Watching Angel

[mac_stone]

 Heh. Netflix has all the seasons of Angel - which I've not seen, but tnh  says is better than Buffy in many ways. And I don't have to wait for the DVDs, because they've got 'em streaming!

I'm sort of excited, and suspect I'll be talking about it a lot in the coming weeks. The Tor.com rewatch/reread posts--about everything from Star Trek TOS to Jordan's Wheel of Time books--have me itching to write about pop culture stuff, too, even though it's not properly a rewatch since I've never seen 'em.

Thoughts, recommendations, advice? Please, please tell me I don't have to watch the sixth and seventh seasons of Buffy again, unless it's absolutely crucial to continuity or mythology?

Comments

[alan-yee.livejournal.com]

I should probably watch the Buffy series sometime. I was never really interested in it while it was on TV, but I did watch a few re-runs in the past. I feel like I should watch it because I seem to be the only one who hasn't watched more than a couple episodes.

[avocadovpx.livejournal.com]

>> Thoughts, recommendations, advice?

If tnh is bailing on her re-read of Gaiman's Sandman, I'd love to see you do a re-read and discussion of it. Why you? You're a comics fan, a storyteller, and a student of mythology, history, and stories of all sorts.

But you probably meant about Angel.

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

That would, of course, be seriously fun -- unfortunately, remember a few months ago, the pictures of the charred pile of books and comics in the yard under the tarp? Guess where my Sandman comics were....

[avocadovpx.livejournal.com]

This suggests the problem is one of getting a set of comics to you, rather than one of you thinking this is a bad idea.

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

That, and I haven't given up hope on tnh's re-read, either -- has she said somewhere she's for-sure bailing on it?

[avocadovpx.livejournal.com]

No, or at least I haven't seen a surrender.

Which do you think would be more effective on her in October, bribery or begging?

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think we should use the two-pronged approach, with liberal applications of both techniques as seems necessary.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

Up through the fifth season of Buffy (and the first and second seasons of Angel), it helps to at least be aware of where the episodes were in relation to the Angel episodes that were showing in the same year, because during those years there were frequent crossovers, and events on Buffy would sometimes have repercussions on Angel and vice versa.

For the sixth and seventh seasons of Buffy (seasons three and four of Angel) the shows were on different networks and there was an apparent "no crossovers" rule in effect, even when things were going on in Sunnydale that positively cried out for asking assistance from or at least sending word to the gang in LA. As long as you have at least a vague recollection of what went down during the last couple of episodes of Buffy's final season, you've got all the info you need to make sense of season five of Angel.

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay then. I've seen the first five seasons of Buffy enough times that I'm fairly confident of making sense of Angel, then. Thanks!

[medievalist.livejournal.com]

Offer a series of bribes for each delivery.

And I've never read any Sandman.

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

It was years after it aired that I actually saw any episodes, too, Alan. Got the first season on iTunes, then bought the DVD set.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I dunno about Angel being better . . .the way the women were treated in the last season or two was maddening. I still ahven't watched the very last ep yet, I was so irritated.

However, one thing I have rewatched is all the Faith eps.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Actually there are several crossovers, but you don't need to know them.

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

I actually have a couple of bones to pick with Whedon's depictions of women, and treatment of them, for all his (I suspect sincere) fairly enlightened professions of feminism.

Buffy, Faith, Cordelia, Echo, Willow, Tara, and even whatshername from Dr. Horrible. There's an awful lot of impalement, torture, and metaphoric (and not so metaphoric) rape and impregnation happening as a horrifying thematic thread running through the stories.

[medievalist.livejournal.com]

And through all of Whedon's work, including the Blessed Firefly.

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

The thing about Firefly, though, is that Zoey, Kaylee and Inara all actually survive the season. Inara gets knocked around and Kaylee gets shot, but otherwise those characters escape relatively unscathed, episode after episode. Secondary characters with the bad luck to be women certainly don't fare as well, though.

[medievalist.livejournal.com]

I think, based, on things that Whedon and Jane Espenson have said, that that's in part because of the fan backlash re: Buffy. I wonder if Jane Espenson says anything about it on her blog?

[pnh.livejournal.com]

"has she said somewhere she's for-sure bailing on it?"

She most certainly has not. There's been some "life" stuff in the way. Tor.com management has taken the position that WE WILL WAIT FOR THE AWESOME.

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

Oh HURRAY!!! I, too, am extremely happy to wait for teh awesome. Thanks, Patrick.

[eljaydaly.livejournal.com]

I watched all of Buffy and all of Angel last summer for the first time. I loved Angel.

My only advice is that if you find yourself flagging in season 1, go at least until season 2. There were a few stumbles early, but then the show hit its stride. (Of course, I say that with a grain of salt, too, because I didn't find the stumbles all that disconcerting.)

Have fun! Post reviews, maybe!

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

The nice thing about Angel:the Series is that we get to have a much more rounded view of Angel:the Character. In BtVS, he' pretty much all seen from the outside, and Buffy's POV at that -- he's her teen romance, her big tragic vampire love, the Scourge of Europe Cursed with a Soul.

Once he gets his own series, we start seeing all the less epic things about him: he's got a deadpan sense of dark humor that flies right past a lot of people (including Buffy); he likes his creature comforts but is a real tightwad when it comes to actually spending money on anything or anybody else; he can, on occasion, be a great big clueless dork; he can do things in cold blood while he's completely sane and still cursed with a soul that are as scary and vicious as anything he ever did while he was Angelus; and -- despite the fact that he can be amusingly vain about the image he presents -- he really doesn't like himself very much.

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

Yep - I'll post reviews probably rambling rants and reviews over on Sofa Monkeys (http://sofamonkeys.blogspot.com/), since I've otherwise neglected it shockingly.

[avocadovpx.livejournal.com]

Iiiiix-cellent!

/Montgomery Burns

[bnbalder.livejournal.com]

I'm currently introducing my twins to Angel, and it's soo much fun to see them gasp and squeal. It would be even more fun if there was tnh AWESOME to follow!

*prepares to wait for it*