What do I do when I can't sleep?
Mar. 1st, 2003 03:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
butterflyI talk. Sometimes all night. Usually just to myself, but I felt the need to share tonight.
Rosetta was Smallville's 17th episode of the season. Buffy's Storyteller was the 16th episode of the season. And Angel has only shown up to episode 12, Calvary.
To put it into perspective, Angel is up to Potential (BtVS) or Insurgence (SV) episode-wise.
At this point in Angel we've just had a twist: Cordy is either evil, possessed, or acting really oddly for a saint/higherbeing/someonewithabrain.
Character-wise: Well, Fred finally broke up with Gunn. Connor still has a love/hate thing with his dad. Wes still has a thing for Fred. A main character is being all evil. Again. Not that Wes was really all that evil last year. Just extremely misguided and a touch assy. Until the latest episode most unspoiled people thought that a) Charisma had incurred the wrath of everyone involved with the show and thus was getting sucky bits and b) that her acting had really gone down-hill. Wes is still the same dude we met again in Deep Down, though Lilah's death may change his sucky attitude.
Plot-wise: We met the (presumed) Big Bad in episode 7 unless a brief flash in eppy 6 counts. However, if NewCordy is evil, then we met the villain in Slouching toward Bethleham (episode number 4), which makes a lot of sense. Well, the end of The House Always Wins, really, but that was just a shocker ending type thing that also decimated the Angel character, so I like to ignore it. (Much as I hate Angel, I hate it even more when they retcon his character to have been 'cool' during his tortured eating rats period. Blech.) And if this Cordy is the same as the HigherBeingCordy, then we saw the villain at the end of the first episode (just like on Buffy).
Good episode-wise: Such a subjective thing. All of the episodes have been very pretty. They know how to work the camera and the set and such things. Deep Down was good. I liked Lessons better, but I am a die-hard Buffy fan. The only (current) show that's gone over Buffy has been Smallville on its very good weeks (Insurgence, Lineage, Prodigal and Rosetta, for the most part. Though I had minor (Lana-related) problems with all of those episodes. Mainly that she was in them at all. Just because Kristin is the second headliner is no reason for her to be in a prominent (or even minor) role in every episode (just ask Nicky B., who's been the second credit in Buffy since its first episode). If she doesn't fit, she shouldn't be there.). Anyway. Angel. Ground State introduced the delightful Gwen, whom I lust after mightily. It's the hair, really. I already mentioned my distaste for The House Always Wins. Most people that I've read think that Slouching... wasn't worthy of the title. Supersymmetry was annoying, to me, at least. Still don't get the Fred thing. Spin the Bottle was enjoyable, if only to see Cordy as a fun character again. Still, there were some plot issues. Which is, as Strega pointed out in her recap, hardly a rare thing for Joss Whedon penned episodes. The only things people really remember Rain of Fire for is the Connor/Cordy sex that blinded the world (I kid, as there is no way anywhere near the entire world, or even a substantial percentage of it, care about Angel). Then we got Habeas Corpses, which was widely acknowledged as very good. Though, again, there are some bad errors in it (Why are there zombies? If this is a W&H thing, why not make the zombies somewhat intelligent so that they can be useful? Also, how the hell did Gunn go from covered in zombies to nowhere near any?). Long Day's Night brought back Gwen and had Cordy and Angel act stupid and jealous for the entire episode. Which, if she is evil, I don't really get. Why does she care? Also, the sun goes down. Which is bad like a bad thing, except for the incredibly stupid explanation for the entire sun thing (Is it gone? If so, why isn't the earth cold and flying off into space? Is it just being blotted out? If so, why are the characters saying that it's gone? Also, the hell?). I didn't actually see Awakening, which I'm happy about because it sounds like something that would make me ill. A cool ending does not make up for an hour of annoying me with Angel's silly dreams. Soulless was fun, though I'll admit that part of the reason I watched it was about seeing Sean Astin direct. Still Angel is much more interesting as Angelus. Plus, he's actually a touch sexy. But there's still the what the fuckness of Cordy's deal with Angelus. Finally, we get to Calvary, where we finally get a reason for Cordy's lameness in most of the season. Correction, her lameness since the whole lame Cordy/Angel thing started brewing.
