Seeking a curated Buffy viewing guide
October 5, 2017 5:54 PM Subscribe
I'm thinking about rewatching Buffy with my boyfriend, who would be watching it for the first time. He's kind of on the fence about the show, so I'd like to skip some of the weaker/pure filler episodes. Is there a guide I can follow for what's worth watching and what's skippable?
We watched Star Trek TNG and DS9 this way with roles reversed—my first viewing, his rewatch. We used this fan blog to pick episodes, which gives you a simple verdict for each episode: watch it because it's good; watch it because it's plot-relevant; you can skip it. Admittedly I don't know everything I missed but on the whole I thought this worked very well and I'd like to do the same with Buffy. I'm looking for a similar resource. Something that gives watch/skip advice and just like a sentence or two explaining why.
This blog would be perfect if it covered the whole show, but as far as I can tell there's only a post for season 1.
This Tumblr is the best I've found but it doesn't explain most of the choices.
Is there anything better out there? I know Scoobies can be every bit as dedicated as Trekkies, so it seems worth a shot to ask. I realize I'm asking for something inherently subjective, so it's no problem if I end up with more than one answer. Thanks in advance.
We watched Star Trek TNG and DS9 this way with roles reversed—my first viewing, his rewatch. We used this fan blog to pick episodes, which gives you a simple verdict for each episode: watch it because it's good; watch it because it's plot-relevant; you can skip it. Admittedly I don't know everything I missed but on the whole I thought this worked very well and I'd like to do the same with Buffy. I'm looking for a similar resource. Something that gives watch/skip advice and just like a sentence or two explaining why.
This blog would be perfect if it covered the whole show, but as far as I can tell there's only a post for season 1.
This Tumblr is the best I've found but it doesn't explain most of the choices.
Is there anything better out there? I know Scoobies can be every bit as dedicated as Trekkies, so it seems worth a shot to ask. I realize I'm asking for something inherently subjective, so it's no problem if I end up with more than one answer. Thanks in advance.
I would rewatch nearly all of it except for the episodes with a lot of Dawn in them, personally. Those start in season 5. I know that character's got her fans, and that's fine, but when they introduced her it very nearly ruined the show for me.
posted by Crystal Fox at 6:41 PM on October 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Crystal Fox at 6:41 PM on October 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
The asker’s compilation listed in isthmus’s comment covers most of what I would consider essential episodes, with a couple of caveats:
For Season 2, I would absolutely skip Killed By Death. It’s not particularly well-written, it’s not essential to the Season 2 plot, and it is placed in canon in such a way to absolutely kill the momentum of the Angelus storyline. Replace it with I Only Have Eyes for You, which is better written and more plot-adjacent.
For Season 4, I would absolutely skip Where the Wild Things Are, unless watching Giles sing is an absolute necessity. Again, it’s not particularly well-written, and it’s not relevant to the Season 4 plot.
For Season 7, I would skip The Killer in Me. It’s a Kennedy-heavy episode, and while I’m one of the five people who doesn’t hate Kennedy, I think there were major missteps in characterization (Buffy and Xander letting Willow run off in magic distress seems both uncharacteristically callous and egregiously stupid). It does have the plot point of Buffy having Spike’s chip removed. However, if Idiot Plots annoy you as much as they do me, the Willow/Kennedy storyline isn’t worth slogging through it for that part of Spike’s arc. I’d replace it with Lies My Parents Told Me, which gives us some fascinating Spike backstory, and is a lot more related to the Season 7 plot.
Agree with a comment in the earlier AskMe that if you decide to watch one season all the way through, Season 3 is the best one. It’s got the best villain (The Mayor), the best evil sidekick (Faith) and even the episodes that don’t advance the seasonal arc (Dopplegangland, Earshot), are really well written. I think Dead Man’s Party is the only really bad episode of that season.
posted by creepygirl at 6:45 PM on October 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
For Season 2, I would absolutely skip Killed By Death. It’s not particularly well-written, it’s not essential to the Season 2 plot, and it is placed in canon in such a way to absolutely kill the momentum of the Angelus storyline. Replace it with I Only Have Eyes for You, which is better written and more plot-adjacent.
