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Buffy 5x01 Buffy vs. Dracula, spoilers through S7
Is this one of the much maligned episodes like Beer Bad? For some reason I just have this impression in my brain that it wasn't going to be a great episode.
Buffy 5x01 Buffy vs. Dracula, spoilers through S7
I really liked it. Mostly I was impressed with how quickly the themes from Primeval and Restless were picked up, what with the talk of her power and being a killer vs. being a Slayer (Dracula vs. Buffy?). And of course, Dawn! Hee. I like Dawn. In general I tend not to be too impressed with the first episodes of seasons, but this one was a pretty good one for laying down the course of S5 (and some of S6 and S7) regarding Buffy's origins as the Slayer. Of course, it helps that I am a total sucker for Slayer mythology. It's so interesting watching these episodes knowing what's to come... (and now I have Restless in my head: "You think you know who you are, what's to come."). I watch this and I remember dark Buffy of late season 5 and season 6, Buffy saying she is the law in Selfless, Buffy worn down with being the Slayer. And it's so sad to think that she'll hit those points when I watch her flying through the air in the beginning and tackling vamps and in general kicking ass. She looks like she loves it, loves the hunt, loves the sheer physical exhiliration of it, and I'm sad that it gets taken away from her later. So different from her staking a vamp in the alley in The Gift.
I stayed up way too late yesterday trolling through LJ memories to look for Restless reviews. Or Restless annotations, or something. Is there one somewhere? Particularly interested in Restless in light of the developments in later seasons.
So, anticipating the beginning of the Spuffy arc in S5, I was thinking about things like audience and genre familiarity and how they affect the way I see things. I just picked up Sharon Shinn's latest Samaria book yesterday, and already I am annoyed at it. I don't know why I keep reading them, because they can irk me so much, but I do. Magic crack? ;) But she's got the heroine rebelling at harsh, misogynistic society, and while in general I am all for that, in the book, it annoys me to no end. And that's because there is this entire wealth of books with heroines like that (plus, Shinn's good guys never change in the Samaria books. If you like the Edori, you are Good. It's infallible...), plus all the romance novels with "plucky" heroines. And I wonder, if this was the first book I read with that plotline, maybe I would be bowled over by the liberalism. Haha. Well, you never know. Same with alpha bastards, who I used to adore. It's because I am so used to this type through so many books that I've sort of defaulted to my currently favored tortured heroine who is generally quiet and subtle and by no means "plucky." Mean and cruel, sure, but not spirited. Ditto with the Nice Guy.
All this was because I was wondering if I would like Spike had I watched the show from the beginning. Or even if I had watched S5 knowing the plotline for S6 (past Smashed) and watched it while engaging actively in the fandom. I know a large part of my sort of disinterest in the ship and with the character happened because I was so sick of the Spike-on-Angel wars and the Spuffy wars. That and the fact that quiet, unpunkish Spike was sort of strange. Buffy was my first TV fandom since XF (I tend to think of anime fandom as a different creature all together), and I came in with XF as my only reference point. That and the many books in which the bad guy may be redeemed but will never get the girl, because she is Good and Pure. So I watched Fool for Love with the firm belief that Buffy was never going to give Spike the time of day, that Spike might be stuck in this sort of grey zone of morality because of the chip, but that no one would ever go through with any real character change. From most TV and books, I generally though Good stayed Good and Bad stayed Bad. Obviously, I hadn't watched a Joss show before ;). But that was where I was coming from, and so when I heard "Buffy and Spike kissed! Buffy and Spike had sex!" my jaw dropped. Suddenly, I had to watch this show, because they were doing things with the characters! Growth! (or rather, anti-growth, maybe)
So yeah, I was pretty stunned by the Spike thing. I think that's what everyone must have felt watching Innocence for the first time. Anyhow, I probably would have liked Spike, but maybe not have fallen in so quickly with the ship. I don't know. I think if I had watched the show from the beginning, I would have been less surprised and it wouldn't have taken me in to the same degree. Or, hey, might have done it anyway ;). See: me with regards to Wes. But am looking forward to watching the 'ship unfold in all its twisted, dysfunctional, angsty glory. Don't see things like that everyday!
Buffy 5x01 Buffy vs. Dracula, spoilers through S7
I really liked it. Mostly I was impressed with how quickly the themes from Primeval and Restless were picked up, what with the talk of her power and being a killer vs. being a Slayer (Dracula vs. Buffy?). And of course, Dawn! Hee. I like Dawn. In general I tend not to be too impressed with the first episodes of seasons, but this one was a pretty good one for laying down the course of S5 (and some of S6 and S7) regarding Buffy's origins as the Slayer. Of course, it helps that I am a total sucker for Slayer mythology. It's so interesting watching these episodes knowing what's to come... (and now I have Restless in my head: "You think you know who you are, what's to come."). I watch this and I remember dark Buffy of late season 5 and season 6, Buffy saying she is the law in Selfless, Buffy worn down with being the Slayer. And it's so sad to think that she'll hit those points when I watch her flying through the air in the beginning and tackling vamps and in general kicking ass. She looks like she loves it, loves the hunt, loves the sheer physical exhiliration of it, and I'm sad that it gets taken away from her later. So different from her staking a vamp in the alley in The Gift.
