the-watchpost

[the-watchpost]

Angel S01E01 City of...

YES! Finally! I knew it! I knew that Angel was the kind of character I would normally love and yet for the whole of his involvement in Buffy I really struggled to even like him and I now 100% blame that on the weird Buffy/Angel thing the writers were pushing since that literally became pretty much his only plot. The soulless Angel part of season 2 was brilliantly refreshing and at one point I did consider whether I just didn't like Angel with a soul but the first episode of this show alone just proves that it was the Buffy/Angel thing. I love both characters individually but together? No thank you.

So yeah, I'm watching Angel concurrently with Buffy. I don't know if this is the best way to do this and I don't know anything about the future of either two shows but we're going for it anyway.

And right off the bat, I love that they have brought Cordelia over to this show. It did feel like they ran out of things to do with her in season 3 of Buffy, following the Xander/Willow and her near-death moment. (I guess that's probably because they knew she was moving over to this show??) They still could have given her something to do other than that Wesley stuff. He wasn't in either episode (Buffy or Angel) so I'm guessing he did go back to England? Anyway, back on track, I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this partnership that she's formed with Angel develops.

With it being a new show, I was kind of expecting a whole flood of new characters. We don't get that and I'm glad; this makes more sense to Angel's character since he is more of a lone wolf than someone who's overly sociable. We do get introduced to Doyle though. He's half-demon, which is interesting and gets these vision things from the "powers-that-be". I can only assume that this is setting up plotlines for the future. Surely they can't just not explain that?

Doyle's first job as an introductory character is to provide the exposition to any viewers who didn't watch Buffy through a weird 'Once Upon a Time' story and whilst I get that the writers had to get Angel's backstory across someway, it just doesn't make sense. Why does Doyle need to tell Angel his own life story? Angel was there when it happened!

Long story short, the episode revolves around Angel trying to save this Tina girl because Doyle had a vision which made him write down her name and where to find her. Ultimately, they fail and Tina gets killed by a vampire named Russell. I spent the entire time up until her death trying to determine whether she would be a one-off character or a regular one so that moment ended that debate.

Russell then turns his attention to Cordelia and invites her to his place. You can't help but marvel at her bad luck. She did the relatively smart thing by getting out of Sunnydale (home of the hellmouth) and yet she still gets dragged into the world of vampires and demons. Cordelia is great in this episode though and that moment of realisation, "I finally get invited to a nice place - with no mirrors - and lots of curtains... hey, you're a vampire!" was perfect. Luckily for Cordelia, Angel's timing was on point. Also loved the moment when Doyle tried to smash through the front gates with the car.

Russell managed to get away which allowed for the cool showdown at the office. The "can you fly?", the shove of the chair out of the window and Russell catching on fire as he fell was a stand-out moment.

One aspect I'm really enjoying about Buffy (and seemingly continuing with Angel) is seeing actors I know from other shows randomly popping up looking so much younger. It catches me off guard every time. This episode had one of those moments with Christian Kane (as the lawyer guy whose name I didn't catch).

Anyway, the episode ends with Angel, Cordelia and Doyle banding together to help protect the city. So I guess we'll just keep watching and see how that one goes.

#angel the series #ats #ats season 1 #becker watches angel

[the-watchpost]

Buffy S04E01: The Freshman

An episode about a character struggling to adapt to change? You bet I can write a lot about this.

Buffy is like a small fish in a big pond as she tackles the change from Sunnydale High to UC Sunnydale. Over the years of the show, Buffy built up a strong support network which has helped her through difficult moments in the past. This same support network is now splintered; her mom and Giles obviously haven't made the move to the college campus, Xander is on a roadtrip across the US, and whilst Willow and Oz are at the same college they've made the transition to college look easy - Willow is super prepared and in her element whilst Oz already has connections from his band. Buffy is left to feel alienated. In previous seasons, it would have been these kind of situations where she would have turned to Angel but he has left and she no longer has him to fall back on either.

