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I've started watching Buffy again after a bit of a hiatus, due to the fact that last year I finally (after 8 years) finished my viewing of all seasons in order. The reason that took so long was that at the end of 2005 I became a mother and everything else pretty much went out the window! And also the fact that Buffy was over and I got into the Doctor Who/Torchwood fandom instead (and started writing fanfic and role-playing), so watching Buffy and Angel moved a long way down the list of priorities. But actually, the slow-down was good because it meant that by the time I got to the later seasons of both shows which I hadn't liked so much originally, I really, really enjoyed them.
The only problem with that was that once I'd finished, I'd got used to all the characters being - well - not exactly *grown up* but at least more mature than they were at the start. After finishing, I thought it would be interesting to go right back to the start and compare. I'd always claimed Welcome to the Hellmouth as one of the very best episodes because it did such a fantastic job of introducing the cast and the concepts and the show, but coming to it straight after the end of Angel S5 I basically cringed all the way through it. It's so cheesy! Yes, I know the whole show was at the start, but I'd always loved that. I loved the exuberant youthfulness of the show, the pretty young actors (and the pretty older one *g*) and it always resonated with me.
The thing is that in the last couple of years I've finally actually grown up myself. I've got my head out of the sand and taken control of my life - taken responsibility for my life because I finally realised that no-one else was going to and actually life is far easier if you're calling the shots. *g* Which is probably why I enjoyed the later seasons of Buffy so much more - but I was devastated by the fact that I couldn't enjoy the early seasons any more! So I gave myself some more time and in the breaks between DW and TW I caught up a bit on other shows instead.
But my Buffy cravings eventually bit again and so instead of going back to the start, I decided to try starting halfway through instead, with Buffy S4/Angel S1. And that is working! I tend to have this image in my head of S4 not being very good - possibly because I've always loved Buffy/Angel and obviously this is where we lose Angel (and Cordelia). Except of course we don't, because we can watch them in Angel S1 instead! It really is great being able to come back to these seasons after such a long gap because whilst I still remember a lot of them, there's a lot I've forgotten too and it means I can get a new perspective on the episodes.
I enjoyed The Freshman. It's not a brilliant episode, but it's a good introduction to the season and it has some lovely moments in it (Xander's speech to Buffy in the Bronze always having been one of my favourites). And it appeased my Buffy cravings.
City Of, to my relief, I loved as much as I always had done. Again, it's an excellent introduction to the series as well as being a cracking good story in itself, and Tina is sweet (and tragic), Angel is gorgeous (and tragic), Doyle is interesting (and tragic, when you know what's coming, both in the story and in RL), and Cordelia is cute and fun (and yeah, okay, tragic when you know what her character later becomes but that's another story). I loved it.
And then last night I watched Living Conditions and that was way better than I remembered (though, looking back at my review on the last watching - back in 2004!!! - the same applied then). It was cute and sunny and funny and I felt far more sympathetic to Buffy than I remembered and yeah, not an amazing episode, but definitely very enjoyable.
And I'm really looking forward to the next few: Lonely Hearts, The Harsh Light of Day (especially as I'm currently role-playing vamp!Harmony so that'll be interesting!) and In the Dark. In fact, having glanced through the titles on the DVD set, there's a load of great episodes coming up, along with the inevitable couple that I don't remember at all. I really had forgotten how good S4 was!
The only problem with that was that once I'd finished, I'd got used to all the characters being - well - not exactly *grown up* but at least more mature than they were at the start. After finishing, I thought it would be interesting to go right back to the start and compare. I'd always claimed Welcome to the Hellmouth as one of the very best episodes because it did such a fantastic job of introducing the cast and the concepts and the show, but coming to it straight after the end of Angel S5 I basically cringed all the way through it. It's so cheesy! Yes, I know the whole show was at the start, but I'd always loved that. I loved the exuberant youthfulness of the show, the pretty young actors (and the pretty older one *g*) and it always resonated with me.
The thing is that in the last couple of years I've finally actually grown up myself. I've got my head out of the sand and taken control of my life - taken responsibility for my life because I finally realised that no-one else was going to and actually life is far easier if you're calling the shots. *g* Which is probably why I enjoyed the later seasons of Buffy so much more - but I was devastated by the fact that I couldn't enjoy the early seasons any more! So I gave myself some more time and in the breaks between DW and TW I caught up a bit on other shows instead.
