Tonight's episode is just over and it was AWESOME -- it had fangs!!! It had claws!!! It's the best episode I've seen in a long run of excellent episodes.

Buffy came into her own and she's bad --
b - a - d!

And she'd better be 'cause she's gotta fight a g - o - d!

Anyone who didn't watch had better stop reading right now if you don't want the story spoiled for you!

First, I can't remember a thing about the music. I know there was some....but the story was so damned excellent I just didn't isolate any one thing.

All this excellent stuff happening -- the council coming to Sunnydate...their taking over the magic shop...the drills they were putting everyone through and the power play they laid on Giles and Buffy -- wild! And then they threw in Glory and she's fabulous, isn't she!!! And she wants that key! And what a trip to find that she didn't go into a murderous rage when the one lackey told her the guy at the hospital refused to help her. What is he to her anyway???
And Glory at Buffy's house! And Spike taking in Joyce and Dawn...how c-o-o-l is that? And who the heck are those Knights of Byzantium fighting FOR anyway? They claimed Glory was the Beast...but I couldn't quite grok why they were attacking Buffy.

And that showdown in the Magic Shop....loved the bit with the sword...."I absolutely recall saying 'No interruptions'!"

WOW!

Anyone else as elated and jazzed over this show -- this particular episode?

Oh, well...off to Angel.

I have enjoyed immensely the last two Buffy episodes. Last week’s ep had
a light comedic touch, which was needed after so many dark stories.
Loved Spike groveling with candy in front of a Buffy mannequin and then
beating it out of frustration.

Tonight’s episode was super. I have no idea who the Knights are. If they
are against the Beast, you would think they would join forces with Buffy.
Maybe that will occur later. Poor Spike. He takes too much Buffy-Guff.
He helps her in the beginning; she tells him he’s disgusting. She foists her
family on him, he agrees to guard them, she doesn’t say thanks and threatens
him if he doesn’t keep Dawn and Mom safe. Perhaps if he would just play
a little hard to get for a while. I noted that during one of the commercials
advertising February’s stories, they mentioned that Spike would confess
his love for Buffy. I worry his bloodless little ole’ heart may get shattered.

Music was a little better in places. Heard a choir. Still needs more thematic
development.

Glad to see an affirmation of the importance of the whole gang, their
interdependence, and group love. I’m a sucker for that type of schmaltz!

quote:

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Originally posted by Ron Pulliam:
Anyone else as elated and jazzed over this show -- this particular episode?

---

Well, "Der Kinderstod" was my favorite episode, where Buffy's sick in the hospital and can see the invisible monster that has been frightening the kids in the childrens ward. Great episode; for some reason, everyone says it's a weak one. But I loved it.

But all-in-all, I've never seen the big deal about this show, especially more recently. The first year or two were decent when I happened to see an episode, but the last few times I caught it, it was just boring as hell.

At least I've got the movie to watch, which (slam me if you want) I thought was much better and had a much better Buffy. Kristy Swanson can kick my ass and stake me any day. http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/smile.gif">

np RIVER OF DEATH
[This message has been edited by Spacehunter (edited 23 January 2001).]

It does me good to be brought back to earth with such a dramatic thud.

Oops...uh....uhhh....uhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHH...WOWEEEEE....I'm floating again.

Sorry, Spacehunter....that downer didn't take!

I'm still jazzed over last night's Buffy episode.

I liked the ep you mention, as well. There have been better ones....last season's "Hush" was a magnificently macabre as anything ever created for TV.

Joan: I "grok" -- boy howdy! I'm not sure what talents are out there that might do justice to our boy Valentine, but a movie is way overdue!

Ron

I liked Buffy too, even if it struck me as a bit of a retread of "Helpless". The Council interrogations were hilarious, especially Willow's paranoid, then proud, lesbian confession/proclamation.

I'm really warming to Glory. Did I mention that already? As she gets nastier, more desperate and demanding, locking her steely gaze on the Buffinator as she did in her surprise social at the Slayer's own home--a scene which also reminded me of the Mayor's visit to the inner Scooby sanctum in GD1--so too does she get sexier. If, as history has shown is the fate of other Buffy heavies in the concluding episodes of the season, Glory is defeated, repelled, destroyed..."blowed up real good," I will miss her and her grovelling, Yoda-faced minions next season. How about keeping the the season's "boss villain" on another year to thwart the "final battle" conventions of seasons past?

Is anyone else thinking that Buffy's old "You're a pig, Spike" refrain is fuelled by something other than disgust? Why are such minor, business as usual William the Bloody infractions rewarded with such passionate contempt? These two kids were made for each other. A hunch at least. I get the feeling Whedon has the family jewels to actually put them together.

--Cooper

Hmmmm....

As for Glory, I'm not sure you can "kill" a god!!!! She may be thwarted...and vow to come back for some other nasty doings...but I think that the impending "deadline" may be all Buffy will need to defeat Glory's quest for the key. Who knows what will happen to the Glorific one if she doesn't get the key -- she may lose shopping privileges at Neiman-Marcus!!!!

I also loved Xander's joyful: "I've clocked field time!"

Ron

[This message has been edited by Spacehunter (edited 24 January 2001).]

quote:

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Originally posted by Spacehunter:
Yeah, I saw "Hush," too. Boring, and the music was annoying. As with the show, I've never seen (or, rather, heard) what was so great about the music. Decent, yeah, maybe even approrpriate, but nowhere near as great as everyone always raves about.

