Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Season 1-3

IMDB Rate: 8,1

Genre: Tv Show, Vampire (and many more)

I thought I would do something else from my regular reviews. I was watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I thought it would be fun to review it, and name the best and worst episodes of season 1 till 3. The reason why I only do season 1 till 3 is because I only own these 3 seasons on dvd. One day I hope to get my hands on the other episodes so I can review the other seasons. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is created by the amazing Joss Whedon, he is also known for The Avengers, Cabin in the Woods and many other amazing movies and televison shows. I already watched all the seasons of Buffy when I was young, but since that was a long time ago I couldn't remember a lot of it. It looked really good back then but when you're watching it now it looks a bit cheap. I mean the make up of the monsters looks cheap, not the rest of the show. I don't think this is very strange because if you need amazing make up for every episode the tv show probably won't get far because it will be far too expensive. Sometimes the monsters look ridiculous, like the werewolves but I think it's something you shouldn't pay attention to. 

The scripts are most of the time really good. Of course there were some bad episodes but I'm sure every tv show haves a few bad episodes. It's also something that everybody might find different, because some people might like the idea of Monster-Fish and I don't find it very interesting so that's for example why I didn't like the episode with the Monster-Fish (Season 2, episode 20: Go Fish).

• The acting is also very good. Sarah-Michelle Gellar is a very good actress in my opinion and she portraits the vampire slayer very well. At least thousand times better than Kristy Swanson in the movie of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 
• I also really love the character Willow, played by Alyson Hannigan. She is very cute and smart but in those three seasons the became a lot more confident and it's really nice to see how her character grew through these three seasons. I also love her relationship with Oz, it made her character a lot more bright. I disliked her crush on Xander though, it went on and on and when he finally liked her, she was with Oz and so she cheated and that was just stupid.
• A character that I don't like is Xander (Nicholas Brendon), I don't know why but I find him so irritating. You might notice later that many of the episodes that I disliked where evolving around him. Sure, he brings some comedy in the show but that doesn't make him less irritating. 
• Rupert Giles is played by Antony Head and he plays the watcher of Buffy. He is also the librarian of the school of Sunny Dale and I'm convinced that he couldn't be cast better. He portraits his character so well and he really seems like a big nerd always boring people with useless information. I loved his character very much. 
• A character that seems a bit useless is the character of Cordelia Chase (played by Charisma Carpenter), she brings nothing new or useful in the show but she doesn't really bother me. So I guess it doesn't really mind. I also believe that the last episode of season 3 is also the last episode that she plays in, so after this episode I won't have to her again. 
• David Boreanaz plays Angel and I like his character a lot, but I find the whole Buffy-Angel breakup thing a bit irritating. They are a very good couple in my opinion but it's so annoying that they keep breaking up and get together. I mean, make your goddamn choice! I like his good-vampire side, but the episodes where he was a bad vampire where kinda stupid. I really disliked them. I don't believe we'll see him very often again after season 3, which is kinda sad because he is a good character for the show. I think I'll need to start watching the show Angel for following his story ;).
• Another character that I loved was Oz, he is played by Seth Green and liked I already mentioned in my Idle Hands review, I love Seth Green. His character is thousand times more funny than Xander, even though he isn't much of a talker. He also plays a werewolf but since the werewolves look terrible in this show, it was only funny instead of scary.

I believe these were most of the main characters, so that was kinda a long story, but that doesn't really mind I guess. 

I want to make some short notes of every episode in each season that I liked or disliked, some where terrible and some where amazing. Here is a short list of each:

Season 1:

Best

• The Puppet Show (episode 9): I liked this show because there where talking dolls in it. For those who didn't know: I'm terrified for talking/moving/killing dolls. The story was not even that good but because of this episode I became a lot more interested because the stories finally contained something scary.
• Nightmares (episode 10): I did not really get where the dream-boy came from but I did like the story that followed. Everybody's worst dreams came true so that were some amazing fragments to see. Xander's killing clown, Buffy as a vampire or spiders crawling out every corner of the room.
• Prophecy Girl (episode 12): When it's discovered that Buffy will die in the coming battle she is planning to run, what I liked about this episode is that she didn't run eventually and went in battle even though she knew she was going to die. It reminded me of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Harry greeted death like an old friend. So did Buffy, in my eyes.

Worst

• Witch (episode 3): I hate this episode because the acting of this girl Amy (the witch) and her mom are terrible. The story is kinda stupid so the whole episode was just a drag.
• The Pack (episode 6): This is one of the 'Xander' episodes I mentioned in the acting performance section, it's an episode evolving around Xander and I really dislike it. He is just a terrible actor and a complete episode dedicated to him is just terrible. And the acting of the other teenagers playing hyena's is terrible too.

