Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 7

[Guest EQ]

And what does season 4 have going for it?

 

I found myself very bored with season 4. To me, the highlights of that entire season were the crossovers with Angel.

 

Adam was a crappy "big bad" and super sayan buffy was a stretch even for this show.

[Guest EQ]

*the board's acting weird. sorry for the double post*

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Season 4 definately was Whedon stealing from Dragonball Z. Adam was a bit cell-ish...

[cawthon777 0]

I thought Spike added a lot to Season 4. 'Beer Bad', 'Superstar', 'Hush', and 'Restless' were all great eps IMO.

 

It was def better than Season 6.

[Guest Vyce]

Season 4 definately was Whedon stealing from Dragonball Z. Adam was a bit cell-ish...

That's an insult to DBZ. And I don't even like DBZ.

 

What did Season 4 have going for it? "Hush". Which is only about 7.34 billion times better than the vastly overrated musical episode.

[Guest Mole]

I hate Musical's, so I haven't seen that one yet.

 

Adam was defiently really over the top for a heel. In Season 3, you had the Mayor as the bad guy who was soooo cool, you just couldn't really hate him. Then Adam came along, and from what I have seen of 4, he was kind of blah.

 

He didn't even make it to the last episode, which says a lot for that character.

[Guest KingOfOldSchool]

Unlike many other fans, my problem with season 4 isn't Riley alone. It was the whole introduction of The Initiative.

 

They were entirely too cheesy for my tastes and everything with them just dragged the show down. With the exception of 'Hush,' 'Superstar' and 'Restless' the season just seemed like a pain to get through. I truly didn't like Tara either... she was a boring character and I think Amber Benson was a bad actress. The only good thing to come out of that season was Spike moving on to become a major player.

 

As for season 6, while it was different from the previous seasons, I thought that it was about time they started growing up and had to actually deal with sometimes extremely destructive issues, even if they seemed to come one after another. So I guess I liked the personal feel of the season. Plus, TARA FINALLY GOT KILLED OFF! YAY!

 

In closing, 6 > 4

[Guest red_file]

Was it really that bad? I thought the whole point of it was to put Buffy in a bad relationship. Not the Angel kind of bad relationship (which was kinda cartoony) but something a little more realistic. I mean, it showed how low Buffy had gone when Spike banged her in an alley on her break from the Doublemeat Palace. Not exactly what the Buffy we knew from Season 1 would have done, eh? I thought it was interesting.

While I think the idea was to have a somewhat realistic portrayal of an emotionally abusive relationship, I'd quibble with the statement that it was less cartoony than the Angel relationship. I mean, when Buffy and Spike consumated their relationship they screwed until they knocked a house down. Not quite as subtle as Angel stealing off into the night to turn into hateful person (a realistic fear for someone in a sexual relationship at that age). The idea of having Buffy turn to Spike because she was emotionally scarred was interesting, but the way they handled it was insulting to the audience. A couple points for trying something complex, minus several hundred for poor execution.

 

The addiction to magic was insulting on an entirely different level. For a show that had done an amazing job in the past at being subtle about big things (e.g. Willow going gay), it was handled in an almost "after school special" type manner. And then there wasn't really any consistency in the addictive properties of magic. Willow can't handle her H, but Tara can? Sure Giles was "sharing" power in the last few episodes, but shouldn't he have gotten addicted, or at least "high" like Willow did with Rath, from using it? Why wasn't Giles addicted as a youth with Ethan Rayne? And so on, and so forth. It came across as preachy and poorly handled. Not to mention that it was rather obvious that the only reason they were going through the whole business was to make Willow the big bad, which could've been handled in any number of other ways.

 

I don't quite get the season 4 hate. I enjoy Adam as the big bad; he was kinda a throwback to the Master in a way. Granted, Riley was quite horrible, and, as was mentioned, Tara was pretty much worthless, and Oz left, but the listless tone of the season was a nice change of pace. It worked, for me, that after the relentless direction of the first three seasons--everyone knowing their place in the world and what needed to be done--that there would be a time when everyone was struggling for direction. The plots were weak and the jokes were often groanworthy, but I thought the character development was better than in most of the other seasons. And "Restless" is easily one of the five best episodes they've ever done.

 

Season 6 is, to me, the probably the worst season, even worse than season 1. It lacked any consistent tone, had poor character development, the plots were rather horrid, and they dropped many of the things that might've been interesting by mid-season. The only redeeming qualities were the Xander/Anya wedding and the Geek Trio. Beyond that, season 6 is a wasteland.

