Buffy Top 10: Part 5...

#5 Who Are You?: Faith is my 2nd favorite character in the Buffyverse, following Giles as my numero uno. Her character is the most fascinating and curious of all the characters Joss has created. From her initial taking over of Buffy's life, to the unstable renegade teenager, to the murderous right hand to Mayor Wilkins, her journey has always kept me glued to the TV. So when Faith came out of her coma, and was back on the scene towards the end of season 4, I was expecting something good. What I got, was something great.

Without a doubt, the best acting by in the series is done here by Eliza Dushku. Long story short (I never get tired of saying that), Mayor Wilkins leaves Faith a device that will allow her to swap bodies with someone else, and of course, she swaps with Buffy. This is actually a 2 parter, with This Year's Girl preceding the episode, containing Faith's awakening, finding the weapon and battle with Buffy. That episode ends with Faith having just body swapped with Buffy, but no one except the audience is aware. Mind you, the only way you KNOW they swapped is because when Joyce asks "Buffy" if she is OK, after knocking out "Faith", Faith-in-Buffy responds with a sinister 5 by 5.

Eliza Dushku captures Sarah Michelle Gellar's mannerisms and speech patterns perfectly. The scene where Buffy-in-Faith goes into Gile's apartment, trying to convince him that she is not actually Faith is the best of all. The dialogue goes as follows:

Giles: "Look, I know what you are going to say, and..."
BiF: "I'm Buffy."
Giles: "All right, I didn't know what you were going to say, but that doesn't make you any less crazy. If you are Buffy, then you will let me tie you up without killing me until we find whether you are telling the truth."
BiF: "Giles, Faith has taken my body, and for all I know she's taken it to Mexico by now. I don't have time for bondage fun. Ask me a question, ask me anything."
Giles: "Who's President?"
BiF: "We're checking for Buffy, not a concussion. Giles, you turned into a demon, and I knew it was you. I mean, can't you just look in my eyes and be all intuitive?
Giles: How did I turn into a demon?
BiF: Oh, 'cause, uh, Ethan Rayne. And-and you have a girlfriend named Olivia... and you haven't had a job since we blew up the school... which is valid lifestyle-wise. I mean, it's not like you're a slacker type, but - Oh, oh! When I had psychic power I heard my mother think that you were like a stevedore during sex. Do you want me to continue?"
Giles: "Actually I beg you to stop."
BiF: "What's a stevedore?"

Only a long time fan would truly understand how wonderful this scene, and Eliza's job in it, truly is. But there is more to this episode than just the acting. We once again get to see the vilification's of the Watcher's Council, it is confirmed for the first time that Willow and Tara have more than just a friendship forming, and we learn that Tara is a more powerful and intuitive witch than those we have seen before. This chain of events also leads to the crossover with Angel in L.A. where Faith finally accepts her bad choices and tries to make amends, with some excellent Angel episodes from his freshman season.

I can't figure out how to close this post out.... so I will leave you with Faith in Buffy talking to spike:
Spike: "You know why I really hate you, Summers?"
Faith-in-Buffy: "'Cause I'm a stuck-up tight-ass with no sense of fun?"
Spike: "Well, yeah, that covers a lot of it."
Faith-in-Buffy: "'Cause I can do anything I want, and instead I choose to pout and whine and feel the burden of Slayerness? I mean, I could be rich. I could be famous. I could have anything. Anyone. Even you, Spike. I could ride you at a gallop until your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of. I could squeeze you until you popped like warm champagne, and you would beg me to hurt you just a little bit more. And you know why I don't? (pauses) Because it's wrong."

Buffy Top 10: Part 4...

#4 Becoming (Parts 1&2): Becoming might be the most appropriately named Buffy episode, as it truly defined what the show was about, and specifically, formed Buffy into the woman she is today. The 2^nd season finale, these 2 episodes, aired a week apart, proved to any non-believer that Buffy, as a show, had a lot more to it than just some skinny blonde chick kicking demon ass.

So much is revealed shown and in these episodes, namely how Angel became a vampire, Willow’s first time with witchcraft, Spike showing that he is more than the average vampire, how insane Angelus is compared to the average demon, and Buffy revealing to her mother that she is the Slayer.

