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Ooh fun!

Welcome to the Hellmouth (Buffy 1.01)

What I like about it: Well of course the main thing I like about it is that it's our first intro to Buffy and the other characters. And it's been said many times, but the opening teaser with Darla really is a great set-up of the show with the twisting of expectations

What I don't like about it: I know it's a pilot and they're still sketching things out, but I wasn't a fan of the characterisation of Giles or Cordelia. I felt like Giles was written as too much of a clichéd stuffy librarian, and Cordelia was written as too much of a shallow mean girl. Of course those characters do get developed more as the series went along, but my first impressions weren't great when I first watched the show, because they seemed like such flat and obvious character types

Favorite line: Buffy: "Why waste time being all shy and worrying about some guy and if he's gonna laugh at you. Seize the moment. 'Cause tommorow you might be dead."
Willow: "Oh... that's nice"

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: Hmm I guess everything with the Master and the vampires underneath the church? It was interesting to ponder the background of those really old vampires

Best performance: I think that Sarah did a nice job with instantly making Buffy likeable, and in this episode it was easy to relate to Buffy's determination to have a normal life, especially when we have Flutie and Joyce guilt-tripping her over how badly it all went back in L.A

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: Well it's hard to say with a pilot episode, because they're never the easier ones to get off the ground, I don't think they did a bad job with it overall though. ETA Oh I've thought of something! This is probably completely unpractical and wouldn't have worked at all, but I always thought it would be cool to get a few flashbacks to L.A and do a better job of linking it to the movie, it felt like we missed a pretty big part of Buffy's journey for her to arrive in Sunnydale already knowing that she's the slayer. They did do flashbacks later on in Becoming obviously, but still it would have added something to the pilot for me if there wasn't that assumption that viewers would already be familiar with all the basic ideas from the movie. I was someone who had seen the movie first, and I remember feeling a bit let-down in season 1 when I wanted to see the tv shows version of how Buffy first became the slayer

Edited Date: 2017-02-04 04:12 pm (UTC)

Farscape.
Look At The Princess trilogy
Nerve/Hidden Memory

What I like about it: I love Nerve/TheHidden Memory for being the first two-parter that Farscape attempted, and I really felt like that whole arc with Scorpuis kickstarted the show into greatness. Plus it was the start of dark and tortured John, I was always a sucker for that

What I don't like about it: Ooh that's tough, there really isn't anything I can think that I didn't like about those episodes tbh!

Favorite line: Aeryn's confrontation with Crais when she leaves him screaming in the chair <3

Best performance: Ben Browder and Wayne of course!

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: I always liked that moment when Crais arrives and John just bursts out laughing. It really showed just how much the Aurora Chair had messed him up, and that his earlier encounters with Crais were nothing to him now. And I loved how much the show committed to following up on the damage that the Aurora Chair caused to John's psyche, and that he really was never the same again after those episodes.

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: Again I can't think of much to fault about it

What I like about it: I really enjoyed how much that three-parter was dedicated to exploring John and Aeryn's relationship, plus there were some nice friendship moments for John and D'Argo (love the scene where John walks in on D'Argo and China having sex lol), and it was great to see Rygel being more useful in his advice on royal politics. It was a good episode for the ensemble. The set design was fabulous too, it really was a three-parter that felt suitably epic

What I don't like about it: Zhann's storyline was pretty dull

Favorite line: Aeryn: "It's not you, it's me. I don't like you". "The good news is: Chiana and I are having fantastic sex." Or Maybe D'Argo reminding John that he's with Chiana when John asks him to be his best man *g* Too many to pick just one!

Best performance: Ben and Claudia

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: I guess that whole idea of John being a father to a child that he would never get to meet, it would have been interesting if the show had picked that plot thread up again in later seasons. John was so torn-up about it at the time that it's a bit odd that it's never once mentioned again

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: I would have tried to edit it down to a two-parter actually, the middle episode especially felt a bit padded-out, and I think it's probably a story that they could have told in two episodes

Edited Date: 2017-02-04 04:13 pm (UTC)

Buffy - once more with feeling

What I like about it: Well everything really lol. I love that Joss went all-out in making a musical episode, I loved the dance choreography, I loved the singing, and of course I loved it ending on a Spuffy kiss!