I stayed up way too late yesterday trolling through LJ memories to look for Restless reviews. Or Restless annotations, or something. Is there one somewhere? Particularly interested in Restless in light of the developments in later seasons.
So, anticipating the beginning of the Spuffy arc in S5, I was thinking about things like audience and genre familiarity and how they affect the way I see things. I just picked up Sharon Shinn's latest Samaria book yesterday, and already I am annoyed at it. I don't know why I keep reading them, because they can irk me so much, but I do. Magic crack? ;) But she's got the heroine rebelling at harsh, misogynistic society, and while in general I am all for that, in the book, it annoys me to no end. And that's because there is this entire wealth of books with heroines like that (plus, Shinn's good guys never change in the Samaria books. If you like the Edori, you are Good. It's infallible...), plus all the romance novels with "plucky" heroines. And I wonder, if this was the first book I read with that plotline, maybe I would be bowled over by the liberalism. Haha. Well, you never know. Same with alpha bastards, who I used to adore. It's because I am so used to this type through so many books that I've sort of defaulted to my currently favored tortured heroine who is generally quiet and subtle and by no means "plucky." Mean and cruel, sure, but not spirited. Ditto with the Nice Guy.
All this was because I was wondering if I would like Spike had I watched the show from the beginning. Or even if I had watched S5 knowing the plotline for S6 (past Smashed) and watched it while engaging actively in the fandom. I know a large part of my sort of disinterest in the ship and with the character happened because I was so sick of the Spike-on-Angel wars and the Spuffy wars. That and the fact that quiet, unpunkish Spike was sort of strange. Buffy was my first TV fandom since XF (I tend to think of anime fandom as a different creature all together), and I came in with XF as my only reference point. That and the many books in which the bad guy may be redeemed but will never get the girl, because she is Good and Pure. So I watched Fool for Love with the firm belief that Buffy was never going to give Spike the time of day, that Spike might be stuck in this sort of grey zone of morality because of the chip, but that no one would ever go through with any real character change. From most TV and books, I generally though Good stayed Good and Bad stayed Bad. Obviously, I hadn't watched a Joss show before ;). But that was where I was coming from, and so when I heard "Buffy and Spike kissed! Buffy and Spike had sex!" my jaw dropped. Suddenly, I had to watch this show, because they were doing things with the characters! Growth! (or rather, anti-growth, maybe)
So yeah, I was pretty stunned by the Spike thing. I think that's what everyone must have felt watching Innocence for the first time. Anyhow, I probably would have liked Spike, but maybe not have fallen in so quickly with the ship. I don't know. I think if I had watched the show from the beginning, I would have been less surprised and it wouldn't have taken me in to the same degree. Or, hey, might have done it anyway ;). See: me with regards to Wes. But am looking forward to watching the 'ship unfold in all its twisted, dysfunctional, angsty glory. Don't see things like that everyday!
Restless and Spike
Regarding Spike/Buffy ship? You pretty much hit the nail on the head why I got obsessed with it. Having read and seen numerous tv shows with that sort of attraction - *never* did one actually put the villian and heroine together or put the villian on the track towards redemption. Lois and Clark - came close once with Lex falling for Lois, but like wimps, backed away from it and went right back to the formula. Angel/Buffy - nope didn't do it. When he became evil he tried to kill her. That said? There is precedent for it - in Hans Christian Anderson's the Snow Queen. The story of the once good man going evil and then finding his way back again through love. Angel/Angelus/Buffy wasn't quite that story - that's a subversion of the cursed prince. But Buffy/Spike? Snow Queen all the way, also Beauty and The Beast, Cupid and Psyche. It's a different dynamic then the cursed misunderstood hero that populates all those gothic novels - that's the Angel story. The Spike story is far rarer on screen, less seen, partly because the guy is in some respects the damsel or the one who needs to find his way back, partly because it's about finding your way back through love and not some heroic swordplay or breaking of a curse. It may be a harder tale to tell but my favorite, partly because it is so rarely told. It's hard to explain to people who aren't into it. It's a bit like explaining a joke in fact, you either get it or you don't. A gut level thing.
Re: Restless and Spike
Ugh, yeah... so many times whenever they have the villain falling for the hero character, she/he ends up with the good guy anyway. Or else they never portray the person as the bad guy anyway -- he's just "misunderstood." I loved how they had Spike and Buffy fall into a relationship (loosely defined) with Spike really not being redeemed and Buffy in complete despair. Really ugly, but fascinating to watch.
It's strange -- I used to be entirely caught up in the Spike redemption story, but I think I sort of burned out during late-S7. Was fascinated up till Spike being non-crazy. I think part of it was because he stopped being the random factor... then he came onto Angel, and everything's up in the air again ^_^.
Haha, I find nowadays I am less about the redemption and more about the pain -_-;;.
Great thoughts...
Re: Great thoughts...
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For the Restless essay I'd love to recommend
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Watching the eps out of order is also really interesting, because I have all these strange preconceptions from fandom and from latter episodes! It's quite fun.