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I hadn't watched much of anything Joss Whedon. After getting into Bones a while back, I attempted to watch Angel, but it was so full of feelings that I gave up 2 1/2 seasons in (see, I gave it a good long try).
But someone recently told me how amazing Buffy is and told me that I simply HAD to watch it, skimming the first two seasons, and then enjoy the rest.
I proceeded to watch the entire series in about 3 weeks. That's an average of over 5 hours a day of Buffy (there were two days in there that I was sick with a flu and spend an entire day in bed watching, but still).
Posts: 368 | Registered: Dec 2005
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Hank, if you haven't, check out Dollhouse and, of course, Firefly. Neither are huge investments of time, but both are incredibly high quality.
Oh, and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Though I understand some people finding that one a bit too... niche.
Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I actually watched Dr. Horrible before Buffy. Loved it!
I've seen Firefly, too, and I understand the many rants I've heard about it's cancellation. Clearly a waste.
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Sounds like you're pretty close to a Whedonite to me!
I also haven't watched much Angel. I'm not sure why, but I just wasn't able to get in to it. My wife watched more of it when it was actually on television, so using her guidance I've watched some of the more important or good episodes (including the last one...), but neither of us has any desire to sit through the entire series. Maybe it is something about watching Bones first?
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"Angel," even moreso than "Buffy," is heavily continuity-based and requires that you watch it in order from the beginning (ideally, concurrently with "Buffy") to get the full impact. It has sprawling, multi-season epic arcs that are unlike anything on Whedon's other shows. What's unfortunate is that Season 1 is one of the show's weaker seasons, and extremely uneven from episode to episode. But it sets up a lot of the major characters and some important things happen that will have reverberating consequences over the remainder of the series. And unfortunately, it's not the kind of thing where I can just say, "watch this episode and skip the rest," because the impact of the Big Events even within Season 1 is dependent on understanding character motivations and backstory that are slowly revealed over the course of the season.
If you have time, though, I'd highly recommend the show. It's every bit as character-driven and witty as Whedon's other work, and its long story arcs give it a sense of weight and permanence that "Buffy" and "Dollhouse" sometimes lacked ("Firefly," sadly, didn't last long enough to even attempt that). The development of one male character imported from "Buffy," in particular, is one of the best long-form character arcs I've ever seen on television - a stunning transformation that occurs so gradually and organically that you never once feel like the writers are actively altering who the person is, even as he changes completely between his first and last appearances.
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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My previous experience with Angel was that it was rather silly, but having watched Buffy, maybe I'll give it another try. I think I could reasonable say I've converted to Whedonism.
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To me, the problem with Angel is it is not formulaic. Joss wanted the show to change, to devolve, to move forward. And some of the movement was forced and painful. Some was organic and some of the best television I've ever seen.
All and all, I'd say watch it, if you can commit to it.
Westly's transformation in season four(?) was breath takingly, heart breathtakingly amazing. But like Tarrask said, if you didn't see all the seasons, you won't get it.
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quote:Originally posted by Stone_Wolf_: To me, the problem with Angel is it is not formulaic. Joss wanted the show to change, to devolve, to move forward. And some of the movement was forced and painful. some of the movement was forced and painful. Some was organic and some of the best television I've ever seen.
All and all, I'd say watch it, if you can commit to it.
Westly's transformation in season four(?) was breath takingly, heart breathtakingly amazing. But like Tarrask said, if you didn't see all the seasons, you won't get it.
This was what drove me away.
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Yeah, Season 4 was... not so good. But again, important to the ongoing arcs. And sadly, the transition from the excellent Season 3 to the friggin' sublime Season 5 makes no sense without Season 4.
...OK, it doesn't really make any sense with Season 4 either. *sigh*
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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Funnily enough I started watching Buffy only a couple of months ago. I'm now at the start of season 4 and I'm also watching Angel concurrently. I've never seen an episode of either before.
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