tvthatdoesntsuck

Surprise, surprise.  Genre shows don’t normally do that well in the ratings area, so they’re majorly prone for cancellation.  But the CW (formerly the WB), who scored hits with Buffy and Angel, seem to have found a new horse to ride with Eric Kripke’s Supernatural.  It lacks the consistency of Lost and the artistic highs of Joss Whedon’s aforementioned WB work, but what it creates is compelling, horror/fantasy drama that utilizes not only scare tactics but also character development and strong, well thought-out character arcs that reached a new high in the second season, which is today’s topic of choice.  But back to my “surprise, suprise.”  The third season has aired and is coming out on DVD just in time for a fourth season to debut on the CW.  Looks like Supernatural might be headed in the same direction as Buffy.  A long, crazy run.  So let’s see how Season Two looks when compared to the first.

SUPERNATURAL - SEASON TWO

“From the tear-jerking premiere to the virtually perfect season finale, Season Two of “Supernatural” once again demonstrates how much better genre shows get in their second seasons. Take a look at “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” a show which, by the way, has a heavy influence on this wonderful series. BtVS, like “Supernatural,” had humble beginnings, but blew the audience and critics away with a stellar second season. “Supernatural” does the very same.

Everything that was good about the show in the first season was strengthened here. Dean and Sam’s relationship has become layered and, as it is really a story about the bond of the two brothers, becomes the dramatic center of the show. Replacing the “monster of the week” format of season one is an over-arching story that develops throughout the season. Even standalone episodes contribute to the main story of the season. If the high level of continuity maintained in this series is enough to get the horror/fantasy fan in you to get all sweaty, get this. The mythology is expanded and strengthened. The black and white, good and evil of demons/humans gets thrown into that grey area we’re all so interested in. The comedy–again, very Buffy-esque–is amped up, including many laugh-out-loud moments. The battle between the two brothers and the forces of evil becomes way more epic and also more tragic.

All of this comes to a head in the two-part season finale, which is–as I mentioned above–a moment of television perfection.

9/10″

VERDICT: Buy it, but buy the first season first.

Next time, we’ve got a review of Joss Whedon’s latest endeavor.  An internet musical about a supervillain in love with a… we’ll get to it.

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Sorry for the non-postage of late.  I’ve been away for a family vacation in Virginia.  You’re getting this blog straight from good ol’ VA.  Couple of things I’ve gotta say:

1. I’ll be talking about slash reviewing Joss Whedon’s recent webical, “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog.”  Pretty much everyone, everywhere is talking about it, so I’ll be jumping on that bandwagon.  Like all of Whedon’s best work, I just needed a few views to totally digest it and pick out all the great little details.  Thursday sound like a good day to chat about Doc Hor?

2. New TVonDVD season is coming up soon!

3. And one of the best attractions for that season is buying the latest volume in the Supernatural series, the first of which I’ll be reviewing today.  Let’s get to it!

SUPERNATURAL - SEASON ONE

“The acting ranges from good to all right, the stories range from ehh to great, and the visuals are nearly always perfect. With the departure of Angel, it’s great to have another team of supernatural investigators on the case. Dean and Sam are indeed a great team, and it doesn’t take long for the viewer to become attached to them. Some of the villains (Meg) are great, and some warrant WTF moments–(Tom in the last two episodes). Overall, it’s a highly enjoyable show.

The arc of The Demon as well as Meg was a treat, though I felt more time should have been spent on it. A few of the episodic oners could have been replaced with more arc-oriented episodes. Another thing I loved was John’s reluctance to let his sons join him in his battle against The Demon. When the three of them actually do team up, it’s short, sweet, and GOLD.

Best Episodes:
Pilot
Phantom Traveler
Bloody Mary
Home
Asylum
Nightmare
Shadow
Dead Man’s Blood
Salvation
Devil’s Trap

8/10″

VERDICT: No doubt.  Buy it.

Next up, let’s see how the Winchester brothers fare in their second season.  ‘Til then…

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Well, I’m a bit excited.

I thought I wouldn’t get to do this for a while.  The true purpose of “TV That Doesn’t Suck” is to tell you what new shows are worth watching.  I’ll follow those new shows, and pretty much review each episode here until they jump the proverbial shark.  Well, tonight, I get to give you the deal on a new CBS police drama.  It’s called “Flash Point.”