That's where Angel stands after 12 episodes. Now let's check out SV and BTVS.
Episode 12 of Smallville was the episode upon with many fans, including myself had pinned our hopes on. Several people threatened to boycott the show if Insurgence sucked. Happily, it did not suck. One might go so far as to say that it rules.
Now many people will point out that SV has been extraordinarily uneven: when it's good, it's very, very good and when it's bad, it sucks rocks. Also, much of the characterization is off, to the point where a viewer has to wonder if the writers even talk to each other. And there's always the mindcrushing pain of watching Kristin play Lana. She's gotten better, but a progression from 'eye-bleedingly painful' to 'nearly bearable at times' does not a good actor make.
The first episode of the season, while good, wasn't as good as the season finale had been. Then again, most shows lack follow-through. They set up the hard choices but shy from having their characters truly explore them (see Angel's beige arc or Willow's magic addication or the non-reaction to Harper's infestation). Anyway, this episode supposedly gave Lex and Mr. Kent a clean slate. Then Jonathon tries to shoot Lex in Heat. And Lex never gets an explanation. Still, Heat was a glorious gay romp, throbbing with passion. In Duplicity, we all learned that Pete really didn't need to have any more lines and that we should have been happy with his earlier role. In Red, we find out that yellow has apparently been demoted from primary color status. And that Clark wants to run away with Lex. Then we got Nocturne. Which. Sucked. In so very many ways. The plot holes, the incredible amounts of Lana, the reverse-werewolf who looks like a Buffyverse vamp. Next was Redux, which had flirty Clex, an out-of-place storyline (money troubles? the hell?) and a plotline that couldn't have screamed Buffy louder if the girl had been named Catherine-Ampata. Luckily, our hope was restored with the true deliciousness of Lineage, which ruled so completely. Then Ryan came back, which I hearted, especially since it caused Clark and Lex to act so married-couple-y. Sadly, Dichotic came and totally sucked (He could subdue both Chloe and Lana? Without weapons? But he's so little? I mean, I love JTT, but he's so little!) with an ending that made Chloe into a Lana-loving bot. Blech. Then we had Skinwalker, which in retrospect I appreciate for giving us the caves. And yet. It sucked so totally. Kyla was a murderer. And she was mean to Martha when she was a wolf. And how the hell did Clark get away with the whole 'holding a dead and bloody girl in the woods' thing? And then Visage, which was well-acted and yet killed off two very cool characters for no apparent reason. I mean, I can see killing Tina, I really can. She's evil. She knows some of Clark's secret. But why Whitney? It's so... wasteful. Again, just when many were about to give up, Insurgence appeared like manna from above.
If there is an overarcing villain in SV at the moment, it's Lionel. Of course, SV shouldn't be about villians and monsters. It's about how Superman because Superman. Or how Clark invented Superman. It's about how Lex became Lex Luthor. It's about destiny and nature/nuture (coming firmly down on the nurture side thus far) and friendships gone terribly wrong. Or it's about Lana's fondness for pastels.
The 'twist' that Insurgence gave us was knowing that Lionel had all of this information on Clark. This episode also put the key back in the Kent's possession. And Lex was beaten at the Luthor game by his dad again, though that's no surprise. And Jonathon was really mean to Lex. Which I get, but still. Meeeeean.
Now onto Buffy.
