In the first episode of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy becomes increasingly irritated at the prospect of living up to her destiny. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to start Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
You know, I always go through this when I start a show or a new book, especially one with a namesake as large and popular as this one: How did I never get into this before? Somehow, over the course of the last fourteen years, I’ve not seen a single second of this show. I avoided every discussion of it, my friends never told me to watch, and I’ve blissfully wandered through life without knowing anything important about the show. And now, at the end of 2011, I’m going to watch all 144 episodes. Christ. That’s like…fuck. I’m not going to finish this until THE SUMMER. WHAT THE FUCK.
I’m not going to think of that right now. Instead, let’s get this first part out of the way:
THINGS MARK KNOWS ABOUT BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
- Sarah Michelle Gellar is Buffy.
- David Boreanaz is Angel and he’s buff? I don’t know. Isn’t he on Bones?
- Joss Whedon wrote it.
- There’s someone named Spike?
- There are vampires, I assume?
- Wasn’t this on the WB when it aired here in California? That’s probably why I didn’t watch it, because my sister was obsessed with the WB, especially Seventh Heaven, and that show’s morality made me want to vomit and WHY AM I TALKING ABOUT THIS.
- There’s a show called Angel and I’ll be watching some episodes in between Buffy ones for proper clarity and to get the full story. Well, we’ll figure it out when we get there.
- Oh, there’s a musical episode! They hold a screening of it every year at Comic-Con. I’ve never seen it and I don’t know where it is. We should do a liveblog for it, shouldn’t we?
- Vampires?
- There will be slaying?
- I mean, it’s in the title, so she has to do that, right?
- How hilarious would that be if she ended up never slaying a single vampire?
- This is a reminder not to ever give me a television show. I will troll the audience/my employers constantly.
- Well, now I’m hopelessly off-topic.
So that’s where I stand right now. Somehow, by the sheer virtue of destiny or something, I don’t know a single plot to any second of this show. Not by osmosis, not by association, not by pure luck. I am going to watch this show in a beautiful state of ignorant bliss, and y’all get to watch my brain shatter into a billion pieces.
It should be repeated now that my site has a couple sets of very specific rules regarding commenting, and I know there’ll be a lot of new people around here. So: read the Site Rules. Do not spoil me. Is something happening in the future? Don’t post it. We use rot13.com to discuss any and all spoilers; it’s a cypher site, so that’s what all the gibberish is down below. If you have to ask yourself, “Is this a spoiler?” don’t post it. rot13 that shit, okay? Additionally, since this is a wide and varied community, I do my best to keep things as open and accepting as possible, which means that we discourage and disallow problematic language in the concepts. If you are told not to use a word/slur around here, please help us out to create a safe space for all commenters and go along with us. It’s just one site, okay? I want everyone to be able to watch Buffy together without feeling like they can’t have a conversation here!
And finally, it’s about goddamn time that I start watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS
Here are the vast majority of them
- Oh my god, the cold open is so cheesy and I love every second of it.
- Okay, I genuinely did not expect that Darla (that’s her name, yes? I believe she says it later in the episode, right?) was the actual vampire. That’s a clever misdirect.
- It’s funny how much the opening of this show feels so unbelievably 90s to me. This is what American television was like when I was growing up. I mean, if it wasn’t for the vampire (and the very overt sci-fi and fiction references later in this episode), this would seem like any other sitcom or drama for teenagers on TV.
- First thing that completely impresses me: This is not a show about Buffy discovering that she’s a vampire slayer. She comes to Sunnydale with a history. She’s already the slayer, and now she wants to escape that.
- SHE BURNED DOWN THE GYM AT HER LAST SCHOOL. WHAT THE.
- Oh my god, Principal Flutie, could you just give a forty-five minute rambling monologue to me? Here’s your topic: glazed donuts and their ability to call to you no matter where you are when you see or smell them. Discuss.
- The introduction of Willow, Xander, Jesse, and Cordelia is really awkward and jumbled. Look, I am not expecting perfection from this show; I know some of this shit will be dated or weird, and I’m totally okay acknowledging that and allowing Whedon to immerse me in this world. Still, not my favorite bit of exposition.
- Willow, can we hang out? I’m just going to call it right now: She’s my favorite character. Alyson Hannigan plays her with such a sincere sense of cluelessness that’s kind of refreshing? Like, Willow isn’t a fool at all; she’s rather matter-of-fact about things, like Buffy actually asking to hang out with her. She just doesn’t believe it would ever happen. I like that. She’s fascinating to me, and she doesn’t feel like a cruel joke.