Flash Point is pretty much a police drama about really emotional snipers.  Normally, I think most police dramas are crap unless they have the words “The” and “Wire” strung together, but I gave this a chance because of a promising cast.  Okay, I lie, I gave it a chance because Enrico Colantoni from Veronica Mars is one of the stars.  But overall, I’m glad that I did.  It’s a pretty good show, because it really delves into how hard being a sniper can be on someone’s heart.  But thing is… that’s all this show does in the first episode.   It has a nice dramatic set-up, but the second half is basically the main character brooding over swelling, emotional music over the fact that he just put a bullet in some dude’s dome.  It worked for the first few minutes, but I wish they did something more with it, because the way it came off in the end was majorly gimmicky.  “A police drama that doesn’t shy away from showing character’s emotions.”  But for that to work, it needs to be more than that.  Overall, it wasn’t a bad episode, though a series opener should certainly have established more story and character stuff than this one did.  A lot of this just felt like time wasted.

RATING: 5/10

WHERE TO CATCH IT: CBS

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So “Buffy Week” comes to an end.  If you’ve learned anything, it’s that this is a great show that you should at least try to get into.  Buy either Season Five or Three first, but if you promise me you’ll stick it out until the finale of Season Two at the very least, buy the first season.  Many people can’t deal with the campy initial episodes, but the payoff is beyond extreme.  I’ve watched mucho, mucho TV and this show that’s pretty much gotten universal praise by critics and fans alike is easily, easily the greatest I’ve ever seen.

So here is the review of the seventh and final (or not? see below) season of Buffy.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - SEASON SEVEN

“I was surprised how much flack this season got from fans, because even if it was weaker than some of the previous seasons, it’s still quite a bit better than anything else on the television. Being that this was the final season, there was a lot to wrap up. Whedon and co. did a stupendous job doing that, giving the most consistently decent season of the show. Seasons two, three, and five are unquestionably better than seven, but seven lacks the silly episodes (”Go Fish”, “Superstar”, “Doublemeat Palace”) that plagued every other season. I didn’t expect such a stellar season after the inconsistent sixth, but this final season let me go with a smile on my face.

Great Arcs…
+ Spike’s fall and redemption was stupendous, as was Anya’s and Andrew’s. All of these characters were fleshed out in this season. The arc of Spike’s redemption came to a beautiful end in the last few scenes of the show (Spike/Buffy final scene in the hellmouth), paying off all the loyal fans of Mr. William the Bloody.
+ The villain of the season was The First Evil, as seen in Season Three. After facing vampires, a mayor, a cyborg, a God, and an unstoppable witch, the Big Bad of this season had to be something major–what else could have been picked but the very essence of evil itself? The First’s ability to take on the image of any one who has died before was an amazing way to include some of the fan favorites who have died in the past (Joyce, the Master, Mayor Wilkins, Adam, Drusilla, Buffy herself, etc…)
+ Caleb, a misogynistic priest and an agent of The First, was a great choice as a preliminary villain. Never (other than maybe Warren or Angelus) have I found myself actually hating a villain as much as I have Caleb, and for a character to have such an effect on an audience is amazing.
+ The romances suffer in this season, but it’s all believable. The only relationship I saw as shallow was Willow and Kennedy’s. With Tara, I understood why Willow loved her. I understand why Xander loved Anya, and why Spike loved Buffy. But I don’t see a shard of chemistry between Kennedy and Willow. All of the other arcs are handled well.

The Best (Episodes) of the Bunch…
4. Help (This, as a mostly stand-alone episode, featured Cassie Newton (played by Azura Skye). She was one of the most intriguing guest stars, and played her part well. This episode also spoke a lot about fate, but from a different perspective than usual.)
5. Selfless
7. Conversations With Dead People
9. Never Leave Me
16. Storyteller
17. Lies My Parents Told Me
19. Empty Places
20. Touched
21. End of Days
22. Chosen (This is one of the best season finales of the entire series: the image of Buffy and Spike holding hands while Spike ignites is as potent as the images of Buffy stabbing Angel (S2) and Buffy jumping into Glory’s portal (S5).

So, I write my bittersweet goodbye to the best show television has ever been graced with. I’m just glad that BtVS went out on a high note.

Grrr. Arrg.

9/10″

VERDICT: Buy.  But buy it after you’ve watched 1-6.  Extreme payoff.

