Good points about the Buffybot. Hadn't considered that.

Actually, I liked Buffy-bot because she looked gooooood! :)

she really did, didn't she? especially compared to resurrected buffy. :D

i liked this episode. i'd have to agree with some other people's comments about the length of the show though. it seemed like it was way too drawn out and could have been at least a half hour shorter. but at least for SMG, this had to have been one of the easiest episodes to make. i mean, she only had 3 or 4 real lines besides the scream and whining. :D

i was kinda disappointed to see Giles go. :( he had turned into a really amusing character foil for buffy. i hear he won't be back but i have my fingers crossed.

i find it interesting that even though they're on separate networks now, the last angel show and this buffy premiere mirrored each other in that in order to help someone they really cared about, they had to do something that could have some really bad repercussions later.

well, my 2 cents. -smile-

So, I take it we're see no more crossover between any of the Buffy and Angel casts due to them being on different networks?

tofubomb - according to what I've read, Tony Head (Giles) wanted to move back to England. I guess it's a bit of a strain when you're here and your family is in England. They are working on developing a show based on Giles and it will be produced in England. Should air on BBC and with hope, BBCA. So, I would think that he'll just be doing guest spots. If you notice, he's completely out of the opening credits.

More on that ... the show is temp named "The Watcher." Joss wants it to be a darker ghost story type show with little if any focus on demons and such. They really only want to do 6 or so episodes and make it a small thing. I know Tony's brother's working on a few shows for BBC already, and they want to try and work on something together. Also, while returning to England was a strong factor in his decision, he felt that the character of Giles was becoming dead weight and that the Scooby gang needed to move on without him. He's more than willing to return the show if they can find new depth to the Giles character, but he didn't want to be so far from his family if it wasn't dramatically challenging for him.

das

Okay das spill it, where do you get these little gems of info? Hmmm????

See, I honestly don't feel the character is dead weight. More like yummy. ;) I think it would have been nice for him to continue not only his training with Buffy, but working with Willow on witch things.

I just make most of it up to feel important. Then, six months later, when the show actually airs and everything I've said is completely wrong, people have already forgotten about it ;)

das

I knew it! ;)

Tara does seem pretty worthless. She used to have power, but it seems as they amped up Willow they drained her. Kind of stupid, I think.

I think they protected the store and Buffy's home last season to keep Glory and her minions out, but no one seemed to remember that last night. But, neither the store or the house got trashed either.

I think there will be a long term trade off. This is her 2nd time at using 'black' or forbidden magic. The 1st time to save Tara, now to save Buffy, and there's going to have to be a trade off involved somehow. She didn't tell anyone exactly what she did on either occasion, and definitely wasn't telling anyone that she killed the baby deer.

Something's going to happen to her this season, it's got to be coming.

I thought what they did last season was an early warning system to know if Glory or one of her toadies showed up??? Does anyone else recall? You could be right about this though... Interesting how their store and house didn't get trashed, but they did seem to think it could happen. The fact that they were concerned about it sort of indicates that they don't have something in place.

das - don't make me come over there..... :)

Yeah, I know what you're saying. Keep in mind none of them seem to have any kind of long term memory though, like how during the season finale they suddenly remembered that they had all the necessary tools to kill Glory sitting in the back room :)

What's everyone's problem with Tara's power level? She has said time and time again that Willow is way more powerful. Tara can throw out the occasional spell when it's needed, and Willow can use her as a power source, but she's never been all that powerful up until this point.

I've told you before ... that threat is useless since I'd like for you to come over here :)

das

renaldow - well okay, there is that. :)

draven-x - I guess I would figure that practicing magic with Willow, remember they both worked on the teleport spell for Glory, she would be able to do more than making a floating light.

das - okay, don't make me send Big Al over there!

Point taken.

das

das - he's 6'4" and about 400 pounds. We always say, don't leave home without him. :)

Well, it was okay. I mean, more than anything I'm happy to have Buffy back...it wasnt horrible, but it wasnt Earth shattering either.

I think that the length of the show seemed too sluggish because I was kind of expecting Buffy to be ressurected sooner and have the last hour dealing with everyones reactions to her being back. Instead, it was only about fifteen minutes(?) from the end when they find her and they barely scratched the surface of peoples reactions.

The good- Come on, Buffybot was funny...Telepathic Willow was neat, and they have been hinting at her going overboard for awhile, so thats defintely developing nicely... Spikes explanation to Dawn of why he wont leave her alone was great, and the joke about Giles life flashing before his eyes...

