One of the very first things I noticed was the filming style. I mostly only watched cartoons in the '90s, so I'm not sure if it's typical. Either way, it was sorta bothersome; it often seems like the camera is stalking the actors, but whatever. The episode as a whole was pretty slow and filled with eye-rolling teenage drama. It wasn't to the point where I wanted to bitch slap Buffy, but I get the impression that the show occasionally does have episodes dripping with angst (hopefully none of which we'll watch). On the other hand, I think it may have helped to watch the Pilot before anything else, but too late now.
What is probably my biggest problem with the show is just my own TV preferences. I watched cartoons through the '90s (and a few years after that) mostly because I hated live-action teenagers whining about their ordinary lives. Yeah, I watched the Power Rangers, but the characters were so secondary to the fighting that I hardly remember anything about them (as a side note, the Buffy opening reminds me of the Power Rangers music). When I finally did start watching real people on TV, I pretty much only watched adults. In that regard, all of the things that I would theoretically find appealing on this show are, in my opinion, done better by Charmed, so Buffy feels like a step into the unwelcome past for me. It helps that Charmed focuses more on witchcraft, thus giving it a lot more material to work with than a vampire slaying bimbo (it's got three bimbos, technically four,but whatever). I will say that I don't hate the show or anything, it was just kind of a snore whenever they were talking.
With that ramble out of the way, I'll list my various thoughts on the episode itself:- Although I'm biased in favor of Bones, I like David Boreanaz in it, just not so much as a neutered vampire
- Angel has horrible taste in jewelry, that is a really ugly promise ring
- I find Angel and Buffy's relationship a little creepy and very reminiscent of Sailor Moon, right down to the apartment visiting
- Also the character of Angel is too goody-two shoes, but I do like Spike
- Drusilla is very odd, but her soap opera freakout over those flowers was the hottest moment in the episode
- On a final note about the vampires- who the fuck decided they should have hideous angry faces? Vampires are supposed to be sexy, not repulsive. Fail.
- Although I may be wrong and they have something beyond the supernatural in common, I don't buy for one second that hot, blonde Buffy would be friends with shy, nervous, nerdy Willow
- And since I don't want to even talk about the blandness of the character of Buffy, I'll skip to Willow
- I'm honestly not sure if the actress playing Willow is absolutely terrible, or that she's too good at portraying a stuttery teenager
- Also, Willow's hat at the beginning was a sin against fashion
- Seth Green was a nice surprise
- At first, Xander annoyed the hell out of me with his corny lines (not really his fault so much as the writing), but towards the end he grew on me with some of his sarcasm
- Giles is simply adorable, I do have a weakness for smarts and British accents
- Jenny sucks, and I felt very bad for Giles
- Jenny's uncle had a horrendous costume designer, he looked like some nasty farmer with a bizarre German accent
- Buffy's mom was pointless
- Back to Buffy, why does she walk around unarmed? Bitch went into that warehouse without a stake, she deserves what she gets. Really, instead of wasting money on a party, they could've all pitched in and bought her a stake set complete with cross and holy water
- Crying on camera had obviously not been perfected in the '90s, because those tears were pathetic
- Finally, ending on a happy note, I quite enjoyed Cordelia and wanted to see more of her
No comments:
Post a Comment