This show can be separated into two eras: The Highschool years (seasons 1-3) and after high school (4-7).
Imo, if you're going to watch it, just treat the season 3 finale as the series finale. There are still good episodes in the later seasons but overall the series took a huge nosedive starting in season 4.
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Agreed, but that's pretty common knowledge by this point. 3>2>5>1=6>7>4 is the appropriate ranking.
Does the show still hold up or would it be pretty dated by today's standards and more a product of its time? Never watched it when it originally aired
Depends on what you'd consider "dated". It's very late 90s/early 00s in terms of the fashion and music, and it doesn't have zoomer ADHD pacing.
It does suffer a bit from "le quirky dialog" (it is a Joss Whedon project after all) but that problem gets worse in the later seasons.
>Depends on what you'd consider "dated"
I meant more as in really cheesy special effects and what not
The special effects were cheesy even then, part of the charm is that most of the time the monsters are just guys in costumes
CGI when its used is usually dogshit that looks like PS1 game, with the exception of the "vampire dusting" effect which looks fine.
The practical effects are usually quite good, occasionally some stuff looks shitty.
You're like 20 years late but you're right. I'm a bit lenient on season 4 as it pretty much bridges the good seasons with the bad seasons, and it rides on the coattail of the good stuff but shows signs of the bad stuff incoming. It's also pretty obvious how Whedon was just pushing for his dyke fetish from there.
It absolutely holds up. Sure it shows signs of being a show from 20 years ago but it's pretty good. It's better than 95% of shows released in the 2020s
>You're like 20 years late
What a dumb statement, the whole point of this board is to discuss films and TV shows regardless of what year they came out.
I'm sorry zoomer but the nature of OP's statement about a show that came 20 years ago is as if he had realized something we hadn't. We did and long ago. Even so, I give OP the credit of being right and further discussed it. It's just that everyone who has watched Buffy knows that already.
>he had realized something we hadn't
>we
you're one of those people who thinks he speaks for everyone huh?
It holds up great, it's one of those shows that unlocked the formula of making even the filler episodes enjoyable. Out of 7 full seasons there are like 10 bad episodes, and most of those are found towards the beginning and end of the run. The bulk of the series has consistently good episodes. It's humorous, and there are beautiful ladies throughout. One of my favorite shows.
>it's one of those shows that unlocked the formula of making even the filler episodes enjoyable.
I've always compared it the X-Files in terms of its formula in that there are three kinds of episodes: Episodes that deal with the overall story arc of the season(s) and are usually series, and monster-of-the-week episodes which can be either serious or comedic.
>overall the series took a huge nosedive starting in season 4.
Nah. The High School years are hugely overrated due to nothing but nostalgia for being young and the simplicity of school. Fans just gloss over all the glaring errors like the uneven tone of S2 and the disaster that was the Faith arc in S3. Meanwhile even the smallest gaffe in S4-S7 is hyper-focused on.
This. The technical writing skill was virtually non existent until season 4.
This show aged like milk hate to say it. Angel had its ups and downs but overall is better especially the last season absolute kino
you're just an enternal child who can't handle mature themes
>if you're going to watch it, just treat the season 3 finale as the series finale.
That's how I had my brother watch it before watching Angel.
Every season is worth watching. Also I separate it into the WB era (seasons 1-5) and the UPN era (Seasons 6-7), and while the UPN era is very much inferior to the WB years, they're still better than anything you see on TV these days
When I first watched this show I thought "wow, this is garbage" but over time I watched the occasional episode and I've got to say, this really is garbage. Americans watch any old crap and they watch hours and hours and seasons and it goes on and on and they just keep churning this stuff out and make podcasts talking about it.
It's like you drop a solid loaf shit but there's all of this burning diarrhea to follow.
>Americans watch any old crap
Ironically Buffy was a bigger hit in the UK than it was in America.
Explain why
I don't know but you can find old interviews with the cast where they say they couldn't go out in public in the UK without being mobbed.
People watch any old crap that Americans make because they're starved for distractions and I guess crap is better than nothing at all sometimes.
>takes a huge nosedive after high school
just like real life
OP is wrong. You should watch the first five seasons and “Once More With Feeling”.
Season 3 > Season 2 = Season 5 > Season 4 > Season 1
That is why the nips always stick with highschool settings. Also vamp Willow best girl!
Personally, I recommend watching the seasons in reverse order, so that prophecy becomes retrochronic prefiguration.
I've rewatched Buffy several times, but I've never made it past season 4. That season was so bad that I've never seen the rest of post-high school years.
I thought season 4 was excellent
Seasons 1-3 - Fricking Peerless
Season 4 - shit
Season 5 - Top notch
Season 6 - Shitty lesbo crap
Season 7 - Good.
>Season 6 - Shitty lesbo crap
AI will allow us to redeem the season
Junkie Willow was fun
>season 5 and 7 above 4
Why? How?
Season 4 had the worst main arcs of the all seasons.
It also had some of the best standalone episodes of any season. The main arc is only like 1/8th of total running time
>shitty lesbo crap
homosexual
The problem with the college years is that they never actually bothered to establish and develop the college all that much. In the first three seasons, the high school is basically a character in its own right. They use the same rooms, the same halls, the same teachers, the same background students in every episode. You watch Buffy go to lessons and you get to know the place as she does, and then when it blows up in the S3 finale it actually feels meaningful, in a way.