As far as the sour spots some people are having...well, I dont care if the villians were lackluster, they are just there for action/threat and that all they need to do... Willow killing a deer (putting the reality of witchy practices aside, elektra) makes sense in the Buffyverse, it serves a purpose (and for the record Alyson Hannigan strongly objected to it, personaly, but put her feelings aside for the plots sake)...

I have faith in the show. It hasnt let me down, and they always stay on track with an objective, and they started this season with a doozy... No Giles... Buffy with being dead baggage... Dark Willow... Cant wait to see what they do this season.

When she came onto the show she was pretty powerful in that she could do a lot of things, knew a lot about magic, and I believe there was an episode that pegged her as being from a line of witches (that one where her family was coming back to get her and lock her in a shed for being a demon, or am I just not remembering it correctly?)

She could do quite a few things, and her and Willow began practicing and learning together. Now Willow is buff (from going to the darkside of course) but Tara seems to have lapsed and is unable to do some of the things she used to and seems to have lost some of her previous knowledge.

Yes, Tara's mother was a witch/demon. The females in her family are a long line. In theory, she could do more. That's my thing. As Willow grew stonger, she didn't? I would have thought doing magic together, Tara would be just a bit stronger.

I will stick with the show. I still think the show is the best on TV. All shows go through ups and downs.

Tara has specifically said that Willow has passed her in raw power. She may know more overall about witchcraft, but as far as the ability to do spells, Willow is stronger now. I can't think of Tara doing something that was stronger than what we saw her do last night. Example?

Since I'm still a Buffy-newbie, can someone summmarize why Enya seems to have no social graces? I know she's some kind of reformed demon.

Also, have they ever shown the "origin" of Buffy, or do they just rely on the film to fill in those gaps (I've never sat through and watched the Kristy Swanson/Luke Perry film all the way through).

Loved the ep. much more than most of you, I guess... Of course, I'm just the opposite of das and elektra--I'm a total spoiler-whore, and already knew the exact sequence of events...

I prefer to get over whatever plot reservations I may have before the show airs, so I can just enjoy the execution... :)

I think they've done a terrific job of pointing the show in the right direction for the season... My only criticism of the opener was that the motorcycle gang seemed a bit mundane, enemy-wise, for such a pivitol episode... I figure they were chosen mostly so they could furnish Spike with a new chopper for him to ride from now on...

It certainly seems like the directions they've been hinting at for both Spike and Willow will be emerging full-blast this season... While I'm excited about what this means for Willow, I'm not sure I'm ready for Spike to get what he really wants...

There is one big problem I have with the show lately. Why is Spike so damn weak???????? I mean he killed two slayers, nearly killed Buffy before, and yet that opening vampire was knocking him PLUS the other people out? I mean come on, he shouldn't even need their help. I thought older vampires were tougher? Or am I confusing that with other vampire mythology?

I just hope he gets tougher quick because he's my favorite character.

I just wanted to chime in on a couple of things.

Spoilers for those who have not seen Tara episodes from the beginning:

As for Anya - I was just discussing this with my boyfriend. Her complete lack of social skills bothers me - it didn't when she first came on the show (in fact it was hilarious). But you'd think she would have gotten better (more tactful) by now. Not that she should be like everyone else - her love of money, for example, is still really funny. But to never know when to say or not say something is getting on my nerves. All I know is what you said, Patman - former revenge demon, now a human, and for some reason has no socialization skills after years as a human. Last night I was just sick of her wanting to tell their "happy" news. (not so happy in my book, but that's a whole other story. :) ) The only thing I can guess is that before she was so full of revenge that she got transformed into a revenge demon, she must have had no social skills then, either, and now that she's human again she's back where she started. So maybe she's incapable of learning that ability. ;)

Just speculation on my part, and not based on anything spoilerish--

I think that if he and Buffy are indeed heading toward couplehood, it's going to be because she's gotten darker and more disturbed, not because he's going to get any nicer. In fact, I think they'll make a point of tossing the evil-Spike fans plenty of bones to chew on here and there--Marsters himself is said to be constantly lobbying to keep his character surly and snarly...

I agree that he gets beaten too easily in fights these days, for what it's worth...

Patman--Anya's lack of social skills does indeed come from the fact that she's only recently human... (Although she's been a regular for what--three seasons now? I think the writers' just enjoy her quirky character, and keep her that way for the sake of snappy dialog...)

