Buffy Halloween eps
Oct. 31st, 2011 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightHappy Halloween, everyone.
Whi-ich is a weird thing for me to be saying.
We do celebrate it over here, but to be honest, as a kid I was actually scared of Halloween, because I believed in ghosts and all that stuff. All part and parcel of my ongoing dislike of horror films etc.
I did try to do my best to get into the spirit of it this year, though, in between angst-ridden wrestling with my Nekid Numbers Halloween fic, which is now going to be a post-Halloween fic, if it's a fic at all. To whit, I re-watched all three BtVS Halloween eps. Having done so, my conclusions are as follows:
BtVS season 2: Halloween. Boy, the Buffy comics have had a bad effect on me! I can't watch a pre-Angelus arc Bangel scene without feeling slightly queasy. And when Xander tells Cordy to give it up because there's 'no way she'll ever get between those two', it feels like he's singing from the Extremist Bangel Fans' hymn sheet. Also, seeing Ethan Rayne makes me very, very cross all over again at how cavalierly the character was disposed of in the comic.
That said, this is the best out of the three Halloween eps. It has everything going for it - humour, plot, terrific guest characters (ie. Spike, Dru and Ethan Rayne). Cordelia is delightfully bitchy (and her little scene with Angel at the Bronze, where she actually makes him laugh, shows us in a nutshell why she is so much better suited to him than Buffy is). It's also a great episode for Willow and reminds me again how much I liked her relationship with Oz at the beginning. Even Xander isn't that annoying (and I usually find early season Xander very annoying), and Ripper Giles is just cool. This was our first sight of him, and I can remember the impact it had on me the first time I saw it (though I also remember wincing a little at the 'Ripper' name).
BtVS season 4: Fear Itself. I remember this as not being that good, and it turns out I was right. The weakest of the three eps, though with some nice stuff in it all the same. I really like Buffy/Riley at this stage. A pity he turned out to be a commando instead of just a nice TA. It also sets up some stuff that will be important later in the season, like Xander's feeling of being invisible to his friends because they've gone to college and he hasn't, and Buffy's growing belief that if she reaches out to someone they'll turn on her, or throw it back in her face. More comics miffness associated with this ep, though, in that this is the first of two - two!- episodes that deal with the fallout from Buffy's one night stand with Parker. And yet Spike, with whom she had a sexual/romantic relationship for two whole seasons doesn't even rate a mention in four whole years of the Buffy comic. It really comes across that the minute he went up in flames she forgot about him, or at least that a huge chunk of their past was just erased, dumping them again where they were at, say, the beginning of season 6. Oh well. Anyway, the best things in this ep are Anya's bunny Halloween costume and Giles with a chainsaw. Rawr!
BtVS season 6: All the Way. This was the runner-up. It lacks the humour of Halloween, but works an awful lot better than Fear Itself. It's also far more entwined in the season long emotional plot than either. Dawn's brief fling with the vampire boy is bittersweet, because he obviously does mean what he says about liking her. It's just that that translates into wanting to kill her and turn her into a vampire. Also, it's hard to believe that anyone could watch the post-we're getting married party for Xander and Anya and not expect the whole thing to crash in flames. Poor Xander (I like him much more in the later seasons) regrets what he's said the minute he's said it, but has no idea how to take it back without hurting Anya dreadfully. Meanwhile, Willow's relationship with Tara is spiralling downhill fast, and Giles is very close to deciding it's time to give up his fatherly role. Speaking of whom, he's awesome in this ep.
In fact, if there were a prize for which character does best in the Halloween eps, it goes to Giles hands down. He even gets the funniest costume.
Now, what shall I watch next?
Whi-ich is a weird thing for me to be saying.
We do celebrate it over here, but to be honest, as a kid I was actually scared of Halloween, because I believed in ghosts and all that stuff. All part and parcel of my ongoing dislike of horror films etc.
I did try to do my best to get into the spirit of it this year, though, in between angst-ridden wrestling with my Nekid Numbers Halloween fic, which is now going to be a post-Halloween fic, if it's a fic at all. To whit, I re-watched all three BtVS Halloween eps. Having done so, my conclusions are as follows:
BtVS season 2: Halloween. Boy, the Buffy comics have had a bad effect on me! I can't watch a pre-Angelus arc Bangel scene without feeling slightly queasy. And when Xander tells Cordy to give it up because there's 'no way she'll ever get between those two', it feels like he's singing from the Extremist Bangel Fans' hymn sheet. Also, seeing Ethan Rayne makes me very, very cross all over again at how cavalierly the character was disposed of in the comic.
That said, this is the best out of the three Halloween eps. It has everything going for it - humour, plot, terrific guest characters (ie. Spike, Dru and Ethan Rayne). Cordelia is delightfully bitchy (and her little scene with Angel at the Bronze, where she actually makes him laugh, shows us in a nutshell why she is so much better suited to him than Buffy is). It's also a great episode for Willow and reminds me again how much I liked her relationship with Oz at the beginning. Even Xander isn't that annoying (and I usually find early season Xander very annoying), and Ripper Giles is just cool. This was our first sight of him, and I can remember the impact it had on me the first time I saw it (though I also remember wincing a little at the 'Ripper' name).
