Hates
I don't know. I tend to like the one's everyone likes. I know I liked Spiral better than most people did.
Lies My Parents Told Me, Get it Done, Wrecked, Gone, all come to mind. Also, Beer Bad - I liked Beer Bad - I thought it was funny in places. And a lot of people including the writers hated Beer Bad.
So going with Beer Bad.
Day 17: Character You Relate To The Most
Probably Buffy.
Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Tara and OZ - both were poorly developed and only seen in relation to Willow. Anya and Cordelia in comparison actually got fuller arcs. Heck, Harmony got more screen time.
Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Not sure there is one? I'll go with...Glory and Ben - who I found to be more interesting than most fans did. Although I also appeared to like Riley better than a lot of people did.
Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
Fool for Love. Although Beneath Me and Lies My Parents Told Me are contenders. But Fool for LOVE is by far the best. Crush is problematic and doesn't quite work in places. Fury was trying to do too much there, and it got muddled, plus some of the humor just made me cringe. I find that episode hard to re-watch in places. Beneath Me - like CRUSH has cringe-worthy moments regarding the B-plot line with the worm. Lies - also has a few cringe-worthy moments regarding Robin Wood and it's patronizing attitude towards women - which I might add is also a problem I had with CRUSH - both David Fury episodes.
Fool for Love's only draw-back is the silly Riley as vampire slayer sub-plot that doesn't really go anywhere.
Day 21: Best Willow-centric Episode
Dopplegangland - from S3, and one of the few really good stand-alone episodes in S3.
Day 22: Best Xander-centric Episode
Xander, let's face it, got crappy episodes. I'm going with...The Replacement. Although I know the Zeppo is considered better - but the parody felt a bit over-the-top to me, and the meta-narrative too one the nose.
Day 23: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Well, everyone sort of did at one point or another? I sort of wanted Xander and Willow too, but they did sort of. Or Giles/Joyce - but they also sort of did. Faith and Willow in S7 would have rocked. But the writers clearly chose to keep Faith straight. So, I'll go with Faith/Willow.
Day 24: Hottest scene
The fight/sex scene with Buffy and Spike and the building falling down at the end of Smashed in S6...seriously, is there hotter one?
Day 25: Favorite Buffyverse Saying
Hmmm...have three: "I'm going to be a fireman when the floods roll back."
"Fire Bad, Tree Pretty". "Bored Now."
Day 26: Favorite Scooby Moment -
The sing-along in the library in Once More with Feeling, the beginning of Primeval.
Going with the group hug scene in Dopplegangland, where everyone hugs Willow - realizing she's alive or the scene in The Body - where they exchange thoughts about Joyce.
Day 27: Cutest Moment
Willow and Tara watching Miss Kitty Fantastico - I'm sorry but watching a kitty is painfully cute. Other cutest moment? Spike in Xander's shirt, really upset about it and Xander upset he's wearing it.
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Uhm...Angelus or The Mayor
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Everyone Else Loves
Storyteller. Still don't understand the appeal.
Day 30: What You Think Made Buffy So Great
This is an essay in of itself. I think I wrote it once upon a time. Can't find it.
What made it great is that it managed to do the coming of age tale in a whole new way - through the blending of various narrative styles and genres. It also took some serious risks that few television series at that time contemplated.
It also commented on various tropes in some new and interesting ways, creating in the process the much ballyhooed meta-narrative.
But ultimately what it did was it told the story of a series of powerful women characters coming of age in a difficult and painful universe. And by doing so, it commented on various horror narratives that came before and after it. Buffy was amongst the few series that featured a powerful female character, who straddled the gender gap.
She was girly but strong.
It was funny and tragic - creating the dramedy. And insanely innovative with episodes like Restless, Once More With Feeling and HUSH.
And it found a way to discuss what it feels like to be cut out, excluded, criticized and bullied with healing humor and grace, and empowerment. It empowered the geeky lonely ostracized nerd in us all.
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Date: 2014-06-20 12:45 am (UTC)1. I'll go with 5, but on a given day it could be 2 or 7.
2. Yep, OMWF.
3. Full of Grace or I'll Remember You.
4. Buffy.
5. Cordelia, among the main characters. If we go for short term characters, I might pick someone else.
6. Spike
7. Xander
8. Buffy and Willow
9. Spuffy
10. S1
11. Buffy/Riley. I don't count Wood as a "romance".
12. As You Were. Dead Man's Party is a close penultimate.
13. Vi. You're thinking of Amanda.
14. Drusilla.
15. The Mayor
16. Bad Eggs. I just think it's funny.
17. Probably Willow.
18. Tara.
19. Kennedy
20. Yeah, FFL.
21. Either Wild at Heart or Doppelgangland.
22. Best is a relative term, but the question is an oxymoron. How about CWDP?
23. Hermione and Luna. For the hilarity. But if I can't have that, then Faith/Willow would work.
24. Yes, absolutely, the ending of Smashed.
26. "I'd call that a radical interpretation of the text." That's the one I use most often, anyway.
27. The end of IRYJ, when they sit around and realize their relationships are all doomed.
28. Angelus
29. I only "hate" 2 episodes and I don't think anyone really likes either one. I do love Storyteller, though. :)
30. I could write a book about that.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-20 01:14 am (UTC)11. Agreed - I didn't count Wood/Buffy as a romance either - it was over after one brief date. I think the writers figured out that it was a bit like having Buffy date Giles - and eww.
29 - there are people who like Dead Man's Party...at least I think there are?
Can't say that I did. Although it had a few good moments...mainly with Giles, who cracked me up on various occasions.