Long long LOOOONG story short, Buffy is out for blood now that Angel, soul-less and evil after sleeping with Buffy and having one moment of true happiness, has killed Ms Calendar and harassed Buffy and pals non-stop. Angel wants to awaken the demon Acathla , who will suck the world into Hell. Angel kidnaps and tortures Giles on how to awaken the demon, Spike sides with Buffy, as he doesn’t actually want the world to end and wants Drucilla back to being his alone, and Drucilla injures Willow and Xander, and kills Kendra without a drop of sweat. Buffy marches into battle against Angel, fighting him in an epic sword fight. Buffy has nowhere to go, everyone has either died or abandoned her.

Acathla’s mouth opens, and the world starts being sucked into Hell. Buffy has the advantage, and is about to finish both Angel and Acathla by driving the sword through Angel into the demon statue. Buffy pulls back her sword, ready to plunge, when suddenly, Angel changes, his soul returns thanks to Willow back in the hospital. Realizing what must be done, Buffy says her tearful goodbye to the confounded Angel, then thrusts her sword through her love, and sends Angel to Hell, and closing the portal.

The season ends with Buffy leaving town, no one knowing what actually happened in the battle with Angel and where Buffy has gone. You can read more about my personal experience with this episode and it’s close by CLICKING HERE! Buffy’s sacrifice to save the world cemented the show, and Buffy’s place in history, and proved to the world that, yes, you guessed it, Joss Whedon is evil.

Buffy Top 10: Part 3...

#3 Hush: Other than being evil (see previous post) Joss Whedon is probably best known for having amazing dialogue in all of his works, from Buffy to Firefly to Toy Story.... yes, Toy Story. So it came as a big surprise to many that the much hyped 10th episode of the 4th season of Buffy, titled Hush, would contain very little speaking at all. Other than the lack of much dialogue, Hush is also best known for being the only episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that was nominated for an Acadamy Award for writing.

The episode starts out with Buffy daydreaming in class (about new beau Riley (few dates, no kiss yet)) with the daydream turning into a strange nightmare, with a little girl singing a song about demons named The Gentlemen. She tells Giles about the dream, and he says he will research it. Willow is still recovering from Oz's recent departure, and decides to join the college Wicca group, who discuss nothing about magic and spells, and instead discuss bake sales and "menstrual lifeforce." When she points out the lack of magic talk, she is mocked by the group, except for one young lady, named Tara, who seems quite eager to hear more of what Willow has to say. Anya is on Xander's back about what their relationship is about other than "lots of orgasms." Meanwhile, Giles is entertaining a female friend from the UK, and has had the neutered Spike moved to Xander's basement for the visit. This is discussed in one of the best lines of the season:

Giles: I have a friend who's coming to town, and I'd like us to be alone.
Anya: Oh, you mean an orgasm friend?
Giles: Yes, that's exactly the most appalling thing you could have said.

After all this exposition, The Gentleman appear and steal the voices of everyone in Sunnydale. This is where things get interesting. We start with Buffy and Willow realizing they have no voices, and then Xander tries calling Buffy on the phone, realizing that there is no way to communicate, and he starts blaming Spike for their current situation. Everyone arrives at Giles' and they watch a newscast announcing the current predicament. The newscasters voice is the last one we hear until the end of the episode, and all of the acting is pantomime. This is what makes Hush so incredible, is everything that happens while no one is able to talk.

Some brilliant scenes come out of the silence. Buffy and Riley finally kiss while helping the towns people at night, helping to prevent the mayhem caused by a town now gone mad. When Xander returns to Giles' apartment, he finds spike hanging over Anya's sleeping frame with blood around his mouth, and Xander, believing Spike has attacked Anya, jumps to the rescue, making Anya quite happy, and frisky. The best scene of all is the one where Giles explains to the Scoobies what The Gentleman are and why they are in Sunnydale. Camille Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre" plays while Giles uses an overhead projector to show his crudely drawn pictures of The Gentleman and Buffy. This scene is one of the funniest in the series, despite the masturbatory and boobies related humor. This is also where Willow and Tara finally meet, warding off one of the Gentleman, which winds up being a big turn for the series.

The Gentleman and their helpers are amazingly well done. They are very pale, almost bone white men in black suits. They have enormous toothy grins, and use slow, methodical movements. Imagine polite skeletons with tight skin and you will get the idea. The Gentlemen float slowly through the air with an eerie calm about them. To contrast their subtle ways, their henchmen are loping, arm flailing demons, wrapped in straight jackets and chains.

