Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 31

B5.07 Fool For Love
A great episode and the first part of the crossover episodes I was most looking forward too when starting this re-watch. Spike's flashbacks are great to watch as he is an engaging character and watching him change over the years was a hoot. It's also great to see the Fang Gang in their full capacity for the first time. The interaction between Spike and Buffy was really enjoyable and the two characters work wonderfully together. The rest of the episode, with Riley hunting the vamp that stabbed Buffy did feel like filler material, and for me it was weird to see the Scoobies acting so glibly about patrol considering their best friend and the Slayer was just stabbed. You'd think they're be more careful. Plus the episode whilst acting as a wonderful accompaniment to the following episode, does feel a little stuck into the season, especially considering all that was going on with Glory, Dawn and Joyce (which I guess in fairness was addressed in this episode). (8.5/10)

A2.07 Darla
Like the the first half of this crossover, the flashbacks in this episode are excellent and are brilliant to watch. However this episode triumphs over the previous episode in the fact that it fits better into the season and feels more apart of the storyline than Spike's flashbacks did in Buffy. Also since this episode completes the stories set out in Fool For Love, its provides a more rounded and enjoyable picture of the Fang Gang's past.
I also love the drama of this episode, the flashbacks provide a lot of emotion to the storyline and the characters. Julie Benz pulls of a wonderful performance as Darla, both in the flashbacks and in the present day in her frenzied state. I especially liked her scenes with Lindsey which were great to watch and they make an interesting pairing. It was also good to see the Master back in his siring of Darla and more comically in his first meeting his Angelus. (10/10)

B5.08 Shadow
I find this to be quite an emotional episode and little wonder considering this is the episode where it is found out that Joyce has a tumour. Its very sad watching Buffy have to deal with her mother's illness, especially as she has to be the grown up. Her protectiveness of Dawn was sweet and a sign of things to come. The monster storyline with Glory was fairly interesting, especially as the snake wasn't trying to cause mayhem as monsters usually are. The CGI and aesthetics were a little lame though so made this story a little silly. There was also a brooding Riley who was doing his best in supportive boyfriend role. Whilst I understand his rejected feelings, he may be feeling a little needlessly left out by Buffy considering she should be putting her family first right now. (8.5/10)



A2.08 The Shroud of Rahmon
Lets face it, this is a filler episode before the next arc kicks off; even the writers seem to know it by the very unimaginative title name given to the episode. The only thing that might even be considered as continuity is the fact that Angel drunk human blood, which will help him down his dark path, but I don't think that really gets alluded to again. There aren't many plus points of this episode. My favourite part was the growing team work between Cordy and Wesley which is sweet to see but just a minor plot point. The main plot felt a bit ridiculous as did the mythology behind the Shroud itself which meant that the episode didn't quite ring true. The demons involved in the heist weren't really that interesting either. The actual storyline (bank heist) is done better in a season 4 episode and whilst the starting the episode from the end was kind of interesting, Wes' scenes in the police station were a little hammy. (5.5/10)