BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


The Best Of Buffy Thread

 
  

Page: 1(2)345

 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
03:08 / 28.05.03
Yeah, it's difficult to even quote Andrew, because nearly all of the comedy is in the delivery. Basically every line he says is drop dead hilarious. He was definitely the saving grace of Season Six.

Can we count the Star Wars car horn as a quote?
 
 
cusm
18:27 / 28.05.03
Yea, Andrew and Spike on the bike really killed me, too. Talking about, was it cooking?

'tell anyone we just had that conversation and I'll rip your arms off'
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
19:14 / 28.05.03
They discussed the sublime pleasures of the Awesome Blossom.
 
 
MlssMaryJane
00:00 / 29.05.03
We've shared the Giles, Spike, Andrew and Oz love, let's give it up for Xander (my favorite character). And let's not forget Anya -- she does have some classic moments.

Oh, yea. That Xander "bit-ca" line was great. I just watched the episode and couldn't stop laughing at that scene. I do love my Xander.
 
 
Mazarine
01:19 / 29.05.03
Oz said about Willow "You're quite the human." And Xander said about Dawn, "You're not special. You're extraordinary." Both those lines could've just as easily been about Xander. He's just so good.
As crappy a villain as Adam was, I think that season end sort of summed up Xander's role in the group. He's the heart of the group, he's what everyone's working so hard to protect.

On another note, one of the most spine shivery, erotic moments of the show, summed up in three lines:

Tara: I am, you know.
Willow: What?
Tara: Yours.

People used to tease me that I was watching a soap opera with monsters, but it wasn't really. One of my favorite parts of the show was the romance.
 
 
Saint Keggers
01:19 / 29.05.03
The speech he gave to Dawn after she found out she wasnt a slayer, about how they have the hardest job; standing on the sidelines watching, being the normals, was one of his finest moments.
 
 
cusm
21:19 / 29.05.03
Xander had the best dreams.
 
 
Saint Keggers
22:34 / 29.05.03
I don't know about that..I think Spykes "I drowning in footwear" was neat.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
22:57 / 29.05.03
God no, I hate Xander's little speeches, my favourite moments are less sentimental. I enjoyed the episode when he had to join the swim team though the moment when he bought Cordelia her prom dress was nice... far nicer than any speech he's ever given.
 
 
Saint Keggers
23:58 / 29.05.03
But Xander doesn't usually give speeches..he's the comic relief. So when he does its all good.
 
 
doctorbeck
08:50 / 30.05.03
you know i had forgotten that whole xander / cordelia thing, sex in the janitors closet, their shared sense of disbelief at what they were doing, and just how hurt bordie was when he was unfaithful with willow

truly the geeks inherited the earth in that episode. really liked cordie until she left with angel, caustic and funny throughout.

tho series 6 has not been a great one for me the xander / anya wedding thing has been a treat, in fact anya has become a favourite character through that

buffy has just become too whiny and turned into ali mcbeal,
hope series 7 comes right.
 
 
Mr Messy
10:53 / 02.06.03
Cute moment. Buffy is trying to lure the hellhounds away from the prom. Disaster strikes, as 'Celebrate (good times c'mon)' starts up on the dance floor. The hounds pause, turn, and race back to the hall.
Cue exasperated Buffy "Aw c'mon guys, that song sucks!".
 
 
Saint Keggers
13:22 / 02.06.03
buffy has just become too whiny and turned into ali mcbeal

Yeah..especially when they brought back Ghaknar, the fear demon to sing 'Hooked On a Feeling'. Thats when it jumped the demonic shark for me.
 
 
gotham island fae
16:59 / 02.06.03
"Doomed" Season Four

Spike after realizing he can still kick (limited) ass:

"Let's kill something!"

Willow and Xander: "..."

Over credits: "Oh, come on!!"

--------
"Graduation Day Part II" Third Season

During strategy session:

Corde: "I personally don't think it's possible to come up with a crazier plan."

Oz: "We attack the mayor with humis."

Corde: "I stand corrected."

Oz: "Just keeping things in perspective."

--------
"The Gift" Season Five

And another vote for the "Darker than any of you ever suspected" murder of Ben/Glory by Giles.
Chills. SO GOOD chills.
 
 
Saint Keggers
00:34 / 03.06.03
I dont know why..I jsut love this phrase: Glory by Giles.
 