- On that same note, I want to like Cordelia, but she’s written with just a single layer and there’s not much to her Regina George thing isn’t entertaining or funny. It’s kind of realistic, but I want more from her. I’ll patiently await some character development on her part.
- Xander you are SO AWKWARD. I don’t know how I feel about him yet. I’m not a fan of him constantly following Buffy around? But…well, I have to wait to talk about some of this. Hang around until the end of this list.
- ERIC BALFOUR. I forgot he existed!!! Oh god, he was on Seventh Heaven for a bit, wasn’t he? I swear, I will never mention that show again after this review I SWEAR. He’s not a very good actor, is he? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything besides this and That Show I Won’t Mention Again.
- GILES. GILES!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD. Okay, maybe I will like him more than Willow. IT’S POSSIBLE. oh my god what is a Watcher I don’t get this at all.Â
- A stake is a standard defense tool in Los Angeles. I love that Buffy barely commits to making this lie. She is hardly trying at all.
- So, back to #4: The dynamic this show has in the pilot is so fascinating to me, but when Buffy confronts Giles about the dead coach, she’s insistent that she doesn’t want to follow her destiny. I honestly expected this show to abide by the same trope I’ve seen a thousand times: Buffy is a regular girl, then discovers she’s ~special~ and then she has to deal with this!!!11!! Instead, we are long past that point. Buffy has been slaying vampires for a while and is now fed-up with this destined role, preferring for some peace and quiet instead.
- And now let’s talk about the other fantastic thing this pilot does: It doesn’t make Buffy’s secret a plot point for longer than twenty minutes. I don’t necessarily think this would have been a bad thing to watch, but I’ve seen it before. How many ways can you write that sort of stuff? Instead, Joss Whedon has Xander, Jesse, and Willow all find out about Buffy and vampires by the end of the very first episode, drawing them into the action pretty much immediately. THIS IS WONDERFUL.
- Oh, hello there Angel! You’re rather dapper. Is he another slayer?
- What is a Hellmouth IS IT A MOUTH OF HELL that would make sense.
- OH GOD. I have to laugh at the Bronze. It is the most horrific 90s stereotype ever, both extremely accurate and based entirely on fiction at the same time. YES THIS IS POSSIBLE DID YOU WATCH THIS SCENE. So much grunge and flannel and bad blouses in five minutes! The thing is….we didn’t have anything like this in Riverside. I mean, we had the Showcase Theater and the Barn (R.I.P. to both of them), but they were explicitly venues for alternative music, not this weird combination between an all-ages bar like thing and a music venue. Plus, these type of scenes make me laugh because I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to hear anyone talk in these venues.
- OH MY GOD IT’S THE ALIEN BOUNTY HUNTER FROM THE X-FILES.
- No, seriously, I want to like Cordelia. She’s going to find out about Buffy and they’ll become friends, right?
- Oh, so vampires dress like sleezy background actors in Scarface? Cool.
- The Master? That’s the third thing I’ve seen with a character with that name. I wish all three were The Master from Doctor Who, especially if it were always John Simm.
- What is the Harvest? WILL THERE BE PUMPKINS?
- I can’t help but laugh at the vampires using a cemetery. REALLY.
- OH SHIT SHE SLAYED A VAMPIRE IN THE FIRST EPISODE. Well, that was quick.
- Okay, I promise I’ll go easy on season one. But the fighting seemed staged and wooden to me. Is it explained how Buffy is so strong and agile? Did she train? (PS: THAT IS RHETORICAL. DON’T ANSWER IT.)
- A CLIFFHANGER IN THE PILOT? NOT FAIR. THIS IS NOT FAIR.
I definitely gotta say: this shit is fun.
[PS: Big sloppy thank you to Sadie, who designed the header for me. LOOK HOW AWESOME IT IS.]
You are both the best people ever. All of my <3's *runs off to find*
Hey Mark! First got to your site during the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” watch through you did, and even though I’ve stuck around for updates here and there, I can not tell you how ecstatic I am that you are watching Buffy. Big personal history with this show- by the time it finished airing I was juuust reaching the point where my parents would let me watch most of the earlier episodes, so I had to plow through on my own; occasionally dragging the rents in for family bonding time as I experienced one of their favorite shows for the first time.