NOTE: Buffy’s story doesn’t end with Season Seven.  In fact, there’s a Season Eight.  While Joss and Sarah Michelle Gellar retired the show (that’s right kiddies, the networks wanted more, but in 2002 Joss told the network they wanted to end in 2003 to go out on a climatic, high note) after this season, years later Joss Whedon felt the itch to write some more Buffy.  So, along with Dark Horse comics, he launched “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight” as a comic series in 2007.  Each month, the Season Eight comics make the Top Ten best sellers and often attract media attention by the big character developments, such as Buffy bedding fellow slayer Satsu.  To see my reviews of the Buffy: Season Eight comics, check out my Buffyverse Comic Reviews blog.

NEXT TIME: “Supernatural: Season One”

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We’re getting into the final stages of “Buffy.”  The infamous sixth season.  Joss promotes Marti Noxon to Executive Producer, giving her nearly as much control as he had, because he was stretched pretty thin between plotting/writing both Buffy and Angel and developing Firefly, an original series that he’d produce the following season.  The lack of Joss kind of shows, especially in the middle of the season, but… heh.  I’m getting ahead of myself.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - SEASON SIX

“By the time a person makes it through the first five seasons of Buffy, they’ve grown to love the characters, to feel their pain. Well, this season has a lot of feeling of a lot of pain. In the first episode, Buffy is resurrected by her best friend (and now magic-abuser) Willow, but it seems as if she would rather be dead (in Heaven) than back on Earth.

This season, the sixth, starts off iffy. It’s great to see Buffy back, but the demons in the two-part opener are ridiculous. For a season opener, “Bargaining” didn’t do it for me. I prefer my season openers to be written and directed by Joss Whedon, thanks. Speaking of which, Whedon makes only one writing/directing appearance in this season, due to him involvement with “Angel” and prepping “Firefly.” However, he remains co-executive producer, a small mercy.

Episode three through seven deal mostly with Buffy readjusting to being alive again. The sexual tension between her and one-time enemy Spike comes to a head, finally, in the seventh episode, the musical episode “Once More With Feeling.” This episode is so good that Spike and Buffy’s kiss in the end is actually NOT the high point. The songs are just so catchy, so well written, and the actors voices are amazing. Good work on that one, Whedon.  For a show, six years in, to get so innovative and create a musical episode that works in context with the rest of the series and doesn’t take away from what was established before, but instead furthers the plot… Utterly brilliant.  No other show can do that at the level Buffy did.  But, as I was saying, Buffy and Spike finally get together in this season. Spike wants love, Buffy’s using Spike, and their hearts are both put through a lot in this season. However, Spike finally gets to shine as a true main character here.

Episodes eight through ten were just a bit cheesy. The whole “magic is a drug” concept is interesting, but the dialogue between Willow and Buffy at the end of “Wrecked” is a bit too after-school-special for my taste. These episodes begin a few great arcs though: Willow/Tara are on thin ice. Tara is weary of Willow’s reliance on magic, so their relationship begins to falter. Another important arc is Dawn’s loneliness, but that plot is indeed lacking when put up against Dawn’s Season Five arc where she had to come to terms that she was, in effect, not “real.” That’s another story, though.

So, summary. Buffy feel out of place in life. Spike and Buffy are in a destructive relationship. Willow is addicted to magic, and Tara is having trouble dealing with it. Giles leaves to go to England (he is sorely missed in the episodes he doesn’t appear in). Dawn is lonely and becomes a kelpto. Xander and Anya’s engagement is on rocky turf.

And here comes the big arc, the doosy. The Big Bad. The villains of the season: three nerds who watch Star Trek and collect figurines. These “villians” will disappoint at first, but the three of them become funny, complex, and (all but one) endearing. Warren, the leader , grows darker as the season progresses however–he becomes a murderer, and opens the door for the true Big Bad of the season: Dark Willow. Just look at the cover of the DVDs.

Willow’s transformation into Dark Willow is questionable, but well done. It’s scary, it’s chilling. It may be all it was meant to be. The season finale wasn’t as climatic as that of the fifth, third, or second, but it left us with hope… and a lot of questions.

8/10″

VERDICT: Not the strongest season of Buffy, but certainly better than any given season of any other television show, you pick’em.  Verdict is buy it.  Just not first.

NEXT TIME: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” goes out with a bang… or a crash… or a implosion… or a creak.  We’ll see, when I review the seventh and final (or is it?) season of Buffy.

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Things have been a bit quiet in the comment area of late.  That’s probably because everyone who is reading this already has Buffy and doesn’t need my encouragement, or on the other hand, because everyone who is reading this has already had their minds made up about Buffy.  Comment, tell me which one you are.  Because this “theme week” is almost over, and the season that is the topic of today’s discussion is probably the best for noobs to jump into.  While the first episode is a bit weak, the overall arc of the season is very strong, and it is the only season ever to have three pitch perfect, transcendent episodes (”Fool For Love,” the critically acclaimed “The Body” which many see as the best episode of television period, and “The Gift”).

