Buffy Bracketology - Round 4 by batmarlowe

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Buffy Bracketology - Round 4

POSTED BY: BATMARLOWE
UPDATED: Thursday, July 4, 2013 13:13
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Thursday, July 4, 2013 1:57 AM

Hello anyone who’s reading this (I’m lookin’ at you Somnambulist!). These are the results of round 4 of my Buffy Bracketology. If anyone is of a mind to, you can consult the previous Buffy Bracketology entries to see what this is all about and see what happened in the previous rounds. As always, this stuff is just my opinion even though it may not be expressed as such.

So. Round 4, 18 episodes, 9 winners… Let’s Go!

001. Doppelgangland (3-16) vs. 103. Helpless (3-12)
Right off the bat, a tough one. I mean a really tough one. Both of these are so well done. The implausibility of Giles’ letting Buffy go home alone in SUNNYDALE knowing what’s going on is something that’s always nagged at me. And that’s about the only negative.
Winner: Doppelgangland

005. Lovers’ Walk (3-08) vs. 088. Homecoming (3-05)
Now here’s an upset for you. Lover’s Walk is surprisingly tenacious. It just keeps hanging in there and against formidable competition too. Homecoming’s great but LW just has a couple more extra layers of character development working for it.
Winner: Lover’s Walk.

010. The Body (5-16) vs. 062. Band Candy (3-06)
Can you get two eps more different than these two? The single funniest one (or two) eps up against one of the quietest, most sobering, most dramatic hours in the history of television? That’s a no-brainer
Winner: The Body

012. Crush (5-14) vs. 058. The Zeppo (3-13)
Once again, the Zeppo is taking on all comers. Crush does what it does very well, but as mentioned in previous reviews the Zeppo has about three different levels and they’re all very well executed.
Winner: The Zeppo

014. Graduation Day, Part Two (3-22) vs. 051. Who Are You (4-16)
Another tough one. And another upset. I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority on this one, but after re-watching them and rereading the recaps (and rerunning the reruns), I honestly find WHO ARE YOU to be the more satisfying ep. I realize on the whole GD2 is the more important one and resonates more with what the show is all about in all its aspects. But isolating it one ep vs. one ep, I think WHO ARE YOU does what it does better. A lot of the climactic battle in Graduation Day, Part 2 is unnecessary and there is no need for the student body to be put in harm’s way (and should killing a vamp be so easy Cordelia can do it?). As long as Buffy runs through the school with that knife—we’re good. And WHO ARE YOU—the performances, the development of the mythos (the Council Wetworks team), the development of Faith as a character—all damn good stuff.
Winner: Who Are You

015. Passion (2-17) vs. 040. The Wish (3-09)
Passion is when Buffy (the show) starts to be BUFFY! The thing we rave about and why we rave about it. The Wish is also a fantastic ep but it does have some conceptual flaws. Wishworld is not a parallel universe, world, or dimension—it’s the same world Cordy started off in. Everyone in Wishworld knows Cordy. And so her past and her present have been rewritten just like everybody else. So why is Cordelia an outsider? And none of Cordy’s wish has anything to with vengeance against Xander. Last and least, the Master’s master plan? Well, don’t examine it too hard.
Winner: Passion

017. The Yoko Factor (4-20) vs. 033. Once More, With Feeling (6-07)
The Yoko Factor is a very enjoyable episode.
Winner: Once More, With Feeling

018. Fool for Love (5-07) vs. 025. Becoming, Part One (2-21)
This one is just no contest. Even though Becoming, Part One is crucial to the development of the mythos. Fool For Love is that and more so. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Winner: Fool for Love

022. Becoming, Part Two (2-22) vs. 23. The Prom (3-20)
This is a tougher one. Becoming Part Two is the payoff for what is set up in Part One. And what a payoff it is. However The Prom is so moving in so many ways. Buffy’s reaction to the breakup with Angel pulls my heart out every time I see it. Buffy being awarded the Class Protector award is another great moment, as is Angel’s showing up at the prom. And for once everybody gets to be happy for a while. And they’re dancing to “Praise You” by Fatboy Slim. So, y’know, a little lagniappe for me.
Winner: The Prom

Okay, as you may have noticed 9 is not an even number. What to do? Here’s what. I randomly chose two eps to have a --I guess you might call it a sub-contest--and the winner of that one advances

Sooooooo…

Round 4.1

001. Doppelgangland (3-16) vs. 023. The Prom (3-20)
Now this one was really hard. And the mighty have fallen. Doppelgangland, which has beaten so many comers is with us no more. First of all, I prefer The Prom for the reasons stated above, but like The Wish, Doppelgangland does have a conceptual flaw. Which is: because Cordelia’s wish was undone, there is no time in the past when Wishworld existed for a “temporal fold” to work. The present and the past were rewritten to send Buffy to Cleveland; then it was unwritten to make everything like it was and is. Anyway…
Winner: The Prom

So there you have it. We are down to the (to use NCAA March Madness parlance) Elite(ish) Eight: Lover’s Walk; The Body; The Zeppo; The Prom; Fool for Love; Once More, with Feeling; Passion; and Who Are You.

See you soon. It’s gonna be Fantasmoricaspectaclariffic!

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Thursday, July 4, 2013 1:13 PM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Hi Bartmarlowe.

This is very awesome and extremely exciting. I find it kind of interesting that what remains is very much what I regard as 'classic' Buffy. Save for Hush which I still consider as tops.
However this continues to be a very intriguing breakdown the the Buffy world. You have done incredibly well to have come so far.

Looking over your list losing Dopplegangland is HUGE! That's really a bleak ol' Buffy episode when you think of it and yet it holds to repeat viewing. So clearly it needed a conceptual flaw to fall to the wayside. However I wonder if we're to read something into the fact that it went up against one of the more 'Happier' Buffy episodes...?

So are you able to give us a preview of which episodes will be going up against one another?

Cheers. Keep it up.

TheSomnambulist

°...Well here I am.°

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