Gotta say, the first season may seem stilted at times, but it’s one of my favorites simply because it’s so FUN. If you liked the pilot, it only gets better (as shows like these often do once they establish themselves). Musical fun will be had by all- V oryvrir gung rcvfbqr unccraf fbzrgvzr va gur fvkgu frnfba? So you’ve got a ways to go, but plenty of wonderful moments until then.
V nffher lbh gung gurer ner irel srj bar qvzrafvbany punenpgref sbe irel ybat ba guvf fubj- vg’f terng orpnhfr rirelbar (rira gur zbfg zvabe punenpgref), jvyy trg gurve zbzrag.
Ugh. Mark. You are going to love this, I can tell already. I feel like I’ve come full circle and am now in my parents shoes reading about you watching Buffy for your first time. I wish you a spoiler free few months, and can’t wait to read more!
Rot13ed part of your comment because I don't think Mark knows when the musical episode is and might want to keep it as a surprise and the third paragraph because of expectations.
OMG there should be a Mark Watches Roswell.
Oh, I don't know about that (first season was one of my favourite things on tv EVER, but it went downhill after that). But I would totally watch-along, just to see if my Jason Behr crush is as strong now as it was then.
Yay! I got so excited when I saw your new banner, it rocks. I'm looking at the DVDs in the corner of my eye and am so tempted to watch them again along with you (I doubt I'll be able to stick to one episode per sitting though).
Aside from that, how cheesy is Angel as a name?
Buffy, yay! It was my favorite TV show for years, until this autumn when I discovered Supernatural… Buffy is still #2, though, and I doubt that will change! It's awesome, and it's cheesy, and it's sweet, and it's angsty, and it has Giles, and Giles is the best! (I still think it's hilarious that he's in Merlin now – Uther is like the Anti-Giles.) I love Willow too. Who doesn't love Willow?
I had a friend who was obsessed with Buffy for years before I saw it. She would talk about all the frikkin time, and one day she forced me to watch it. Guess what season she was on then? Yes, season 7. I saw two episodes from season 7, and one of them was the finale. Great start!
Then they started to reprise it on Swedish TV, and I began watching it – from season 2, this time. It was probably for the best, because season 2 was awesome, and when I finally watched the first season I was so in love with the show that I could overlook all the cheesiness. Story of my life.
(Oh, and thanks to Buffy I discovered the band Common Rotation – the actor Adam Busch is the singer in it, you know – which incidentally I am listening to right now. I just love them!)
Woops. I just read through all the comments instead of doing something productive this morning… anyway I just wanted to leave this here:
My day yesterday:
6:30 am wake up – Yay! Mark is starting Buffy today!
9:00 am check markwatches to see if the first Buffy post is up yet. It's not but that's okay, Mark lives in the first world where it is still yesterday.
11:00 am re-watch the first episode of Buffy so that I'm prepared for the review.
12:00 re-watch the second episode of Buffy because I am bad at the whole one episode a day thing. (Plus I don't know the first two episodes as well as I know the rest of the season because we only started obsessively taping it from the third episode… Plus the second episode is really just part two of the first episode… Plus shuddup I can do what I want)
1:30 pm check markwatches again. It's still not up, oh well I guess I'm still early I'll check back at about 4, new posts are normally up by then, right?
4:00 pm still nothing hmmm…. Oh look it says on the suggestions page that it will be up at 1pm PST so maybe it will be a few hours later than usual…
6:00 pm still nothing
6:01 pm Google 'what time is it in San Fancisco' because I am a creepy stalker who knows where you live.
6:02 pm OMG IT IS ONLY 8 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING WHERE YOU ARE. THIS IS GOING TO TAKE FOREVER. The only way you could get further away from me timezonally is if you moved to Alaska. Or Hawaii.
8:00 pm re-watch first episode of Buffy again, just cuz I can.
11:00 pm it's up! Read review excitedly. Squeel several times. I knew you would love Willow and Giles! OMG I never comment but I must comment!
11:01 pm refresh site so I can comment. Woops we broke the site…
So I went to bed and now it's the next day but I still wanted to comment and say how excited I am about this. I watched Buffy when it was first on TV and it was a huge part of my childhood but because I live in the third world we got all the episodes about 6 months after they first aired. Because of this my sister and I managed to spoil ourselves for just about every major plot point on the show buy obsessively researching it on our super slow 90s internet. I am therefore super excied to follow you as you watch it spoiler free and squee at your unpreparededness and yay.
