Assenpfeffer
First Post
I'm five of the six discs though Season 3 of Buffy, which I recently picked up on DVD, and thought I'd share some thoughts and solicit some other viewpoints. Some spoilers are to be had, so beware.
I'd never really watched Buffy (though I'd seen the movie and hadn't been impressed by its high-camp antics) when Season 1 came out on DVD. Like everyone, I had friends who swore by the show. More or less on a whim I picked up Season 1 and was deeply hooked by the end of it.
My favorite Season 3 episode thus far (bearing in mind that I haven't yet watched "The Prom" or the two-part season finale,) is "Earshot," in which Buffy gets telepathic powers from a slain demon. There are just too many priceless moments in this one, starting with Buffy finding out that Giles boinked her mom. The best shot, though, was Xander about to stuff jello into his face and the reaction shot of the crazy cafeteria lady dumping rat poison into the food. I went back though that scene about 5 times before I could move on.
Overall, though, I'm not sure I can say that I think Season 3 is superior to Season 2, which was just about the best network TV I've ever seen. Season 2 had some really high-impact emotional moments in episodes like "Surprise" and "Innocence" - those in Season 3 don't carry the same force. In at least one case the show's own exceptional quality works against it, oddly enough: in "Enemies," we're clearly expected to believe that Angel's been turned again. But I found myself thinking "they've already done this... Angel has to be shamming." If I hadn't had great confidence in the writers after Season 2, I might have believed that they'd recycle a plot twist that had already been used (to great effect) in Season 2.
Of the new characters, I don't much care for Faith, as her actions don't seem to make even twisted sense and I don't see much evidence of any real acting ability out of Eliza Dushku. She works well as a plot device and less well as a character. Wesley has potential, which I'm not sure he'll develop in this show, since he seems to be strictly a bumbling, officious wanker - I'll have to pick up the upcoming Season 1 of Angel to find out if he becomes interesting (I've heard he does.) The Mayor is the coolest of the new characters. A fastidious man who's a really swell guy... except that he's crazy and evil.
Cordelia seems to have little to do this season except to make the occasional vacuous remark or jab at Xander or Buffy. There's absolutely nothing to make the viewer have any sympathy for her at all. I assume this is why she was moved to Angel. Oz also doesn't have a lot to do aside from the occasional witty remark. Seth Green is so likable in the role that I wish he was more involved. Spike appears in only one episode but is used to good effect. Xander's character is profoundly weakened, a bumbler played strictly for laughs, with few moments of strength like his faceoff with Angel in Season 2's "Killed by Death." Only in "The Zeppo" does he regain some of the wit and charm (and courage) that he had in Season 2. As for Buffy herself... gone are the sledgehammer plot twists of Season 2 which brought the focus of the show back to the title character. And she spends more time moping, it seems. Only Willow emerges from Season 3 as a stronger, more vivid character than before.
The continuity seems a little less rigorous in Season 3. This is not a problem in itself, but the season meanders a bit where both previous seasons were very tightly plotted. I think I've pinned this down to Faith's involvement - she vanishes for several episodes wherein the apparently out-of-left-field choices she makes later in the season could have been given more fully realized justification. The story, and the actress, never pushed Faith's jealousy of Buffy to the point where her actions whould actually have made sense.
Still, Buffy Season 3 is very good television. The people doing Star Trek nowadays should be so lucky to be doing TV anywhere near this good. It's only a disappointment in comparison with the brilliant work in Season 2.
Favorite moments include the aforementioned "Earshot" and "Band Candy," as well as naughty leather-clad vampire Willow in not one but two episodes (oh baby... hurt me), Spike's speech to Buffy and Angel, Xander's facedown with the gang leader in "The Zeppo" and the Mayor's "heart-to heart" with Angel and Buffy in "Choices."
I'd never really watched Buffy (though I'd seen the movie and hadn't been impressed by its high-camp antics) when Season 1 came out on DVD. Like everyone, I had friends who swore by the show. More or less on a whim I picked up Season 1 and was deeply hooked by the end of it.
My favorite Season 3 episode thus far (bearing in mind that I haven't yet watched "The Prom" or the two-part season finale,) is "Earshot," in which Buffy gets telepathic powers from a slain demon. There are just too many priceless moments in this one, starting with Buffy finding out that Giles boinked her mom. The best shot, though, was Xander about to stuff jello into his face and the reaction shot of the crazy cafeteria lady dumping rat poison into the food. I went back though that scene about 5 times before I could move on.
Overall, though, I'm not sure I can say that I think Season 3 is superior to Season 2, which was just about the best network TV I've ever seen. Season 2 had some really high-impact emotional moments in episodes like "Surprise" and "Innocence" - those in Season 3 don't carry the same force. In at least one case the show's own exceptional quality works against it, oddly enough: in "Enemies," we're clearly expected to believe that Angel's been turned again. But I found myself thinking "they've already done this... Angel has to be shamming." If I hadn't had great confidence in the writers after Season 2, I might have believed that they'd recycle a plot twist that had already been used (to great effect) in Season 2.
Of the new characters, I don't much care for Faith, as her actions don't seem to make even twisted sense and I don't see much evidence of any real acting ability out of Eliza Dushku. She works well as a plot device and less well as a character. Wesley has potential, which I'm not sure he'll develop in this show, since he seems to be strictly a bumbling, officious wanker - I'll have to pick up the upcoming Season 1 of Angel to find out if he becomes interesting (I've heard he does.) The Mayor is the coolest of the new characters. A fastidious man who's a really swell guy... except that he's crazy and evil.
Cordelia seems to have little to do this season except to make the occasional vacuous remark or jab at Xander or Buffy. There's absolutely nothing to make the viewer have any sympathy for her at all. I assume this is why she was moved to Angel. Oz also doesn't have a lot to do aside from the occasional witty remark. Seth Green is so likable in the role that I wish he was more involved. Spike appears in only one episode but is used to good effect. Xander's character is profoundly weakened, a bumbler played strictly for laughs, with few moments of strength like his faceoff with Angel in Season 2's "Killed by Death." Only in "The Zeppo" does he regain some of the wit and charm (and courage) that he had in Season 2. As for Buffy herself... gone are the sledgehammer plot twists of Season 2 which brought the focus of the show back to the title character. And she spends more time moping, it seems. Only Willow emerges from Season 3 as a stronger, more vivid character than before.
The continuity seems a little less rigorous in Season 3. This is not a problem in itself, but the season meanders a bit where both previous seasons were very tightly plotted. I think I've pinned this down to Faith's involvement - she vanishes for several episodes wherein the apparently out-of-left-field choices she makes later in the season could have been given more fully realized justification. The story, and the actress, never pushed Faith's jealousy of Buffy to the point where her actions whould actually have made sense.
Still, Buffy Season 3 is very good television. The people doing Star Trek nowadays should be so lucky to be doing TV anywhere near this good. It's only a disappointment in comparison with the brilliant work in Season 2.
Favorite moments include the aforementioned "Earshot" and "Band Candy," as well as naughty leather-clad vampire Willow in not one but two episodes (oh baby... hurt me), Spike's speech to Buffy and Angel, Xander's facedown with the gang leader in "The Zeppo" and the Mayor's "heart-to heart" with Angel and Buffy in "Choices."
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