frelling_tralk: (Buffy Fear Itself by organza)
frelling_tralk ([personal profile] frelling_tralk) wrote2013-05-08 02:42 pm
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Gateway episodes: Buffy The Vampire Slayer


So if you’re a late-comer to Buffy, and want to know whether you’ll actually enjoy the show, which of these standalones should you give a shot? Start with “Earshot,” the 18th episode of Season 3. Seasons 1 and 2 of Buffy relied a bit much on excessively campy bad guys—fish monsters, a ventriloquist’s dummy, a giant man-eating insect, a robot—who served as narrative crutches clumsily telegraphing real-world evil. The bad guys of Season 3, on the other hand, embody villains we all know: adolescent alienation, romantic jealousy, teenage insecurity, high school frenemies, parents who just don’t understand.

Do people consider Earshot a good choice, or do you prefer to go earlier than season 3? (That would be me! I hate introducing newbies to a really late episode in a show as it spoils a lot of what comes earlier, so I try to choose the earliest classic episode that I can). Which episode do you generally consider the perfect episode to introduce newbies to Buffy? Do you have more than one?

Heh someone recommended Ted in the comments, and someone else responded with "You do want people to watch the show, right"? :P


ETA What was your first episode of Buffy, and did it win you over right away and make you want to see more?

[identity profile] frelling-tralk.livejournal.com 2013-05-08 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh and ( I'm on a roll now!) I loved the second half of season 2 very much, as well as scattered episodes and moments in the first half, but that's another season I see as overrated I'm afraid because the pacing to me is just awful that year. Following up What's My Line with Ted AND Bad Eggs? Following up IOHEFY cliffhanger with Go Fish? :shakes head sadly: I find it quite hard to get through a lot of the early filler from that season like Reptile Boys as well. It is one of my favourite seasons in terms of the central arc though, when it was on it was ON. I just wish it was 6/7 episodes shorter