Overrated/Underrated Seasons/Episodes/Characters. by Lexan

BUFFYVERSE

Overrated/Underrated Seasons/Episodes/Characters.

POSTED BY: LEXAN
UPDATED: Friday, April 20, 2007 10:46
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Saturday, February 24, 2007 1:34 AM

Discuss which seasons/episodes/characters you think are overrated or underrated. Why do you think they are?

I think the most underrated season is either season four or six. Ultimately, I don't really understand why so many people think season four is the worst; it had so many great aspects and episodes. I liked the initiative, though they weren't the best seasonal villains of the series and also liked Riley. The season four finale is my favourite finale and I think is a more fitting end for the season than any other finale was to any other season. It is a pity people never acknowledge this.

The most overrated episode in Joss Whedon history is 'The Gift'. A lot of people think this episode is one of the best of the series but I just don't see it. I found it to be sub-par.

I'm not sure who I would say is an overrated character but Spike might qualify. I also think underrated characters of the series are Oz, Dawn, Andrew and Kennedy.

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Saturday, February 24, 2007 1:31 PM

DEEPGIRL187

I'll agree with the underrated characters (except for Kennedy, never really did like her). And since I'm a drooling Spike fan, I'll have to disagree there too.

As far as underrated seasons, I'll have to go with season four. There were some excellent episodes from that season (Restless, Hush). I think that people (mostly Riley-haters, I think) tend to be too hard on that season.

In terms of overrated seasons, I'll go with season six. To me, it felt too uneven. And though I'll take serious flames for this, I think Once More With Feeling is good, but not the greatest episode of all time.

And I'm sure I'll be a lone voice in the woods here, but I think Buffy is an overrated character. I've noticed that people have a tendency overlook some of her gaping flaws. But then, maybe that's just me.

*************************************************

"If you want to win a war, you must serve no master but your ambition."

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Sunday, February 25, 2007 2:22 PM

CHRISISALL

I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I feel season two is over-rated. Excellent in places for sure, but overall I like season 3 better.
And I agree that The Gift is held in too-high regard.

And both 6 & 7 are under-rated! Uneven? Okay, but the peaks were higher than ever.

And Andrew is an unsung hero for me. He rules!

Silly silly British Chrisisall

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Monday, February 26, 2007 8:01 AM

GROOSALUGG

Seasons:
Underrated -- Gotta go with 6. I think people mainly dislike it because EVERY... FRIGGIN... CHARACTER... spends the year completely miserable. But the writing remained tight and consistent, the story makes sense from beginning to end, and from Buffy's point of view, the metaphor of being lost and directionless after high school is very well done... with a supernatural twist, of course.

Overrated -- Have to go with Chris here and say 2, even tho I love 2! 2 had some of the series' best episodes, but it also had some of the worst. Overall, it lacks the consistency that makes 3 and 5 so good.

Characters:
Underrated -- Ethan and Willy. These two guys were just totally and completely awesome, and it's a shame they were in so few episodes.

Overrated -- I might take some abuse for saying this, but... Angel. Angel, as he was on Buffy, anyway. The only time he's ever really interesting AT ALL during those first three years is when he's evil.

Episodes:
Underrated -- I thought about saying "Triangle", but I think I'll have to go with "Ted" on this one. People mostly seem to hate "Ted", and I don't get why. Again, they hit the metaphor perfect, while giving it that Buffy 'twist' you'd expect (the guy my mom is dating who I don't like turns out to be an evil robot). And tho I was never a John Ritter fan, he's great in this ep.

Overrated -- Easiest choice ever: "Conversations with Dead People". Can't even guess how many times I've seen this called one of the best episodes, not only of S7, but of the entire series. I think it even got nominated for a Saturn that year. WTF?

Yes, true, the Buffy/Webs stuff is among the best they ever did. Jonathan and Andrew are as funny as ever... but there's nothing in their scenes you don't see in ten other eps. The Dawn stuff is scary and suspenseful, but makes ZERO sense in the context of the rest of the season. But it's the Willow/Cassie scenes that just completely kill this one. I don't blame Amber for not wanting to come back and play an evil Tara, but in that case, completely re-conceive that part of the story and come up with something totally different--don't just bring Cassie in to 'stand in' for Tara and spout out all the lines you intended her to say

. Maybe they didn't have time to totally re-write it, but then that's their fault for not getting Amber's signature on a contract earlier, and just assuming she'd come back...

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Monday, February 26, 2007 8:15 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Groosalugg:

Episodes:
Underrated -- I thought about saying "Triangle", but I think I'll have to go with "Ted" on this one. People mostly seem to hate "Ted", and I don't get why.

Me either. I thought it was very good, and one of the first eps to truly shake me (Ted's death on the stairs).

