I have been having a bit of a think about what I was expecting of S5 if anything. It seemed most apt to say something after watching the decidedly mediocre Buffy vs Dracula.

One of the problems of S5 must be that it seems to set up Buffy on a journey of self-discovery. This is established in both Restless and Buffy vs Dracula. This leads to what I will call The Phantom Menace problem namely that metaphysical explanations do not deliver anything satisfying in terms of storytelling ie just as the midi-chlorians made the mystical Jedi Knights somehow mundane even prosaic then if Joss and Marti had delivered on their 'promise' the results might well have been just as repulsive as The Phantom Menace. It was probably a good thing they treated the mystical with the disdain Giles shows in Intervention. I suppose I am saying it is a good thing they did not go 'serious' like Star Wars perhaps did.

My reading of Buffy vs Dracula is a bit speculative I admit but I thought it did hint at where they were going with Riley. Of course I am operating with the benefit of perfect hindsight.(What puzzled me in my review was how to handle Buffy's very teasing comment about there being "no penetration" hinting at the encounter with Dracula being a sexual one yet not consummated. What I had in mind was Riley somehow not coming up to scratch as Buffy needs something more hence Riley is already a marked man. I had not noticed this before. Does anyone have a more coherent reading of what they are doing in Buffy vs Dracula?)

The in your face return to the mystical after the science of S4 does feel more natural I admit. I love the sheer bonkersness of Glory. Dawn is, quite frankly, fantastic at least in S5 as she is the perfect representation of alienation. This is what I think currently at any rate. I wonder if I will change my mind a little or a lot. sk

:unsure: whatever happen to everyone else reviews? (real me and the replacement :unsure: )

I think I am on the edge of another major depressive episode so I am having trouble concentrating at the moment hence I have not been watching Buffy. Hopefully it is just a passing response to current events so I will resume reviewing shortly.

I will keep on putting up episodes every week unless we agree not to. sk

Now that the board have been reorganise and Buffy and Angel boards are sharing space I noticed the rewatch sub-forums for seasons 1-5 are no more more but does that mean the threads contained within have been deleted? This isn't a critism I know time has moved on the boards need to make space for new things. I just wanted to know so we know what happening to continue the rewatch do we just open a thread in main part of the Buffy board? Is ok do to that for earlier season if at some point in the future any of us want to start again when finish this one. Whenever I watch Chosen I want start over again it cheers me up but I'm addict! :lmao:

Note to self learn to type :blush: my post should make more sense now

i still can see the last reviews for season five, they are just not in a specific thread so yes it might harder to find old reviews (like season one to season three, depend of the date of the last post i suppose), lastest season four review must still be easy to locate :unsure:

just checked, restless review thread (for season four) is on the page one of the main buffy threads list

the new season is gonna start in the US (and well i am feeling a bit alone posting reviews :lol: :unsure: ) so maybe we should stop and we will start again next summer :ponder:

I will have a think about it. Personally I think we should finish S5. sk

:unsure: one way or another i will probably find the time to post a review (even if late) in between download

I am looking forward to Into The Woods like a hole in the head. sk

:lol: we could take a break (a week or two) before getting to that episode :ponder:

We could but I would rather just watch and take the pain. I will post in a minute.

We could have a short break between S5 and S6 if you want. Joe and Mehitabel should say if they have any feelings one way or another. sk

i think it's a good idea :)

Aha!

JB I now suspect that you are the secret (if not actually criminal) mastermind behind this whole hide-the-rewatch-threads. It's so I can't disagree with you loudly, vehemently and at entirely self-indulgent length about the Dracula episode. (But in a good way, obviously. :thumbsup: )

So I will, now I've traced you to your lair. But about to get chucked out the the library any minute now- so, to be going on with ...

You didn't like it? :mad:

I can't believe you didn't like it :blink:

What's not to like? (OK I'll read yours again more carefully) :whip:

'Decidedly mediocre' :damnyou:

Speechless now, but not for long...:hug:

Hi Mehitabel

If anyone else had posted that I would have been a bit worried. If you think there are hidden subtleties in Buffy vs Dracula then post either here or maybe better in the S5 review thread where all the other reviews going back to BVsD are happily residing.

I think Welcome To The Hellmouth, When She Was Bad, Anne and The Freshman are quite frankly genius while Buffy Vs Dracula cannot hold a candle to them in terms of storytelling freshness and comic invention ie all the Joss openers are genius while Marti's effort falls way short.