The show does a really good job at establishing this isolation. The first scene after the titles is Buffy in the midst of a crowd who all have yellow files whilst she doesn't, meaning she's not meant to be there. She's immediately out of place and disoriented whilst surrounded by tons of new faces and getting leaflets thrust in her face. Buffy is overwhelmed by it all - she finally finds a familiar face in Willow only to discover how well she has adapted to the change and that Oz already has plenty of acquaintances.

Buffy isn't exactly subtle about her feelings and does try to tell them both; "almost, one might say, too much", "it's just, a little overwhelming.", and "it's just so overwhelming." With everything that's going on around them, Willow doesn't get a chance to respond and seems to quickly forget about it. Unlike Buffy, she is in her element and taking it all in her stride. Oz also acts as a distraction for Willow and further isolates Buffy who is still getting over Angel.

With tons of new faces left, right and centre, there's just people everywhere with little escape. At high school, Buffy's escape was the library and Giles. There's no Giles at college and the library is nothing like *her* library. It's huge and busy and stocks a much wider selection than Giles' impressive collection of occult literature. They even get shushed in the Library- that never happened in high school. Once again Willow is in her element whilst Buffy seems out of her depth. And I miss the old library.

To further add to the whirlwind there's a flood of new characters and names including Riley, Kathy, and Buffy's psychology Professor, Maggie Walsh. They were all rather brief introductions with minimal screen time meaning I haven't had much chance to get a feel for any of their characters and I'm not sure how many of them will be frequently occurring so we will see how it goes with the lot of them. It does appear like Buffy is taking Psychology which is cool and makes me miss my own Psychology classes - operant conditioning was a throwback.

On the night of her second day at college, Buffy runs into a fellow student named Eddie. It's the first interaction we see Buffy have with someone who also hasn't completely naturally adapted to college life. He's lost, and the two get into a good conversation from there. I must admit, at this point I was wary of the guy since Buffy doesn't tend to have much luck, the scene was set at night and it was possible he could be a vampire. It turned out he wasn't a vampire but there were other vampires on campus and as soon as Eddie was left on his own, he was caught and turned. Buffy is definitely cursed.

When she finds out he's missing the next day, Buffy is immediately suspicious (even more so when she discovers he left his book behind) and who can blame her? She is still in Sunnydale after all. As she always did, she turns to Giles and arrives at his house to find he has a guest, Olivia. She's another character we don't see too much of and I have no idea if they're setting up a plotline with her. Giles ultimately waves off Buffy's concerns anyway, leaving her isolated once again.

That night she discovers that Eddie was turned into a vampire and gets jumped on by the gang of vampires. She chooses to avoid Willow and Oz the next morning which was an interesting choice. Its almost like she thinks that they have left all the vampire and demon stuff in high school now that they've made the move to college. She chooses to go home instead only to find that her mom has already started using her room as storage. Even her home has changed.

She ends up at the Bronze which is an interesting move. It's the place where she would quite often find Angel and its like she trying to grasp onto any kind of familiarity with everything in her life being so different. There's even a moment where she thinks she sees Angel. Ultimately it's Xander who turns up after his roadtrip (or attempted roadtrip) and he's raring to go with helping her combat evil. I loved his little motivational speech. It was very strange seeing them do research outside of the library. (Did I mention I miss the library? I know I thought the scene where they blew it up was cool but I take that back now. I want the library back). Anyway, where did they actually do the research? It was a little room but where was that place? That little detail bugged me.

As Buffy stakes out the vamp gang's lair (and prematurely crashes into it), Xander heads to the college for weapons, and Willow and Oz. It leads to an encounter with Buffy's roommate and his subtle description of vampires as "her friends who sleep all day and have no tans."

Ultimately, after an entire episode made up mostly of Buffy feeling isolated and alone, she gets backed up by Xander, Willow and Oz as she manages to take down the vampire gang. It was great to see them all back together again. Giles also turned up, albeit after the threat was handled, but the thought was there! And surrounded by the whole gang again, Buffy seems to be coming to terms with the changes that college have brought.

The episode ends with three masked soldier-esque figures taking down a vampire. I have no idea what that was all about.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs season 4 #becker watches buffy

[the-watchpost]

Buffy Season 3 Top Five Episodes

Now that I’ve finished season 3, I thought I’d compile a list of my top five favourite episodes this season.