What I don't like about it: It was disappointing that Alyson got out of taking part. Fine if she really can't sing, but she didn't even join in when Buffy, Anya, and Tara were all dancing! She surely could have at least learned a dance or two, as it was it, was a bit distracting at times how she was always stood there like a spare part

Favorite line: Favourite song was Buffy's, 'Life's A Show' one

Best performance: Hmm I guess that Sarah and James were the ones to make the biggest impact on me in this episode

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: I really liked how the musical dealt with Buffy's depression

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: I didn't appreciate Xander's confession being treated as a throw-away joke, people were dancing themselves to death because of that spell, and he still kept quiet!? I would have written him as a lot more remorseful and torn about it when Giles mentions the deaths

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: I didn't appreciate Xander's confession being treated as a throw-away joke, people were dancing themselves to death because of that spell, and he still kept quiet!? I would have written him as a lot more remorseful and torn about it when Giles mentions the deaths

Or had it be the Trio or Sweet just comes to town for some reason.

Ah yes, the trio being the ones behind it would have made a lot more sense!

Tabula Rasa (BtVS) aaaaand maybe ... The Eleventh Hour (DW)?

What I like about it: It was a really fun idea to wipe the slate clean and see how the characters then got on with one another. I particularly enjoyed the Giles/Anya pairing, the Giles and 'Randy' scenes, and the Joan and Randy scenes of course. Plus Spuffy kiss at the end <3

What I don't like about it: They could have used blankslate Xander and Dawn in a more imaginative way, personally I found the moment when Buffy and Dawn realise that they're sisters a bit on the cheesy side. The show was having so much fun with the other characters and their connections, so it was a shame they didn't come up with much for Dawn and Xander

Favorite line: 'Stay away from Randy!'

Best performance: They were pretty much all great, but Giles and Anya were probably the ones that stuck out to me the most in this one, they were really fun together

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: I thought it was interesting that Xander and Anya were the only ones of the main couples to show absolutely zero interest in one another after their minds were wiped

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: I don't know that it would have made the episode better, but I wouldn't have portrayed Dawn as running off and rejecting Tara, even though she knew that Tara was only moving out to guard her mind from Willow. I know that Dawn was only 15, but that scene made her look pretty self-centered

I thought it was interesting that Xander and Anya were the only ones of the main couples to show absolutely zero interest in one another after their minds were wiped

Really though! It was meant as "they really aren't good for each other" or it was just casual? Interesting point!

I agree on Anya and Giles, their bits were hilarious!

It seemed mostly casual to me, probably an indication of how little the writers cared about that relationship in fact! It was certainly noticeable when you contrast it with Willow/Tara's attraction being pushed so strongly though, and Buffy and Spike really connecting as well, yet Xander and Anya barely made eye contact with one another. TR made a Giles/Anya shipper of me lol

Doctor Who
The Sounds of Drums

Buffy
Weight of the World

What I like about it: The Ben and Glory gag! The flashback to Buffy as as a little girl. The friednship scenes between Buffy and Willow

What I don't like about it: It should have been a really interesting opportunity to look inside Buffy's mind, but instead it felt a bit padded-out to me, you could unfortunately tell that it was mostly written to cover for Sarah's absense with Scooby Doo

Favorite line: 'Are we saying that Ben and Glory have some kind of connection?'

Best performance: Glory was pretty fun in this one

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: The Ben and Glory arguments

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: I think it would have been better if it was an episode where they set out to do something inside Buffy's mind because it was something that interested Joss, similar to Restless from season 4 I guess. Instead it felt to me more like they first needed a good excuse to put Buffy in a coma for an episode, and then they wrote the episode around that need

The sequence in Buffy's mind resonated with me deeply, but I have always found the execution of the episode kind of iffy. And yes, the Ben and Glory gag is hilarious! Poor Spike.

Yeah I feel like it's a really interesting premiere for Buffy to be completely shut down, and to then spend an episode inside her head, but the execution is kind of lacking when it's so clearly only been written to give Sarah some time off. Some of the scenes were pretty good, it was especially cute seeing little Buffy meet Dawn for the first time, but there was a lot more they could have done with it. It feels like an episode that was really calling out for Joss's touch

I actually found the first Dawn meeting to be cliché. I really hate fictional stories where the kid doesn't want a younger sibling until they meet said younger sibling and they are suddenly cool with it. It doesn't work like that in real life.

