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Having worked through the first, second and third season DVDs, I have some new observations. I'm not much of a favorites person, so I'll just call them highlights.
(BTW, are we giving SPOILER warnings on this thread? And for first season, too?)
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"The Pack", First Season
The Principal gets EATEN, dudes! The first episode of Buffy I ever watched, "Puppet Show", made mention of this occurrence. Snyder's comments on his predecessor made me very curious to see Bob's fate. I didn't get to actually witness the act until a number of months later. The fact that Principal Flutie wasn't killed by monsters, but rather by possessed teenagers gave me a chill I didn't expect. RRarr.
Introduction (and exit) of cool-ass Mr. Platt, the guidance counselor. Even if he would have quickly turned annoying had he not been offed, I loved his no-nonsense attitude. And the cigarette/air freshner bit was funny! Too bad it was only there to reinforce the "smoking bad" motif.
Finally, the only real reason this episode rates so high with me: Xander's low-smouldering sexuality hits a high boil. And. Just. Keeps. Coming. There are only a few moments when Xander is as intimidating as he is in this episode. It is for this dark, brooding presense that so many other actors get the opportunity to portray that I love Nicholas' performance in "The Pack". I am a big one for stories that believably play against character. (Dopplegangland is another personal highlight that has been brought up by others.) I just think that the contrast between "feral Xander" and his normal self is a beautiful thing to observe. To be able to play those differences and show them as still a part of who the character is (parallel to Ms. Hannigan's portrayal in Dopplegangland) impresses me to no end. And the intensity in those eyes... >>melt<<
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"Nightmares", First Season
Handful of stand-out moments in this one.
Buffy and her Dad - unh. Jesus, that floored me.
Xander and the clown - "Your balloon animals were pathetic!" YES!
Billy and the coach - It's always nice to see victims stand up and give right back. (Probably didn't hurt that Billy was the new whiz kid of the psychic block, but anyhoo...)
Pretty simple, straight forward episode. The number of hit-ya-in-the-soft-spots moments, however, really had an effect on me.
More to come, I'm sure. |
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