Joss Whedon is a Multi-Episode Arc Master: a picspam
My manifesto for whedonland, explaining why I like a certain aspect of the Joss/Whedonverse.
I chose one of the main reasons that made me fall in love with Joss' work, and that was the two-parter episodes that he created within his television shows.
This picspam shows my favourite two-parters (and one three-parter) from all of his shows, including Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse.
Of course, I wasn't able to include all of the two-parters, there are a few too many, but this is a selection of my favourites, and why I love them.
In no particular order:
01. Reprise & Epiphany - Angel
One word. Darla. Yep, the bitch is back in this particular two-parter and she brings it. Plus, Kate's storyline in these two episodes always brings me to tears, in particular that shower scene :( So touching. Joss leaves us at the end of Reprise fearing the worst, that Angel has yet again lost his soul by sleeping with Darla, and I love that this is just one of a trillion examples of the cross-over references that Joss put's into his shows, partly to fuel his inner geek and partly (as I like to think) to appease the fans :D Any way, the main reason, other than Darla, for my love of this two-parter is the fact that it brings the Angel gang back together, and stronger than ever.
02. What's My Line Part 1 & 2 - Buffy
Here cometh the slayer, take two. Yep that's right, this episode see's the arrival of my third favourite slayer (Buffy and Faith take the first two spots), Kendra. Not only that, but it see's an almost complete fang gang (minus Darla) come back together, albeit so Spike and Dru can torture Angel, but still. And of course, it's full of fun Buffy quipiness, what with it being career week and all. Joss sure has skill when it comes to his two parters!
03. Serenity - Firefly
WOW! This is my favourite of the series opener two-parters that Joss has created. Yes you can argue that it's not a real two-parter, but just go with me on this, because it isn't exactly just another 42 minute long episode. It had everything. Space, Cowboys antics, family interaction, war, a mysterious/creepy/alienesque girl, Nathan Fillion...I would go on, but Nathan's got my attention now, so you know *goes to take a cold shower* But in all seriousness, this was the perfect way to start of Firefly, and it just got better from here. For me, I was pretty wary about Joss having a project that didn't involve slayers or vampires, but he won me over in a matter of minutes, basically the part where Wash is playing with his toy dinosaurs. "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayl" is quite possibly one of the most genius lines Joss has ever come up with.
04. The Public Eye & The Left Hand - Dollhouse
As those of you on my flist will know, I was so completely and epicly excited about this two-parter before it aired. Hello Faithsley 2.0, why yes, I think I do love you. *cough* Um, but yeah, these two episodes had some of the best Dollhouse moments you could ask for, the aforementioned Echo/Perrin storyline, Topher!Victor (and by god, you really are "For the win!"), Mellie/November and a reprise of her relationship with Paul, HBIC Adelle being, well, a HBIC, Summer Fucking Glau!, and Topher/Bennet epic!fail high five. This Joss, is why I fucking love any- and everything you do.
05. Welcome to the Hellmouth & The Harvest - Buffy
So okay, I may have already admitted my undying love for the Firefly 'two-parter' Serenity, but there is always going to be a home in my heart for this one. Here begins Zara Thomas' (that'd be me) everlasting obsession with all things Joss. It was so much more than another teen television show, it scared the crap out of me, made me laugh, and made me start a very long trend of falling for mysterious guys. In other words, it was perfect, and will always be perfect.
06. Five by Five & Sanctuary - Angel
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Joss, you own my heart and my soul, please treat them kind. But for every minute of kindness Joss offers in his tv programmes, he provides a lifetime of heartbreak. I knew before these episodes that Faith wasn't the hardass that she wanted everyone to think she was (just look at her, perhaps creepy and fucked-up, relationship with the Mayor), but when she breaks down in that alley, she finally shows the scared and lonely little girl that she is. I literally cry every time. Then there is the conversation with Buffy on the rooftop, something else that makes me well up, and a very upsetting (to us Bangel fans any way) scene where it looks like Buffy and Angel won't ever be able to go back to being comfortable around one another. Plus, HOT FAITHSLEY TORTURE SCENE, YES PLEASE!
07. Rainbow, Through the Looking Glass & No Place Like Plrtz Glrb - Angel
The only 3-parter on my list, breaking the rules a little, but for good reason. Joss has this habit of being able to transport you to another land, and yet making it feel believable and real. The visuals alone in these episodes earn it a place in this list. It was the start of the gang really getting back together, after all the crap that went on in season two, with Angel trying to strike out alone. Queen Cordy, the arrival of Winifred Burkle, Lorne's head on a plate, ultra hotties, Gunn and Wes, having bondage fun, and the heartbreaking moment at the end when Willow arrives, and Angel instantly knows what's happened to Buffy (yet another reason why I ship B/A hard).
08. Epitaph One & Two - Dollhouse
Unlike the other two-parters on this list, Epitaph One and Two, as you guys probably already know, don't follow each other directly. I think that it adds so much to these episodes that they don't follow immediately after one another, and in between we get to see how they moved from the present shown in Omega, to the future shown in Epitaph One, which made the events of Epitaph Two more believable. Both episodes break my heart, whether it's the lonely figure of November stuck in the Dollhouse, almost watching over it, or lovable Topher setting off that bomb, or the 'to remember' wall collage, the happy family ending that Victor and Sierra got, or the disturbing ending that Echo got, only being able to find happiness in her dreams, and not in real life, finally succumbing to the fact that she'll never really be able to leave the Dollhouse. Someone pass the Kleenex.