…crap yes I do. Silly me.
I'm always excited when a new reviewer with an unbiased attitude discovers BtVS. Will be following your reviews.
Ha! I was a senior in high school when this show started, so I had two years on the characters (though a lot of the actors were way older than me). The 90's were an awesome time to grow up, in my opinion. Of course, I was in the NW, so it was all flannel shirts and ripped jeans, but yeah, good times!
Jvgu gur rkprcgvba bs ure pbefrg qerff sebz Bapr Zber Jvgu Srryvat (bxnl gur pbybhef ner xvaq bs vpx ohg V fgvyy ybir vg)VGN nobhg Gnen'f pybgurf.
In Australia, The TV network tried twice to show Buffy in prime-time (bless em’ ) but it didn’t work, so they moved it to 10.30pm Tuesday nights .. and got an aidience that were so loyal thats where it successfully aired from then on…. Oh and season one is only 12 episodes so stick with it …
Sbe zr, Frnfba 3 vf n arne-cresrpg frnfba bs NAL gi fubj…
So glad I found this site .. and get ready for many Quotable quotes from the show:-
When Buffy nearly stakes Cordelia in Episode 1 — Cordelia’s reaction ? “Excuse me .. but I have to call EVERYONE I’ve ever known !! ” …
—
I rot13ed a sentence for expectation spoilers.
Many thanks .. and that was after I read the Spoilers policy!!
*Will definitely behave from now on 🙂 ..*
—
It's fine, everyone slips up once in a while, especially at the start of new projects.
OMG OMG OMG. MARK YOU ARE NOT PREPARED.
You're in for a loooong ride. For good or ill. >:K
(also: musical liveblooooog!!! But that's not for a while, I think)
My mom adores Buffy and made me watch the movie one night, and I thought it was alright. Then on Halloween she showed me… *cough* THAT episode and I freaked the crap out. I was like 9 – Pirates of the Caribbean freaked me out at 9 xD So then I was hooked, especially because some channel was showing it every afternoon. Ah, the memories! 🙂
Just as a side point…the high schoolers at my school here (in Nairobi) do go to night clubs. And do the respective night club-y things. But I doubt it's all-ages, so… never mind, I guess.
I rot13'd part of your comment for spoilers.
Yeah, I had a flatmate who loved Charmed, and I'd watch the first 10 minutes of each episode with her before telling her what was going to happen in the rest of it.
She'd ask how I knew, and I'd say "I've seen this episode of Buffy!"
Agreed on the hair. Which is especially frustrating because- that's a styling thing! It'd be easy to do no matter what she looks like! Watching her in the first film and then the seventh/eighth is… weird, heh.
Noooooo.
Wow I wasn't expecting this turn out lol
I watched Buffy as it aired but was never that big a fan but I'm going to watch along.
The Origin is also collected by itself. I have that.
V nterr. V cersre Ohssl jvgu Fcvxr naq Natry jvgu Pbeqryvn.
Nf Natryhf, lrnu, ohg ur svefg qbrf vg va "Jura Fur Jnf Onq".
I always love it when someone new starts down the path of discovering this show. I was a latecomer myself.
Incidentally, Seventh Heaven started the same year/season as Buffy. Buffy was supposed to start in the fall, but was bumped to mid-season in favor of Rev. Camden and his brood. It was the 96/97 season. Yeah. Sad, sad times.
OMIGOSH IT'S BUFFY TIME! YEEEEEES!
Also 568 comments for the first review already? Wow.
Waiting for the next one please and thanks.
You'll get people to fear that avatar one way or another…
This show began the year I started college, and had my very own computer, with its very own dial-up connection through AOL which I used to log on to the Yahoo! Buffy the Vampire Slayer chat room. I spent several years as a regular member of a BtVS board, I started a small fangroup, I traveled around the country just to meet the crazy fools who liked the show and I still talk to many of them daily thanks to the wonders of the Internet
This show made me the fangirl I am today.
This show surrounded me with the people who saved my life.
And yet, I haven't sat down and rewatched all the episodes in a couple years. Well, except for one episode I can never rewatch and I'll tell you that story when we get to the 5th season.
All right, let's do this thing!
V guvax V pna thrff. Vf vg Gur Obql gung lbh pna'g erjngpu?
