Unspoiled! Buffy the Vampire Slayer

First, I'm sorry guys, I need to apologize for you being able to hear every car that drove by. My mic sensitivity was way too high.
Second, I really liked this Buffy episode, not only because it was fun, lighthearted, and interesting, but also because I was right, Willow is headed down a dark path if she doesn't correct herself, and she doesn't seem disciplined enough to really control her witchcraft. I think this could be real trouble down the road.
Also I don't know how I feel about Spike, weakened as he is, becoming buddy-buddy with the scooby gang. It seems like that is where the show is going, but I prefer him as an antagonist.
As for Angel . . . everything about this was wrong. Angel bitching about his sacrifices, the poorly-shot scenes, trying to give us some reason to care about Doyle. Also the dramatic TV death cinematography of the 90s has not aged well.
Glad to see him gone, though.

I don't even want to write about these. Angel is just the worst. He is everything I hate about immature men with savior complexes.
Buffy is dealing with shit and he shows up, and not only does he "protect" (she's fucking fine) but he tries to do it without her finding out, and he ropes all her friends into it.
And that gets at the heart of what Angel wants. It's not that he wants to brood and suffer, he wants the world to see him brood and suffer and feel like he's such an amazing dude that doesn't deserve this! Fuck him.
And then it gets worse. God I can't even. Not finishing this description. Just listen.

YAAAAAAAASSSSS!
So in Buffy we find out who is behind the scary dudes in ski masks. I didn't see Walsh and Riley coming. But it's so nice to see tht there's a broader world going on, and not everything revolves around Buffy.
Spike is back, too, and he's got a big problem. His fangs don't work. I'm not sure I'm into the lazy boner-humor here, but whatever. And this episode doesn't wrap everything up, which is good, as this show needs to let its storylines breathe.
As for Angel, we have an interesting Doyle episode! But Doyle isn't interesting. I'm a little disappointed he didn't get eaten, but it was a satisfying episode. Just enough levity for me to sit back and enjoy it.

Sorry for the audio quality, y'all, I'm on the road.
One good episode and one disappointing one.

Let's face it, as much as I like Oz, his relationship with Willow is not satisfying on a narrative level. So this is actually a good way to get Oz off the show. And I totally called it. Veruca is a werewolf.

The show also seems to have realized that you don't need everyone in the show to have something to do. Buffy, Xandar, and Giles make appearances that serve the plot, but they don't overstay their welcome. This is progress, we're not wasting time from the plot we care about, which makes a much more solid episode.

As for Angel, I've been thirsty for some more Kate, but not like this, not painting feelings as a weakness and brutality as a virtue.

So, guys, I don't see why everyone hates this episode.
Maybe it's because I'm just not down for attempts at pathos for Buffy getting dumped? The storyline with Parker was so nicely wrapped up- Willow calls him on his bullshit and Buffy punches him in the head. That's super satisfying.
And yeah, it's stupid, but there's a lot of stupid stuff in this show that takes itself way too seriously and forgets to have fun. This was fun. Also Kal Penn was cute once.
As for Angel, this was a good episode, but it did have too much going on. The power of the reveal was a bit lost on me, as I was a bit distracted by the useless Doyle filler. In fact the presence of both Angel and Doyle in anything more than a supporting role is necessary, this is about Cordy's life and feelings, not theirs.

Gross things these episodes:
1. Giles' Halloween Costume

2. Oz shaking blood everywhere.

3. Spiders.

4. Willow getting hugged by 10,000 fireflies.

5. Squashing porn.

6. Stalkers.

7. Cordy dropping the R word.

8. Ronald with the worst superpower ever.

9. Angel's torture face.

So, two people from Buffy's past are back- Spike and (gasp) Harmony!
They are looking for something, another MacGuffin, but this time, it makes Vampires invincible? Hard to see why this wasn't a priority for all the others who crawled around Sunnydale. I mean, I get it, they hadn't thought of it yet. Also Harmony is just as bad as an undead mean girl.

Spike is not himself, though, and seems more abusive than entertaining. There's a showdown in broad daylight, and Buffy manages to snag the ring. And for once, I agree with her plan.

So Oz makes a road trip to LA and drops off the prize, but Spike is following, where we finally get the sarcastic shit-disturber we love. There's some torture and a band van coup, and the torturer turns out to be the one we need to defeat this time. And Angel decides that brooding is more important than doing his job well.

I don't like Buffy in this episode.
Seriously, she's passive aggressive and spoiled. Kathy is at least well-meaning at first, but this kind of roommate war is just too much. Kids, talk about boundaries and be rational about your living situation.
I liked this episode, but I'm not big on the fact that Buffy was right about everything, so she doesn't have to examine her behavior to be more of an adult.
As for Angel, he's hunting a serial killer, this time with the hurdle of Elisabeth Rohm in his way. I like this actress, but I didn't buy her undercover as a thirsty club girl. She's too awesome for that. And I'm hoping the show finds its own voice, because so far all we've got is more monster-of-the-week. I need something different from Buffy.

We're baaaaaaaaaccccckkkkk!
It's been a few weeks since we covered Buffy, and Money gets back and finds there's a spinoff!

Buffy and (most of) the gang are at UC Rancho Cucamonga, and the episode does a good job of conveying the angst and terror of being a kid away from home for the first time. Naturally there's a group of vampires hanging out on campus, because Buffy can never get a break. Also Sunday is my favorite vampire so far (suck it, Spike!).

Angel, however, decides to start his own business, helping people. And I got to admit, this episode kind of sucks. Doyle is nothing but an exposition machine, and Cordelia (There you are!) is really off her game. After a particularly uninteresting mystery involving some blonde lady, it turns out . .. there's a vampire in town. Predicatble.

Great to be back, y'all!

It's time for the season Finale of Buffy!

First off, I need to apologize for the audio quality. Crowdcast really screwed us, and we will not be using them in the future. Thanks to Austin for cleaning this up somewhat.

The big day has arrived, and the mayor has to eat his spiders. Eww. Faith is doing what she can to fuck up the good guy's plans, and that means shooting Angel with a poisoned arrow. The only solution, however, is the blood of a slayer. Luckily they have a spare slayer on hand, one who needs some killing. And we finally get an all-out fight between these two slayers, which ends with Faith bleeding form the gut and falling into a passing truck (why?). SO Buffy does the only thing she can, let Angel drink her.

She gets better, Faith is still in a coma, though. We get an unnecessary dream sequence, and then it's time ti prepare fore the final battle. And this was my favorite part- the entire senior class is armed and ready under their graduation robes. SO when the mayor becomes a snake, they are ready and start going to town on him. There are a few casualties, among them Harmony and Larry, two people I'm actually sad to see go. And the pricipal gets eaten. But the snake can't be defeated until Buffy lures him into the school building, where the entire thing is blown up, along with some sulfur.

I did love these two episodes, but I'm really frustrated by the presence of Angel and Buffy's relationship drama. It's really grating, especially since I didn't have a summer or rerun breaks to get some distance from this emo stuff. Which brings me to an announcement. We are taking a break from Buffy to cover Sense8 (which will only be 8 episodes long) before we return for season 4. And it will return, but frankly I need some breathing room.