09. Graduation Day Part 1 & 2 - Buffy
Well, no other graduation that I've witness or been a part of went off with as big a bang as the Sunnydale Class of '99. The first half of this two-parter was all about Faith v. Buffy, the betrayal and the (somewhat) inevitable conclusion that the only thing left for Buffy to do was kill her. Whereas the second part was all about empowering all of the students at Sunnydale High, really graduating to face all their (real and metaphorical) demons. Joss' underlying themes are always a joy to behold, and this was no different. These episodes were also special, because they marked a clear transition for Buffy and the gand, with Angel and Cordy leaving, them no longer having the safety net of being at Highschool and finally having to live in the adult world, and yet they end on the perfect teenage note, "We survived".
10. Release & Orpheus - Angel
What do you get when you mix a rogue demon hunter, a slayer broken out of prison and a de-sould Angel? This fucking epicness right here! Now, I was contemplating do this as a four-parter, but seeing as that would be breaking the rules of this being a picspam paying homage to Joss' two-parter arcs, and I would have had an even harder time trying to choose which screencaps to use, I decided on going with these last two episodes (Cavalry and Salvage being the other two episodes). I just...I can't even really put into words why I love these episodes so much, I just really really do.
11. Bargaining Part 1 & 2 - Buffy
How shit scared would you be if you woke up and you were buried in a coffin? Very. This really was a stroke of genius by Joss, by bringing us back to the same old feel that Sunnydale and the show had before Buffy died, but revealing these *hidden* differences, like Dawn crying in her bed at night. As much as I love the Buffy bot, she'll never match up to the real thing. These episodes are also crucial in that they mark the beginning of Willow's downward spiral into magic abuse, because, for me, this is the one that really pushes her over the edge. Also, we get Anya/Giles hug and Dawn/Spike on a motorbike. The symmetry of ending the episodes with Dawn and Buffy in the place where Buffy died is just the final thing that makes this two-parter great.
12. This Year's Girl & Who Are You - Buffy
So yeah, MY FAVOURITE TWO-PARTER EVER FROM ANY JOSS SHOW. There is just something about the way Joss uses Faith's character in these two-part arcs over and over again that makes me think that's the reason I love her character so much. For me, these episodes served as a much needed link to the previous three seasons, that all the change of season four had somewhat glossed over. It creates a synthesis for me, that made the four season understandable and not as stand alone as it was coming across, particularly with so many key characters gone and no Sunnydale High. Plus, Faith!Buffy is like the most fun thing ever, and yet completely heartbreaking at the same time.
13. Conviction & Just Rewards - Angel
I for one was very worried about the gang working for Wolfram and Hart and spent a good part of Conviction feeling quite lost and confused (it didn't help that I hadn't seen season four before starting to watch this season, and therefore had no idea why in the hell they were there, where Connor was not that I cared and why everyone was acting so damn weird). It did bring the lol's though, with Harmony and Lorne trying to deal with a gazillion people and Gunn acting like he had a brain in that skull of his (sorry to all the Gunn fans out there!). Plus, Spike! And a goddam sexy looking Mr Wyndam-Pryce *drools at the pretty*
14. Briar Rose & Omega - Dollhouse
The first time there was some real cohesion between two episodes of Dollhouse, in a season that up until this point had been entertaining but not brilliant. Cue a lesson in Mindfuckery 101 from the one and only Joss Whedon. Can anyone really argue that it wasn't fucking scary when Alan Tudyk turned all psycho and sliced open Victor's face?! No, didn't think so. At the end of Briar Rose I think I just sat looking at the tv screen for a good half an hour, my mind just going "wtf...wtf....wtf" on repeat. Omega then answered some of, but by no means all, of my questions and what a perfect series cliffhanger (not taking into account Epitaph One) with Echo beginning to remember who she was.
15. Becoming Part 1 & 2 - Buffy
Last but by no means least, and I say that with complete sincerity, seeing as this is also one of my favourite two-parters of all time, we come to Becoming. Joss finally reveals Angel's past as Angelus, and why he had this curse on him in the first place, and also gives us the most adorable flashback to when Angel first saw Buffy, or at least it would have been adorable if I wasn't shitting bricks about the mental vamp that he had turned back into aka Angelus. We get to see a different side to Spike, a truly heart crushing scene with Giles being tortured with the image of Jenny and of course that scene when Angel get's reinsouled. Can you hear that faint sound, yep, that is the sound of my heart breaking into a million little pieces being broadcast through the world wide web. I really was left wondering if Buffy would ever come back after what she had been forced to do, and seeing the gang all at school without her was another tear-jerking moment.
Resources
Screencaps: -
Buffy | Disparue
Angel | Disparue
Firefly | Still-Flying
Dollhouse | Dollhouse Online/Toxic Caps
All screencaps coloured by me, do not repost on sites like tumblr etc. and do not use to make other graphics! kthanxbye