1. Episode 8 - Lover’s Walk

This episode saw the return of Spike! (And also, it turns out, his only episode of this season). We get treated to a fun ride with him though and the scene in Buffy's house where Joyce is struggling to keep up with everything that is going on is one of the stand-out moments for me.

2. Episode 9 - The Wish

I love it when shows play about with alternate realities, it's always fun to explore what-ifs and this episode looks into what would have happened had Buffy never gone to Sunnydale, allowing the Master to orchestrate his plan unopposed. We get a dystopian world with vampire versions of Xander and Willow and a very different dynamic between Giles and Buffy.

3. Episode 13 - The Zeppo

This is probably my favourite episode of the entire season. As the rest of the gang prepare to face an apocalyptic threat, Xander falls into trouble and winds up running around Sunnydale, raising the dead. The stand-out moment is definitely Xander's "I like the quiet". The strange, over-the-top melodramatic Buffy and Angel moment is also memorable for different reasons.

4. Episode 16 - Doppelgangland

This episode sees the return of the vampire Willow from the alternate reality in episode 9. She crosses realities and causes havoc in Sunnydale leading to the awesome scene in the Bronze where Willow impersonates her vampire counterpart.

5. Episode 22 - Graduation Day Part 2

This episode has to make it for that final fight alone. All the students banding together to defend the town from the demon!Mayor was an awesome moment, especially when they removed their gowns to reveal all the weapons in their arsenal. I'll never forget Larry with that flamethrower. But beyond that, the whole episode was great. Definitely my favourite season finale of Buffy so far.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs season 3

[the-watchpost]

Buffy S03E21/S03E22: Graduation Day Part 1/Part 2

Wow. Graduation Day. What a finale these two episodes make. Still don’t get why the Mayor would want to turn into that thing but whatever - his character made for a brilliant villain across the season nonetheless. It is kind of a shame to see him go.

Xander talks a couple of times about not getting out of graduation alive, even at one point saying something about a dream he had. Obviously, we know that Buffy has had dreams come true in the past. It’s not so likely that Xander would have such premonitions but I do wonder if this little subplot was part of the writers way to try and up the ante regarding the impending battle. Aside from Jenny in season 2, the main gang have been relatively untouchable and Xander’s comments seem to be a way to suggest that this may not be the case this time. There were also a couple of times across this season - particularly in the Zeppo - where Xander was described as expendable so this part of the story seems to play off all that and hint towards his life being at stake. Ultimately, of course, he does get out of it okay and lives to fight through another season.

There are more scenes between Xander and Anya in these episodes. She certainly shows an interest in him but has no clue how to act upon those feelings which is an interesting dynamic. Ultimately, Anya serves as a kind of exposition-y role in this episode as she’s seen an ascension before fills in the gaps that the gang have about the ascension; the Mayor isn’t just become a demon, he’s becoming a demon because the demons we have seen so far in this show aren’t full demons. The Mayor plans to become something bigger and more destructive. 

She was too scared by what she had seen in the previous ascension to stick around and help fight so she left after providing that information. Before she did leave, she tried to convince Xander to leave with her. I found myself being reminded of the episode ‘The Zeppo’ during this scene, not only did the scene begin with Xander being sent to fetch something but he turns down her offer to leave with her and when she tells him “you’re going to die if you stay here.” he replies with “I guess I might.” It just echoes his “I like the quiet” and the way he stared down the bomb in the Zeppo and just further emphasises his willingness to risk his life for the rest of the gang. Anya leaves alone. Things between her and Xander were left pretty open so I’m pretty sure it’s not the last we’ll see of her and I’m very interested to see more of her character.

Considering Buffy was all for the prom in the previous episode, she is very anti-Graduation in this episode. “Graduation is a pointless ceremony” seems quite a strong viewpoint (though one which, being English, I can’t help but sort of agree with). I guess the difference here is that she has known for a while now that her Graduation would be another day in her life which wouldn’t be normal. Prom was her one chance at having that normal moment. I’m a big fan of the scene between Buffy and Joyce when Buffy is packing her mom’s thing. The sarcastic “is some terrible demon going to attack the school?” comment followed by the realisation followed by the casual “maybe I should have sent you to a different school” as opposed to immediate panic just demonstrates how Joyce has come to somewhat accept that this is just a part of Buffy’s life. Nevertheless, Buffy’s ‘I know sometimes you wish I weren’t like this. I wish I could be normal for you. But I’m not.’ (paraphrasing) speech hit hard.

