Meme from Frelling-tralk

[itsnotmymind]

Name an episode (or episodes, as many as you like) from one of the following shows and I will tell you the following about it.

Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Jessica Jones, Supernatural, Torchwood

What I like about it.

What I don't like about it.

Favorite line.

Best performance.

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me.

Something I would have changed to make the episode better.

Comments

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Older And Far Away from Buffy?

[cmattg.livejournal.com]

Buffy - The Body

Torchwood - The one where Zombie Owen wrestles Death

Firefly - Ariel

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

What I like about it: Um, there must be something. Some of the Buffy/Spike interaction is nice? "We do not joke about eating people in this house!" Also, Spike suggesting that Buffy *not* celebrate her birthday (No birthday episode in S7, so I think she took him up on it!)

I'm glad they're addressing Dawn's issues even though I think how the writers chose to portray Dawn's issues in S6 was poorly done.

What I don't like about it: Poor follow-up to Dead Things. Spike's walking around with bruises on his face, and it's only acknowledged with one light-hearted line. A lot of the humor is just not that funny. Erasing Dawn's key issues from the narrative makes it harder to believe in her as a character.

Favorite line: Possibly: "And *I* was insane to think...No, wait. You were right. *You're* insane."

Best performance: It has been awhile since I've seen this one. Not Dawn, unfortunately. I don't know.

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: I like the idea of the motley lot of them trapped in the house. I don't remember being that interested in the execution, unfortunately.

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: I wish Dawn's issues with people going away had been presented as less "none of my sister's friends will hang out with me" and more "I was abandoned by my dad and then my mom died and then my sister died (because of me) and then she came back and is a completely different person and I don't know how to deal." Not getting into the way Buffy's friends frequently parked her with an unrepentant mass-murderer while Buffy was dead, and then said mass-murderer mostly lost interest in her when Buffy returned. I could see Dawn, in an immature way, sometimes portraying her issues as "nobody hangs out with me", but it goes way deeper than that and the episode never acknowledges this.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I definitely felt like a lot of the humour was pretty jarring in this one, Buffy didn't feel very in character to me in the teaser when she's all, 'ooh shiny' over the sword, even though Dead Things had just ended on her being in a terribly low place. I did like some of the humour with Sophie, Richard, and Clem, but it felt like it was trying too hard with some of Buffy's lines. I enjoyed the more lighthearted Spuffy out of context, but it doesn't play well after Dead Things

And definitely agreed on Dawn, it was hard to sympathise with her being all sad sack at Buffy's friend's not being available to go to the mall with her, even though she's 15 years old and could very easily go there with friends her own age. How many adults have time to just hang out and shop in the middle of the day!

What did you think about the dilemma on whether Willow should risk using magic again after Richard was stabbed, did you take Anya or Tara's side on that?

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

I feel bad for what Dawn's going through, but not for how it's presented in the episode.

Re: Willow magic dilemma: This is tough because it ties into the whole magic addiction thing, which was portrayed inconsistently over the last two seasons. So I'm not sure how serious the consequences could be of Willow doing a spell. Could it ruin her life to step off the wagon? Could it easily lead to her doing something more dangerous or irresponsible? Or is the magic addiction mostly a smokescreen for Willow's personality issues, in which case using it every now and then certainly can't hurt? I'm not sure.

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

The Body

What I like about it: It's an episode of a fantasy TV show the addresses immediate grief in a realistic fashion. It's excellent.

What I don't like about it: When I was younger (i.e. the same age as the Scoobies) I had no problem with the scene in Willow's apartment. But now it seems a bit much. Willow obsessively changing outfits, Xander wanting to blame SOMETHING, Anya's bewilderment...all of these are powerful on their own, but all stuffed in one scene it seems OTT.

Favorite line: When Buffy starts to says, "That's just an amazingly dumb thing to say. Obviously ... I've never done this before. " And Tara replies, "I have."

Also: Dawn at the end wondering, "Where'd she go?"

Best performance: Sarah Michelle Gellar. 'Nuff said.

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: Buffy's fantasy about being there when her mother had the aneurysm and getting her to the hospital in time are particularly heartbreaking - moreso because the doctor than says that this scenario would have likely still ended in Joyce's death.


Something I would have changed to make the episode better: This is one I wouldn't dare mess with.

Will do the other episodes later.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I felt like the show wanted us to take Tara's side on it, and root for her going into protective mode, but yeah it was hard to know how to feel about it when magic as an addiction had been so inconsistently handled. You'd think that being in a life or death situation would have made using magic a no-brainier, but the episode did weirdly lean towards it being a possibility that Willow would then be completely incapable of giving it up again, even though Anya rightly points out that Willow did manage to quit magic before when she took it too far (and Rack's magic was implied to be deliberately designed as addictive, as opposed to whatever more natural magic Willow would presumably have needed to access)

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

Dead Man Walking

What I like about it: Owen is dead trilogy = awesome (although Day in the Death is my favorite chapter). I especially love all the Jack and Owen interactions in this one.

What I don't like about it: The plot is kind of dorky. Owen defeating Death is a little cheesy.

Favorite line: "I have searched for the phrase 'I shall walk the Earth and my hunger will know no bounds,' but I keep getting redirected to Weight Watchers" is not great, but is about as good as it gets.

Best performance: Isn't Burn Gorman always?

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: The relationship between Jack and Owen.

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: Day in the Death was great because the main plot fit with Owen's emotional plot, but Dead Man Walking didn't work so well. The kid with leukemia didn't really resonate. So I would figure out a way to make that work better.

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

Ariel

What I like about it: Mal threatening to kill Jayne at the end, OMG!


What I don't like about it: Been so long since I've actually seen it. I'm starting a rewatch of Firefly now for the first time in years and years.

Favorite line: Can't think of one. This is not actually the episode where River threatens to kill Jayne with her mind.

Best performance: Summer Glau is always good, and I seem to recall particularly enjoying Adam Baldwin.

A scene/idea from it that's particularly interesting to me: Jayne betraying the crew. Something they foreshadowed in the pilot, and brought to fruition here. I especially liked that it was a serious betrayal, but the circumstances were such that Jayne's (comparatively) easy forgiveness was believable.

Something I would have changed to make the episode better: It's been too long. I only remember good feelings.