But yes, Joss' touch would have been fabulous.

What I like about it: The master of course! I loved the look back into his history with the doctor, the flashbacks to Gallifrey, his relationship with Lucy, just pretty much all of it

What I don't like about it: There isn't much that I dislike about this episode, it was the follow-up that was a letdown to me. TSOD had really build up the anticipation for the Doctor and Master finally being on screen together, and yet so much of it was spend with DT in old age make-up, or as that shrivelled bird thing..

Favorite line: "I like it when you say my name"

Best performance: John Simm

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: I always wanted to know more about Lucy, and what had originally drawn her to the Master

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: I would have spend more time on the follow-up, the return of the Master was too big a development to be all wrapped up in the finale

Edited Date: 2017-02-06 03:51 pm (UTC)

Doctor Who - Asylum of the Daleks

What I like about it: Plenty! It was nicely creepy to be back on the Daleks home planet, the production values looked fantastic, and it was a really interesting idea to have to guard against becoming humanoid Dalek puppets

What I don't like about it: Rory's comments on how he loves Amy more than she loves him grated a bit

Favorite line: 'Run, you clever boy, and remember'

Best performance: Jenna made the biggest impression on me in this one, what a great introduction to her

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: Just that whole idea of Oswin being converted into a Dalek, yet still retaining enough of her human memories to retreat into a fantasy world and refuse to accept that truth

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: They could have developed Rory and Amy's marital problems more, it felt a bit thrown in there to wrap it all in the same episode as its first introduced

BtVS's Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered?

What I like about it: It's just a really fun episode, especially with how unashamedly OT they get with it towards the end when Xander is being chased by a desperate mob, and being hit on by Joyce, Jenny, and Drusilla. Plus Buffy the rat was a really fun way of handling Sarah needing time off for Saturday Night Love lol, I loved her scene with Oz when she turns human again

What I don't like about it: Well this is probably the obvious answer, but it's dated horribly in terms of how it judges Xander's character. Cordelia is flattered when she thinks that Xander cast a love spell to force her to love him, and the episode ends on Xander winning Cordelia back because of that, while Buffy actually thanks Xander for doing the right thing in not taking advantage of one of his close friends when she was under a love spell

Favourite line: Spike: 'Why don't you rip her lungs out? It might make an impression'. Angelus: 'Lacks poetry'. Spike: 'Doesn't have too. What rhymes with lung?' Or maybe Angelus's' 'I guess I really *did* drive you crazy'

Best performance: Nicky Brendon did a nice job with this episode

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: The most interesting part of this episode to me is probably the relationship dynamics actually. We have Buffy outright say that Xander could do better than Cordelia, and Xander acknowledge that the girl he really wants is 'unavailable', and then he completely blows off the spell to Amy as no big deal when he's under the impression that Buffy is finally taking an interest in him. Basically the episode is pretty explicit on Cordelia being Xander's second choice, so I find it interesting that the episode ends on a supposedly happy note of Xander and Cordelia reuniting, even though I'm not convinced that Xander's feelings for Cordelia were ever that strong. Even after their break-up, it's mostly about him being angry and humiliated at how it's affected his place in the social pecking order at school, rather than the show portraying him as genuinally heartbroken in the way that we saw in say Prophecy Girl when he was moping and listen to sad music. It makes me wonder how much we're supposed to take the ending on face value as a ~happy ending~ and a relationship to root for, or if the writers still had Xander/Buffy endgame in mind during season 2

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: I'm not sure this would have made the episode better exactly, but I would have had Xander work harder to win Cordelia back. I'd have her freaked out at the mindless mob chasing after Xander, and 'that's what you wanted to do to me', and Xander explain his true intentions with the spell were to punish Cordelia. It felt like there was an honest conversation missing in their reconciliation, just Cordelia taking it as flattering when she assumed that Xander was planning a love spell to win her back, and gosh how romantic

Edited Date: 2017-02-05 08:14 pm (UTC)

I also like the Buffy/Oz scene when she's de-ratted. Buffy and Oz are both so cool that it feels right that they're both so chill about handling a teenage-awkward fest of being naked in front of your best friend's boyfriend.