Buffy, being a show into its seventh year, has certain traditions. Generally speaking, the first episode is a template for the season as a whole. Lessons started the show off with a nice bang and it might be my favorite season opener ever. The essential events in Lessons boil down to a) Buffy fights but fighting does not win the day b) Spike provides the brainpower for the solution c) Xander implements it. And d) Dawn is cool under pressure but isn't really important aside from being a motivational tool and e) Anya, Giles, and Willow all see the power from a distance and don't have anything to do with fixing it. Oh, and Buffy is the last face of the the First. (Interestingly, both Angel and Buffy end the first episode on a (presumably) non-corporal female main character (representation) talking. Coincidence?) In Same Time, Same Place, Willow scares the viewers with her power and her inability to control it. A girl dies in Help and nothing Buffy can do will stop it. Then Anya gets all remorseful and pitches her tent on the white-hats' ground in Selfless. Spike and Xander save the day again in Him while the rest worry about their love lives. Then Andrew becomes a murderer and so does Spike. Well, for Spike, it's more like he resumed being a murderer. The First/Warren lies shamelessly to Andrew about the seal and he gets nabbed by Willow at the butcher shop. Juliet Landau sucked as the First. No, she really did. Sucked horribly. Buffy looked really young and vulnerable in her speech at the end of Bring on the Night, though. Buffy beats up the Ubervamp in Showtime and then rescues Spike. She then thinks that the best way to teach new Potential Slayers is by feeling him up. Meanwhile, Xander is cool and mature and trying not to bond with the murderer. Either of the murderers. Either of the male murderers. The female murderers stay away from Xander for their own reasons.
I can't think of a 'twist' in Buffy up to Potential. Oh, maybe in Showtime, where we find out that the reason that the First can act is because of the Slayer.
For the characters, things definitely seem to get worse over time. Xander, Buffy, and Dawn seemed to be quite the tight trio in Lessons and Buffy has pretty much abandoned them for the potentials and Spike. Willow was still all depressed and sucky at this point. Andrew was still amusing me against my will and causing me to feel flashes of guilt and anger about said amusement. Giles was possibly the First.
Quality episode-wise, I'd argue for 6 (maybe 7) of Angel (Deep Down, Ground State, Spin the Bottle, Habeas Corpses, Soulless, and Calvary. Maybe Long Day's Night.), though I still have deep problems with the plot holes in a couple of those. Smallville is harder because they have some truly enjoyable fluffy episodes and some episodes that are deep and enjoyable. And some really bad episodes. And with Buffy, I'm so not the person to judge that as I've never met a Buffy episode that didn't have several things that I adored about it.
Like I said, I ramble on.
Rosetta was Smallville's 17th episode of the season. Buffy's Storyteller was the 16th episode of the season. And Angel has only shown up to episode 12, Calvary.
To put it into perspective, Angel is up to Potential (BtVS) or Insurgence (SV) episode-wise.
At this point in Angel we've just had a twist: Cordy is either evil, possessed, or acting really oddly for a saint/higherbeing/someonewithabrain.
Character-wise: Well, Fred finally broke up with Gunn. Connor still has a love/hate thing with his dad. Wes still has a thing for Fred. A main character is being all evil. Again. Not that Wes was really all that evil last year. Just extremely misguided and a touch assy. Until the latest episode most unspoiled people thought that a) Charisma had incurred the wrath of everyone involved with the show and thus was getting sucky bits and b) that her acting had really gone down-hill. Wes is still the same dude we met again in Deep Down, though Lilah's death may change his sucky attitude.
Plot-wise: We met the (presumed) Big Bad in episode 7 unless a brief flash in eppy 6 counts. However, if NewCordy is evil, then we met the villain in Slouching toward Bethleham (episode number 4), which makes a lot of sense. Well, the end of The House Always Wins, really, but that was just a shocker ending type thing that also decimated the Angel character, so I like to ignore it. (Much as I hate Angel, I hate it even more when they retcon his character to have been 'cool' during his tortured eating rats period. Blech.) And if this Cordy is the same as the HigherBeingCordy, then we saw the villain at the end of the first episode (just like on Buffy).
