I suppose it's the feel of the show that doesn't change. Some of the characters have, but... I'm not sure how to explain it.
It feels like they found a formula, decided that it worked, and operated on the belief that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". People like Spike, give them more Spike. People liked Cordy's snark, bring in Anya to be tactless.
Which is a valid way of doing things. I adoreBuffy the Vampire Slayer.
But I... admire Angel for constantly redefining normal (which is what I praised our girl for in Chosen). Everything on Angel feels more grey, whereas on Buffy, even with the grey characters, it feels more black and white.
They shake things up. Buffy kills off incidental characters. No matter how much I adored Tara, she was mostly just "Willow's girlfriend", just like Jenny's impact was mostly "Giles' girlfriend" and Joyce's was "Buffy's mom". Angel killed off one of three cast members nine episodes in (side note: which made me swear off the show for the rest of the season). They blew up their set after the first year. They change the cast every year. It's in a constant state of flux. Cordelia goes evil and she doesn't come back. Angel has a son and it really changes everything.
I don't always like what they do, but I like that they do it. The consequences feel so real and brutal.
It felt like Buffy was trying to do that in Season four. Then the college setting just bled away. The show started to feel claustraphobic and it didn't feel like it was happening on purpose.
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regna
Re: But...
Date: 2003-06-05 05:45 am (UTC)It feels like they found a formula, decided that it worked, and operated on the belief that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". People like Spike, give them more Spike. People liked Cordy's snark, bring in Anya to be tactless.
Which is a valid way of doing things. I adore Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
But I... admire Angel for constantly redefining normal (which is what I praised our girl for in Chosen). Everything on Angel feels more grey, whereas on Buffy, even with the grey characters, it feels more black and white.
They shake things up. Buffy kills off incidental characters. No matter how much I adored Tara, she was mostly just "Willow's girlfriend", just like Jenny's impact was mostly "Giles' girlfriend" and Joyce's was "Buffy's mom". Angel killed off one of three cast members nine episodes in (side note: which made me swear off the show for the rest of the season). They blew up their set after the first year. They change the cast every year. It's in a constant state of flux. Cordelia goes evil and she doesn't come back. Angel has a son and it really changes everything.
I don't always like what they do, but I like that they do it. The consequences feel so real and brutal.
It felt like Buffy was trying to do that in Season four. Then the college setting just bled away. The show started to feel claustraphobic and it didn't feel like it was happening on purpose.