WarriorPrincess-- Then again, maybe since she's been getting most of her socialization skills from Xander, it's hard to distinguish between that and having none at all... :D

If I didn't know any better, and were a new viewer of last night's Buffy season premiere, I would have concluded that Anya had to be a bot a well just because of her speech pattern. :)

Are there any good primers/episode summaries websites for all of the Buffy episodes?

I love the whole Anya thing. They set it up nicely so she can have some very poignant moments. Her humanity is so raw it's beautiful. And she really has grown so much since she first became human, which wasn't that long ago. Her relationship with Xander is also very touching. The way Xander has grown these past 5+ years has been wonderful to watch. Between he and Anya, we get to see some of the best and worst aspects of humanity that the other characters are many times just bottling up inside. It's a great dynamic, and I really like it.

Frankly, I'm a little tired of Tara. I like her character, but she's really dead weight right now. Hopefully, if Willow starts to turn as many of us suspect, Tara's role will become much more significant. There's strength in that character, but it's not being tapped right now.

Dawn still annoys me, but her interaction with Spike is strong. If/when Spike's need to defend Dawn deteriorates, they'll need to do something with her character, who is also dead weight right now.

Joss is da shiznit, so I'm sure he's already figured these things out and has plans beyond my conception already in the works.

das

Well, out of your 17 posts this certainly is the most profound bit if knowledge shared. I guess it's ok for you to agree with someone else's post while not offering anything substantive, yourself, at the same time.

For those of us not able to post 24 hours a day, sometimes simply agreeing with another post allows a person with limited time to express their opinion by agreeing with the post that they most identify with.

Sorry, that my 3 or 4 words per post didn't meet your high standards for this thread.

Um, actually, I'm not against some spoilers. Some I will read about, I love watching previews, but I don't go seeking them out.

JaseXF3 - do you understand the difference between a post and a Troll? If not, I'm sure one of the mods will be happy to explain it to you.

I got caught up reading the summaries at Buffyguide when I started watching in the 3rd Season. They are still a little behind on last year's episodes, but all the others are there. Check it out.

edit: Hmmm...Cannot Find Server. It was just there a few days ago. Check back...

During the 'odd season' when they just about jumped the shark every episode (The season they went to college and somehow got mixed up in govt. plots) Spike was implanted with a chip that doesn't allow him to hurt 'good people' or some such nonsense.

After that he basically drank and smoked alot, bought teens beer and did some petty thievery. The only time he's fought is to save Buffy or Dawn, so he's basically out of shape and has a bad attitude.

Yep, the film is the origin and some items have to be forgiven entirely for it to make much sense. When the TV series starts she's leaving the school from the movie behind for a fresh start. They mention in the series that she burnt her old school's gymnasium down, which is what sort of happened in the movie.

Don't look for any kind of Star Trek continuous timeline here, you won't find it.

I like Anya's character. Sure, she's been human again for a couple of years, but she spent over a thousand years as a revenge demon. That's a lot to forget. And as previously mentioned, her main social contact is Xander, which is not going to get anybody into Ms. Manner's Hall of Fame.

She's blunt and to the point, and says things at the wrong time. So do people who have been human their entire lives. It's her nature to do so.

She also has a wider world perception than the rest of the characters, and generally uses that to actually figure things out in their simplest form while the others languish helplessly. For instance, in the last season finale when everyone was stressed out about Dawn getting kidnapped and the world ending she was the one who was all,'WTF? We've got that sphere thing and a god's hammer, did you all forget about that or what?'

The only thing I really want to know about Anya is what the deal is between her and rabbits.

Try this site:

http://members.tripod.com/~bionicboy/course.html

WB used to have a really great Buffy site with a complete episode guide; but of course that's gone now.

Did you neglect to read my prior post about the bickering? Here's a little quote from it...

"*Some of you seem to be having a running spat due to past events. Do yourself a favor and let it go. "

Please follow this advice. We all *can* get along here with just a little effort.

This always makes me chuckle, but I have no idea what is behind it, if anything... As someone who's only been watching religiously since the end of Season 3, I've missed a lot...

Here's another one: Does Willow actually have a pet rat or hamster that's really a young woman, but who has been ignored for seasons now and never been changed back? If so, is this a running gag, a plot point yet to be resolved, or just an inconsistency best forgotten?