Need Help Converting a Friend to AtS by Delia

ANGELUS ARCANUM

Need Help Converting a Friend to AtS

POSTED BY: DELIA
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 7, 2004 11:16
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Saturday, April 3, 2004 6:52 PM

I wonder if I can pick the brains of everyone here. I'm working on a short guide to give a friend who has never watched BtVS but is willing to give AtS a try (he's a lawyer, and I think the idea of an evil law firm appeals to him). I'm trying to make a short list of characters from Buffy it would be helpful to know about going in (at the beginning with the TNT reruns). i think I got all the real obvious ones (Angel, Cordy, Wes, Faith, Buffy, Willow, Spike, Darla, Dru) and even some of the others (Oz and Chantarelle/Lily/Anne) but can anyone think of anyone else who was introduced on BtVS then showed up on AtS? \

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

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Sunday, April 4, 2004 12:59 PM

APEMAN61

Giles doesnt show up exactly but he is mentioned. there's probably others, i just cant think of them

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Sunday, April 4, 2004 1:19 PM

SUCCATASH

Lawyers or no lawyers, your friend should start with Buffy. Convince him to give it a try. I'm a 33 yr old male and it wasn't easy to get past the concept that Buffy is a show for teenage girls.

But it's much more than that. It's pure genius fun comic book/superhero show that makes fun of itself sometimes and other times it rips your guts out. Great great stuff. The story, characters and dialogue are top notch.

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Sunday, April 4, 2004 1:20 PM

ORANGERFUL

you'd be surprised how well Angel stands as a solo series. My boyfriend wasn't too thrilled with watching Buffy, so we started watching my Angel DVDs with dinner, and even though he had only seen a few episodes from BtVS Season 4, he didn't feel confused. The pilot script was well written, and you don't need too much Buffy knowledge to survive (to get the inside jokes..then you need Buffy knowledge)

The only relationship I'd worry about explaining is that of Wesley, Faith, and Darla (or the finale will be kinda of anti climatic). Gloss over the little points about characters that only stop by for one episode...if you get him hooked and he ventures into season 2, then you can give him the pages and page of notes on Dru and the rest. hehe.

And let him know what if he gets confused, to call you (or check out the ever helpful Angel websites and boards!)

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Sunday, April 4, 2004 1:49 PM

SUCCATASH

I look forward to Angel season 1. I'm currently in the middle of Buffy season 3 and when 4 starts I will start watching Angel at the same time.

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Sunday, April 4, 2004 2:41 PM

SHINY

Why not start with Firefly first?

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Sunday, April 4, 2004 4:00 PM

GHOLA

I'd also like to know what I need to know to start watching Angel. I'd like to start Buffy first but Angel will be restarting in reruns sooner than Buffy will and I'm not willing to buy DVD's for a show I've never seen.

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Sunday, April 4, 2004 4:14 PM

APEMAN61

Well you dont need anything. I started watching Angel without ever seeing any episodes of Buffy. I was bored one night and the tv was on Angel. When I started watching I found it was a good show. I didnt know any of the characters or the plot, but once I started watching I couldn't stop. Luckily it was right after the first season when they started showing reruns. So I got to start at the begining which helps. so good luck

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Sunday, April 4, 2004 4:16 PM

DELIA

To respond to everyone, first, thanks for the help and advice. I actually did get him to start with Firefly -- he agreed to order the DVD's for my favorite show (Angel is a very close second, Buffy a very close third) if I would start watching his, which is Farscape, and which I'm enjoying (though not as much as Firefly). He doesn't seem to have much interest in BtVS, but I'm hoping if I can get him hooked on Firefly and Angel, he'll add it in, too. (It's just so easy to become a Whedon junkie). I think anyone probably could just dive into AtS, but I think it'll be easier (and probably more enjoyable) with some background as to who Faith and Darla and Spike and Dru are.

If there's interest, I can try to share what I come up with when I'm done. My goal is obviously to have it ready for when TNT rolls back to 1st season. Just let me know.

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Sunday, April 4, 2004 5:36 PM

OZGAL

I watched the first three seasons of Angel on DVD first, then I went back and started to watch Buffy (had only seen a couple of episodes on tv).

I didn't have much probelm finding my feet without really knowing the buffy background.

Season 2 of ATS fills in a lot of backstory around the character of Angel anyway.

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Monday, April 5, 2004 6:13 AM

LISSA

i agree that angel can be understandable on its own, but it just seems...kinda wrong. i mean, that's cool if u wanna do it, but eps like i will remember you, five by five/sanctuary, and darla would just be so much more meaningful and amazing if you had already seen buffy.

~lissa, spwhore

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Monday, April 5, 2004 2:29 PM

KILLEDBYRIVERSBRAIN

I started into the Buffyverse with the first episode of Angel, and I had little problem following what was happening. Occasionally a rather large question would come up, and I'd check on the Internet to look up the information. I started watching Buffy at the same time. I figure half of my questions would have been answered if I had watched "The Graduation Parts 1 &2."

I hope you like Guinness, sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for . . . food.
-Jack O'Neill

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Tuesday, April 6, 2004 7:59 AM

PHOENIXSHIP

I strongly recommend that you start your friend with Buffy. I know it's kind of daunting because there are three seasons worth of TV to watch (60 hours?), but it really does unfold very purposefully. My one regret about the Whedonverse is that I wish I could go back and watch everything in sequence from start to finish, because there is so much going on that is interrelated. For example, the Spike/Angel/Drusilla/Darla relationship - when you watch the later Angel episodes, you have to understand the Buffy flashbacks to get the full impact of what is happening during the Boxer Rebellion. Harmony, Cordelia, Wesley - they all live in rich, complicated story arcs that deserve to be experienced in full.

Because it's a TV show, people automatically fail to assign it any significance, but these characters rate right up there with any in our mythology or classical literature. They live, they change, they die. It's a saga.

As Mal said, "You can't open the book of my life and jump in the middle."

"Why're you arguin' what's already been decided?"
Mal to Jayne, "Jaynestown"

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Wednesday, April 7, 2004 11:16 AM

DELIA

Phoenixship,

Thanks for the advice, and I totally agree with you, but it's hard to make a 27 year old man who lives in another state do anything he doesn't want to do, and it's not really a question of my "starting" him with anything. It was an effort on my part to get him to wait and start at the beginning of the Angel series (he was all ready to jump head first into the middle of the Connor plotline).

Delia

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