Angel gets poisoned by Faith which is an interesting action because it is that act which, ultimately seals her fate. The poison is a distraction technique to keep Buffy out of the Mayor’s way by harming someone she cares about. But they seem to miscalculate just how much Buffy cares for Angel and how far she is willing to go for him. For the poison is killing him and there’s only one cure; for him to drink the blood of a Slayer. That knowledge puts Faith right in Buffy’s sights. The final showdown between Buffy and Faith is amazing, the choreography is great and Buffy takes Faith down with her own knife. Even then, Faith doesn���t make it easy for Buffy; she jumps off the top of the building, landing on a moving truck, taking Angel’s cure out of Buffy’s reach.

Buffy resorts to her only other option; using her own blood to cure Angel. He’s not so behind that idea. It leads to a stand-offs where both emphasise how much they care about the other by being willing to sacrifice themselves for the life of the other. Buffy wins this debate by manipulating Angel, punching the already weak vampire repeatedly in the face until he was angry enough to lose control and take her blood.

Through different causes, both Faith and Buffy wind up in the hospital with the Mayor and Angel watching over them respectively. It leads to a fascinating showdown where the Mayor discovers Buffy and tries to kill her by suffocating her in his sleep and Angel ultimately tosses the Mayor across the room. Faith and the Mayor’s relationship is really interesting. At first I thought he was completely manipulating her, using her lack of a permanent role model figure in her life to get her to do his bidding. She certainly latched onto him very quickly. I still believe there is some manipulation involved but the way he acts in this episode also shows that part of him did really care for her; it is kind of like whilst he took on the parental figure she never really had, she did the reverse for him. It’s always great to have layers to the ‘villains’ other than just ‘they’re bad.’

With Buffy out of the hospital, the gang return to the school and start planning for war. The show is vague about their actual plan (which allows for a great reveal later) but there’s an amazing scene where they discuss plans which are crazier than their current plan. Oz makes a comment about attacking the Mayor with hummus and that does paint a hilarious image. Cordelia puts forward a suggestion to “attack him with germs” and everyone acts like that’s a crazy as if germ warfare doesn’t exist (granted, they would need more time than they did have to pull that one off).

Then comes Graduation and the Mayor’s long-awaited ascension. He turns into a big snake-like demon. The parents all panic and run whilst all the students epically take off their gowns and reveal that they have all been armed with various weapons. Larry gets a flamethrower!!! And they even have archers! They also call back to the Halloween episode with Xander using his knowledge from when he got turned into soldier to direct the attack (we need more of him using this knowledge. The writers seem to only remember this detail when it suits them.) Anyway, all the students fighting back is very cool and it certainly gives them a story to tell about their graduation.

Buffy ultimately uses Faith’s knife to draw the demon!Mayor away from everyone and then it turns into a game of chase through the school until she runs through the library and they’ve only gone and rigged the place to explode! They take out the demon!Mayor and the entire school along with him!

The gang end the episode talking about how the school chapter of their lives is done and that sure is one way to end it. Buffy and Willow are off to college, Xander’s got a road trip planned and Angel is leaving to wherever. The chapter which follows should be interesting.

And for the final sentence; this was one hell of a finale.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs season 3 #becker watches buffy

[the-watchpost]

Buffy S03E20: The Prom

Prom (and graduation) very much represent the end of the high school chapter so it does seem kind of fitting that an episode with this title marks the Buffy and Angel break up. (I’m assuming this is a permanent break-up since Disney Plus’ recommended section has made me aware of Angel’s spin-off and a bit of tentative research (trying to avoid spoilers) tells me that show runs alongside season 4). I do feel like the timing of this break-up doesn’t do much to favor the character of Angel. Where their relationship, one between a teenage high school girl and a over-two-hundred year old vampire, is already questionable, the timing of this break-up can almost be interpreted - though certainly not stated in the narrative - as Angel going ‘you’re not in high school anymore. Moving on.’ Honestly, their entire situation is strange and I’m glad to have gotten to a point where the show can move on from it. I’m actually very intrigued to see Angel develop as a character beyond Buffy in his own show and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Buffy gets a new romantic interest. 