I think the problem may be that they take the strange decision in S5 to open with a spoof while Joss opens S1-S4 with a much more elaborate 'drama' with heavy comedy import. I feel the Joss efforts are in a different class while Marti's is decidedly mediocre.

Buffy vs Dracula feels uncomfortably positioned inbetween a full blown spoof and a revelation of Buffy's feelings about herself. It does not help that Dracula lacks any real menace and just becomes something close to mere comic relief and a kind of catalyst allowing Buffy to realise her true feelings. At least The Master would ruthlessly despatch his cronies if they failed.

Oddly maybe Buffy vs Dracula is closer to the execrable Buffy film the way Dracula ends up being merely a joke.

Xander is hilarious with his bug eating exploits but the ...bater jokes are lame and would have been rejected by a 12 year as too puerile.

Real Me is the obvious season opener and would have been a match for the earlier Joss efforts. I guess they wanted the reveal with Dawn at the end to blow peoples minds.

This is part of my theory that somehow Marti lost it around S4. The brilliant early exploits of S2 and S3 seem a world away especially in S5. The evidence: Buffy vs Dracula, Into The Woods and Forever. Case closed.

It is always great to read your posts and reviews. sk :hug:

I can feel a Dracula review bubbling to the surface any day now... only one more class to teach on Monday before half term, then ho! for the finer things of life.

For anti-Dawnists, the episode is certainly our very last uncompromised Buffyverse EVER! But I enjoyed it hugely in itself before the narrative cheating began...

It would be hard to say which ranks (and that's the operatvie word) lower for me: the Buffy film, or Coppola's Dracula. But still, more fun whingeing than ignoring them (see Dawn comments throughout).

:p

I seem to be struggling with the rewatch. Harrumph. This pesky 'work' business and having to go out now and again seems to be interfering with normal Buffy watching delectivity. Never mind. I will try and catch up at some point.

I will have a Buffy interlude over Christmas and the New Year. People will be with their families so it will be pointless letting episodes accumulate so people have a backlog to deal with.

People will have to say whether they want to start S6 straight away or if they want a gap. A short gap might be a good idea. sk

real me is worth to watch for dawn thoughts (might be also due to harmony :lol: ), but after that i agree dawn is kind of annoying most of the time

i second the christmas/new year break

as for season six, i don't mind a gap as i think we need to gather our thoughts before the start of the argument or the rants :lol: :rolleyes:

Dawn is priceless in S5. Michelle's performance is generally of a very high standard and sometimes in the compelling range especially Real Me, Blood Ties and The Gift.

Dawn in S6 and S7 is a little bit of a problem as she seems to be superfluous but she effortlessly fills a vacuum left by Joyce. Forcing Buffy to be a Mum to Dawn saves us from the excruciating artifice of a pregnant Buffy. For that we have to be eternally grateful.

I absolutely loved Mehitabel's argument that all the other storytelling possibilites were exhausted hence S6 had to go dark but I am still underwhelmed by what S6 actually delivered. sk

Arguments, rants....

I though that WAS Christmas.... :naughty:


But a pre-season 6 break to re-charge batteries, hone rhetoric and have a good luxuriate in many magnificent episodes thereof....a splendid idea all round. :thumbsup:

I have just been having a two second(that long you say) think about what to do with the rewatch. I have put TWOTW up and will put The Gift up next week.

Obviously the main numbskull who appears to be struggling to keep up with the rewatch happens to be - me. This, I admit, is a teeny bit of a problem as I happen to usually be one of the main contributors. This infernal job lark and looking after the flat seem to have derailed me somewhat. I do not have a good excuse.

The upshot has to be a gap so I can catch up and then we(prophecy girl?, JB?) will attack S6. Gee I am really looking forward to that notwithstanding Once More With Feeling. Depression and The Geeks how inviting. S6 could have been staggeringly original and challenging. Sometimes I feel it is the Buffy equivalent of Star Trek S3 in that similarly they tried to alter the formula(to make it more appealing?) but ultimately ruined the genius of the original formula. sk

yeah, growing up and buffy lack of choice in becoming an adult without the help of joyce (or giles) and having to be in charge of dawn .... a bit depressing after being in "heaven"


if the writers strike don't stop soon, we won't have any excuse to not start the season six rewatch ..................... or we could just wait for everyone's review of season five episodes