BtVS season 4: Fear Itself. I remember this as not being that good, and it turns out I was right. The weakest of the three eps, though with some nice stuff in it all the same. I really like Buffy/Riley at this stage. A pity he turned out to be a commando instead of just a nice TA. It also sets up some stuff that will be important later in the season, like Xander's feeling of being invisible to his friends because they've gone to college and he hasn't, and Buffy's growing belief that if she reaches out to someone they'll turn on her, or throw it back in her face. More comics miffness associated with this ep, though, in that this is the first of two - two!- episodes that deal with the fallout from Buffy's one night stand with Parker. And yet Spike, with whom she had a sexual/romantic relationship for two whole seasons doesn't even rate a mention in four whole years of the Buffy comic. It really comes across that the minute he went up in flames she forgot about him, or at least that a huge chunk of their past was just erased, dumping them again where they were at, say, the beginning of season 6. Oh well. Anyway, the best things in this ep are Anya's bunny Halloween costume and Giles with a chainsaw. Rawr!
BtVS season 6: All the Way. This was the runner-up. It lacks the humour of Halloween, but works an awful lot better than Fear Itself. It's also far more entwined in the season long emotional plot than either. Dawn's brief fling with the vampire boy is bittersweet, because he obviously does mean what he says about liking her. It's just that that translates into wanting to kill her and turn her into a vampire. Also, it's hard to believe that anyone could watch the post-we're getting married party for Xander and Anya and not expect the whole thing to crash in flames. Poor Xander (I like him much more in the later seasons) regrets what he's said the minute he's said it, but has no idea how to take it back without hurting Anya dreadfully. Meanwhile, Willow's relationship with Tara is spiralling downhill fast, and Giles is very close to deciding it's time to give up his fatherly role. Speaking of whom, he's awesome in this ep.
In fact, if there were a prize for which character does best in the Halloween eps, it goes to Giles hands down. He even gets the funniest costume.
Now, what shall I watch next?
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 10:13 pm (UTC)It's obviously a very different occasion over there, much more to do with community and family. And it's true that this time of year needs some fun. But we've always had November 5th, probably historically serving much the same function for us, and celebrating an attempt to blow up all the MPs seems not a bad thing at all in my current frame of mind.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 10:25 pm (UTC)Nooo! 'Fear Itself' is a brilliant episode! Oz is awesome, Anya's bunny costume is brilliant, and the fear demon has to be one of the most hilarious things ever!
"Don't taunt the fear demon."
"Why, can it hurt me?"
"No, it's just tacky."
Classic... [g]
no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 10:37 pm (UTC)Kids are generally taken to neighbors and/or family friends. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 01:15 am (UTC)I know Hallowe'en historically isn't a big thing for us Brits, but I actually grew up trick or treating cos it's a big thing in my street. Me and my sisters were going out as vampires or witches or devils for ages, and I LOVE Hallowe'en, so I'm always a bit surprised by the general British disavowal.
But then I also go to an annual fan get-together over every Hallowe'en weekend, so there's that. :DDD
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 01:57 am (UTC)We used to do that around here, but not so much anymore. Paranoia about abductions, tainted candy, etc.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 04:48 am (UTC)You find men with chainsaws sexy? ::edges away from you::
Lover's Walk and Angel (the S1 ep, not the whole series)
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 05:54 am (UTC)Since my kid goes to art school, the teenagers we know are all about making elaborate costumes and caging candy from all and sundry. She had all her buddies over tonight, as our neighborhood has particularly choice pickings, and I was happy to see two of the girls dressed as Samantha and Deanna Winchester. ;-)
I adore Halloween so much! It's what I use to introduce people to the show, oft times!
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 07:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 07:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 07:30 pm (UTC)I think of it that way too. My kids only went trick or treating twice, and then it was with friends and only to neighbours' houses. There did seem to be quite a few kids around last night when I drove to see mum, though.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 07:32 pm (UTC)There are always some great funny lines.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 07:32 pm (UTC)It's possible the weather puts us off. After all, it is usually raining. ;)
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 07:34 pm (UTC)Not as such, and I know Giles's posture when he cuts through the wall is an homage to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which no I have not seen, but I've seen the poster. It's just Giles. He's sexy anyway.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-01 07:34 pm (UTC)Heh! For a moment there, I didn't get that and thought you meant there were actual female characters in SPN. ;)
no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 12:40 am (UTC)I'm amused by our local one, Sloss Fright Furnace ( http://frightfurnace.com/ ), because they've taken a local abandoned steel mill and turned its own mini-industry. Because not only do they have the yearly haunted factory and haunted trails, but they've gone to the lengths of promoting it as 'actually' haunted with multiple appearances on things like "Ghost Hunters" and "Most Haunted places in America" etc. ( http://www.frightfurnace.com/hauntings/ ) Hah!
That and they have rock concerts there.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 10:42 am (UTC)