Good episode-wise: Such a subjective thing. All of the episodes have been very pretty. They know how to work the camera and the set and such things. Deep Down was good. I liked Lessons better, but I am a die-hard Buffy fan. The only (current) show that's gone over Buffy has been Smallville on its very good weeks (Insurgence, Lineage, Prodigal and Rosetta, for the most part. Though I had minor (Lana-related) problems with all of those episodes. Mainly that she was in them at all. Just because Kristin is the second headliner is no reason for her to be in a prominent (or even minor) role in every episode (just ask Nicky B., who's been the second credit in Buffy since its first episode). If she doesn't fit, she shouldn't be there.). Anyway. Angel. Ground State introduced the delightful Gwen, whom I lust after mightily. It's the hair, really. I already mentioned my distaste for The House Always Wins. Most people that I've read think that Slouching... wasn't worthy of the title. Supersymmetry was annoying, to me, at least. Still don't get the Fred thing. Spin the Bottle was enjoyable, if only to see Cordy as a fun character again. Still, there were some plot issues. Which is, as Strega pointed out in her recap, hardly a rare thing for Joss Whedon penned episodes. The only things people really remember Rain of Fire for is the Connor/Cordy sex that blinded the world (I kid, as there is no way anywhere near the entire world, or even a substantial percentage of it, care about Angel). Then we got Habeas Corpses, which was widely acknowledged as very good. Though, again, there are some bad errors in it (Why are there zombies? If this is a W&H thing, why not make the zombies somewhat intelligent so that they can be useful? Also, how the hell did Gunn go from covered in zombies to nowhere near any?). Long Day's Night brought back Gwen and had Cordy and Angel act stupid and jealous for the entire episode. Which, if she is evil, I don't really get. Why does she care? Also, the sun goes down. Which is bad like a bad thing, except for the incredibly stupid explanation for the entire sun thing (Is it gone? If so, why isn't the earth cold and flying off into space? Is it just being blotted out? If so, why are the characters saying that it's gone? Also, the hell?). I didn't actually see Awakening, which I'm happy about because it sounds like something that would make me ill. A cool ending does not make up for an hour of annoying me with Angel's silly dreams. Soulless was fun, though I'll admit that part of the reason I watched it was about seeing Sean Astin direct. Still Angel is much more interesting as Angelus. Plus, he's actually a touch sexy. But there's still the what the fuckness of Cordy's deal with Angelus. Finally, we get to Calvary, where we finally get a reason for Cordy's lameness in most of the season. Correction, her lameness since the whole lame Cordy/Angel thing started brewing.
That's where Angel stands after 12 episodes. Now let's check out SV and BTVS.
Episode 12 of Smallville was the episode upon with many fans, including myself had pinned our hopes on. Several people threatened to boycott the show if Insurgence sucked. Happily, it did not suck. One might go so far as to say that it rules.
Now many people will point out that SV has been extraordinarily uneven: when it's good, it's very, very good and when it's bad, it sucks rocks. Also, much of the characterization is off, to the point where a viewer has to wonder if the writers even talk to each other. And there's always the mindcrushing pain of watching Kristin play Lana. She's gotten better, but a progression from 'eye-bleedingly painful' to 'nearly bearable at times' does not a good actor make.
The first episode of the season, while good, wasn't as good as the season finale had been. Then again, most shows lack follow-through. They set up the hard choices but shy from having their characters truly explore them (see Angel's beige arc or Willow's magic addication or the non-reaction to Harper's infestation). Anyway, this episode supposedly gave Lex and Mr. Kent a clean slate. Then Jonathon tries to shoot Lex in Heat. And Lex never gets an explanation. Still, Heat was a glorious gay romp, throbbing with passion. In Duplicity, we all learned that Pete really didn't need to have any more lines and that we should have been happy with his earlier role. In Red, we find out that yellow has apparently been demoted from primary color status. And that Clark wants to run away with Lex. Then we got Nocturne. Which. Sucked. In so very many ways. The plot holes, the incredible amounts of Lana, the reverse-werewolf who looks like a Buffyverse vamp. Next was Redux, which had flirty Clex, an out-of-place storyline (money troubles? the hell?) and a plotline that couldn't have screamed Buffy louder if the girl had been named Catherine-Ampata. Luckily, our hope was restored with the true deliciousness of Lineage, which ruled so completely. Then Ryan came back, which I hearted, especially since it caused Clark and Lex to act so married-couple-y. Sadly, Dichotic came and totally sucked (He could subdue both Chloe and Lana? Without weapons? But he's so little? I mean, I love JTT, but he's so little!) with an ending that made Chloe into a Lana-loving bot. Blech. Then we had Skinwalker, which in retrospect I appreciate for giving us the caves. And yet. It sucked so totally. Kyla was a murderer. And she was mean to Martha when she was a wolf. And how the hell did Clark get away with the whole 'holding a dead and bloody girl in the woods' thing? And then Visage, which was well-acted and yet killed off two very cool characters for no apparent reason. I mean, I can see killing Tina, I really can. She's evil. She knows some of Clark's secret. But why Whitney? It's so... wasteful. Again, just when many were about to give up, Insurgence appeared like manna from above.