But my Buffy cravings eventually bit again and so instead of going back to the start, I decided to try starting halfway through instead, with Buffy S4/Angel S1. And that is working! I tend to have this image in my head of S4 not being very good - possibly because I've always loved Buffy/Angel and obviously this is where we lose Angel (and Cordelia). Except of course we don't, because we can watch them in Angel S1 instead! It really is great being able to come back to these seasons after such a long gap because whilst I still remember a lot of them, there's a lot I've forgotten too and it means I can get a new perspective on the episodes.
I enjoyed The Freshman. It's not a brilliant episode, but it's a good introduction to the season and it has some lovely moments in it (Xander's speech to Buffy in the Bronze always having been one of my favourites). And it appeased my Buffy cravings.
City Of, to my relief, I loved as much as I always had done. Again, it's an excellent introduction to the series as well as being a cracking good story in itself, and Tina is sweet (and tragic), Angel is gorgeous (and tragic), Doyle is interesting (and tragic, when you know what's coming, both in the story and in RL), and Cordelia is cute and fun (and yeah, okay, tragic when you know what her character later becomes but that's another story). I loved it.
And then last night I watched Living Conditions and that was way better than I remembered (though, looking back at my review on the last watching - back in 2004!!! - the same applied then). It was cute and sunny and funny and I felt far more sympathetic to Buffy than I remembered and yeah, not an amazing episode, but definitely very enjoyable.
And I'm really looking forward to the next few: Lonely Hearts, The Harsh Light of Day (especially as I'm currently role-playing vamp!Harmony so that'll be interesting!) and In the Dark. In fact, having glanced through the titles on the DVD set, there's a load of great episodes coming up, along with the inevitable couple that I don't remember at all. I really had forgotten how good S4 was!
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SPN is something I hope to get around to watching sometime soonish! I know so much about it from fanfic and RP (we have had at various times a Sam, several Deans and a Castiel in my current game, and I still remember your Dean from Whoville very fondly) and it's been on my list to watch for ages! At the moment, though, I've got Castle and Bones that I'm watching for the first time to catch up on so it'll have to wait for a bit.
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It's also nice, I think, to have a mix of lighter and heavier stuff. Things like Castle and Bones don't exactly go very deep so there's no fun in analysing them, but they're enjoyable to watch when my brain isn't up to heavier fare! And yeah, the main reason I'm so behind on Bones (I'm only on S3, I think) is that Virgin stopped showing Sky One, mid-series. And since that was also when Jack was young and my viewing time was very limited, I never got round to watching. But now thanks to downloads and Love Film I'm catching up on these things at last! We got through the whole of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes that way. :-)
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I'm trying very hard not to download things in whole seasons, partly because of bandwidth limits, partly because I do rather want to support the producers of the shows, and I usually only download things that I'll buy a box set of once it becomes available. Once I've cleared the watching backlog, though, I definitely want to look at subscribing to LoveFilm. It's going to have to be postal, though - our internet connection won't support streaming. iPlayer's a stutteringly painful experience.
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Leverage is also on my list of things to watch some day!
Andy deals with the downloading (he's downloading Castle in bits as we need them) so I don't know much about that part but yeah, I agree in principle. I'm just so behind on everything it would cost a fortune to buy it all, and I won't buy things unless I love them. We did buy LoM both seasons, and Sherlock, and State of Play, all of which we watched first via Love Film - well, actually, it's the Tesco version which only does the postal service, but that works fine. We don't have enough time to watch loads per month anyway!
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We bought LoM and Ashes to Ashes - A2A has gone on eBay since, and LoM probably will, but they were in a sale. HMV often does very good deals in their sales on box sets!
Oh, you absolutely should watch Leverage, it's marvellous fun. I'm not sure it would stand up to watching several episodes in a row (except for the multi-episode arcs) because it's essentially a heist show and can get repetitive, but one a week is brilliant. One a day would probably work, too!
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And don't worry, there's virtually no chance of me watching more than one episode of anything in a day! *g*
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