Lrnu. V'z n lrne byqre guna Ohssl naq zl zbz unq pnapre ng gur fnzr gvzr nf Wblpr.
Ha, no way I can say much new now after all these comments. I will say that Buffy changed my life in many ways which I'm sure I'll comment about later when we get further into the show. Like many people the name (and various out-of-context clips) put me off so I didn't start watching the show until it was airing it's fourth season when I was 15/16 but I've since seen it and the spin-off more times than I can count.
Although this first episode is campy I kinda love it, the only think that makes me cringe is the acting/direction in that very first scene, the guy is awful and distracts from what otherwise is really good twist.
My favourite quote from the first episode:
Giles: Something's coming, something, something, something is – is gonna happen here. Soon!
Buffy: Gee, can you vague that up for me?
Aside from being hilarious is just totally makes me think of that thing where characters don't ask questions/explain things straight off and much confusion is caused – in this case Giles has no idea!
Yes, that's the guy! Their last names are more similar than I thought…I feel better.
And I always feel so bad for him because whenever he appears onscreen, you know he's almost never going to get the girl, even though he may get a girl. He always seems to play good guys too and I just want to give all his characters a hug.
Sadie is a friend of mine! She told me about getting to do this header! You are going to love this show by the way! It’s awesome!
My kids watched Buffy (and Angel) semi-religiously, so I caught glimpses of the show from time to time. Once they were all off to college, I raided their DVD collections and sat down to watch the entire show from beginning to end. All I can say is — have fun on the journey!
OMG Mark! You're doing Buffy! I promise you will not regret it. Although there is ONE season I hate, but I will not specify which or why. Still, hold on to your laptop – you're in for the best TV show in 30 years. 🙂 It joins the ranks of BSG in my book, and some Doctor Who.
They named that trope after Dawsons? 90210 was the worst offender easy. I think Andrea was 31 by the time she was a senior in high school.
BTW you and I seem to have the SAME HATED FOR THAT SHOW THAT WE SHALL NOT MENTION AGAIN! Omg, it was the most biased, sexist, extreme right-wing Christian show ever. But every other show that was on the WB then was pretty good.
They do mention that it's also called 90210 Syndrome in the Live Action TV section.
I emailed a tentative suggestion that he consider "The Girl in Question" as a coda to his Buffy reviews. And I also put forward "Smile Time" as the Angel episode most worthy of a live blog.
When we get there, Mark will have a much better idea of how much Angel he wants to talk about – so that'd probably be the best time to suggest it.
Edit: in general we should be careful about episode titles and spoilers – but I think these are vague enough.
Future episode titles are definitely considered spoilers, you guys. Just use the numbers, S5E3 or 5×03 or whatever.
If I remember correctly, they actually aired the pilot as a two hour special, so those of us who watched when it first came on didn't have to deal with a cliffhanger. THAT'S WHAT YOU GET, MARK.
Also, seriously, after reading some of your thoughts and expectations? I can say this with more certainty than ever. YOU. ARE. NOT. PREPARED.
Yeah, I don't think I've ever watched them separately. In my mind they're one episode.
THERE ARE SO MANY OF YOU.
I KNOW, RIGHT?
Hello!
I haven't been on here for a while, but I'm definitely up for this! I've only ever seen a handful of Buffy, but remember liking it as a teenager, so I started from the beginning about a month ago. I've only watched about 5, so I'm totally going to take this journey. If I get a bit more time, I'll upload the song I wrote last month about how much better Buffy is than Twilight…
We wasn't allowed to watch tv when I was growing up(I grew up in the 90's, and I would have loved Buffy then), so my first exposure to Buffy was when I (17 yrs old)went to visit my married sister 5 states away and she had us watch the Musical episode with her. From there I was hooked. After that I bought the seasons of them and watched them all the way through.
I love the snark too. It's always witty, funny lines.
Well, I certainly feel out of place here. I never liked Buffy much. (And, in fact, I hate the character Buffy with a passion. Can't fucking stand that girl.)
I might try to rewatch it, though. See if it appeals anymore years later.
I am so happy you are watching this! I love BtVS almost as much as Firefly (and I really loved you watching that too!)
ERIC BALFOUR: well I never saw '7th Heaven' (ewww), but he was in 'Six Feet Under' and was really good in it, and he isn't bad in 'Haven' now….
Now I have to continue reading.
Agreed.