As if there was any doubt, Buffy, with the aide of Riley, defeat The Gentleman and gets everyone's voices back. During the fight, Buffy and Riley both realize that the other is something more than merely college students, and the episode ends with them seeing that they both need to explain who and what they are. In another brilliant ending, Joss ends the episode with the following, taken directly from the Hush script (which I actually own):

Riley: Well. I guess we have to talk.
Buffy: I guess we do.
(The two sit in awkward, dead silence.)
Credits Roll

Buffy Top 10: Part 2...

Starting my series of mini-reviews about my favorite Buffy episodes. You can read my previous post by CLICKING HERE!

#2: The Body- Joss Whedon is evil, and I absolutely love him for it. The season 5 episode The Body is the proof. A big part of season 5 is Buffy's mom Joyce going through a health scare with a brain tumor. Buffy, used to fighting off her demons, at first refuses to accept that nothing can be done to help her mom, but slowly accepts the truth. Over the months, Joyce goes through surgery and appears fully healed. In the episode prior to The Body, called I Was Made To Love You, Joyce is back on the dating scene, full head of hair and back at work, full of life and energy. The episode ends with Buffy coming home to find Joyce dead on the couch. The Body starts right where the last episode left off (last scene in previous episode is first here) with Buffy finding Joyce, and it sinks in how evil Joss Whedon truly is.

We spend all season worrying about Joyce, and during I Was Made To Love You, she is back to her old self, doing better in fact than before the tumor! Buffy and Dawn tease her about her hair and outfit, Joyce makes jokes about forgetting her bra in her date's car, and the new guy even sends her flowers the next day. The fact that, for 15 episodes, we watch as Joyce gets sick, recovers, and is then better than ever is what makes her death even more traumatic. If she had just died suddenly, or during her medical scare, yes, it would have been sad, but not shocking. Writing and planning like this is what makes Joss Whedon so incredible.

The acting in The Body is just as good as the planning and writing. Everything from Buffy's jaw gaping slog around her house, her screaming at Giles not to touch "the body", Willow's freaking out about clothing choices, Anya's desperate pleas for someone to explain why Joyce is dead, and Tara's stoic support to all involved are all heart wrenching performances that truly showcase these actor's abilities. And, for the first time, we actually care about Dawn.

There are 4 moments that stand out for me in The Body. The first is when Buffy is on the phone with 911 and has the following conversation with the tech:

Buffy (putting her hand on Joyce): She's cold.
911 Operator (pause): The body's cold?
Buffy: No, my mom! Sh-should I make her warm?

Buffy not equating "the body" with her mother shows how she will not accept what has happened. The second, as I mentioned, is when Giles arrives and Buffy shouts at him as he dashes to check on Joyce, "We're not supposed to move the body!" and slaps her hands over her mouth, finally for the first time truly realizing what is happening. The third moment for me is when Willow and Xander hug in her dorm room. There is nothing special happening, there are many other much more dramatic moments, but the moment these two best friends hug, I lose it. That is my we're-not-supposed-to-move-the-body moment. And finally, Anya's tirade about life and death: "But I don't understand! I don't understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she's, there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore! It's stupid! It's mortal and stupid! And, and Xander's crying and not talking, and, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well Joyce will never have any more fruit punch, ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why."

Visually, Joss did a lot with The Body as well. Some shots are framed so perfectly I have a hard time believing he didn't spend hours on each shot. And more subtle queues like Dawn's art project (drawing a picture of what basically looks like a dead woman's body in the same pose as Joyce) are delightfully dark. And the episode ends where so many directors and visionaries would refuse to let it; right before the big moment. Dawn and Buffy lie on the floor of the morgue after dusting a vampire that was in the room with the other bodies. The sheet that covered Joyce's corpse has fallen, and her cold dead body lies on the table. Buffy is frozen in fear. Dawn is wide eyed and curious and reaches slowly to touch her dead mother's skin, and right before she does, fade to black, the end.

Buffy Top 10: Part 1...

As many of you know, I have been rewatching the entire run of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD for the past few months. There has been a lot of nostalgia, both good and bad, but rewatching many of my favorite episodes have brought new light to old memories. When it is all said and done, I decided to make a list of my 10 favorite Buffy episodes, both for myself and for others to read about.