Season 2

Best

• Halloween (episode 6): I like this episode because you see a whole different side of everybody. Buffy is weak and innocent, Xander is strong and serious, Willow on the other hand is herself, only in ghost form. I also liked this because I believe it's the first episode that Willow stood up for herself. You get to know her a bit better, which is kinda nice.
• Becoming pt. 2 (episode 22): I really liked this episode because Spike (James Marsters) teams up with Buffy. I liked him as a vampire, he has an amazing accent and while he is supposed to be a bad vampire, you can tell that he has good in him. While Angel had a spell casted on him to give him a soul, Spike actually seems to have a soul, but he tries to cover it up or something. Anyway, they teamed up quite well and I can't wait till he joins the cast as a regular.

Worst

• Innocence (episode 14): I disliked this episode because Angel turned into a bad vampire. It was not that the acting or the script was bad, it was just how the storyline started where Angel was soulless. The episodes that followed where not as fun anymore until the moment he was good again.
• Bewitched, bothered and bewildered (episode 16): Another episode evolving around Xander. He tries getting Cordelia to like him again and instead every girl except Cordelia likes him. It's just the same story as before. It's about Xander.
• Go Fish (episode 20): I mentioned this one before in my intro, it was just a dull episode. All the swimming team members turned into fish, well when that was all figured out they just let them swim in the ocean, without even trying to find a cure. This means that some parents will never get their children back, without any body or something.

Season 3

Best

• Amends (episode 10): The ending of the episode is beautiful, Angel was being haunted in his dreams and this tortures him so much that he wants to kill himself. He tries doing that by waiting till sunrise. Buffy stops him and also stops the torturing. The ending is beautiful because of the music that plays but also because of the camera work. This whole episode was just really good put together.
• Doppelgangland (episode 16): Willow accidentally summons an evil double (vampire) of herself. This is the same evil Willow as in 'The Wish' episode. Why I liked this episode is because again of the growing Willow. She learns from herself in fact, from her evil self. But even when the evil Willow does bad things, Willow still can't kill herself. She's just a great character herself and this episode just proves that fact again.
• The Prom (episode 20): I liked this episode because of the ending. The beginning was just the original Angel and Buffy breaking up again, so that was kinda boring. The ending was beautiful, you think the whole tv show that nobody notices what's happening in Sunny dale, because nobody speaks of it. But in the ending of this episode, Buffy get thanked by the whole school  in a speech for protecting everybody, even though nobody ever said anything about it, they are all really thankful. The speech is absolutely beautiful and it's one of the best moments in all three seasons I've seen.
• Graduation Day pt. 2 (episode 22): So in this episode, the mayor is going to attack everybody on graduation day. What I liked in this episode was the amazing teamwork that the whole school provides. When Buffy screams 'Now!' the entire school takes of their graduation clothing and they were all covered in crosses and had stakes and everything. It was amazing to see how the whole school fought against the mayor and the vampires. 

Worst

• Dead Man's Party (episode 2): Buffy returned to Sunny dale and everybody was worried and such. Well, because they were worried they acted a bit weird against Buffy. Buffy doesn't like this and wants to run again, and such. It was an annoying episode because she was such a whining little bitch. Not everything will always go the way you want it, and well, she apparently couldn't accept that.
• The Zeppo (episode 13): And, the Xander episode again! Don't have much explaining to do I guess? Everybody else finally thinks he is annoying too in this episode. Unfortunately, it's only for one episode.

So, all together Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a fairly good show. It contains all kind of horror elements such as: monsters, vampires, zombies, killer clowns, killer kids and even ghosts. So with a show like this the story can go a lot of ways which is kinda cool. This way the story will always be different, and the monsters will be different too. Even though the main story evolves around vampires, there is many variety in other stories. Like I already mentioned, the make up is done very poorly, but that's not really bothering at all. Yes you notice it, but you won't get bothered by it in my opinion. 

A thing that is a bit strange is that the town of Sunny Dale is full with people, and many many people were killed in all those years. Many people went missing or came in the hospital. Yet nobody, seems to be bothered by it. No parents searching for their missing kids, no people that want to move desperately because of this crazy town. Nothing. Well, in the episode 'The Prom' in season 3 the people mention that the did notice all the killing and didn't say anything about it, but that was just a briefly mentioning. I think that rational people will move the hell out of that town. 

I think this is a good show, I liked it when I was young and I still like it, even though it all seems a bit old now. It's comparable with the show 'Charmed', which is also a real good television show. For anybody that don't mind a bit of bad make-up, like a good horror show with a different twist every time you might like this show. I hope I can get my hands on Season 4 till 7 so I can review those, but in the mean time, have fun watching!

My personal rate: 8/10

Link to season 4-7!