Quote:

Overrated -- Easiest choice ever: "Conversations with Dead People". Can't even guess how many times I've seen this called one of the best episodes, not only of S7, but of the entire series.

Well, it's one of my top ten or fifteen eps, however, I do acknowledge it's shortcomings. But I like Chosen waaaaay better. And OMWF. And Fool For Love. And Lies My Parents Told Me....

I could go on Chrisisall

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007 1:51 PM

JWHEDONADDICT

Underrated Season: I guess 6. I liked 4, too, though, but I personally connected with the whole misery thing of 6. I've lived with it pretty much most of my life. I think it was a bold move for Joss & Co. and I loved it. And I'm not even an overly huge fan of Spike and Buffy's relationship either (keep that in mind when reading the rest of my post)!

Underrated Character: I would have said Oz, but rewatching Season 4 brought it all back for me how much they ruined his character his last ep. as a series regular. Now I'm saying Drusilla. She's creepy, she's kooky, and she's fun.

Underrated Episode: Beer Bad. Okay, not the most interesting ep., I'll grant you, but I just LOVE Willow's reaction to Parker trying to "jump on (her) bones". And her satisfied grin at Caveslayer hitting him at the end. Not that I condone violence, but...

Out of My Mind: The entire episode is worth that final dream sequence. CRACKED ME UP.

And since you forced me to, The Gift. Loved the dialogue, Buffy's mini-speech to Giles about killing Dawn, her sacrifice, how it affected me most watching SPIKE, of all people, break down. All outweighed the flaws.

Same with Conversations With Dead People. I think Cassie's lines were perfect. The First's point was to tear Willow at the seams. The ONLY thing that would have worked that well was Tara, or Tara's memory. Edit: Plus, Cassie had no personal connection to Willow.

Overrated Season: It sounds hokey, I know, but I really did love them all in their own way. So sue me.

Overrated Character: Kennedy. Who overrates her? Not us, the writers. What the heck were they thinking? Nevermind replacing Tara. Moving on is inevitable. But how on earth could we ever care about someone with Willow who was so rude to Buffy? At least Anya didn't know any better-usually.

Overrated Episode: Ted. I thought it was a great metaphor, but overall it was kind of dull to me.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007 1:55 PM

REGINAROADIE

Overrated season - Season 2. I always thought that season 2 still had that transition period feeling that season 1 had in that while they had some good ideas and a strong concept, it tended to get cheesy and amateurish. I always thought BUFFY as a series had a quality arc. That seasons 1 and 2 were OK, that season 3 through 5 were their best, and 6 and 7 was when it started going downhill.

Underrated season - Season 5. I know the initial intro of Dawn was considered a bone headed move, and that Glory wasn't as compelling a Big Bad as previous ones were. But the overall arc of Joyce and her illness brought the real world crashing in to the series and mingles with the fantasy aspect of the series really well.

Overrated episode(s)- "Once More, With Feeling" and "Hush". I know that these eps are in everyone's top 5 and all, but I just felt while they had good concepts behind them, that they kinda hit the audience over the head with them, like "Ooohhh, we're doing something unexpected, were so great and original." It's all about execution, folks.

Underrated episode(s) - "Tabula Rasa" and "Primeval". The former was a great twist on the amnesia plot that opened up a lot of great character humor and allowed the show to make fun of itself. And the latter was the best season finale in a show famous for its finales. I like the fact that they totally broke their normal seasonal structure and decided to just go wild. David Lynch with a sense of humor.

Overrated character - Angel. I'm sorry, but Angel when he was on BUFFY was just a bland character. Didn't care at all for the Angel/Buffy romance and could care even less when he went evil. WHen he got his own show, THATS when he actually started to be more interesting.

Underrated character - (male) Johnathan. I thought that it would be great to have another person in the Scoobies that was an everyman, like Xander. And I'd rather have seem him be with them at the end instead of the insufferable twat that was Andrew.

(female) Amy. Amy was just a fascinating character that I wish could have gone down the same path as Anya. I thought that there were many facets to her that could have been explored more, but they ended up killing her off randomly.

One thing about the series in general that I thought was grossly overrated was just the amount of praise that's been heaped on it. On how some people call it an heir to the original TWILIGHT ZONE and that it's one of the greatest tv shows of all time and have like a whole library of critical analysis towards it and the like. It was a good show. It was entertaining, it was original and all that, but it was by no means THE SOPRANOS. TV wasn't invented so that 47 years later it would produce this show.

**************************************************
"Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?"
"No."
"Have you ever fired ONE gun whilst jumping through the air?"

