(Buffy Season 4, Episodes 3-4)
(Angel Season 1, Episodes 3-4)

Now that’s a crossover between two shows. Brilliantly and seamlessly handled. This is why I chose to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel back-to-back like this. I knew Whedon had dropped little treats like this in for his loyal viewers, and now I can pretend to be one, too.

It was also nice to see the return of some familiar faces to both series. As I said last week, the casts are pretty lean. And while I can forgive it as we’re getting settled into our new environments on both shows, it’s time to start stretching out and meeting new people, as well as reconnecting with old friends. Read the rest of this entry »

(Buffy Season 4, Episodes 1-2)
(Angel Season 1, Episodes 1-2)

Welcome to the new and shorter-titled “Diary of a Buffy/Angel Virgin.” I’m a completist by nature, so if I’d been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer when it was on, I would have surely tuned in to Angel. I’ll bet the vast majority of people who were watching did the same, or at least sampled Angel.

So far, both shows feel a little lean. They took two of the regular cast members of Buffy, and put them on Angel. Buffy is just making do with the smaller number, while Angel added one. After high school so much changes, so it’s pretty cool watching two different shows to see how everybody’s lives are moving in such different directions. Read the rest of this entry »

(Season 3, Episodes 5-8)

The background of these four episodes is the slow burning of affection between Xander and Willow. We know they’ve had feelings for one another since the beginning, but did the writers have to wait until both were in relationships that I actually enjoyed to go and screw it all up?

They still haven’t figured out what to do with Oz as a character, so he’s been relegated to background scenery in most of these episodes. I wonder if this has to do with Seth Green ultimately leaving the show. You’d think you could use your werewolf a little better. Read the rest of this entry »

(Season 2, Episodes 19-22)

Good lord, I’m not sure if more could have happened in two episodes than we got in these final two installments of season two. What a completely satisfying ending that absolutely makes me beyond anxious to get on with season three and see what comes next. We got major developments for Spike, Buffy, Willow, Angel, Kendra and even Buffy’s mother, Joyce. Read the rest of this entry »

(Season 2, Episodes 9-11)

The plan is to do two three-episode installments in the middle of these 22-episode seasons. That way we don’t have to have an awkward two-episode one at the end of each season. I don’t want to run two seasons together, because I want to feel the dramatic pause the creators intend at those finales. So it’s three this week and three next week.

It actually works out pretty well, because these three episodes take us up to the 1997 holiday break for the series. I guess I need to break out the eggnog for this week. Anybody know where you can find some in June?

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(Season 2, Episodes 1-4)

Wow, the second season of Buffy really started things off with a bang! There are so many questions based on one scene at the end of “School Hard” about the whole of Sunnydale. Not to mention in that same episode, the debut of Spike; does James Marster just eat up the scenery every time he’s on camera?

In just four episodes, one of which was actually pretty terrible, this show just became about as compelling television as I’ve ever seen. And it really all comes down to these characters. Willow is so tragically sweet that you pine for her to find happiness (which I know she will). I don’t know Xander’s ultimate fate, but he’s proven himself a real hero. Cordy is getting roped more and more into the storylines, and even though I know she’s destined for a whole different spin-off, I’m really curious how she gets from here to there. Read the rest of this entry »

(Season 1, Episodes 9-12)

If the girls in my high school were allowed to wear dresses and skirts anywhere near as short as Buffy’s generally are, I think I might have flunked a few times to stick around longer.

9 – “The Puppet Show”
(Original Air Date: May 5, 1997) Damn, I should have given Whedon more credit. When Sid the ventriloquist’s dummy started talking I was all “Oh great. Another possessed dummy story. I guess it took Buffy awhile to find a unique voice. God, how many times have we seen this.” Heh. Yeah. Well–

What a great twist on the cliche. There was also some brilliant misdirection. Armin Shimmerman will always be Quark (Star Trek: DS9) to me, though I’ve seen this buttoned down side of him on Boston Legal before. Once Sid was cleared, my finger pointed at Quark.

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