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - SEASON FIVE

“There were good times, there were… actually, mostly only good times. I’m going to take on this review a bit differently than usual. Instead of discussing the season as a whole, or reviewing each disc as a whole, I’m going to group the episodes and discuss them as such. Sounds like a plan?

EPISODES 1 –> 6
These episodes were rough. The season got off to a bit of a silly start with “Buffy vs. Dracula” but the rest of them were decent. The addition of Buffy’s sister Dawn was handled very craftily; we, the fans, knew right from the jump that something magical had happened and that Dawn wasn’t just a sister we never heard about. The highlight of these episodes is the return of Harmony, who becomes a much more enjoyable villain than she was in the fourth season.

Episodes 7 —> 12
This group contains the best episode of Season Five, and one of the best of the series: “Fool for Love.” We get to see Spike as a human, how he was sired, and how he killed two slayers. These flashbacks, as well as the brilliant interaction between him and Buffy, add dimensions of depth to the once-villainous vampire.  Another not to be missed moment is Buffy’s speech to the Watcher’s Council in “Checkpoint.” It really solidifies the Season’s arc of Buffy finding out what it truly means to be a slayer.

Episodes 13 –> 18
These episodes contain the death of a well-liked character in the Buffyverse and the effect it has on the gang, the bulk of this documented in the episode “The Body.” It hits everyone in different ways, and pulls the characters closer together in ways no one ever suspected. It also has to be pointed out that this is the disc where Spike truly becomes a “good guy.” His relationship with Dawn becomes brother/sister, and as he confesses his love to Buffy and is shot down, the roles of antagonist and protagonist seem to momentarily switch. The spice sprinkled atop of these already wonderful episodes was the guest spots of Angel and Drusilla, both well received.

Episodes 19 –> 22
These four episodes pretty much take place one after the other, which is uncommon for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It adds to the epic feel of this Season, and we get to see the characters ban together in the Eleventh Hour to put a stop to Glory, the hell-god who wants Dawn to bleed to death to merge the hell-dimensions with all the others. When Giles discovers the only way to stop this is to kill Dawn, the gang is torn apart when they try to figure out methods of action. These four episodes are some of the most powerful of the season, and the climax surpasses that of any other seasons (aside from Season Two). The end is a tear jerker, but fear not fans, there is more Buffy to come!

SEASON FIVE ARCS: Every Buffy season has arcs that loom over the episodes, and this season is no different. The following lists the arcs, and how well I believe they were carried out
+ Buffy’s Mom Is Sick *****
+ Buffy Doesn’t Love Riley ***
+ Spike Loves Buffy *****
+ Dawn Is The Key ****
+ Impending Threat of Hell-God Glory ****
+ Glory/Ben Relationship ****
+ Buffy Discovering Her Gift *****

This review is coming to a close, but I just have to say this. The main setting for the first three seasons (the school library) was amazing. The fourth season was all over the place (college, the initiative, and often Gile’s house), but the fifth season brings it right back, putting a lot of the action in Gile’s new venture, a Magic Shop. Awesome.

9/10 “

VERDICT: Fans, buy and enjoy.  Noobs, buy this first.  This ties for “Second Best Season” with Season Three.

NEXT TIME: Buffy, Season Six… in which things get very, very dark.

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Buffy’s faced off against a master vampire, her boyfriend gone psycho, and The Mayor of Sunnydale.  None of those compare to her biggest challenge… going to college and not jumping the shark.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - SEASON FOUR 

“There were a lot of changes in Season Four of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and, if we’re going to be rational, it SHOULD have jumped the shark. If any–yes, ANY other show–made this many changes, it wouldn’t survive. But Buffy did.

THE CHANGES

+ Sunnydale High is left behind for college: Buffy and Willow go to college and meet new people, and the main setting for the past three season’s is abandoned. Xander and Giles are sort of ‘left-behind’ in this Season and each of them feel a lot of angst from being separated from the way they knew how to live, but they get their fair share of screen time. The University of California, Sunnydale, proves to be a somewhat satisfying setting.