If there is an overarcing villain in SV at the moment, it's Lionel. Of course, SV shouldn't be about villians and monsters. It's about how Superman because Superman. Or how Clark invented Superman. It's about how Lex became Lex Luthor. It's about destiny and nature/nuture (coming firmly down on the nurture side thus far) and friendships gone terribly wrong. Or it's about Lana's fondness for pastels.
The 'twist' that Insurgence gave us was knowing that Lionel had all of this information on Clark. This episode also put the key back in the Kent's possession. And Lex was beaten at the Luthor game by his dad again, though that's no surprise. And Jonathon was really mean to Lex. Which I get, but still. Meeeeean.
Now onto Buffy.
Buffy, being a show into its seventh year, has certain traditions. Generally speaking, the first episode is a template for the season as a whole. Lessons started the show off with a nice bang and it might be my favorite season opener ever. The essential events in Lessons boil down to a) Buffy fights but fighting does not win the day b) Spike provides the brainpower for the solution c) Xander implements it. And d) Dawn is cool under pressure but isn't really important aside from being a motivational tool and e) Anya, Giles, and Willow all see the power from a distance and don't have anything to do with fixing it. Oh, and Buffy is the last face of the the First. (Interestingly, both Angel and Buffy end the first episode on a (presumably) non-corporal female main character (representation) talking. Coincidence?) In Same Time, Same Place, Willow scares the viewers with her power and her inability to control it. A girl dies in Help and nothing Buffy can do will stop it. Then Anya gets all remorseful and pitches her tent on the white-hats' ground in Selfless. Spike and Xander save the day again in Him while the rest worry about their love lives. Then Andrew becomes a murderer and so does Spike. Well, for Spike, it's more like he resumed being a murderer. The First/Warren lies shamelessly to Andrew about the seal and he gets nabbed by Willow at the butcher shop. Juliet Landau sucked as the First. No, she really did. Sucked horribly. Buffy looked really young and vulnerable in her speech at the end of Bring on the Night, though. Buffy beats up the Ubervamp in Showtime and then rescues Spike. She then thinks that the best way to teach new Potential Slayers is by feeling him up. Meanwhile, Xander is cool and mature and trying not to bond with the murderer. Either of the murderers. Either of the male murderers. The female murderers stay away from Xander for their own reasons.
I can't think of a 'twist' in Buffy up to Potential. Oh, maybe in Showtime, where we find out that the reason that the First can act is because of the Slayer.
For the characters, things definitely seem to get worse over time. Xander, Buffy, and Dawn seemed to be quite the tight trio in Lessons and Buffy has pretty much abandoned them for the potentials and Spike. Willow was still all depressed and sucky at this point. Andrew was still amusing me against my will and causing me to feel flashes of guilt and anger about said amusement. Giles was possibly the First.
Quality episode-wise, I'd argue for 6 (maybe 7) of Angel (Deep Down, Ground State, Spin the Bottle, Habeas Corpses, Soulless, and Calvary. Maybe Long Day's Night.), though I still have deep problems with the plot holes in a couple of those. Smallville is harder because they have some truly enjoyable fluffy episodes and some episodes that are deep and enjoyable. And some really bad episodes. And with Buffy, I'm so not the person to judge that as I've never met a Buffy episode that didn't have several things that I adored about it.
Like I said, I ramble on.