Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 3

1.09 The Puppet Show

Its funny watching this episode, despite having seen it a couple of times before, I couldn't for the life of me remember who was the true demon. I remembered it wasn't the puppet despite the it seeming that way for most of the episode; it was the magician in the end- which was a clever reveal/deception from the writers.
The infamous Snydor debuts in this episode, his quips about Flutie getting eaten are pretty ironic, retrospectively considering his own death. I liked Giles getting involved in school things and not just in his library, Cordelia was also pretty funny with her singing and diva behaviour. The best bit of the episode, was Buffy, Willows and Xander's 'performance' of Oedipus Rex. Their run through of the lines and sheer terror was just priceless. Probably the funniest scene we've had so far in the show! (7.5/10)


1.10 Nightmares

I remembered this as one of the more scary Buffy episodes, but it wasn't as creepy as I thought it would be. I thought it was an interesting look at fears and facing up to them. Some of the things people dreamed about were pretty funny to watch (Xander and the clown, Cordy and her hair/chess club) others a lot more poignant (Buffy dying for Giles, Buffy's dad telling her she was the root of her parents divorce). As I've mentioned in an earlier review, I'm not a fan of any insect like creature, and spiders are top of that list (even though yes they are arachnids as this episode taught us!) so having so many big spiders so early on in the episode definitely gave me the creeps! One thing I noticed was that the boys who played the Annointed One and Billy (the nightmare boy) were quite similar looking which was a bit confusing to begin with but maybe that was the point! (7/10)

1.11 Out of Mind Out of Sight

A sad but powerful episode about what its like to be lonely and truly ignored. It's also the first Cordelia centric episode and for the first time she actually shows a bit of humanity. Of course its not Cordelia's last encounter with a ghost, but its an interesting watch all the same! I also liked Angel's scene with Giles, it was cute to see them geeking out over ancient books!
It's hard not to sympathise a little with Marcie in this episode, she was trying so desperately hard to fit in but it just didn't take. However you do have to think if she was trying to fit in with the right people, maybe if she tried to make friends with others not just Cordy, she might not have been so ignored. The ending was really good though, having the FBI take Marcie away to train her to be a spy like other invisible kids have been. (7.5/10)


1.12 Prophecy Girl

This episode is probably the most praised episode of the season, but before this re-watch I didn't really get why. It was a lot better and more emotional than I remembered. I thoroughly enjoyed the Master vs Buffy fight, and the whole gang including, Jenny, Cordy and Angel fighting at the end. I also liked Xander taking the plunge and asking Buffy out- at least he had the stones to do that! Willow's unrequited love was also touched on in this episode. The episode was a little cheesy as season finale's go, especially the music. There were a lot of loose threads here, so I'm glad that early season 2 will touch upon some of these. Overall though this was a very good ending to the first season. (8.5/10)


Season 1 Overall

Overall considering it was a short season, this is a very good introductory season to the show. Thought there are only a few stand-out episodes, there is enough potential in all the episodes to justify a second season. This being a re-watch for me, the first season feels very naive and innocent, through the general vampire mythology is laid out effectively, background mythology for Angel and Darla especially is very sparse. Some character traits are also different early on, again especially with Angel. The characters generally are innocent, I guess by the end of the show, the frequent apocalypses makes them a little more cynical. Still I really enjoyed the teenage antics and behaviour of Buffy, Willow and Xander along with the high school issues playing out against supernatural settings. The Master was also a good first Big Bad for the show, but out of all the the Bads he's probably the least Big, causing trouble in only half of the episodes and most of the trouble, Buffy taking care of pretty easily (both mostly due to the fact that he was stuck underground until the last episode! The apocalypse in Prophecy made up for it though were the Master became the first Bad to truly overcome Buffy. (7/10)