+ THE DEPARTURE OF THREE MAIN CHARACTERS
+ Angel leaves: This is the event that has the most impact on the season, leaving Buffy single and ready to mingle. This shatters everything we knew about Buffy, but in the end it works. Angel has his own show, and the division of worlds is now quite entertaining.
+ Cordelia leaves: Cordelia leaves the show and joins the cast of “Angel” and this, again, works. While I do miss the Xander/Cordelia relationship, Anya fills in her shoes very nicely, without copying the way her character acted.
+ Oz leaves: This was nothing if not crucial to the arc of this Season. The episodes (two of them) in which Oz leaves are tender tear-jerkers, which is absolutely needed.

+ Buffy has a new love interest: Riley Finn is okay. Truth be told, I thought I’d hate him. I mean, who has the nerve to try to replace Angel? Not this guy. And, he doesn’t. He doesn’t replace Angel at all, because it is clear Buffy will always love him. However, Riley does make his own imprint on Buffy’s life, and he is truly not a bad character. I grew to like Riley early on in the Season, but I have to say that I absolutely loathe that he was put in the Main Credits, along with Buffy, Xander, Willow, Spike, and Giles.

+ Spike changes: This was handled well. The “Spike turns Good” arc begins in this Season, and at first I thought it was going too fast: Spike gets a chip planted in his head that prevents him from harming humans, so he winds up sitting down with the Scooby Gang to Thanksgiving Dinner? It happens, but after that things grow turbulent again, and the audience becomes unsure whether to root for or against Spike, and it’s a very entertaining conflict. Spike is the scene-stealer this season, no doubt.

Other than the changes that went well, this Season as a few good points and a few weak points.

Good villain: Adam was cool. When I saw his picture in the box of the Season, I was very disappointed. But when seen in action, he is nothing short of, to put it as he would, “interesting.” It takes a lot to live up to the Master, Angelus (and Spike/Drusilla), and the Mayor, but Adam definitely works for this Season.

Iffy Arc: The arcs of Season Two and Three were so significant, so intertwined, that it would have been impossible to make this arc as good. There are some very good parts to it though, such as the struggle with the Initiave, Spike’s redemption or fall, and Willow/Tara “doing spells together.” There just wasn’t much development to Buffy’s character. A bit too much time was focused on Riley, I believe.

PS: We’re pretending that the appallingly silly episode “Superstar” doesn’t exist.

8/10″

VERDICT: It isn’t Season Two/Three, but it’s a damn sight better than anything you have on your shelf at any given time.  Buy it before I buy it just to smack you with it.

NEXT TIME: Buffy Season Five.

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Three words and one number:

Mayor

Richard

Wilkins

III

….

annnnnnnnd, GO:

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - SEASON THREE

” After the perfection of Season Two comes another great addition to the saga of Buffy Summers. While it isn’t as emotional or dramatic as Season Two, it definitely does not disappoint.

I believe that Season Three was all about challenges. I mean, everyone assumed that Buffy and Angel would live happily after once he came back, soul in tact… Wrong. Everyone believed that the Buffy and Giles dynamic would remain as it was… Wrong. All Slayers are good and fight evil? WRONG. Now, we all knew this one–Xander will remain a virgin forever… WRONG.  The thing that kept this Season alive was a lot less corny monsters (Ms. Praying Mantis from Season One, anyone?) and a lot more real drama. The focus of the Season was pretty much on the antagonistic relationship between two Slayers, Buffy and Faith, and how one of them plunges into the darkness to help a demon “ascend” to it’s true power.

And that demon was the bad guy that this Season needed: Mayor Richard Wilkins III. This guy was on the surface a warm man, a nice fellow, and that made his true evil so disturbing. His relationships and actions seem so human, and it truly shows that villains have hearts too: Which is a scary thing.   We’ll have a lot of treats in this season. A slayer fight, a love square (no, not triangle, but square in the very LEAST), a betrayal, a false betrayal, a death or two, and a reappearance from Spike.

Amazing season.

PS: Don’t let Spike’s picture on Disc Six fool you. He’s only in one episode in the season.

PPS: At this point, this season would be rated a 10/10 compared to other television shows.  From Season Two and on, every BtVS season is a 10/10 compared to other shows and will be ranked in relation to other Buffy DVDs.

9/10″

VERDICT: Buy it, noob.

NEXT TIME: Season Four of Buffy… in which the slayer goes to college.  It’s a happening that killed many, many good shows.  Can BtVS survive?