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 8:14 AM

GROOSALUGG

Quote:
Originally posted by reginaroadie:
(female) Amy. Amy was just a fascinating character that I wish could have gone down the same path as Anya. I thought that there were many facets to her that could have been explored more, but they ended up killing her off randomly.

(spoiler for S4 of Angel)

Select to view spoiler:

Amy is very much like Skip over on Angel--an interesting character who the writers pretty much ruined by (seemingly) just arbitrarily deciding to have them suddenly be evil, for no other reason than to serve a new--and not even that great--plot...

Also, she wasn't killed off

. In fact, I've heard we might be seeing her again sometime soon...

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 9:37 AM

REGINAROADIE

No, I'm pretty sure she's dead. The First took her form in Season 7 in the ep when Willow turned into Warren, and The First can only take the forms of those who had died. So I know for a fact Amy is dead.

**************************************************
"Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?"
"No."
"Have you ever fired ONE gun whilst jumping through the air?"

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 9:50 AM

WHODIED

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:

And I agree that The Gift is held in too-high regard.

Definitely. I think that Buffy sacrificing her life (yet agian) is the only redeeming portion of 'The Gift'. Only one character died more times than Buffy in all the Whedonverse, though only the once as a martyr.

Oh. Also Giles Killing Ben...

--WhoDied
_______________________

All those secrets you've been concealing
Say you're happy now...

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 1:06 PM

SHANNARA

DAWN IS UNDERRATED?????? i get irritable bowel syndrome just reading those words. i howled in pain just watching her sometimes.

here's to you dawny:

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 1:09 PM

SHANNARA

angel got interesting? shit, must've missed that episode....

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 1:14 PM

SHANNARA

his grumpiness firmly establish, shannara decides to air all his dirty laundry....

TARA? Hello? What would I like to have done to the character of Tara?

? certainly.

? absolutely.

? might be some catharsis there.

? only if it really hurts.

? oh yes, now we're talking.

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 1:15 PM

SHANNARA

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 1:49 PM

WHODIED

I am Emoticon.
Feel my Power.

--WhoDied
_____________________

There's a world without shrimp? I'm allergic.

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 2:36 PM

DEEPGIRL187

Quote:
Originally posted by Shannara:
his grumpiness firmly establish, shannara decides to air all his dirty laundry....

TARA? Hello? What would I like to have done to the character of Tara?

? certainly.
? absolutely.
? might be some catharsis there.
? only if it really hurts.
? oh yes, now we're talking.

Jeepers cripes, is there anything about Buffy you do like?

*************************************************

"If you want to win a war, you must serve no master but your ambition."

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 5:53 PM

GROOSALUGG

Quote:
Originally posted by reginaroadie:
No, I'm pretty sure she's dead. The First took her form in Season 7 in the ep when Willow turned into Warren, and The First can only take the forms of those who had died. So I know for a fact Amy is dead.

That wasn't the First--that was the real, live Amy.

Remember when Willow goes to the Wicca group to try to help de-Warren-ize her, she and Amy try a spell, at the end of which Amy asks, "It didn't work?", and Willow replies, "No, it didn't, you dumb bitch!", and slaps her. If Amy had been the First, Willow's hand would've gone right thru her...

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 6:11 PM

SHANNARA

hehehe, buffy is my favourite show of all time. i know, it's hard to tell sometimes. but when your favourite show introduces 2 characters that ruin it for you, a little bitterness develops....

think positively shannara, come on ya moron....

ok ok. i love tara in "once more with feeling". she rocked. tabula rasa was the most underrated episode of all time despite being highly thought of already.

"What else would i want to pump you for? I really just said that didn't i?"

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Friday, March 2, 2007 1:00 AM

JWHEDONADDICT

OMWF "overrated"? Are you kidding?!

I don't like musicals. As much as I completely adore Joss, I really did think he'd gone off the deep end when I learned he was doing it. However, as the promos for the ep. aired (including the clips from David Fury's behind-the-scenes filming), I knew I was in trouble. I was right. I loved the episode so much that I held a tape recorder up to my TV just so I could listen a pathetic, static-y version when I wasn't able to watch. Before I knew a soundtrack would be released, I found a DVD/CD set on Ebay (it was one of those FOX promo things that was used to try to get the ep. an Emmy nom) I would have paid an almost embarassing amount of money to get it. I did get it. When the soundtrack finally did come out, I bought it too. Yes, I still have them all because if something happens I always have a backup, including a script book devoted to the episode alone. I also bought a dvd player that plays dvd's from any region because the Buffy and Angel DVD's always came out there first, so I bought the Region 2 Season 6 DVDs AND eventually Region 1 when it was finally released here.

Overrated, my ass!!!

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Friday, April 20, 2007 10:46 AM

CHRISISALL

I feel that Bad Eggs was terribly over-rated.

Chrisisall

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