Buffy - 5/06
 

Well, I think this was MOSTLY a filler episode... nothing big happened until the last ten minutes. The camerawork in this episode sucked completely... they were going for some sort of Cinema Verite sytle which I felt didn't work AT ALL... in some parts it was enraging.



So a pretty mediocre episode, ripe with filler, up until the last ten minutes...then it kicks into gear and has me psyched for the final TWO episodes... the end is near!

MATT

Not a great episode. To me, ever since it was announced that this is the final season, Buffy has gone downhill. I guess that since there is a finality to it, the creators wanted to bring the story full circle in order to have a neat little ending. Unfortunately, the buildup to it has been much too long, and even worse than that, boring.

There was very little redeeming qualities in this episode. And this comes from someone that is a huge Buffy fan (at least I was). There was very little humour in it, and it was just a hodgepodge of scenes, rather than a coherent story. And I agree that the camera work (and lighting) was suspect. I can understand setting the mood, but it was more distracting than anything to me.

Something I noticed when having CC on:




Spoiler for next week:

Finally an end to the filler. It's too bad they couldn't have done this season more on par with season 5. There they introduced Glory fairly early on, she appeared in the majority of the episodes, yet none of them felt like filler like the last two of this season (with the exception of the last 10 minutes of each). And they ended the season with four back to back episodes (each one started where the last left off) without any filler.

I'm remaining hopefull that the final two episodes will be a bit more action packed and go out with a bang, but I don't get why Joss didn't take the last 3 or 4 episodes for himself, rather than just the final one.

Otherwise I agree with the posts above. Good final act. I liked Spike's scrences. Wished I could completely remove Kennedy from everything. Almost nothing good from Willow, Giles, Xander, or Anya.

I did like the hand held shots of everyone in the house. It was just something different for an otherwise boring scence.

Seemed like filler or porn, the first part, builds up to a pretty big cliffhanger though :)

All that for a Golden Axe? I hope Sega sues.

D

Had a little 24 countdown clocking running around in my head at the end of this episode.

Mostly filler is right, I was a bit bored. I sure hope the last two episodes are heavy on plot/action, I've had enough of speeches.

That was the worst Buffy ever. Kennedy needs to die a horrible death. Shaky cam was a nuisance. I am very disappointed I just spent an hour watching crap that even a terrible show like Dawson's Creek wouldn't show. Buffy is going out on a whimper.

Yeah how dare they -rolleyes-

Anyways it was a filler episode, but a decent filler episode. They cant give you everything at once, because if they did the season would be over already.

Errr what was it that you considered 'decent'?

You know before I started watching Buffy, I had pre conceived notions about the show. I always thought it was a crappy Dawson's Creek with Vampires. Tonight's show was what I always thought Buffy was like. Thank God most of the episodes rose above that kind of dreck.

Well lets see I enjoyed this episode because

1) I dont know a damn_thing about writing so I put my faith in the people who do, and for most part I am always entertained.

2) These are the last episodes of Buffy ever, so I want to enjoy every possible moment.

3) Feel what you want about Buffy but to compare it to Dawsons's Creek is to say that 24 is like Alias.

4) Complain about the camera work all you want, I dont know anything about opertating one so why bother complaining about something you know nothing about? Did you film the episode?

5) I understnad that you feel a certain way, and your entitled to your opinion just as I am entitled to mine. I enjoyed the episode, and you didnt I think you'll sleep better at night knowing my opinion doesnt mean THAT much to you.

[QOUTE]I just spent an hour watching crap that even a terrible show like Dawson's Creek wouldn't show.[/QOUTE]

Then I suggest you turn off the the TV its only going to dissapoint you. ;)

I didn't say Buffy was like Dawsons, only that *this* particular episode was like a bad Dawsons show.

So you only liked it because there are only 2 shows left? hehe ok....

btw the shaky cam thing is new, it came out of nowhere. There was no reason for it, just like there was no reason for Faith, Wood, Kennedy, and Willow all deciding to have sex all of a sudden.

Hated it.

Dawn knows Turkish now? Spike psychically yanked Buffy's attack-the-vineyard plan out of his posterior? The bomb had a timer? Buffy controls the Matrix? Shuh?

This episode could have easily been merged with one of the earlier ones, and nothing would have been lost (Okay, that's a lie. We might have had less gratuitous sex. But I'm actually okay with that.) I feel like this season just refuses to kick into gear. Sputter, sputter, sputter, can we move on now please? This one was lame, even by season 7 standards.

Wow, you really got me there -rolleyes-

well let me ask you this, how would you spend what may be your last moments on earth?

Ummm... I don't know what this means. 24 and Alias have been kinda similar in quality and feel except that, even with it's average second season, Alias has always been better.