They didn't really bother to do anything like that with the college. Though they sort of half-ass it in Season 4, with a bunch of scenes throughout where Buffy goes to lectures, but it quickly gets overshadowed by the Initiative shenanigans, which is an incredibly dull plotline. The gang doesn't have a base on campus, with the magic shop becoming the library equivalent instead. The only new characters they introduce are Riley and Mrs Walsh (both of whom are tied heavily into the Initiative shit), the jerk love interest who shows up for a few episodes, bangs Buffy, refuses to elaborate, and leaves. The only new character there who actually sticks around is Tara. There's no other recurring background students or teachers. Eventually, Buffy just stops going to class altogether and drops out. They lost out on the comfiness of the setting because they couldn't be bothered to put in the work a second time, and it kind of falls apart.
Wasn't the show suppose to end after S3 anyways? The way it ended with all the students fighting the giant snake and the school blowing up seemed like a good ending for the series. The way everyone brushed off that event in S4 seemed like lazy writing.
>The gang doesn't have a base on campus, with the magic shop becoming the library equivalent instead.
That started in season 5. The closest thing they had to a base of operations in season 4 was Giles' apartment.
Also, I don't think it's possible to overstate just how comfy the whole look and feel of those first three seasons are
Reminder that Willow is best girl
>agreed to play a lesbian in a show for young adults
Nope. Just a prostitute willing to be party to propaganda. Cordelia for life, you filthy homosexual apologist.
nta but Cordelia? The fake breasts bimbo c**t who's fun for a few seasons on Buffy and then becomes the worst character on Angel?
Real homies know Buffy, Faith and Dawnie are best girls
Faith was great, Dawn was an annoying c**t who cried and screamed too much.
> GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!
That's like half of Dawn's dialog in season 6
She was a shit character and the actress only got the gig because Joss Whedon wanted to frick her. Then again you can say that about the rest of the female cast but atleast they can act.
She got better in season 7
She and Spike were the best characters of that season
If we're being honest with ourselves, Spike is the best character, period. In both Buffy and Angel.
Spike had the best character arc and the fact that he wasn't killed off in S2 as intended and kept throughout the series only shows how likeable he was even as villian. Although they fricked with his character too much by S5 and made him into a joke but eventually redeems himself later on.
Reminder that Joss fricking hated Spike despite the fact that the character was single-handedly responsible for carrying the show
Giles was better
I didn't know about his deformed hand IRL, that's why he always held a book or hept it hidden inside his pocket.
wait, what?
He's not Jeremy Beadle, but he has some kind of claw hand thing. He tries to hide it (pretty effectively really)
Spike and Giles were my favourite characters, the English banter between them was amusing. James Marsters also had a convincing accent which Anthony Stewart Head had coached him which is a cool trivia.
I didn't like Spike on Angel. He had his moments, but ultimately he came off as a parody of the character he played in Buffy. Seeing his frenemy relationship with Angel was okay, but his stories were far more engaging in Buffy. Also, somehow his fake British accent is even WORSE than on Buffy, it sounds horrible
That's because Anthony Head (Giles) was his unofficial accent coach and wasnt on Angel.
yeah, but...
She has a thong slip in one of the last episodes of S6 when she gets pushed into a trashbin. I must've hit the pause button a hundred times whenever I see a panty slip during the right scenes.
So are these like 80% grown? Any teen experts here?
I'd rather see two lesbians kiss than two gays.
Same difference, homosexual lover.
I don't know what the frick you're on about, but my point wasn't that she IS a lesbian, its that the actress willingly played a character who's purpose became normalizing homohomosexualry in a show marketed to kids. The character is shit for the same reason the actress is shit.
Buffy and Faith both lose points because they're "badass" women, and Dawn is technically imaginary. Cordy wins again.
Angel was the superior show anyhow, so if we include it in this discussion then Fred is best girl.
>Angel was the superior show
lol no, Seasons 2 & 5 were damn good but the rest doesn't even come close to Buffy. And even the best seasons of Angel aren't as good as Buffy seasons 2 & 3. Buffy is more rewatchable, badass girls are hot, Buffy is best girl
Neither show is rewatchable if you're a full grown adult. I've tried, and its much like trying to rewatch the cartoons I grew up with as a kid. I will definitely grant you one thing, though, Angel has Connor and Connor was some of the worst fricking shit I can ever remember forcing myself to sit through. But then again Buffy had Xander and Xander is in a lot more of Buffy than Connor was in Angel. So in the end I'm still right.
>hurr durr I'm an adult so I can only enjoy serious shows that follow SCIENCE
God you're a boring c**t, let me guess - beard, shitty jawline and glasses?
Good job refuting my argument. Xander is an insufferable homosexual and Angel is a better show, confirmed.
I love both shows, angel jumped the shark when boreanaz got fat though and aged 10 years. Ilyria kind of redeems season 5 though
One day you'll grow out of your insufferable insecure "ADULT" phase
>if you're a full grown adult watching it for the type of gratification a kid seeks
ftfy
I think Alyson Hannigan believed playing a lesbian was suppose to be inspiring and powerful when in reality Joss Whedon just wanted to see two girls kissing.
While I'm sure his sexual degeneracy was part of it, he's also a lip service liberal and one of their big mandates is pandering to homos so that probably was the reason he went with when arguing for it.
>it's an "anon can't separate fiction from reality and assumes everyone else is equally incapable" episode
I miss White America so much bros.
DALL-E can't seem to get her face right, it merges SMG with Kristy Swanson
It reminds me of being 17 and watching it at night on bbc2 after later with Jools Holland when I'd got back from my first job at the village pub ( occasionally switching over to whatever smutty film was on channel 5). Life was so simple then; I wish I could go back.
The best parts of Spike is post Highschool, but Xander & Anya break up in the later ones & I hate that. I'm a bit conflicted