B5.01 Buffy vs Dracula
I distinctly remember not liking this episode originally but I liked it a lot more this time. This is a hugely sexually charged episode, but it isn't the best season premiere. However whilst Dracula is a little annoying, he serves his purpose as he helps lay the foundations for the season. Firstly Buffy starts to take her Slayer studies more seriously, something which is very important this year. He also shook the Buffy/Riley foundations a bit which obviously has an impact later on.The most significant part of this episode is the excellent Dawn reveal/cliffhanger at the end of the episode which is always a great moment to watch. The two actresses nail the sisterly dynamic straight away. (7.5/10)
A2.01 Judgment
A decent season opener, that helps establish the show as well as set-up for the rest of the season. The story of the week was moistly enjoyable, I liked the girls storyline of the Tribunal and needing a champion rather than the girl herself who was a little annoying, which made it hard to sympathise with her.There were a lot of plus points however, seeing Wes and Cordy's lives in and outside Angel Investigations, Lindsey and Lilah with Darla and that delightful final scene with Faith. We also got to see more of Gunn and the introduction of Caritas and Lorne (RIP Andy Hallet). Oh and we got the first glimpse of the Hyperion which was a brilliant and subtle way to introduce it. (8/10)
B5.02 Real Me
Watching this episode without having any clue who Dawn was or why she was there must have been really disconcerting, but watching knowing all the facts, makes this quite an interesting episode. There are numerous clues all over the place as to who Dawn is, and the fact that she hasn't been there all the time. The sisterly dynamic wasn't always there between Dawn and Buffy though there were glimpses of it. The diary writing idea was a novel one as it allowed us into Dawn's thoughts a little more and showed her relationships with the other Scoobies.The vampire of the week was Harmony and although I liked her scene with Spike and the fact that she has history with the Slayers, she was pretty boring as storylines go. I did like Giles' mini mid life crisis culminating in him taking over the magic shop, I think its a good storyline for him. (7.5/10)
A2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?
This is a hugely compelling and gorgeously shot episode and served as a terrific introduction to the Hyperion. This story from Angel's past has to be one of my favourites of his and the moving between the 19050's and modern day was a brilliant way to tell the story. The demon in the episode is brilliantly scary and I adored the twist at the end with Judy still remaining and then poignantly dying in the Hotel as it served as nice closure to the episode.Wesley provided some comic relief at the end with his paranoia about being paranoid, showing that even some of Angel's darker episodes can be funny. (9/10)
4 comments:
Season 5 of Buffy is my fave season but the first two episodes aren't the best. Buffy Vs. Dracula is the preferred one for me though.
I liked Judgement but more for the bits of Darla and Faith we got than the actual storyline. I would've loved to have seen these two characters interact for some reason. Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been is a good episode, though not a favourite of mine.
Darla and Faith interacting would've definitely been interesting. I bet a lot of fanboys would've liked to have seen them throw down!! They were quite similar characters in a way.
They're both dangerous and yearning for love in the worst of places in a sense. Sometimes there is a plus side to fanfic, though I haven't actually looked for any Fath/Darla stuff. Probably should do.
I'm sure there must be some fanfic out there. Probably not as much as for some other characters but still some.
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