First of all I have to agree with most that these past two episodes were very slow indeed. Every thing good happens in the last 10 min.

At first I thought the shaking camera was just Andrew filming with his Sony handy cam again like he did in Storyteller. Turns out there was no reason for it at all.

As for the timer on the bomb. I just thought it started ticking when the lid was opened. Whoever armed it would need a few seconds to dissarm it themselves if they needed to.

Still looking forward to the final two.

I dunno, I liked this, although it was far from perfect. I wish they would have threw us a few more bones about Caleb and the First. As for the first half: "filler" or "character moments" depending on your point of view... I'm not criticizing here, but between this thread and the other Buffy and Angel threads it seems like any episode that doesn't contain nonstop action and plot twists gets the "filler" label from at least one person. :) I liked the stuff with Faith and the Mayor, and with Robin. The hookups were hit or miss. Most worked for me as "bonding in the face of death" except the Willow/Kennedy thing, which was annoying mainly because they started that subplot so long ago and haven't made any mention of for a long time. So it just looked like horniness. I do think they dragged the whole sex thing on for a bit too long. We get it, they're shagging, now what?

All that said, this whole episode did have a point... this show is Buffy's show, and this ep was about the pretenders having their shot... and failing. Buffy overcoming the hardship and coming out on top. Faith may be a slayer, but Buffy is THE slayer.

This really has nothing to do with the episode, but I always felt it would have been cool to simply kill and resuscitate Faith so they could have a 3rd slayer. All the potentials are supposed to be there so they could pretty much create an army of slayers by killing and bringing them back in succession. I understand it's not like flicking a switch to accomplish something like that, but I would think as a last resort they could at least consider it.

That brings up an interesting point... if Faith gets blown to bits, who gets called? Were all the potentials down there with her? God, I hope it's not Kennedy.

If that happens they should bring back Warren, he's already killed Willow's first girlfriend and this one deserves it.

I didn't think this ep was that bad. The only complaint I have was Caleb should have been brought in sooner. Their's no backstory to him so he's pretty boring. Right now him and Adam are pretty close to each other for worst villain

Next week's looks interesting.

Let's hope Kennedy . She is really getting on my nerves. I noticed the pierced tongue too last night, WTH is up with that? (that is one my own personal issues that just gross me out beyond)...anyways, piercings aside...let's hope she doesn't make it to a spinoff.

My wife and I are big Buffy fans, but she hasn't watched a single episode since Season 6, so she didn't know much of what was going on. When the episode was over she looked at me and said that "Kennedy is really a dumb bitch, huh" and I just laughed and said "yep".

That aside, I thought it was an ok episode. There was almost no buildup, but we got to see The Mayor again! Yeah--I'd love for him(or The First, whoever)to convince Faith to go rogue again.

Was it just me, or did the music during Buffy's "fight" with Caleb from the Matrix? It felt that way as Buffy goes into her acrobatic keep-away mode of fighting in order to get past Caleb to find what he's protecting (the sword with the nifty handle).

Overall, the episode just unfolds and sits there for the first 45 minutes before kicking it into some form of action among the cast of characters. The show just feels bland, listless.

What have they done to Willow. She's just so overly passive, it kills me to see her come to this.

Didn't anyone tell Faith that the First is all about jabbing at each person's insecurities?

Anya and Xander will always be an apocalytic booty call away from each other.

I didn't think the episode was as bad as some people make it out to be. Yes there were some annoying moments like Buffy controlling The Matrix in that fight scene and Kennedy - I think everything's been said about her character. I did have 24 in my mind when that bomb starting ticking at the end. All we can do is hope thta the next two episodes kick major butt; this episode was (hopefully) just the quiet before the storm.

Does anybody else get the impression that even The First is bored to tears by how this is all going? I don't think the ultimate evil anticipated a series of emotional diatribes and long-winded attempts at resolution. I think it came looking for a fight and ended up with a gaggle of introspective do-gooders too caught up in their personal demons to fight the ones that are actually breathing down their necks with their claws to their backs. I bet The First came expecting an army full of God and all his angels who would tear the very fabric of time to resolve the age old conflict once and for all. Were I the incernate representation of primordial evil, I'd be one pretty bummed out deity. I might just go open a piano bar somewhere and spend my time bettin on the ponies.

Some days I feel like The First.







That all being said, good good ending last night, but, as I saw in the previews, . We only have two episodes of this masterpiece left. It better be worth it.

After that heartbreaking speech by Spike, there better be a damned good reason why Angel comes back into the picture.

If she ignores Spike after this, then she deserves all the horrible crap that's been heaped up on her over the season.