bubbling on season 1 of BtVS
Feb. 19th, 2005 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
avreliaI found in papers that a year ago I wrote some stuff about differefnt seasons of BtVS that I never posted. I typed it and am posting it now. Nothing new, of course. Probably, nothing intersting. But I felt like posting.
Alos I found myself today thinking about potentials (also I was buying some nice pants, but that's off topic,) and I decided that I like them. They are awful and obnoxious, and sucked the time and attention, yet... I liked them. And you know who is my favourite? Vi. She is the bravest of them all. She is so obviously terrified by what's going on, but she always stands her ground.
Now, onto the past.
I love season 1 as a kind of jumping base, a starting point, where I would come back to have a look foe seeds of things to come, for roots, for comparisons between past and present.
The absence of some characters is discouraging, but those who are there are so very cute! – Giles, in tweed and constantly bewildered, Angel, thin and young, and wooden, Willow in dorky clothes, Xander, in very dorky clothes (That mushroom shirt!) and floppy hair, Buffy, cheerful, perky, and in impossibly short skirts, Cordelia, gorgeous and arrogant, as only she could be….
I am not saying they are better than their grown-up selves, and certainly not that they should have stayed that way. I like my sixteen self more than my present self. That girl is somewhere inside, but I am not her, and I absolutely don’t want to be her now.
The characters are so young and fresh, and knowing what’s ahead, my heart is breaking for them a little bit. Yet one I see it now, I pick up some clues, some tidbits – I don’t whether they were put there, just happened or are my imagination – that help to make a connection between then and the later times, help to see how they end up where they did. It’s all there.
The stories are mostly MoTW and don’t impress me that much, and I usually watch for some small moments between the characters. The main story – with the Master – bores me even more and I keep fast forwarding it. When I don’t, however, it yields some interesting details.
Like when Master says: “Here endeth the lesson” to his minions. Before that I only considered it Spike’s phrase, from FFL, but now – is it a popular quote that everyone in Buffyverse knows , and I don’t – or was it Master’s phrase that Spike was quoting – or just a cool line ME liked to stick in?
Anyway, it presents a cool parallel between Master-minions and Buffy-potentials; the transition from Buffy the student to Buffy the teacher; the relation between Spike and the Master. Or, just one overactive imagination.
There are many cool moments that I enjoy remembering or rewatching – The Pack (pretty much the whole episode,) Willow’s crush on Xander, Xander’s crush on Buffy, Buffy’s growing interest in the mysterious stranger who shows up, feeds her bits of information and disappears, Giles’s remark that vampire in love with the Slayer is romantic… The appearance of Snyder, the performance of Oedipus Rex, The Prophecy Girl… the Nightmares – as Buffy’s worst nightmare – to become a vampire, and Giles’s worst nightmare - to bury his Slayer. What was Willow’s nightmare though? I remember it to be singing before public, but what does it mean? Fear of being in the open? Fear of having responsibility?
There are no yet continuity errors, as there is no continuity, but there are already lots of “rabbit-from-the-hat” decisions, that both bother and don’t bother me at the same time.
I like it as the start. I am not sure whether I liked it by itself though. And what a nightmare would it be if we didn’t have other seasons!
Alos I found myself today thinking about potentials (also I was buying some nice pants, but that's off topic,) and I decided that I like them. They are awful and obnoxious, and sucked the time and attention, yet... I liked them. And you know who is my favourite? Vi. She is the bravest of them all. She is so obviously terrified by what's going on, but she always stands her ground.
Now, onto the past.
I love season 1 as a kind of jumping base, a starting point, where I would come back to have a look foe seeds of things to come, for roots, for comparisons between past and present.
The absence of some characters is discouraging, but those who are there are so very cute! – Giles, in tweed and constantly bewildered, Angel, thin and young, and wooden, Willow in dorky clothes, Xander, in very dorky clothes (That mushroom shirt!) and floppy hair, Buffy, cheerful, perky, and in impossibly short skirts, Cordelia, gorgeous and arrogant, as only she could be….
I am not saying they are better than their grown-up selves, and certainly not that they should have stayed that way. I like my sixteen self more than my present self. That girl is somewhere inside, but I am not her, and I absolutely don’t want to be her now.
The characters are so young and fresh, and knowing what’s ahead, my heart is breaking for them a little bit. Yet one I see it now, I pick up some clues, some tidbits – I don’t whether they were put there, just happened or are my imagination – that help to make a connection between then and the later times, help to see how they end up where they did. It’s all there.
The stories are mostly MoTW and don’t impress me that much, and I usually watch for some small moments between the characters. The main story – with the Master – bores me even more and I keep fast forwarding it. When I don’t, however, it yields some interesting details.
