So 20 Years...
It's March and this month celebrates the 20th anniversary of BTVS's premiere. To commemorate, I'm sure a bunch of memes will float around about favorite this and that. SyFy and Screenrant have posted some lists. All things that have been said before. Top 5 and Low 5 are usually always a mashup of the same 10 episodes for each. All in good fun, of course, but it's not something I think I could stick with.
Rather than do that, I think I'll post random thoughts on what opinions have changed since first watching. At least those opinions I can remember. It's been a long time, ya know.
One opinion that has changed is I'm not as big on S6 or S7 as I remember being. I think they still get more hate than they deserve. There are some really great eps in there, even more than the Golden Year, but overall they are kind of clunky, particularly S7. That's my Author Isn't Dead self speaking. If I kill the author and say the characters are not reliable narrators, both seasons elevate themselves a lot. I have trouble doing that, though, as I've read too many interviews and listened to too many commentaries. Both seasons seem like examples of either the writers lying or not all being on the same page or just plain being inept at putting their brains on screen. I'll say Joss's comments tend to fit with what I was watching much moreso than Jane and the others, but since Joss was gone from most of the season it feels like he wasn't putting that into anyone's heads.
Perhaps the strongest example of opinion changing is CWDP. Once one of my favorites, I've come to the opinion it's largely style >>>>>> substance. The Jonathan/Andrew stuff holds up pretty well, as does the Spike stuff. The Willow/Dawn/Buffy arcs are all flat to me now, though. It's a case where great directing and acting can make up for not-great writing. The Dawn stuff ultimately goes nowhere. The Buffy/Holden arc really comes off as revisionist gibberish that masks the inconsistencies with "it's complicated". That's fine except when you're dedicating a whole story to it. Like the Dawn plotline, Willow/Cassie doesn't go anywhere and relies the emotionality of Tara's death to carry it. It does until you think about it. It moves the plot along, sure, and has terrific atmosphere and a great title, but it hasn't held up well in most respects. It used to be a top 10 or 15 ep for me, now it would rank way, way lower.
Rather than do that, I think I'll post random thoughts on what opinions have changed since first watching. At least those opinions I can remember. It's been a long time, ya know.
One opinion that has changed is I'm not as big on S6 or S7 as I remember being. I think they still get more hate than they deserve. There are some really great eps in there, even more than the Golden Year, but overall they are kind of clunky, particularly S7. That's my Author Isn't Dead self speaking. If I kill the author and say the characters are not reliable narrators, both seasons elevate themselves a lot. I have trouble doing that, though, as I've read too many interviews and listened to too many commentaries. Both seasons seem like examples of either the writers lying or not all being on the same page or just plain being inept at putting their brains on screen. I'll say Joss's comments tend to fit with what I was watching much moreso than Jane and the others, but since Joss was gone from most of the season it feels like he wasn't putting that into anyone's heads.
Perhaps the strongest example of opinion changing is CWDP. Once one of my favorites, I've come to the opinion it's largely style >>>>>> substance. The Jonathan/Andrew stuff holds up pretty well, as does the Spike stuff. The Willow/Dawn/Buffy arcs are all flat to me now, though. It's a case where great directing and acting can make up for not-great writing. The Dawn stuff ultimately goes nowhere. The Buffy/Holden arc really comes off as revisionist gibberish that masks the inconsistencies with "it's complicated". That's fine except when you're dedicating a whole story to it. Like the Dawn plotline, Willow/Cassie doesn't go anywhere and relies the emotionality of Tara's death to carry it. It does until you think about it. It moves the plot along, sure, and has terrific atmosphere and a great title, but it hasn't held up well in most respects. It used to be a top 10 or 15 ep for me, now it would rank way, way lower.