[Guest EQ]

It's not that I think there aren't any good episodes in season 4. Hush was very good, and yes, Spike steps up this season as well. I actually didn't really dislike Riley or Tara. Riley got on my nerves every once in a while, but I don't think it was painful to watch.

 

While I didn't actually hate season 4, I feel like it was the weakest season. I also happened to really like season 6 though. I can understand people's complaints with Spike/Buffy, but what really sold me was the 3 nerds throughout the season. Those guys are gold.

[cawthon777 0]

The nerds were awesome, I'll agree with that.

 

Andrew: "I always liked Timothy Dalton..."

 

And whatever happened to the Death Star van? That was gold!

[Guest The Hamburglar]

In retrospect I liked season 4 a lot more then I thought I did. The Initiative is somewhat ghey, but at least the show was still really funny and I still really liked the characters. Season 6 was unmitigated poo. The opener where they brought Buffy back was terrible, a real cop-out. The episode where Willow got addicted to crack-magic was the single most pathetic and ludicrously dumb show I've seen on either Buffy or Angel. It was like the writers forgot that subtle metaphor was one of Buffy's strong points and started beating us over the head with drug references.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Adam grew on me when his god complex came to light. Then in the next season, the big bad WAS a god.

[Guest Mole]

From what I have seen of Glory she is such a badass, but is so hot it is hard to hate her.

 

The whole thing with Ben is such a good idea, I love it.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

He didn't even make it to the last episode, which says a lot for that character.

Adam was in the last episode.

 

Buffy: "What was your name?"

Adam: "Before Adam? Not a man alive can remember."

 

What's with the musical hate? I loved the show. Like I said about 6, it was very average till the strong ending.

[Guest Vyce]

People give that goddamn musical episode SUCH a verbal blowjob it's unreal. I made it halfway through the first time before I turned the channel in disgust. On subsequent dates I've seen the whole thing, and I must say, if there is a "jump the shark" moment on Buffy, it's that episode.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Christ, if I ever hear the term "jump the shark" again everyone dies. And I hate that site, one of the higher ranking vote deals for Buffy "jumping the shark" was when she cut her friggin hair in season 6...some people actually think the show declined at that point because of that reason. It's unreal.

 

I've probably seen the musical close to a dozen times now. Too many shows do one and screw it up...Buffy's the only one that seemed to do it right. (then there was the Oz singing deal, I liked that too)

[Guest red_file]

"Jump the Shark" was kinda cool when it was just you and a couple of friends who knew about it. When it finally got publicity and everyone started referencing it, it just became annoying. It hasn't quite reached "Worst. Episode. Ever." level of annoyance, but it's getting close.

 

The thing about "The Musical" is that it's really accessible. It works for a lot of people because it's kinda fun and doesn't really require one to understand all of the Buffy mythos, and the songs are, for the most part, really quite good. So it's really, really great that first time it's watched. For me, most of my subsequent viewings have left me less impressed with it. I still like a lot of it (Sweet especially), but I keep feeling the tics of the season underneath what should be a knockout standalone episode.

[Guest EQ]

Buffy's the only one that seemed to do it right. (then there was the Oz singing deal, I liked that too)

I agree. Buffy and Oz both seemed to be very well-done.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Buffy's the only one that seemed to do it right. (then there was the Oz singing deal, I liked that too)

I agree. Buffy and Oz both seemed to be very well-done.

When I heard about there being an Oz musical I thought they actually ment durring the show. But duh, they had it where the Hill segments would've gone, and it worked out great that way.

 

The Beecher/Shillinger (sp) duet was the shit. And the Burr Redding solo was great.

 

Sorry to go off topic and all...

[Guest Cavi]

I, for one, really enjoyed OMWF. The writing was well done with some clever lyrics, and the actual arrangements and instrumentation of the songs were quite good (as one would expect from Chris Beck).

[Guest Youth N Asia]

The musical was also good cause it let the characters get their feeling out there...Giles about leaving, Buffy about going through the motions, Xander and Anya about marriage, and Tara about being betrayed.

 

And Tara's song just about gives me a boner each time I hear it...that is the moment where I started to like her.