My favorite episodes of all time are:
1) Once More With Feeling
2) The Body
3) Hush
4) Becoming (1+2)
5) Who Are You?
6) Restless
7) Innocence
8) The Puppet Show
9) Tabula Rasa
10) The Zeppo

While 1-3 represent my favorites in order, 4-10 are in no particular order. This being Buffy we are talking about, things get a little different when we talk about seasons and villains. For example, my favorite seasons, from most favorite to least are:
1) Season 2
2) Season 3
3) Season 1
4) Season 4
5) Season 5
6) Season 6
7) Season 7

Notice that the only season 2 episodes on my first list are Becoming and Innocence, but it is my favorite season overall. And no, 6 is not at the bottom of my list, with OMWF and Tabula Rasa on the list, with Life Serial and Gone close to making it. Point to make as well, and that is 7 is not a bad season either, just the least note worthy.

And what about the villains?! My favorite villains are:
1) Mayor Richard Wilkens
2) Faith
3) Spike
4) The Master

Over the next few weeks, I am going to post my opinions on my top 10 episodes, mini reviews of each one. To start with, I already wrote a bit about Once More With Feeling back in November, which you can read by CLICKING HERE! I will write about The Body later this week, then so on and so forth for a little while. If you guys like what I write, I will start doing more on other shows like Angel and Firefly, etc, etc.

The Ancient Ghost of Irony...

UPDATE: SEE BOTTOM OF POST FOR NEW INFO

UPDATE 2: No, the song is not the song Angel... c'mon people...

I recently started rewatching the entire Buffy TV series on DVD. I own the Chosen collection, which is 1 big box with all 144 episodes. Today, I watched the 2nd season finale, the amazing Becoming two part episode. But I am not here to talk about the show itself, I am here to tell a story.

Many many many many years ago (like 9) my best friend and I decided to enter this big contest in the Games puzzle magazine. The contest involved answering many questions, and each question would somehow give a hint to the final question, which, if you could answer, entered you into the grand prize. The questions varied from "simple" mathematic equations, to knowing about historic events, to finding out about a specific painting and how much a bottle of shampoo in that painting cost. We hunted down answers everywhere from the then limited internet, up to and including heading all the way into center city Philadelphia to the city's big library to hunt down answers. Ok, he did most of it... but I was all helpy and supporty.

One of the questions what right up my alley. The answer we needed was which Sarah McLachlan song played at the end of the 2nd season finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I did not know. I could remember only a bit about the song. Now remember, this was before the internet had every piece of information available at your fingertips. I could recall a tiny segment of the tune, and a few lyrics. After finally finding a short clip on a website, I was able to get the lyrics "and I claw for solid ground." I even learned to play the few notes on the piano, a musical instrument that still mocks me to this day. But that tiny segment of the song is all we had to go on.

My best friend's friend, and one of our classmates, he found out, is/was a big McLachlan fan. He played the little ditty for me, I mentioned the lyrics, and not even she knew the full song... but she did own the piano books for her albums. After a lot of searching, we found the song was on an album called Surfacing, and the song was called Full of Grace. I still have a fond memory of this song, the hunt for the title, and that moment in the episode where Buffy's mom comes up the stairs, and those lyrics play.

Fast forward to an hour ago. I am watching the 2nd half of Becoming, the episode in question. The song starts to play. Buffy has just killed Angel and sent him to hell. Tears are pouring. Memories of the episode and our quest flood back. Then, I see Kristine Sutherland start to walk up the stairs. The lyrics begin... "and I claw for solid gr.........." Heh..... freeze frame... odd, I didn't touch the remote... Then the familiar XBox 360 bloink noise, and a message pops up "Attempting to read media." The disk cannot be read. It cannot be read AT THE EXACT MOMENT THAT PART OF THE SONG IS PLAYING.

I eject the disk, put it back, try another device... but there is something wrong with the disk AT THAT EXACT MOMENT. It winds up playing if I let it sit for a minute or two, but every device and every time, the disk freezes at this exact moment. So, long story short, the ancient ghost of irony has decided to freak me out a bit today.

UPDATE:
From Andrew, the best friend guy: "it's really funny to think of the internet as NOT being the mecca for all answers to all life, isn't it? i mean, we got that video of the commercial for the episode on the internet but couldn't find the episode. then when we nailed the little bit of lyric, we couldn't find it in context. that same question would've taken us ten minutes today, and from the time we actively started working on it, until the time Caitlin gave us the sheet music...had to be several weeks. straaaaaange..." More in the comments section.

