Buffy, season four
Mar. 17th, 2004 08:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabThoughts so far on season four, upon the completion of season four, see me with a big fat EH.
Could Riley *be* any more boring? And that aside -- the whole experience of the Initiate, the industrialization of the demon-hunting process takes the edge of the Slayer, and took away a lot of what I liked about Buffy, kicking it in graveyards after school in an anorak and heels, staking some vamps, then going for pizza. With the Initiative, and the scores of new breeds of demons -- not to mention a degree of demon-sympathizing, because you look at 'em all in one place and it could be any afternoon at the Zocalo or on the Promenade, alien races just wanting to get by without predjudice -- anyway, it stops being a battle of good vs. evil, soul vs. soulless. Spike's the exception here, or rather the exception that proves the rule -- he's a bad soulless vamp, but with the chip he's able to be a kind of grudging ally, and I can get behind that, plus, Spike is cool.
But the Initiative lost me entirely -- felt like I was watching a different show. The thing that set Buffy apart, for me, from other sci-fi or fantasy type shows with elements of the paranormal is that Buffy operated on CLEAN LINES of good and evil. If you want blurred lines, you get G'Kar and Londo, for example, or CSM, or Diana Fowley, or Lex Luthor. There are other shows for that -- Buffy's charm comes from the Scooby gang doing their bit to kick evil's ass and then go home and watch a movie. Additionally -- government intrigue. Other shows for that, coming from XF through Invisible Man or Now and Again, Pretender, First Wave. I liked the underworldly nature of Buffy, just dusting demons in an otherwise normal Hellmouth town.
Some aspects of this College Years Buffy were handled gracefully, I thought, under the circumstances -- the way friends drift apart in college, the aging of the characters and the divisiveness between them rang true for me and I can totally get behind that -- I like to see the Scooby gang working together as much as the next girl, but I'm cool with them having interpersonal problems as long as they remain in character and true to the mission of the show.
So all in all, not thrilled with season 4 -- I've seen all but "Restless" which I have up next and which I'm terribly excited to see -- Spike's entertaining as always, I really like Xander and Anya, and Anya herself, could have done with more Giles but his guitar-playing Olivia-bonking midlife crisis was delicious anyway -- I liked the early bits with Oz, and his return and the conflict with Tara, and I like Willow and Tara together a lot. My love for Buffy herself still remains, though she disappointed me here, in more of a tongue-clucking maternal sense of disappointment than a characterization sense -- she's totally self-absorbed, fell for that idiot Riley and let him take her away from her friends and her life, she as much as abandoned Giles in any watcher capacity, but, true to form, she's growing up, and that's what nineteen year olds do.
In other words, some problems with the choices made by the show, eg all that Initiate government conspiracy intrigue yawn, as well as some issues with the way the characters have grown up, but I don't at all fault Joss or the writers for the latter issue, only the former. The kids grew up, as kids do, and even though it's bumpy and awkward, it's honest.
Could Riley *be* any more boring? And that aside -- the whole experience of the Initiate, the industrialization of the demon-hunting process takes the edge of the Slayer, and took away a lot of what I liked about Buffy, kicking it in graveyards after school in an anorak and heels, staking some vamps, then going for pizza. With the Initiative, and the scores of new breeds of demons -- not to mention a degree of demon-sympathizing, because you look at 'em all in one place and it could be any afternoon at the Zocalo or on the Promenade, alien races just wanting to get by without predjudice -- anyway, it stops being a battle of good vs. evil, soul vs. soulless. Spike's the exception here, or rather the exception that proves the rule -- he's a bad soulless vamp, but with the chip he's able to be a kind of grudging ally, and I can get behind that, plus, Spike is cool.