 
Saint Keggers
00:40 / 03.06.03
My favorite acted scene from this season:

Spike: "Angel— he should have warned me. (Buffy begins to realize what he's talking about.) He makes a good show of forgetting, but it's here, in me... all the time. The spark. (pause) I wanted to give you... what you deserve. And I got it. They put the spark in me. And now all it does is burn."
Buffy: "Your soul."
Spike (laughing): "Bit worse for lack of use."
Buffy: "You got your soul back. How?"
Spike: "It's what you wanted, right? It's what you wanted, right?! And-and now everybody's in here, talking. Everything I did, everyone I— and him. And it. The other... the thing... beneath... beneath you. It's here, too. Everybody... they all just tell me go. Go... to hell."
Buffy: "Why? Why would you do that?"
Spike: "Buffy, shame on you. Why does a man do what he mustn't? For her. To be hers. To be the kind of man who would nev— (He pauses, almost crying.) To be a kind of man. And she shall look on him with forgiveness... and everybody will forgive and love. (Spike goes to the cross at the front of the church.) He will be loved. (He drapes himself over the cross. His skin begins to burn.) So everybody's okay, right? (Buffy is crying.) C-can we rest now? Buffy? Can we rest?"

Just loved it...felt soooo damn sad for him.
 
 
Rev. Orr
02:19 / 03.06.03
According to the rules of this thread there is nothing I can say about that last post.

On the other hand there is the classic Willow moment from the opening of 'The Zeppo':

"Occasionally I am callous and strange"

work for me, baby.
 
 
Saint Keggers
03:57 / 03.06.03
Where does it say you cant say anything about other posts?
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
14:13 / 03.06.03
He was probably going to say something bad. I just picked up Season 4 and although I can't talk about the Big Bad on this thread, rules, it's got some of the greatest moments comedically of the entire show.

Faith as Buffy: "Stop doing that. It's wrong." (adjusts face, sort of pouts) "Stop doing that. It's wrong." (cut to Buffy in doorway, Starksky/Hutch pose) "Stop doing that. It's wrong... I'll kick your ass."

I think they really sit their stride in terms of situational gags. All the main characters were sufficiently fleshed out and you could have moments that were unbelievably simple and probably lost on non-long-timers, but really hilarious in context.

Willow's description of Faith to Tara is pretty fantastic as is this conversation that precedes it:

Tara: "Oh, I'm not really good at the..." (makes the most endearing fight pantomimes you've ever seen)
Willow: "Swimming?"
 
 
MlssMaryJane
04:36 / 04.06.03
Favorites, hmm.

Any time Giles had to draw something involving blood or death. I want to play that man in pictionary. Any Xander episode and Anya's breakdown in The Body.
 
 
Shrug
18:44 / 04.06.03
Buffy: Where did you send him?

Anya: The land of the trolls. He'll like it there. Full of trolls.

Willow: It's hard to be precise, though. Alternate universes don't stay put. Trying to send him to a specific place is sort of like...like...trying to hit a...puppy, by throwing a live bee at it. Which is a weird image, and you should all just forget it.

Anya: It's possible that he's in the land of perpetual Wednesday...or the crazy melty land...or, you know, the world without shrimp.

Tara: There's a world without shrimp? [Willow looks at her] I'm allergic

Tara: The Slayer does not walk in this world.

Buffy: I walk. I talk. I shop, I sneeze. I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back. There's trees in the desert since you moved out. And I don't sleep on a bed of bones.

Willow: Don't worry, we're sure to spot Faith first. She's like this cleavagy slutbomb walking around going [mocking tone] "Ooh, check me out, I'm wicked cool, I'm five by five."

Tara: Five by five? Five what by five what?

Willow: See, that's the thing. No one knows

Tara (to buffy). You think you know what you are, what's to come. You havnt even begun

Tara: "Yeah, you learn her source, and we'll introduce her to her insect reflection. (everyone stops & stares at her) Th-that was funny if you, um, studied taglarin mythic rites... and are a complete dork."

Riley: "Then how come Xander didn't laugh?"

Some more Tara quotes...
 
 
Saint Keggers
04:00 / 07.06.03
Once More With Feeling I just love that ep. I'd just love it if it became cult classic in the Rocky Horror Picture show vein. Playing it in theatres with people dressed as the cast singing along..."where do we go from here..."
 
 
gotham island fae
12:59 / 11.06.03
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?)

------------
"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<<

-------------
"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.
 
 
gotham island fae
16:04 / 16.06.03
For starters, a correction. Mr. Platt was introduced not in "The Pack", but in "Beauty and the Beasts".

I was high.

However, the mistake was prompted by a line of thought that has been developing into: The Best of Buffy - Motif - Beauty and Beast.

This dichotomy is shown numerous times and in numerous ways, beginning with Darla's surprise turn in the opener of the premiere episode. In the latter of the two episodes mentioned above, it is Angel that demonstrates this contrast best. Whether or not you think that David Boreanaz is a walking, talking ugly-stick, it's difficult to deny that Angel is protrayed as a pretty-boy bad-ass with a heart. In "Beauty and the Beasts", his darker, animalistic side is accentuated (different than when his evil side comes out, but that's a separate section of analysis). Watching the moment towards the end when Pete is snap-crack killed by a bare-chested, snarling Angel, my roommate oo'ed and ahh'ed over the sexiness of it all. Due to the character's general nature (Oh-so-tragic-torn-by-conscience-and-instinct), Angel's position throughout the first three seasons is a continual contributing factor to what I see as one of the strongest long-running themes in the series.