Once More, Once Again

Certain events stand out in people's lives. Weddings. Funerals. Births. We look back on these moments and remember, the details permanently etched into our minds. Graduation. First date. First kiss. Sometimes, these events are so powerful, they effect the way you live your life. The moon landing. Tearing down the Berlin wall. The original airing of the Buffy episode Once More With Feeling.



Ok, so some events are bigger than others. But when it comes to the greatest piece of entertainment ever created, be it theater, TV, movie or music, you will always remember the first time you experienced it. Once More With Feeling was that experience for me.

Once More With Feeling was the seventh episode of the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It aired on November 6th, 2001, on UPN. It ran for an amazing 50 minutes, 8 minutes longer than the average 1 hour TV series is allowed for air time. If there was ever any doubt that UPN wanted to give Joss Whedon anything he wanted, those extra 8 minutes are proof. Compare that to what Fox did.

There is so much good in OMWF, I can't even get into it. From the flawless music and lyrics, to the deep and meaningful metaphor, everything is as close to perfection as I could ever expect to find. Some of the most powerful imagery, from the opening Going Through the Motions scene (perfect ironic lyrics mixed with dusted vamps and demons) to Walk Through The Fire (the firetruck passing by is the best moment in TV history (and I felt an immense fan-boy moment when Joss himself admitted it was his favorite moment from the series) makes this the best 3000 seconds ever produced. Go and watch it already!

The best thing to happen on Halloween, EVHAR!

I will use as few words as possible here in order to convey my excitement, because there are too many words swirling through my head to put down on paper... or on a digital form through a keyboard... whatever. Here is the news folks: Joss Whedeon will be returning to TV, and he is bringing actress/producer Eliza Dushku and writer/producer Tim Minear along with him!

The show will be on Fox (the bad news in this story) and will be called Dollhouse. The long and short of Dollhouse is that Echo (Eliza) is one of many individuals kept in a secure laboratory. She and the others have no memories. When important or rich people need someone to fulfill a fantasy or goal, Echo and cohorts and injected with talents and memories, and thrown into the field, but remember nothing about the adventures. Echo starts remembering though, and wants to find out more.

Looks like the writers strike will make this one not come out until next fall, unless it's a short strike (extremely doubtful) and it will show up as a mid-season replacement.

E! has the full story (looks like an exclusive so far) and you can check it out by CLICKING HERE!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go run through the streets screaming elated overtures, and join Numfar in the dance of joy.

Touched by an Angel; you'll be hearing from my lawyer

The Buffy comics have been out on shelves since March (see my thoughts on the first two issues by CLICKING HERE) and I had myself a nice little Buffy DVD marathon back in March to celebrate 10 years of Joss Whedon giving us the true Buffy on TV. I have the Chosen collection of the Buffy DVDs, all 144 episodes in a single large box. I have been waiting and waiting for a similar release from Fox for the Angel DVDs, but 3 years and a month (1126 days, but who's counting) after the series finale of Angel, no box has been released, announced, or even rumored as far as I have heard. So after watching the TNT reruns lately, I finally decided to purchase a few seasons. I decided on seasons 4 and 5, as the 3rd season was just wrapping up on TNT.

In case I never mentioned this before, TNT has the WORST HD quality (picture is literally warped) and their editing of the show, both in scene editing (where the commercials air) and the visual editing (why get rid of the widescreen?) is something that could have been done by a high school student with free editing software, and that student would have failed his editing class. Yes, I am assuming his school had an editing class of some sort. Either way, TNT sucks at editing. They quickly kill the pacing set up by the episode's director, and some people's faces are half in the shot, or entirely gone in many scenes. Not wanting to deal with this horrible version of the show, I had Amazon send me the 4th and 5th seasons. New slim sets are out now (smaller boxes, less fancy) and only cost me $25 a piece. Great deal.

Let me start of by saying that my most favorite to least favorite seasons of Angel are 1, 2, 5, 3, 4, with 4 being my least favorite. After watching all 5 seasons again the past month or so, that order has changed. The 5th season is easily my favorite now, with 1 being 2nd favorite, then 2, 3, and finally 4 again. Let me say that I did not DISLIKE the 4th season, and absolutely loved that they were able to take EVERY single event from the previous seasons (mainly everything that happened to Cordy) and make it into a single plot device for bringing out the big bad. I did not dislike any season, but now realize how incredible the 5th season was compared to the others. This probably had a LOT to do with Buffy having ended, Firefly cancelled, and Joss being able to pour more of himself into the season compared to others. His lack of handsonedness is very clear in the 4th season.

