Thursday, February 23, 2006

Get some Buffy Studies into your life

You know what, I just love reading this stuff: it's like the best combination of intellectual activity and fun I can imagine.

Reminds me of these exchanges from the maligned, but also glorious, Season 4 of Buffy*

BUFFY: [sighing] Anything?
WILLOW: Ah! 'Introduction to the Modern Novel.' "A survey study of twentieth century novelists." Open to freshmen, you might like that.
BUFFY: 'Introduction to the Modern Novel?' I'm guessing I'd probably have to read the modern novel.
WILLOW: Maybe more than one.
BUFFY: I like books. I just don't want to take on too much. Do they have an introduction to the modern blurb?

...

WILLOW: ... Wait! 'Images of Pop Culture.' This is good. T-They watch movies, T-TV shows, even commercials.
BUFFY: For credit?
WILLOW: Heh. Isn't college cool?


* I say maligned and glorious since the accepted wisdom is that whilst the season itself had many disappointment (the whole Initiative/Adam arc?) and some far from brilliant epsiodes (Beer Bad? Where the Wild Things are? - neither appalling but much worse than they should be and well below the usual quality control level of Buffy), Season 4 also had some of the very best stand alone episodes. Not least of all, Hush and Restless.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're currently working our way through the full boxset and had the misfortune to watch "Beer Bad" last night. I really don't understand how it managed to end up in the same series as Hush.

Ah well, the quicker we get through season 4, the sooner we get to watch season 5.

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

Ah but Season 4 has some real high points too: as well as those mentioned I'm very fond of Wild at heart (tearful but grand), the double ep with Faith (great impression of Buffy by Smudge playing Faith playing Buffy), and Primaeval also gets me going too - the commentary that 'explains' the screw-up of Spike and his plan for Adam is hilarious.

And even the bad episodes have some great sections in them: take "Beer Bad" - Willow's conversation with Parker is priceless (as is the whole "poophead" dialogue).

JoeinVegas said...

'first there's the painful 'nowning' process'. Wish there was a class in that.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I take it back (but not my comments about "Beer Bad").

Since my last comment, we've watched "Wild at Heart", "The Initiative", "Pangs", "Something Blue", "Hush", "Doomed" and "A New Man" and they were all brilliant. Especially "Hush". And "Wild at Heart". And "A New Man".

Season 4 really isn't as bad as I remembered. I (happily) stand corrected :)

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

Yeah!

Awh, I still have a soft spot for Season 4, which I still think is better in retrospect than it was at the time. And the stand-out episodes are worthy of the best in Buffy!