NOOOOOO, EVERYONE IS A BABY, AND GILES IS A BABY, AND THEY ALL HAVE SO MUCH HOPE, AND THEY ARE ALL NICE AND EVERYTHING IS BABIES.
All right, I’m being ridiculous. Let’s just do this.
- Thank you to my Twitter/Shoebox Project buddy @gimjunmyeon for commissioning this because BABIES. BABIES.
- I honestly think this pilot holds up remarkably well in hindsight. It’s much easier for me to ignore the things that date it and appreciate the way this story is set up. We’ve got a reversal of horror tropes right in the opening scene with BABY DARLA. We have  Willow and Xander learning of Buffy’s secret identity/the existence of vampires in the first episode. We have what is essentially a person with superhero powers who does not want them. H E L P.
- Oh my god, I forgot about the cliffhanger at the end of this. This show opens with a two-parter!!!
- BABIES BABIES BABIES. At this point, each of these characters is far more categorizable than they ever will be. The nerd. The “nice guy.” The teen queen. The stuffy librarian. Then it’s all destroyed (for better and for worse) over seven seasons and oh my god.
- I do like The Master a lot. He’s got the camp and the ridiculousness you normally associate with vampires, but it’s played up in a way that is both satirical and then, at times, fucking terrifying. But he’s such a memorable antagonistic force because of what he means to Buffy in this first season.
- Joyce. Joyce. Oh god, there was once a time when she didn’t know who Buffy was, and she is just too precious for words.
- Remember when I didn’t even know that Angel was a goddamn vampire I AM ALWAYS SO UNPREPARED.
I spend a lot of time shrieking about babies in this. Just be warned if you watch it.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am going on tour in 2013! There are 27 tour dates spread across the eastern half of North America. Please help suggest venues, offer up a place to crash, and RSVP for dates near you!
- ALL VIDEO COMMISSIONS WILL CLOSE ON FEBRUARY 9TH SO THAT I CAN WRITE POSTS IN ADVANCE FOR TOUR. The only exception to this are any upcoming projects I am doing, so I have listed all upcoming Mark Watches posts that are missing commissions.
- You can, however, commission me to read bad fic/fiction on ANY Mark Does Stuff Tour date. You can claim a specific date to have a live reading right here.