Lol me too, for some reason I thought there was only 3 seasons so the beginning of season 4 reviews was not a good day for me.
Better Whedonesqued than Jossed.
So I didn't do a full post yesterday. Mark, I mentioned this before but I'm going to repeat it. You will grow to have a love hate relationship with the "Joss Whedon" closing credit. I promise over the next few months when you see it you will scream, cry and throw things in the general direction of your television. Just you wait.
I can't wait for you to fall in love with these characters….
Also. I love 90s television.
and lols: Bu, uryyb gurer Natry! Lbh’er engure qnccre. Vf ur nabgure fynlre?
You may boot me from the Trekkie club for this but Voyager is actually my favorite series…
…and I didn't like TNG that much either…
OK I had a link to the website where you can decipher these things the other day. Anyone got it again so I can bookmark it and read all this stuff?
rot13.com
The problem with that site for me, has always been that it's way too Xander centric for my tastes. By now I've actually grown to actively dislike Xander-centric fanfics, because so many of them are based on fanon, rather than on the actual show, pulling him completely out of character and making him a far less interesting character by removing most of his flaws.
Well, Whedon's way of indicating outcastiness seems to be to cast an attractive woman and dress her in an unflattering way.
I'm just hoping we can keep the shipwars with their added character bashing out of Mark's blog.
Yes please to that. Plus, I don't want to read either "Onatry" or "Fchssl" if I can avoid it *cringe*
THIS. (and it goes for other stuff on this site too, but it's too late for that and I would especially love to keep it out of this show)
Well, there are definitely Xander-centric fics. But not nearly all of them are, and a lot of them are good. There's tons of fics in general, though, and if you like crossovers, no one else has nearly as many.
lol true
Awwh. I'm really sorry. I hope she's doing okay with it 33and Pokemon, that's adorable!! >.<
Mark Watches serves me my irony cooked just the way I like it. 🙂
It's odd, but I've only gotten through three pages of comments, and I've already realized I seem to be the exception here*g*
Not in loving Buffy, Buffy is awesome.
But in my utter disregard and eventual despise of Willow.
V erzrzore va gur svefg frnfbaf, fur jnf whfg gurer, ohg gur shegure gur frevrf zbirq ba, gur zber V fgnegrq gb qvfyvxr ure. Hagvy riraghnyyl ol f6, V npghnyyl qrfcvfrq ure. Jung fur qvq gb Gnen, V fgvyy svaq hasbetvirnoyr, znvayl orpnhfr fur arire frrzrq gb unir gnxra ure erfcbafvovyvgl sbe ure encr bs Gnen, abe haqrefgnaq whfg ubj onq jung fur qvq jnf.
Ng yrnfg Fcvxr unq erzbefr naq punatrq uvf ragver angher nsgre frrvat erq, nsgre Gnohyn Enfn, Jvyybj whfg fng gurer jvgu Gnen'f qerff tbvat nyy "fur yrsg zr sbe ab tbbq ernfba'.
V qba'g guvax V'ir rire sbetvira ure sbe gung.
SO EXCITED you are watching Buffy! You are fully unprepared for the awesomeness to come.
Oh, agreed about the Hermione-hair. That's a legitimate quibble. Complaining that a little girl (a CHILD, in case they forgot) is "too pretty" to be or play the smartest girl in the school, now that is ridiculous. Especially when said girl is actually described IN THE BOOKS as pretty once she's shrunk her teeth and fixed her hair.
Have you seen pics of her irl? Girl is actually hottest in no/practically-nonexistent makeup, t-shirt and what looked like cargo pants.
(oh, and she played a stripper for like 10 seconds on Ringer last week, so it looks like the scantily-dressed wish-fulfillment sorta did happen 😉
I think it's also that (character) was SUPPOSED to be extremely shy, awkward around new people at first….not too much of a stretch to assume she hadn't quite figured out the clothes thing yet. I can sorta identify with that, being so uncomfortable with yourself/who you are/your body that wearing horrid stuff just ends up…happening. Ohg gura vg qbrfa'g trg zhpu orggre va F5 be 6….znlor Gnen'f whfg n tvsgrq jvgpu jvgu greevoyr snfuvba frafr?
(abg hayvxr rneyl Jvyybj, ernyyl. Vg'f xvaq bs nznmvat gb frr whfg ubj zhpu Jvyybj ribyirf bire gur pbhefr bs gur fubj, ohg Gnen oernxf zl urneg. Ab yvr, "Snzvyl" vf bar bs zl snibhevgr rcvfbqrf bs guvf fubj, nyy sbe ure)
Oh yes, the one about getting back "most of" her Barbie.