Once Angel is gone, we have a couple other stand-out examples that take the imagery to an even more blatant place. With Glory's introduction, the audience is given the ultimate in polarities. From cooing pretty-girl to raging chaos-god, Glory personifies the blended contrast of these two images very well. In a similar vein, The First appears most frequently as a beautiful female, either Jenny Calendar or Buffy (not having seen much of 7th, I am conjecturing from commentary).

These are the strongest examples I was able to come up with from my memory and experience. Having only begun to appreciate the complexity of the Buffy phenomenon, I am can only imagine there are many more to be found.
 
 
Foust is SO authentic
01:00 / 25.06.03
I just watched the episode where Spike narrates his killing of the two slayers. The final scene has Spike coming to kill Buffy with a shotgun. Buffy, having just been told by her mother that she may have cancer, is sitting on her back porch crying. Spike comes from the bushes... watches Buffy cry... and sits down beside her.
 
 
The Timaximus, The!
01:12 / 10.10.05
Not sure if this is the right thread, but it seemed like the best available.

What's the best season to start with, Buffy-wise? I love Firefly and Serenity, and dug the Buffy film when I was a kid (I'm pretty sure I saw it twice in the theater), and have decided to check out some more Whedon. I did watch the first season before my great falling-out with tv, but I remember it as enjoyably fluffy action-comedy, a la Hercules and Xena. At what point did it get good, or was I just to young to appreciate it then?
Is it important to watch the episodes in order, or is it safe to just buy the seasons as I find them in the used bin (or even catch them totally randomly in syndication)?

Related: should I bother with Angel, or wait until I have more than a passing familiarity with Buffy?
 
 
PatrickMM
01:50 / 10.10.05
I'd definitely start from the beginning, it's pretty much essential to watch all the seasons in order. Each season has a semi-standalone plot arc, but the character arcs are continuously developed throughout the seven seasons.

I would consider half way through season two as the point at which the series really gets good, if you remember season one, you could probably start with season two now. But I'd go back to the beginning and just make sure you watch at least through season two, at which point you'll be so hooked there will be no stopping watching the rest.

As for Angel, it begins at the same time as season four of Buffy, so you could either watch all Buffy through, then watch all Angel through, or starting with season four, watch both shows simultaneously.
 
 
Seth
04:15 / 10.10.05
On two screens? With two DVD players? It's an interesting idea...
 
 
Our Lady Has Left the Building
06:31 / 10.10.05
Season One has quite a few episodes where people don't believe anything is going on until it's nearly too late (such as when Xander and some others get posessed, Giles insists it's just puberty), it also has, at first, a different Angel, before they work out what his character actually is. In many ways things only really start getting good in series 2. It effectively goes to the poop after series 5.
 
 
Evil Scientist
07:59 / 10.10.05
Best Giles moment: The Halloween episode in Season 2, when you first realise the stuffy librarian's a little more than he lets on. Savagely kicking the crap out of Ethan Rayne in a manner not unlike John Constantine in a bad mood.

"Hello Ripper." (I'm suddenly sitting up, wtf did he just call him?)
 
 
robertk
12:24 / 10.10.05
What season is that really creepy episode where they're all deaf/dumb and there's them chained demons (with hats?) moving in a weird way? That one was great I think, some great scary moments and lots of Buffy comedy.
 
 
Triplets
12:40 / 10.10.05
Called "Hush", I think.

Truly the greatest of the Buffysodes. When the first "gentleman" floats past the window and he don't give two shits about people seeing him. That was shit-up city.
 
 
Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown
21:06 / 10.10.05
From Spike's first episode:
Big Bad Vampire: "It's going to be the greatest event since the Crucifixion. And I should know; I was there."

Spike (from off side): "YOU were at the Crucifixion? Now, if everyone who said they were at the Crucifixion was ACTUALLY there it'd have been like Woodstock. Now, I was at Woodstock. Fed off a flower child. Just spent hours watching my hand move in front of my face..."
 
 
Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown
21:08 / 10.10.05
Actually, speaking of James Marsters, I saw him recently in an episode of Andromeda where he plays Charlemange Bolivar, Neitzchean ambassador for the Sabra-Jaguar Pride. He actually has a pretty decent normal voice when he's not trying to do a British accent...but you could almost here the twinges of him being Spike around the edges.

...and I gotta say, the guy wears his costumes well.
 
 
Jack The Bodiless
10:24 / 11.10.05
Yeah, 'cause it's tricky wearing clothes and speaking in your own accent. Kudos to him.
 
  

Page: 1(2)345

 
  
Add Your Reply