I do defend the Moral of the Story to say that the episode really is critical on Xander. I think Giles's angry yelling is the clearest authorial moral judgment because it's coming from the intelligent wise grown-up who doesn't have a personal dog in the fight. Buffy's kinder stance is muddied by how she's Xander's best friend and is trying to make him feel better about himself because he's clearly guilty. Cordelia's flattered stance is muddied by how she's, IMO, foolish about a lot of things and one of them is how she's so obsessed with being flattered and deemed The Most Special Girl that she'll become blind to other dangers. This stance ultimately killed her in how she fell for Skip's lies and I'd argue, subverted her life to Angel's drama.

I agree that Xander isn't particularly in love with Cordelia. However, I do think it was a happy ending because Xander/Cordelia was important to Xander's and Cordelia's character development. In terms of Xander, it was a learning experience for Xander on how to be in a romantic relationship- and on that level- it had value in continuing for a short time. It's good that they both had a chance to give the relationship a real chance instead of letting Harmony and her crowd dictate the relationship's course. Even though it ultimately landed on a note that, IMO, Xander decided that he liked Cordelia but his Fluking with Willow was part and parcel of how Xander didn't love Cordelia enough to feel like he's in the best relationship possible.

I think Giles's angry yelling is the clearest authorial moral judgment because it's coming from the intelligent wise grown-up who doesn't have a personal dog in the fight

The episode is critical of Xander in terms of calling him out on the risks of using magic, that you should know that these kind of spells can be dangerous and frequently backfire, what was missing for me though was the questioning of Xander's cruelty and entitlement in wanting to use magic to alter someone else's mind after he got dumped. There's no one taking Cordelia's corner in that respect, and Cordelia herself ends the episode simply being flattered at believing that, 'the spell was for me'. I agree that it was rather depressingly in character for her to find that sort of obsession towards her flattering, but it doesn't work for me as a happy ending with Xander getting the girl, even though Cordelia had no idea what his true motives had been, and that the spell had never been about him being desperate to win her back. (Of course that would have made it much creepier if Xander's intentions had been to force Cordelia to get back together with him through the spell, but still that's clearly what Cordelia ends the episode happy to believe, even when the audience knows that it was actually all about Xander wanting to get his revenge and cause her emotional pain)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- Restless
X-Files -- Paper Hearts

What I like about it: I really liked that whole idea of how much it would throw Mulder if the possibility was ever raised that Samantha wasn't kidnapped by aliens, that maybe she was kidnapped by a much more mundane human evil, and just maybe she's been dead this whole time.

What I don't like about it: Umm nothing? It's one of my top ten episodes from the entire series, and one of the best for Mulder's character

Favorite line: 'Scully, do you believe that my sister Samantha was abducted by aliens? Have you ever believed that? No. So what do you think happened to her? '

Best performance: David of course

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: I liked how it examined just how much Mulder's quest to find Samantha had shaped his entire worldview, so it's interesting to consider how much it would have changed him if it was ultimately revealed that she did die at the hands of a serial killer

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: You don't mess with perfection!

It's one of my top fave episodes too! I never get tired of it.

Definitely, gotta love Vince Gilligan :)

What I like about it: This is another one of my all-time favourite episodes! I particularly enjoyed the cheese man, Spike and Giles on the swings, Harmony and Riley at the school play, Spike hiring himself out as a sideshow attraction, Giles singing, and basically all of Buffy's dream

What I don't like about it: Not a dislike exactly, but Xander's dream was probably the least interesting one to me. And I know there'd been a few throwaway lines about his parents being rather neglectful, but suddenly having him scared to death as his father hammered on the basement door seemed a bit out of the blue?

Favorite line: 'I wear the cheese. It does not wear me"

Best performance: Sarah

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: Willow's dream where she ends up back in her season 1 outfit was the most interesting one to me, it really showed just how much she had come to rely on magic to make her appear to others as a more exciting person, even though deep down she still felt like the same geeky girl that she was at 15

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: Not the episode itself, but I would have toned down the rhetoric on all the foreshadowing that it supposedly contains lol. I like how it uses dreams to examine the characters inner thoughts fears and desires, but I do not believe that everything other than the cheese man was all carefully planned out to hint towards the future.

Thanks for your answer! Restless is my favorite episode of the whole series, so I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it.