Like when Master says: “Here endeth the lesson” to his minions. Before that I only considered it Spike’s phrase, from FFL, but now – is it a popular quote that everyone in Buffyverse knows , and I don’t – or was it Master’s phrase that Spike was quoting – or just a cool line ME liked to stick in?
Anyway, it presents a cool parallel between Master-minions and Buffy-potentials; the transition from Buffy the student to Buffy the teacher; the relation between Spike and the Master. Or, just one overactive imagination.
There are many cool moments that I enjoy remembering or rewatching – The Pack (pretty much the whole episode,) Willow’s crush on Xander, Xander’s crush on Buffy, Buffy’s growing interest in the mysterious stranger who shows up, feeds her bits of information and disappears, Giles’s remark that vampire in love with the Slayer is romantic… The appearance of Snyder, the performance of Oedipus Rex, The Prophecy Girl… the Nightmares – as Buffy’s worst nightmare – to become a vampire, and Giles’s worst nightmare - to bury his Slayer. What was Willow’s nightmare though? I remember it to be singing before public, but what does it mean? Fear of being in the open? Fear of having responsibility?
There are no yet continuity errors, as there is no continuity, but there are already lots of “rabbit-from-the-hat” decisions, that both bother and don’t bother me at the same time.
I like it as the start. I am not sure whether I liked it by itself though. And what a nightmare would it be if we didn’t have other seasons!
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 07:36 pm (UTC)And before that, she finds herself buried (alive?) in a coffin, in a grave. And then fast-forward to opening of Season 6. No wonder she's not bright and perky after that experience.
And like you, I watch S1 for the small moments, bits of characterization, bits of foreshadowing (accidental or on purpose) and just plain funny moments.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-20 08:31 am (UTC)And there are lots of funny moments to love. And silly clothes! Gotta love their costuming department, they were a crazy bunch. ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-02-25 03:14 pm (UTC)And given a test she has no answers for.
And abandoned/rejected by her father because she's not doing good enough.
So in S6, when she's buried alive, thinks she's come back wrong, can't handle the challenges of life, and is deserted by Giles - she's literally living out her worst nightmares. For a year.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-27 12:07 pm (UTC)I probably should go back to that episode and think how Willow’s and Xander’s nightmares correlate to their s6 problems. On the top of my head, Willow doesn’t sing – neither in her nightmare, nor in musical. I have to think about it some more.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 09:34 pm (UTC)Awww, I liked them too, mostly. And I fell in love with Vi in Chosen when she turned into such a great Slayer.
S1 doesn't have much of the depth and richness of the later seasons, but I love it because it's such a wonderful introduction to the characters, and because it's so funny in places. Plus, every now and then, there are some hints of things that will come in the future, like Buffy's nightmare about being buried alive, and Xander's attraction to demons.;)
no subject
Date: 2005-02-20 08:25 am (UTC)Yeah, me, too, and then I looked back and realized that it didn’t come from nowhere – she felt powerless, but she never ran away like Annabelle or demanded that Buffy should protect her like Rona did.
And the interesting moment, that I read interviews with the girls who played the potentials, and they told that they were basically were given free rein in developing the characters. ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-02-20 10:58 am (UTC)I think it's part of the Anglican service. It has something to do with the Anglican/Episcopelian religion, anyway, I remember reading about it ages ago (obviously I only remember so much).
I liked the potentials, too, and agree that Vi was a kick-ass slayer.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-20 11:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-20 12:51 pm (UTC)Angel, thin and young, and wooden,
LOL! My goodness DB's changed over 7-8 years hasn't he? Mind you, SMG went in the other direction......
the performance of Oedipus Rex,
Oh I loved that bit!
no subject
Date: 2005-02-21 06:23 pm (UTC)The best thing is that he actually started to act. ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-02-25 09:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-27 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-25 12:38 pm (UTC)I just had to thank you for bringing up the Buffyverse's lovely beginnings. :) I have recently taken on the habit of watching in succession one post-graduation episode and one old-school episode, and it does make interesting meta-ing evenings. Also, my mother seems to have a bit of a weakness for Adorable Dork!Xander.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-27 08:40 am (UTC)Hi! Glad that you stopped by.
I have recently taken on the habit of watching in succession one post-graduation episode and one old-school episode, and it does make interesting meta-ing evenings.
It is a cool viewing method. ;)
The juxtaposition of the earlier and later seasons brings cool discoveries and insights. For all times we complain about continuity, it has so much juicy goodness to talk about even long after the show is over. I love it!
And s1 Xander is adorable.