But the Initiative lost me entirely -- felt like I was watching a different show. The thing that set Buffy apart, for me, from other sci-fi or fantasy type shows with elements of the paranormal is that Buffy operated on CLEAN LINES of good and evil. If you want blurred lines, you get G'Kar and Londo, for example, or CSM, or Diana Fowley, or Lex Luthor. There are other shows for that -- Buffy's charm comes from the Scooby gang doing their bit to kick evil's ass and then go home and watch a movie. Additionally -- government intrigue. Other shows for that, coming from XF through Invisible Man or Now and Again, Pretender, First Wave. I liked the underworldly nature of Buffy, just dusting demons in an otherwise normal Hellmouth town.
Some aspects of this College Years Buffy were handled gracefully, I thought, under the circumstances -- the way friends drift apart in college, the aging of the characters and the divisiveness between them rang true for me and I can totally get behind that -- I like to see the Scooby gang working together as much as the next girl, but I'm cool with them having interpersonal problems as long as they remain in character and true to the mission of the show.
So all in all, not thrilled with season 4 -- I've seen all but "Restless" which I have up next and which I'm terribly excited to see -- Spike's entertaining as always, I really like Xander and Anya, and Anya herself, could have done with more Giles but his guitar-playing Olivia-bonking midlife crisis was delicious anyway -- I liked the early bits with Oz, and his return and the conflict with Tara, and I like Willow and Tara together a lot. My love for Buffy herself still remains, though she disappointed me here, in more of a tongue-clucking maternal sense of disappointment than a characterization sense -- she's totally self-absorbed, fell for that idiot Riley and let him take her away from her friends and her life, she as much as abandoned Giles in any watcher capacity, but, true to form, she's growing up, and that's what nineteen year olds do.
In other words, some problems with the choices made by the show, eg all that Initiate government conspiracy intrigue yawn, as well as some issues with the way the characters have grown up, but I don't at all fault Joss or the writers for the latter issue, only the former. The kids grew up, as kids do, and even though it's bumpy and awkward, it's honest.
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Date: 2004-03-17 10:09 am (UTC)(Also, the thing I didn't spoil in that other post about actors playing different roles was the Buffy/Faith body switch. Wicked fun, that.)
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Date: 2004-03-17 10:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 10:30 am (UTC)Now. "Restless." I am SO. EXCITED.
Ats Season 1 & Btvs season 4
Date: 2004-03-17 11:05 am (UTC)Yeah..I always felt like Joss formed the whole Buffy series from the idea that "High school is hell" and has said that if he had ever had one good day in high school there wouldn't be a series. So once he started "The College Years" the whole series lost it's focus.
Riley was totally boring. But I did love the constant "Superman" references and the idea of Riley as the next guy, the rebound guy. The guy who wants nothing more than to love Buffy and who gets screwed by the psychic backwash of Angel/Buffy.
I did want to put in a plug for season 1. Only 12 eps long but totally entertaining. Some of my all time favorite Btvs stuff is in S1 because it was conceived as its own little arc. Plus - the Xander/Angel relationship bitterness really has roots in S1.
In other words, some problems with the choices made by the show, eg all that Initiate government conspiracy intrigue yawn, as well as some issues with the way the characters have grown up, but I don't at all fault Joss or the writers for the latter issue, only the former. The kids grew up, as kids do, and even though it's bumpy and awkward, it's honest.
I think its difficult to see the writers testing the characters in ways that interfere with the attributes we, as consumers, most like to experience vicariously. Whereas the first three seasons hammered home the "We're all in this together" motif, through which we all vicariously felt the Scooby Love, in the fourth season everyone was more self absorbed. And as they were all learning to be the new versions of themselves, they all had to learn to interact in different ways.
I don't think that any of that is bad, but it was difficult as a fan because the very bonds that they were changing were an integral part of why I loved the show. It made me feel itchy and dissatisfied for much of the fourth season, really only clicking in moments when they were finally able to make the transitions, and their relationships grew stronger for it. Like Wild At Heart, f'rinstance.
And yeah...I personally wanted a lot more Olivia-bonking for Giles.
:)pg