It's in my top three, alongside OMWF and Fool For Love :)

I don't think Xander was afraid of his father so much as he was scared of becoming him. It's echoed again later in the Hell's Bells hallucination.

Xander and Willow's home life's just always seemed near enough nonexistent most of the time to the writers, we never even meet Xander's father before season 6, so maybe that's why I didn't find it as emotionally resonant to use his father in the culmination of his dream. Buffy fearing being nothing but a killer, and Willow fearing always remaining a geek deep down, those are both pretty much signposted before Restless as a major part of those characters issues, whereas Xander fearing becoming like his family is sort of there in previous episodes, but it's never really developed that much

Yeah, it's true. I'm not sure I'd have picked up on it myself if not for the commentary.

Xander was a character I think they were just throwing stuff out there for after S3.

BTVS - Him

What I like about it: Spike tacking Buffy and the rocket launcher, Spike and Xander's plan being to just grab the jacket and run, and basically any scene with the girls in love with R.J were pretty fun. It was a nice change of pace to have a more light-hearted episode to break things up a bit

What I don't like about it: I wasn't a big fan of the first half of this episode, it felt a bit slow-moving when it was focused on Dawn's crush and her humiliating herself at school

Favorite line: Anya: "I looked into him and I saw his soul". Willow: "He was walking away, so unless his soul was in his ass..."

Best performance: It's hard to single out any one actor here, it was a good chance for the entire ensemble to have fun with their comedic timing

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: I guess it's interesting how the show decided to handle a love spell for *all* women to fall in love with whoever was wearing a particular jacket, even though they'd been very clear on Willow labelling herself as a lesbian by then and absolutely not interested in men. Willow deciding that she would turn R.J into a girl was a pretty clumsy (but funny!) way of handling that particular idea, but it really doesn't make a lot of sense for gay women to fall for the effect of the jacket on a man

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: Having Dawn decide to kill herself, and that being what it took to snap Buffy out of the spell, was a rather jarring change in tone. It didn't make a lot of sense either when you compare it to how powerful love spells were said to be in BBAB, that it absolutely consumed a person and made them act completely out of character (i.e Willow attempting to kill Xander with an ax), yet somehow the sisterly bond would be enough to break a powerful spell like that? That felt a bit forced and on the cheesy side to me

Edited Date: 2017-02-06 05:48 pm (UTC)

I too will go BtVS, and "School Hard" (which I'm not wild about but am interested in your feelings).

What I like about it: Oh I'm totally a fan of this episode, mainly for the intro of Spike and Drusilla! I felt like that really kickstarted season 2 in an awesome way when Spike throws the anointed one in the cage to fry. SH is the first suggestion that season 2 is going to be all about creepy gothic vampire love from the main villains, can't really go wrong with that!

What I don't like about it: Joyce was being pretty unreasonable in this one, Buffy was clearly doing everything she could to help out with parents evening for Synder, and yet Joyce isn't even going to consider that maybe Synder just has it in for Buffy when he gives her a bad report anyway?

Favorite line: 'You see, Miss Edith? If you'd been good, you could have watched with the rest'

Best performance: I'll go with James and and Juliet, they both did a great job with making their characters as charismatic and memorable as possible in their debut

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: The hints that Synder knew more than he was letting on were pretty intriguing, it was a shame that the show didn't further develop that idea of certain authority figures in Sunnydale being in the know. I mean there's like one more mention in IOHEFY, but that's about it

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: Honestly I can't think of much. It's obviously not an all-time classic episode or anything, but I think it's a pretty fun intro to Spike and Dru, and it does everything that it sets out to do with that whole idea of the school being siege by the new vampires in town. What was it you didn't like about it?

Edited Date: 2017-02-05 07:41 pm (UTC)

creepy gothic vampire love

True, that's my aesthetic.

Actually, I pretty much agree with your take. I just find the main plot of everyone being stuck in the school tiresome, there's no palpable tension or suspense IMO... Though I guess it's worth it for Buffy and Spike's first showdown and "it's gonna hurt a lot." /the foreshadowing is real

DW: The Empty Child

What a great meme! If you're still up for answering...

DW - The Time of the Angels/Flesh and Stone

Farscape - The Way We Weren't and/or A Human Reaction

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