The 5th season of Angel starts with Angel becoming the new CEO of Wolfram & Hart, the evil law firm that has been the thorn in his side since the first episode of the show. Angel and company sorta ended world peace at the end of season 4, long story short, and Wolfram & Hart decided to give Angel control of the LA office because of this. Almost everyone comes along for the ride as well, with Fred in charge of the science/R&D department, Wesley in charge of prophecies and mystic information, Lorne becomes head of the PR and entertainment side of W&H, and Gunn becomes a lawyer (they pump his head full of the law during his first week there). The deal Angel made before taking the job was that Connor be given a new life, a normal life, and his existence erased from everyone's memories. Hoping that they can make a difference by "changing things from the inside" the team jumps right into their roles at the law firm. Finally, Spike joins the crowd when the talisman he used to destroy the Hellmouth on Buffy shows up in a package for Angel. He starts off as a "ghost" but is recorporealized by mid season.

For the most part, the show goes back to it's "monster of the week" theme of the 1st/2nd season instead of the serialized storytelling from the 4th season. This is a welcome change, as the show flows much smoother than it did in the late 3rd and all of the 4th season. Yes, storylines carry over from episode to episode, but each episode is unique and can easily be enjoyed without having to know exactly what happened the episode prior. The writing for this season is superb. No character is ever "out of character" like in the 3rd and 4th seasons, and there is an equal focus on everyone on the show. The relationship between Angel and Spike is fun to watch re-evolve (they realize how alike they truly are, and have a good father and son chemistry) and everyone falls into their roles very nicely. There are also some incredible episodes in here, like "Smile Time", "You're Welcome", "Hell Bound" and of course, "Not Fade Away." Yes, there are one or two less than stellar shows (I am looking at you "Why We Fight") but there is nothing bad in sight.

It is hard for me to describe exactly what it is about the 5th season that is so spectacular. It is just like every other season, but everything about it is tight and done exceptionally well. Other than the story itself, there is nothing truly new here, it is the same show as the last 4 years, but everything is written, performed, and shown so well, that it quickly becomes the best of the series. This season has a certain "Firefly" quality about it, in that everything looks, sounds, and is done to perfection, with very little that is not enjoyable. The 5th season of Angel truly perfected the formula that Joss and David Greenwalt were after in the series' concept. The show not only went out on top, but it went out in a blaze of glory, fighting whoever else was trying to get to the top. Joss has said he wants to do a Season 6 comic in the relative future, and that brings me great joy (I do the dance of joy!). This season is just more proof that networks really has absolutely no grasp over what is quality programming and what is utter crap. Cancelling the show during it's best season could be viewed as some as a good thing (go out on top) or a bad thing (we want more). Either way, Season 5 of Angel is easily the best of the series.

Amazon.com: Angel Season 5 Slim set

Week in review: April 29th - May 5th

I decided I would start doing a short week in review post to talk about the little things like TV show episodes, small things that may have happened that day, and what I have coming up next.

Monday, April 30th: Heroes aired the "5 Years Gone" episode tonight. Loved this one. Hiro and Ando wind up 5 years in the future, where the "bomb" went off, and now "special people" are treated as terrorists. Normally I dislike episodes where the story doesn't progress forward in shows like Heroes, but they do such a great job with the characters that I really enjoy them here. The Sylar twist at the end was great, and I like how they are handling the time travel aspect, something that can open more plot holes than many writers could deal with (see Spider Man 3). Only 3 more episodes left before the big finale, and I can't wait!

Tuesday, May 1st: I never watched American Idol before this year, and I was REALLY into it at the beginning of the season. Now I am not into it as much, and I don't know why. Long story short on this topic, I hope Blake wins, followed by Jordin, even though I think that Melinda will go all the way. Next was House, my second favorite show after Heroes. I like that they are back to the basics here, no more Tritter storyline, although I did like some of the gags and scenarios from that part of the season. The whole Forman storyline is a bit weak IMO, because I liked that he was becoming more and more like House, without being a misanthrope. I don't believe he will actually leave in the end. The last episode of the season may be his last day, and he may leave in that episode, but I fully expect him to come back. The farthest I expect the writers to take it is that he leaves at the end of the season, and House hires a new guy, or they go thru several new guys. The new guy(s) either fits right in or sucks the life out of the group. It may also be a super hot chick, that another theory I have. But somehow, Forman comes back to save the day and rejoins the cast. Or he never leaves.

