So I'm falling a day behind updates, though maybe today I'll catch up. Warning, partial spoilers may follow, though mostly minor.
Yesterday (monday) we finished watching Buffy season 4, which puts us up to having completed Angel season 1 and Buffy seasons 1-4. Comparing the two most recently watched, I liked Angel better than Buffy 4, but some of Buffy season 2-3 was probably overall better than the Angel ones we've seen. Still, I like the setting for Angel a lot better, and I also like the main character a whole lot more - Buffy makes a lot of immature mistakes, which tend to be the focus of some of the episodes, where Angel makes more serious mistakes, which tend to be the focus of some of the episodes. The supporting cast for both is really good though, I especially liked Spike, Anya and Xander in season 4. For some reason, Willow and Tara just seem more blah in this season, I was expecting to like them a lot more. On the Angel side, Cordelia is one of my favorite characters, and Wesley got a huge amount cooler since his appearances on Buffy. Gunn has only showed up in a few episodes, but I like him already, so pretty much the whole cast gets a thumbs up for me.
In terms of episodes, picking my favorites from each season is tough, so I'll just list a top three for each.
Buffy Season 4:
1: The Harsh Light of Day: Return of Spike, oh yeah. :)
2: Fear Itself: Giles with a chainsaw!
3: Hush: Really creepy story and villains.
Angel Season 1:
1: Hero.
2: Sanctuary: I love the character developments in this one.
3: Blind Date / To Shanshu in LA: Again, development of one of the characters in these two was really cool, and the episodes as a whole worked well.
7 comments:
I have a slightly different ordering of Buffy eps:
1: Hush
2: The Yoko Factor
3: Fear Itself
As for Angel, I pretty much agree, but don't know the order for the life of me.
Something that occurs to me about "Hero": the whole Scourge thing came off a bit silly. They're presented as being so powerful/awful, yet the come and go in the span of a single episode. (For actually menacing, try Wolfram & Hart.)
Funny thing is, it doesn't matter much. Joss Whedon won't let something so trifling as premise get in the way of a good story. See: Buffy, the vampire slayer.
I don't remember which episodes go with all of the titles. :)
In terms of show premise, I like Buffy better than Angel overall simply because I tend to prefer lighter-hearted fare in general. Making up for the character Buffy's relatively frequent annoyingness is that I like having more of an ensemble cast of characters I like as opposed to a couple of other extra characters I like.
That said, I am enjoying both shows quite a bit, and that is what really counts.
Hush was indeed awesome! (I remember which episode that one is...)
I am really looking forward to the musical episode...
Mason, I cheat:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Angel_episodes
Yup, I wanted to work in The Yoko Factor into my list of Buffy episodes, but ended up using Harsh Light of Day instead. I agree on the Scourge, they could have been a more developed evil group, I mean, they never really got dealt with, just the disaster was averted. Oh well, still made a great story. :)
My picks:
1. Hush. (Of course I like the silent episode.)
2. The Initiative. (Just about every scene with Willow in it is brilliant. As is the Xander/Harmony fight.)
3. A New Man. (I might be especially partial to this one since it's the first Buffy episode I ever saw.)
Spike and Giles have many of their finest moments in this season. Unfortunately, it also introduces the incredibly bland Riley. Season 4 does the comedic moments very well; for the serious stuff watch season 5. I like Buffy 4 better than Angel 1, but Angel really hits its stride in the next two seasons. (I won't rank the Angel episodes since I don't remember the first season that well... maybe that means I should watch it again.)
I agree that Riley is blah. And Harmony is the wimpiest vampire ever! The fight you mention was a big win, and her attempt to bite Giles in the last episode of the season was truly a work of art. I'm still wondering wtf is up with the Cheese Man...
Hush is a brilliant piece of television - I loved it - very very eerie....
The musical episode which I don't think you will have seen yet is fabulous...but then, I'm particularly partial to musicals :-)
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