For now, going back to the break-up, story-wise it was certainly unfortunate timing for Buffy. The prom is just around the corner and she was so excited to have a normal evening but that is destroyed by this even before the night has arrived. The show makes it clear in the earlier scenes - from the talk about having mirrors and drawers at Angel’s place, and the ‘Buffy and Angel 4ever’ doodles - that she didn’t see it coming which makes the break-up hard for her to process and accept, prompting her to go on the offensive. In the scene which follows, with Willow, she does appear to accept reluctantly that he was right.

We learn in this episode that the Mayor’s upcoming ‘ascension’ means that he is planning to undergo a transformation into a demon. And all I can say to that is why? Like what? What exactly is his motivation to transform into a demon? I don’t get it.

Anyway, that scene ends with Buffy saying “we deserve a little prommy fun. One night of glory. Not too much to ask.” and, clearly, she’s forgotten that she is in Sunnydale.

Buffy faces Hellhounds in this episode. It was certainly an... interesting design. I don’t think I would have guessed Hellhound had they not stated pretty soon after what they were. The Hellhounds had been trained to attack people in formal wear which must have taken some work. Essentially, this Tucker guy wanted to destroy the prom because he got turned down by a girl (and I have to assume others?) when he asked them to prom. It’s certainly... extreme but hey, at least it’s more of a motive than we currently have for the Mayor wanting to become a demon.

Of course, Buffy puts a stop to things and the seniors get to have their prom. The best part of the episode was definitely the class protector part. So many shows just have everyone else ignore what is going on and act like everything is normal; it’s refreshing to see the rest of the class recognise that Sunnydale is a crazy place and that Buffy has been the one who has stepped up in times of crisis. There’s a point earlier in the episode where Buffy remarked about wanting to have her moment and she certainly got it there.

Ultimately, the ‘monster of the week’ part of this episode is largely forgettable. It definitely felt like it was kind of shoe-horned in there because it’s Buffy and there has to be a demon of vampire threat. Fundamentally, this episode is all about the prom and there were some very nice moments such as Xander paying off the rest of Cordelia’s dress, the class protector moment, and I guess Angel turning up to the prom for a dance with Buffy was bittersweet for the two of them.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs season 3 #becker watches buffy

[the-watchpost]

Buffy S03E19: Choices

(This... this got long.)

The title does a brilliant job in stating the theme of this episode: choices. The teens are facing choices for their fast-approaching future post-Graduation (providing Graduation Day doesn’t lead to the apocalypse), the gang are forced into choosing between Willow and the world, and quite a few characters make some interesting choices along the way.

And whilst there is a considerably big focus on the teenager’s future after graduation, there’s finally some questioning which arises around the plausibility of Buffy and Angel’s future together. It’s a topic that Buffy and Angel both seem to have avoided in the past, or have conveniently been forced to avoid it by impending threats. The Mayor may have some far-reaching views but, honestly, everything that the Mayor said about their future was pure facts. I’m not sure if I was meant to be internally somewhat cheering him on when he was say all that - I feel like the writers wanted me to like Buffy and Angel together and for the whole spiel to pit me against the Mayor even more - but I’m just glad someone has finally said it. It’s about time. I love Buffy and I want to like, even love, Angel but I can’t get on board with the two of them as a couple. Of course, the episode ends with them continuing to deny it and that the Mayor knows nothing about them but I do feel, especially from the way they barely looked at each other during their conversation, that both of them have been left with some questions over the reality of their future.