Wednesday, May 2nd: Picked up the new issue of the Buffy season 8 comic. Loved it of course! Joss showed up in Buffy's dream sequence, a slayer was reading Fray, and Andrew is DEFINITELY gay. Only complaints are about the artwork so far. Sometimes I couldn't tell if it was actually Buffy on page, or another character, and with the Willow vs Amy scenes, I had some difficulty figuring out who did what. Other complaints are that we don't know who actually kissed Buffy, and that there is not more Giles! Overall, another GREAT read!

Thursday, May 3rd: The Office and Scrubs aired tonight. The joke of Dwight hanging up the "pervert" posters everywhere was great, as the picture was him with a mustache. The fact that Pam played that prank just convinces me more that she and Jim will eventually get close again. As for Scrubs.... what a mixed bag there! Yeah, the season has been lacking, save for the musical episode. Scrubs is suffering from the Buffy season 6 syndrome I guess, where everything is depressing, a major character dies, and the best episode is a musical. Keith proposes to Elliott in this episode (started to at the end of the last one). Elliott is still Elliott, and crazy as ever, and along with Dr Cox, the best part of the episode. I miss Carla though, it's like she is a 3rd string character all of a sudden. The episode ends with JD realizing he wishes he was the one marrying Elliott, and this both annoyed me and made me happy. I want JD and Elliott to be together, but this storyline is over! He told her he didn't love her YEARS ago, but now he suddenly does?!?!? No, I don't think so. It's JD wanting what he can't have, something I understand VERY well, but just drop it already! You can't keep going back and forth with these two! Either they WANT to be together or they DON'T! Oh, and with CSI... what is up with this show now? It has lost it's charm, no question. It has gotten weird lately. And the end, Grissom a murderer? Maybe.... we will see.

Friday, April 4th: A part of me died today. My boss surprised us and took us all to Spider-Man 3. I will be posting further impressions next week, but to put it briefly, I was severely disappointed. Between the horrible first hour, huge plot holes (and the attempts to fill them) and a total disregard for what made the first two movies so great, this one is best left unwatched. Full review next week.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Shigeru Miyamoto made Time's 100 most influential list of 2006, YAY!. The power went out at my house on Thursday night/Friday morning. Marco's Pizza FINALLY opened by my house and its as yummy as ever. My car will NEVER be clean. I am both very sad and very happy that a coworker has left my company. I like Gamefly's new availability system. Tales of the Slayer is a good read, but only for 2 or 3 of the 10 stories. The weather and temperature in Vegas is the weirdest in the world: it rained in half my yard, all of the neighbor's yard, not at all in the other neighbor's yard, and it was completely sunny out. Pugs still don't know how to shut up. I HATE doing laundry. My sister discusses metabolic system theories while her husband discusses Sesame Street at the same time... literally... he also won't stop yelling "AMERICA! F**K YEAH!" I blame Allofmp3 for that....

Buffy Season 8 Comic: Issues 1 & 2 Review

SPOILER ALERT! THAR BE SPOILERS HERE!!!

When you were a kid, did you ever have a best friend, or a pet, and one day, that friend moved away or the pet passed on? Yeah, you knew it was coming. The friend told you months in advance, or the pet was very sick. It didn't make it any easier though.... Well, did that best friend or beloved pet every come back!? No, because Steven King taught us resurrecting animals never turns out well.... or something like that. But for me, it has happenned! My once lost best friend slash cuddly animal (not a bunny) has returned, and that pet's name is Buffy!