For Season 4, I would absolutely skip Where the Wild Things Are, unless watching Giles sing is an absolute necessity. Again, it’s not particularly well-written, and it’s not relevant to the Season 4 plot.
For Season 7, I would skip The Killer in Me. It’s a Kennedy-heavy episode, and while I’m one of the five people who doesn’t hate Kennedy, I think there were major missteps in characterization (Buffy and Xander letting Willow run off in magic distress seems both uncharacteristically callous and egregiously stupid). It does have the plot point of Buffy having Spike’s chip removed. However, if Idiot Plots annoy you as much as they do me, the Willow/Kennedy storyline isn’t worth slogging through it for that part of Spike’s arc. I’d replace it with Lies My Parents Told Me, which gives us some fascinating Spike backstory, and is a lot more related to the Season 7 plot.
Agree with a comment in the earlier AskMe that if you decide to watch one season all the way through, Season 3 is the best one. It’s got the best villain (The Mayor), the best evil sidekick (Faith) and even the episodes that don’t advance the seasonal arc (Dopplegangland, Earshot), are really well written. I think Dead Man’s Party is the only really bad episode of that season.
posted by creepygirl at 6:45 PM on October 5, 2017 [4 favorites]
Oh my. It bothers me greatly that season openers aren't on that list - particularly "Anne". I don't believe you can end where S2 did and then jump right into S3 without seeing where Buffy was. Otherwise that is probably as good a list as any.
posted by ChristineSings at 7:03 PM on October 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ChristineSings at 7:03 PM on October 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: D'oh! I saw that AskMe thread but my first impression is it was too noisy to use. I just needed to scroll down further!
posted by brett at 8:02 PM on October 5, 2017
posted by brett at 8:02 PM on October 5, 2017
They've since split and gone their separate ways, but Lani Diane Rich and Alastair Stephens used to host a podcast called "Dusted" that featured *the best* Buffy analysis I've ever encountered.
At the end of each season (well, S1-S5 at least), they came up with a stripped down, required episode list. It's exactly what you're looking for.
[The best news is that Lani is finishing coverage of Season 6 and 7 on her podcast, "Still Pretty."]
posted by yellowcandy at 8:41 PM on October 5, 2017
At the end of each season (well, S1-S5 at least), they came up with a stripped down, required episode list. It's exactly what you're looking for.
[The best news is that Lani is finishing coverage of Season 6 and 7 on her podcast, "Still Pretty."]
posted by yellowcandy at 8:41 PM on October 5, 2017
I could have written this question a few months ago! I have been watching Star Trek TNG with my boyfriend, and have been showing him Buffy, which he was reluctant about at first (having seen a few episodes and not enjoyed it). I used the list from the skippable tumblr, but I just wanted to add that if your BF starts enjoying the show, as mine did, that you plan to stop skipping episodes at that point. My BF started really getting into it during S2 but I was still skipping episodes, and he was kind of bummed later when things were referenced and he didn't know what they were talking about (e.g. all the episodes of Xander's non-human "girlfriends" prior to Anya are skipped on that list, so all the jokes to that effect were confusing to him).
I would also say about the Skippable list that they seem to be eliminating episodes mostly on the basis of not being relevant to the plot, but in doing so they eliminate some of my favorites - doppelgangland, zeppo, band candy, etc. So I started with the skippable list, especially relying on it for S1/S2 where there are some pretty bad episodes, but around S3 we just started watching all of them.
Have fun! It's been so great to get to enjoy the show via him for the first time (his shock when the mayor is first shown to be evil was so cute).
posted by jouir at 9:57 AM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
I would also say about the Skippable list that they seem to be eliminating episodes mostly on the basis of not being relevant to the plot, but in doing so they eliminate some of my favorites - doppelgangland, zeppo, band candy, etc. So I started with the skippable list, especially relying on it for S1/S2 where there are some pretty bad episodes, but around S3 we just started watching all of them.
Have fun! It's been so great to get to enjoy the show via him for the first time (his shock when the mayor is first shown to be evil was so cute).
posted by jouir at 9:57 AM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
At the bottom of the thread, the asker compiles all the recommended episodes.
posted by isthmus at 6:07 PM on October 5, 2017 [7 favorites]