Wesley has continued to grow on me though I’m very wary of this fact because I feel like if anyone is going to die in this Graduation Day ascension thing, it will be him. And I don’t want that. But he is kind of expendable and that’s what worries me. I guess the new Watcher storyline was to give Giles some opposition and a new subplot following Jenny’s death last season. He’s certainly been a great addition comedically but my concerns about his expendability were highlighted in this episode. The scene in the library where he couldn’t get a word in edgeways as Buffy and Giles took control of plans etc. was funny but it also highlights how, ultimately, his presence hasn’t really had much of an impact on the way things are done. Regardless of my concerns of his immediate future, I did find that scene amusing and it made me think that it would be entirely possible for them to do another ‘Zeppo’-esque episode with Wesley being the one on the outside. Also shout-out to the Wesley watch sync moment - I feel like he’s gradually accepting that he’s fighting a losing battle.

Buffy and Angel do get a very cool Mission: Impossible moment, using the wires to lower Buffy into the room where the Box of Gavrok was being stored. The fight scene which promptly followed was fun and really made me appreciate how much better the fight choreography has gotten since the first season. Also the use of the decoy van upon their escape was very clever.

Buffy and Angel return to the library with Box in hand to find that they weren’t totally successful and that Willow has been caught by Faith. It leaves them with the decision of whether to sacrifice Willow or arrange a swap: the box for Willow. Wesley winds up being the voice of reason here. I love Willow and would also personally be rallying to go save her just like Buffy but objectively, Wesley is right; the choice is sacrifice one or risk the lives of hundreds, thousands, millions??? We still have no idea how devastating this ascension thing is going to be. Regardless, poor Wesley of course gets outvoted and his objective view also prompts one of my favourite lines from the episode from Xander: “I need a volunteer to hit Wesley.”

I say that Wesley got outvoted. It was more that his plan to destroy the box was no longer an option following one of my favourite ever Oz moments. There’s a big debate raging over saving Willow or destroying the box and Oz stays completely silent during the entire scene but still makes his views heard by smashes the pot and destroying everything needed for the ritual to destroy the box, leaving room for no debate. It was epic. Communication isn’t just speech. He doesn’t ned to say anything to contribute to the debate, that action said it all: sacrificing Willow is not, and will never be, an option.

This is also another great episode for Willow. That pencil slay? That was awesome. I need a lot more of that in the future and will be very disappointed if it’s never done again. Going back to the title of choices, I did think she made a strange decision to stop to read books (even if they were the books of ascension) rather than just getting the hell out of there. But still, go Willow for ultimately swiping pages from the books for Giles!

Another interesting choice of Willow’s came at the end of the show when she told Buffy that she had decided to go to UC Sunnydale. For the sake of the show it was choice she would always have to make - not sure she could bee too integral plot wise from Oxford Uni - but they fashioned it in well enough, giving her that vampire slay and face-off with Faith this episode to establish her choice for a future of helping people.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs season 3 #becker watches buffy

[the-watchpost]

Buffy S03E18: Earshot

There was lot to unpack about this episode which touched on two big, serious topics which I’d prefer not to dive too much into. I will say that it’s a shame that this episode, which was first aired almost twenty-four years ago now, has stood the test of time so well.

Following a run-in with two demons, Buffy developed a mind reading ability. It was presented as a fun little gift initially but, as always with these things, things rapidly went south.

Now, mind reading is, obviously, a great tool to use to get into the character’s heads and, whilst the insight into personal thoughts was interesting for all the characters, the stand-outs had to be Oz and Cordelia. Oz is a man of few words so it was fascinating to see the deep thought process he had in response to Buffy’s new found abilities. “Buffy is all of us. We think, therefore she is.” On the flip side of the scale, it’s entirely unsurprising that Cordelia’s thoughts were exactly what she went on to say. It’s been highlighted in episodes before that Cordelia just says things as they are and this episode just continued to cement that. It was put into practice once more when she straight out asked Mr Beach whether he was planning on killing a bunch of people - for the year book, of course.

This episode contains a follow-up Larry and Xander scene to the one in Phases. During the time between the two episodes, Larry has come out and his Grandma has been setting him up with guys which is awesome. It may only be a tiny, tiny subplot but it’s still more LGBT rep than I expected when I sat down to watch a 90s show. (And yet, despite knowing that, I still watch the episodes and hope my personal bisexual Xander interpretation becomes more than that. I mean, come on! “He said my name! He knows my name!”)