[This message has been edited by Spacehunter (edited 24 January 2001).]

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Well, that's a shame, Spacehunter. I suspect this thread will bore you further still, because we few indomitable spirits love the series and discuss all its shows in mindnumbing detail.

I do hope you don't mind that we continue to do this???

H. Rocco....glad you came aboard! I can't wait to rewind the tape and watch the show again...this time I'll "listen" if I don't get caught up in the story again.

Cooper: Yeah, for the first time I thought I saw Buffy drop "the act" with Spike for a moment, and when she did, so did he. Problem, is, Spike is WAY too quick to put the walls back up, so one wrong look from Buffy after his confession o' love, and he's gonna get all vengeful again.

H Rocco: I agree on the ep, have to listen again to the music. And kudos to you--BtVS doesn't make it easy to appreciate an ep out of context, dependent as it is on knowing what's gone before, catching the inside jokes & character growth, etc. Hope you continue to watch!

Ron: I agree on Glory, I think "killing" is not an option. Kicking her butt off the this mortal coil is more likely. Have you re-listened to the score, yet?

Just a couple of quick notes about "the production".

SMG has vowed to leave Buffy should the show be pulled from the WB Network, relocated to Fox, citing the netlet's incredible support for the series. Creatively, she might have a point; I can't imagine Fox keeping things business as usual. They might recommend an "X-files" styled overhaul, paring down the serialized narative to something more stand-alone and digetistible to the un-initiated. And heck, Fox already seems to have resolved that aping Buffy with the botched clone wanna-be "Dark Angel" is a better plan than uprooting the Buffinator. Something tells me they've never really intended to do anything than squeeze more coin out of the WB. But--Sniff!--part of me would like the show to move in light of my impending loss of the WB (I'm still hammering out the details of a support system--with multiple fallbacks--to give myself the greatest chance of seeing every episode).

A. Steward Head supposedly requested that his involvement with the show be cut down somewhat in order to allow for him to spend more time with his family in England.

Whedon says he'll further decrease his involvement with Buffy next season as he continues to forge a career in feature film work.

You're probably all right about Glory not being "blow-upable". The non-bow-up-ability is, in itself, a way of thwarting the very same "blowed up real good" convention of years past. How does one "'splode" a God? In all likelihood, there will not be hunks of Glory nestled among the Mayor chunks on the burned out halls of Sunnydale High come year six of The Buffster.

--Cooper

Marti Noxon will likely take over for Whedon. She's been more heavily involved in the production end, it's been her instead of Whedon at the spotting sessions for instance. I think he'd like his involvement to be only in breaking the eps--time consuming enough!

Debi:

Right, even Gellar supposedly promised that "...her bosses were going to kill her..." for saying that. They just might. If the WB knows the show would fold wihtout Gellar, continued threats from Fox to "pony up or else" will be rendered merely humorous and pathetic; amusing anecdotes for the water cooler over at the WB.

Now, apparently, the earlier remarks are being couched in the context of "...just voicing support" for the WB, as she's also now making a point of "voicing support" for Fox, vowing to stick with the show, no matter what. Sounds like someone, uh, might've given her a little "...talking to".

The article mentions Gellar has one more year on her contract, and is hoping for more after that. About that "one more year" reference; do you think they mean the current year? Or are they referring to year six, next season? I think contracts were due to expire at the end of this season. Perhaps Gellar and company have already negotiated and signed for next season? Is she suggesting she wants to go a 7th? That'd be great...but somehow I don't think they could mean that, as much as I'd like to see the show continue. I've got the sneaking suspicion they'll want to fold after season six.
[This message has been edited by Cooper (edited 26 January 2001).]

Unfortunately, Ron, it's my understanding that the Buffy dvds have been pulled from the release slate until much later this year for reasons involving cable syndication rights. My guess is that the Fox Cable Network--which owns the re-broadcast rights--doesn't want the commercial, full-season dvds to be made available until the viewing potential of the series has been fully tapped in sydication; i.e., they wanna beat 'em to death on the airwaves before releasing them to the general public on dvd.

The fear, I guess, is in eroding the advertizing dollar potential for the re-runs by already sating a big percentage of the potential viewing audience with the discs. The advertisers'd gripe that, "hey, a big part of our audience was drained away with those dvds...before a single episode from season one could air. Why the hell would I want to buy ad time during Buffy's run on Fox Cable?"

Hence, we won't seem the Season One set anytime soon. I doubt very much if--as promised--they'll even be out this year. I've even heard the damning phrase, "postponed indefinitely" come up with regard to the Buffy set...and sometimes that suggests outright cancellation. That'd be foolish; the X-files full season sets have done really well, and Buffy's cult audience may even be more rabid that the 'Files' crowd.

Fox, I think, has plans to begin the syndicated run of Buffy this Fall, if I remember correctly. I just hope they don't cut the episodes down by much...which they usually do in order to make more room for commercials. Still, I'm excited. I've only seen half of season one and about 25 percent of season 2. Sad, though. I wanted to see them first on dvd. They'll probably never look better! Even with a DBS system, there are sometimes nagging reception issues, and I can't wait to see them in optimal quality/clarity...

--Cooper
[This message has been edited by Cooper (edited 26 January 2001).]

....who's kidding whom????

: (

Ron