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The first season of Buffy had some strong moments, but got some points taken away for the all out campiness of a few episodes.  That campiness certainly touches the first few episodes of this season, but the rest of it–at least 75%–is made up of some of the best episodes of television that has ever been produced.  It’s cathartic, it’s well written, well acted, well scored, and really just freaking fantastic.  This is the season that smacked me with a bit of absolute, crystal clear knowledge that changed the way I view television: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is the best television show of all time.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - SEASON TWO

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Two, carries Buffy and the audience through an unforgettable emotional roller coaster. Not only do we feel for Buffy, we feel deeply for Giles, Xander, Willow, Angel, Cordelia, and… Spike?  But isn’t he a villain?  Yes, and that’s the subtle brilliance of this show.  Everyone, even the worst characters, are just so well-crafted that it’s impossible to not fee a guttural connection to them.

Every aspect of this season is perfect, as far as television goes. There were some silly episodes, but the hard-hitters made up for them ten-fold. What was lacking in “Inca-Mummy Girl” was made up in “Passion” and so on. The thing that made this season different from Season One is mainly the villains. We start off with Spike and Drusilla, two vampires who are a lot more human than the Master (antagonist of Season One) ever was. These two villains are such well-rounded characters, and they definitely develop, and change a lot during the season.

The story-arc of the Season was beautifully paced and executed perfectly. Nothing felt forced, as many current television shows do, but everything just went with the flow. There was comedy (laugh out loud jokes, I might add), tension (Xander/Cordelia), sexuality (Darla siring Angel!), and tragic passion with the deaths of not one, not two, but three significant characters.

This is the Season in which Joss Whedon showed that he created a masterpiece of a show.

10/10 Classic.”

VERDICT: Buy it.  For your own good.  But prepare to become obsessed.

NEXT TIME: Buffy, Season Three.  Commonly held as the best season, but can it live up to the quality of Season Two when put under the patroscope?

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TV Guide lists it as the 42nd best television show of all time, ranking it alongside of classics such as All in the Family as well as blockbusters like Lost.  E! gives it even more credit, putting it in it’s Top Five TV Shows of All Time.  Of course, E! is in the right.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer single handedly inverted the “helpless blonde” stereotype that plagued horror for so many years, starting as a feminist statement and expanding into a exploration of adolescent–and later adult–pain and most interesting (from a writer’s perspective) an exercise in character development.  So here we start, and the humble–and yeah, campy–beginnings of the series that would grow to becoming my favorite, and arguably the best, television show of all time.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - SEASON ONE

“Though it might not have the intensity of Season Two & Three, or the great character moments of Seasons Five & Six, the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a great collection of episodes that hint at the perfection to come.

Joss Whedon, writer/creator/director/etc., is skilled at subtly. The subtle looks characters share, the subtle dialogue–as well as the not-so-subtle–that reveals the heart of the characters and the show. And that’s what Season One establishes; the heart. The relationships between Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles are at the forefront in these twelve episodes. Though the best episodes can be found in later seasons, these twelve classic episodes build the backbone that the Buffyverse would grow from.

The vampire episodes (Welcome to the Hellmouth, The Harvest, Never Kill A Boy on the First Date, Angel, Prophecy Girl) are the most solid in this season, but the other, more daring episodes had merit as well. Because that’s what they were. The ideas in this season were nothing if not daring; what other show had entire episodes devoted to hyena possession (not as silly as is sounds; hyena possession and worship is more rooted in actual occult than one would thing), monsters operating conglomerations through the Internet, and giant she-mantis beasts looking to impregnate the heads of virgin males? While certainly not all of these episodes worked, they were saved by the witty dialouge and the acting. Sarah Michelle Gellar is at her best here. And that’s not only her best acting I’m talking about, I mean her best looking. Unlike her America’s Next Top Model bone-thin look of Seasons Four through Seven, the lead actress is a beautiful, healthy young woman in this season. It made her look a lot more real to me, and I missed that in the later seasons.

And Willow. She’s also at her best here. While Xander was either hilarious or depressed, Willow was nothing but Willow. No one else could pull off the lines that she had, and she did them in a way that can only be described as Willowy. Her character was one of the best things of Season One, and I’ll stick by that. The rest of the cast was great as well; Anthony Stewart Head was always perfect as Giles, and Mark Metcalf as the Master made a superb Big Bad for the season.

Though not perfect, this season is great entertainment, and promises of greatness to come. I have to add this though; for the skeptical viewer, start with a different season. Perhaps begin with “What’s My Line” from Season Two, and later on go back to Season One. The cheesiness of episodes like “Teacher’s Pet” and “The Puppet Show” may turn off the casual viewer.  And missing this show is simply something you should NOT do.

8/10 “

VERDICT: Buy it.  But watch a later season first.

NEXT TIME: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Two.”

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