 

But why I actually came here...AT LEAST 2 more Buffy reruns. Tomorrow's is the one where the chicks get all wet for the football player with the magic jacket and whatnot. And next week's is "Conversations with Dead People." GREAT EPISODE, and I'm glad they're airing it cause it's the only one I don't have on tape (I taped an hour of blank screen to fill its place till they reaired it)...although the Pistons block it, so it's on the Detroit station Saturday instead of Tuesday.

 

That's all.

[Guest JMA]

Season four sucked because of many reasons.

 

1: They were no longer in High School.

 

2: Parker becomes the second person to deflower Buffy. Not to mention he's almost never seen again.

 

3: RILEY.

 

4: The Initiative.

 

5: Adam.

 

6: Tara. You can't expect to replace Oz that easily. Willow's lesbian transition was also rather flawed, IMO.

 

Season five wasn't much better. It started off with the HORRIBLE Dracula episode and introduced Dawn. Not to mention you had Riley getting bite-jobs and Joyce dying.

[Guest red_file]

2: Parker becomes the second person to deflower Buffy. Not to mention he's almost never seen again.

 

I recall no mention of anal (thought she saved that for Spike). Er, did you mean second person to defile Buffy? Perhaps simply screw her? I thought it was a nice play on what happened after the whole Angel bit. The first time was the allegorical examination of what happens, the second was the harsh reality.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

The Parker thing was pretty bad...just on and on and on about crying over a hump and dump. Spike helps save season 4. And I still put it well above 6.

[Guest Cavi]

Parker is on my hate list, right below Kendra.

 

I like Season Four (well, there really isn't any season I don't like). True, the Initiative stuff was more Chris Carter-ish than Jossy, but I was ok with the change of pace.

 

Plus, Ethan makes an appearance, and that man is a pimp.

 

*Giles reopens crypt door*

 

"Oh bugger, I thought you'd gone!"

 

Classic stuff.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

GOing to get my Watcher's guide and run down the good stuff in season 4...

 

Yes, I am a Buffy dork and I have a Watchers Guide...

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Season 4...the best eps.

 

Fear Itself...great ep.

Xander: "Who's a little fear demon?"

Giles: "Don't taunt the fear demon."

Xander: "Why, can it hurt me?"

Giles: "No, it's just tacky."

 

Pangs...The Thanksgiving episode, Spike was great in this, Willow was a little blah blah blah with the PC crap. but Spike was good enough to make it a good ep.

 

Something Blue...the one where Willow accidently puts spells on everyone...the Buffy/Spike stuff was priceless.

 

Hush...maybe the best episode ever, that's up for debate anyway. I don't need to go into detail, everyone knows what's what.

 

A New Man...where Ethan Rayne puts a spell on Giles and turns him into a Fyarl demon...his interactions with Spike and Xander are classic.

 

This Year's Girl & Who Are You...two kick ass eps with Faith, can't go wrong there.

 

Superstar...Finally! A Jonathan episode! The first half is funny as all hell. Great episode all around.

 

New Moon Rising...return of Oz. Too bad he didn't kill Tara though.

 

The Yoko Factor...I tried to keep Riley off the list cause everyone hates him more then me...his Riley vs Angel was pretty good.

 

Restless...everyone seems 50/50 on this. I liked it. Mostly funny, and you got to see Adam out of character. Plus they forshadow Dawn again...while I still hate Dawn, I like how they did this.

 

That's 11 out of 22 episodes that I thought were really good. And truth is I liked others quite a bit too, but left them off cause of Riley hate. I didn't dislike any of the episodes too much...maybe "Beer Bad," but it's still twice as good as "The Doublemeat Palace." And I really don't think I could pick out 11 eps in season 6 that I thought were great.

 

I'm not saying season 6 sucked...just thought it was the weakest of the series.

[Guest Mole]

Last night's ep, Him, was probably the worst of the season.

 

It was such a lame duck episode, and didn't make much sense. Since Willow is gay, Xander would of fallen in love with him too. I don't think that makes much sense, unless the jacket spell was only towards women.

 

Whatever, I didn't really like it.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Yeah, that was the weakest one of the season. But you got to see a sluttier Dawn, she's still awful as a character, but that's something I guess.

 

Next week, "Conversations With Dead People"

[Guest Mole]

Yeah, Dawn is such a tool. She was pretty hot last night, but her nose is just grose looking. She looks like a pig of some sorts.

 

Conversations was a great episode, looking forward to watching it again.

 

Youth, do you get all of your info on Buffy from Buffyguide.com?