You know the moment when they’re all running around the school trying to find Jonathan and Willow runs into the library, calls out his name and follows it up with, “Are you in here?” - was that moment meant to be as funny as I found it? Like, Willow... when is anyone other than you and the gang ever in the library???

Anyway, it turns out that this is another episode with a twist and it was the cook who tried to kill everyone with rat poison. That reveal was a bit random but I loved that the reason for her failure was entirely down to Xander getting distracted by jello.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs season 3 #becker watches buffy

[the-watchpost]

Buffy S03E17: Enemies

Well this episode gives just a snippet of information as to what the Mayor is up to. There’s an upcoming ascension and some kind of transformation due on Graduation Day. What that entails? Absolutely no idea. All that the word ascension does for me is bring back memories of the season 3 finale of Agents of SHIELD. If any of the gang die during this Graduation Day ascension, I will not be happy. 

Anyway, this episode continues with the old trope of Buffy arriving at the wrong time to catch Angel in a position with another woman which could create misconceptions. Seriously, what is with her coincidental timing. Every time!

Then we get soulless Angel which, in a big twist, isn’t actually soulless Angel but Angel putting on an extremely convincing act that he had lost his soul again. Who would have thought he’d be so good at faking that side of him? And whilst it wasn’t actually soulless Angel, since we didn’t know that, it was just as good as. It reminded me just how much more fun it is to watch that Angel. Obviously, standard Angel has a much better moral compass but it’s just so hard for me to like him when there’s not really much to his personality other than Buffy. As I’ve said previously, I want to like Angel but I’m really struggling to. I think the exchange between him and Oz in the previous episode basically summed it up:

Oz: Hey man, you looking for Buffy? Angel: As always

It’s just frustrating - this guy is over two hundred years and has a vast, dark history that’s briefly glossed over; there’s so much material and room to play about with there. Yes, Buffy is the titular character and Angel is ‘the love interest’ but he doesn’t have to be so two-dimensional; give him more depth beyond Buffy. His character has so much potential, they just don’t seem to be diving deep enough into it. 

Anyway, moving on, Cordelia was back in the big gang meet up at the library for the first time in a number of episodes. It was made pretty evident that her presence there was purely due to the presence of Wesley there. He does appear to be sticking around for a while though I’m not too sure I’m at all on board with the direction in which things seem to be heading with Cordelia and Wesley. Regardless, I’m continuing to love all the interactions between Giles and Wesley and I definitely like the comedic relief side of Wesley’s character.

Ultimately, this was another fun episode. Angel and Buffy’s plan to get information out of Faith was cool and well-played, and I’m very intrigued to find out more about what this Mayor’s ascension is all about. 

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs season 3 #becker watches buffy

[the-watchpost]

Buffy S03E16: Doppelgangland

This was such a fun episode. I’m a sucker for the alternate reality tropes in shows and so loved episode 9 and was really glad to see that they dove back into the material from that episode.

It’s one of those instances where characters really should be careful what they wish for with Willow complaining about being ‘the reliable one’ only to go and unintentionally summon her vampire self from another reality. It’s a great episode for Willow though - the way she put on the clothes of vampire!Willow and went right into the lion’s den to save all those people in the Bronze was awesome.

What I really love about this episode is the way it showed just how much the whole gang cares for Willow. The entire scene from the way Buffy, Giles and Xander are just sat on the steps in utter shock and hopelessness then the Buffy, Xander and Willow group hug upon the realisation that she’s not actually an undead vampire was just everything. And then the way Giles ran to her was just the cherry on top. I do feel like Oz’s reaction was a bit muted - undoubtedly due to the hostage situation he found himself in - he didn’t get as much of a chance to process it as the others, he just had to get on with things but I do wish they could have played about with that a bit more.

Another one of my favourite moments was when Angel went to the library to break the news to the gang, looked at Willow, said hi to her and then it still took him some more moments to realise. It’s a tiny moment but probably heightened for me because I have a strange stance when it comes to his character. I really want to like Angel, and feel like I’m supposed to like Angel, but I’ve been really struggling to actually like Angel so it was kind of a refreshing moment personally. It feels like a slight breakthrough there so we’ll see how it goes.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs season 3 #becker watches buffy