Ok, catch-up time! The 7th and final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended on May 20th, 2003. After moving over from the WB to UPN, the show took a very different turn. The 6th season was very dark, and put the Scoobies into very adult situations involving addiction, sex, abandonment, sex, marriage, sex, and money. And sex. While the 6th season gave us the perfect 52 minutes of entertainment with the musical episode "Once More With Feeling" many critics and fans never really enjoyed this season because of its dark themes and the major absence of humor. While it was not my favorite season (ironically, my 6th favorite overall), there was still a lot to love aside from OMWF. The 7th season was all about changes again. It was a return to the themes of the first season; how hard high school is, pure evil, what it means to be a slayer. The 7th and last season ended with a bang, as Buffy (and thanks to Willow's magic and an ancient slayer weapn, a hundred or new slayers) sealed the Hellmouth and caused Sunnydale to collapse upon itself leaving nothing but a crater behind. The last scene was an optimistic Buffy realizing she has the chance to live a better life, now that so many other Slayers are now empowered. Did I mention Buffy was the Slayer? She is, its true!

The comic is the official 8th season, with the first story arc and overall them for the series written by Buffy creator, Joss Whedon, with different sections and arcs written and inked by different writers and artists. For those of you who do not know who Joss Whedon is, stop reading this right now and stop breathing too, you have no right to live. The first two issues are pure Whedon humor. The dialog is straight from the show, and I can hear the actor's voice in my head as I read. Nothing seems out of place or wrong. This is the Buffyverse on paper. Which is what leads me to my favorite thing about the comic so far: fan service.

Everything about the first two issues screams fan service. Yes, there is a story here that anyone can enjoy, even if they only watched a few episodes, or stopped watching at the end of the 5th season... but why would you do that? What makes the comic work the best is the dialog that is written for each character, and the little in jokes that they say. Xander telling Buffy she is "five by five" or Andrew telling his group of Slayers to never use guns (which there seems to be some debate over this conversation). The best part being Willow appearing at the very end of the 2nd issue, when a witch declares she is unstoppable, and saying "as a good friend once said, 'I would like to test that theory."' Each of these moments is a little gift to the shows biggest fans. Oh, and Giant Dawn? I love Giant Dawn. Dawn always wants to be the biggest thing around, get all the attention, have everyone think about her... and she got that wish granted. Dawn does not learn her lessons very well....


The next best thing about the comics is the delivery of the surprises and powerful moments. Whedon is a master at laying out a comic. When you read something at the bottom of the right page, you will be truly curious or shocked. When you turn the page to see the splash or next part, Whedon proves how creative he is with laying out the panels in the perfect order. He has an incredible sense of framing and creating the right moment, whether it is on the TV screen, or comic book page.

So what is the story with the story? The comic takes place an unknown amount of time after the series ended (2-3 years?). All of the potential Slayers from season 7 now have powers, and most have been split into several teams. Xander and Buffy have a large group in Scottland, Giles has his group, and even Andrew has a team at his disposal. All the teams have high tech gadgetry and weapons, and I have no idea where they got the money and time to get this organized. Hopefully that will be revealed at some point. The story is the same as the TV series; Buffy and the Scoobies dealing with their daily lives, but in a whole new, grander setting. Buffy misses sex (great muppety Odin does she miss the sex!) and wishes Dawn trusted her, Xander is loving being Mr Military/Agent Fury (he acts like he enjoys having to wear the eyepatch), Andrew has a group of people who respect him and want to be around him (even though he answers serious questions with Star Wars metaphors) Giles is being all Watchery in Europe, and Dawn.... is a giant.... didn't we cover that already? You have a horrible memory. And Willow has just appeared on the last page of the 2nd issue. We covered that already too. Did you forget to take your Ginkgo?

There are 2 Big Bads so far; the US Military (or is it?!) and Amy the witch. The military found the Sunnydale crater, and Amy inside of it. They want to take out Buffy and all the Slayers, afraid they are some new terrorist organization. Amy wants to help them. She puts Buffy into a sleep she can't wake up from as thousands of zombies raid the castle (there's a castle now!). The pace has been somewhat slow for a comic so far, but the last 10 pages of the 2nd issue moved things along at a good pace. And each issue ends in a famous Whedon cliffhanger.

The next issue comes out on May 2nd, and I cannot wait. After 4 years of no Buffy, 3 with no Angel, and 2 with no Firefly/Serenity, Whedon steps up and delivers big time in a great new format. While he may not be a stranger to making comics, his brilliant humor and passion shine through amazingly in just 64 pages. I of course recommend reading the series, but those who are going to have already picked up their copies of the first two issues by now (first issue in its 2nd printing). May 2nd never seemed so far away.... ya know, except for on May 3rd, cause then its a whole year and stuff.

5 Stars (out of 5)

(images courtesy Dark Horse)