(and I know we tend to assume beauty privilege played into these matters, but as someone who did watch both versions of the pilot – Alyson Hannigan >>> Riff Regan, with my eyes closed even. She's a damned good actress!)
Oh dear, now this makes me sad! I was one of those child outcasts myself, and it can be rough, but at least she has the Pokemon and things will start looking up someday – wish her luck from us 🙂
*cringes with you*
I've never been so glad to be firmly ship-neutral in a fandom, apart from Harry Potter.
I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it since there are over 600 comments here, but something people sometimes forget is that a movie preceded this show. It had a different cast, but really is a precursor to the show, including the story of Buffy being "called" as the slayer. It's super campy – even more so than the show – but it would be worth watching. Many (perhaps most) of us who watched the show when it was on the air had previously watched the movie.
Yay! So glad you're watching this. This show, quite literally, changed my life. It will forever be the best show ever for me.
Sorry. As someone with mental health issues, I've reclaimed that word for myself and tend to travel with others who do, forgetting that not everyone does or has.
Deleted your multiple posts of the same comment.
"Onatry" vf tengvat gb zr, ohg V qb fnl "Fchssl." Vg'f whfg sha gb fnl!
V whfg ungr nyy anzrfzbbfurf jvgu n svrel cnffvba :C
Onatry znxrf zr guvax bs n pregnva fbat… pybfr lbhe rlrf… tvir zr lbhe unaq, qneyvat…
Naq Fchssl fbhaqf yvxr gur fhpprffbe gb FUNZ!JBJ! *tehzcl byq sna zbqr*
V guvax Jvyybj'f punenpgre nep jnf ERNYYL jryy qbar, hc hagvy nobhg unysjnl guebhtu f6 jura gurl fgnegrq znxvat vg n qeht zrgncube. V qb nterr gung vg fhpxf gung fur arire gbbx erfcbafvovyvgl sbe jung fur qvq gb Gnen, gubhtu.
Mark,
There are no words to describe how happy I am that you are watching my favorite show of all time. I was bullied a lot in middle school (when I started watching) and this show got me through those years and these characters became my best friends. I only hope you enjoy them and their stories as much as I did (and still do) when I was 11-18 years old. Welcome to the hellmouth :)!
As a long time lurker on this site I felt that since you are deciding to watch my all time favourite show it was time to comment. First off I'm quite jealous that you get to experience the show for the first time it's an experience I would love to be able to repeat. Second I love your site and all your reviews so keep up the good work. That's all, enjoy the show.
Yes this. I was about to write a comment about how her portrayal was different than the other actresses who trier for the part. I've seen the unaired pilot, and yeah… Alyson got the part because she is WILLOW. Not because she's more "attractive." That's a bunch fo nonsense. Nothing against Riff Regan, but she just simply wasn't right for the part — so the part got re-casted. It was the right decision, since Alyson does an amazing job.
If you had a TV show and used it purely to troll your viewers/execs you would be the makers of Supernatural. Which, obviously, you should watch.
SHE BURNED DOWN THE GYM AT HER LAST SCHOOL. WHAT THE.
You're not getting the big picture here! That gym was FULL of vampi– asbestos.
Oh Mark. I cannot wait to see you journey through Buffy. This is going to be fantastic.
OMG OMG OMG I just found out that you're doing Buffy, I was busy with university and had a shit ton of essays and stuff to do so I haven't been checking. I come back and you're doing buffy and I missed 7 episodes. 🙁 I'll get reading now.
I am SO LATE TO THE PARTY!
I am amused that I actually knew (past tense because you've now overtaken me) more about Buffy than you did, and I thought I was pretty behind.
I too was blindsided that Darla was a vampire, she is so blonde and pretty one expects her to be the one in jeopardy.
Anthony Head <3 he's soooooo young here! LOVE!
I would LOVE for John Simm to be The Master in, well, pretty much anything. That would be cool.
I think "fun" is a great one word description. I have only seen series one complete and in the right order so far, and it was FUN. And I am side-eyeing lovefilm for not sending me any more yet…
HO SHIT I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU'D ALREADY STARTED BUFFY. Yeeeessssss.
Yeah. The first episodes… are something.