So, over the course of Saturday and Sunday, I watched the first eight episodes of Season Five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, through a combination of general boredom and wanting to give the show a fair shot. So, does this mean I’m now hooked?
Well, when Kate got home, I was just starting episode 12 ( the other one specifically recommended by the guy who loaned me the DVD’s). “What happened to 9, 10, and 11?” she asked. “I’m getting a little tired of this,” I replied.
On the positive side, the execution improved dramatically from the first few episodes. The cast are clearly much more comfortable with the characters, and the production people have clearly figured out what works. The execution issues that remain are either inherent in the weekly tv series genre (the occasional as-you-know-Buffy recap for the benefit of viewers who missed an episode or two), or the production crew (they’re inordinately fond of a couple of types of jump cuts, which gets wearying when watching a lot of episodes back to back).
On the negative side…
It’s really not a good sign that the character I had the most sympathy for doesn’t make it to the end of the season, let alone the series. I know I’m going to be told that this is because I skipped three seasons’ worth of subliminal messages character development, but the only character I really cared for in the first block of the season was Riley. This is partly because I’m contractually obligated to root for anyone who can dunk a basketball, but also because he was being badly jerked around by the heavy hand of the plot. Tara was probably the next most sympathetic of the cast.
Regarding the more central characters: Xander must die. God damn but he’s annoying. This is partly due to having two whole episodes that showcased his more irritating features (the Renfield act in the Dracula episode, and the one where he gets split in two), but I found that character intensely annoying. His girlfriend was also deeply grating.
The others were… there. Their intelligence, like Buffy’s strength, seems to go up and down according to the requirements of the plot, but they were basically fine.
The villains, on the other hand, were screechingly awful. They’re terrible in a way that is clearly intended to be campily humorous, but they miss that mark (for me, at least), and just end up being irritating. The Dracula thing was pretty silly, and the ill-tempered blond halfwits just got on my nerves.
I can see the appeal of the show, on an intellectual sort of level, but it just doesn’t work that well for me. A lot of things that are clearly intended to be funny just don’t click for me, and the relationship angst stuff is a genre that never really grabs me. I’ll watch episode 12, and maybe the finale, just to see how the whole Key thing gets resolved, but other than that, I think I’m done with it.