Blogcritics Comments on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Comment by Maria on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Tue, 1 Mar 2005 19:05:37 EST

Good eye, Katie. Josh Holloway's "demise" on Angel was also seen in the opening credits of Angel.

Comment by Joel Caris on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Fri, 25 Feb 2005 22:57:56 EST

Wow, I didn't realize that, Katie. I'm going to have to go back and check that out. That was such a cool opening for the show, by the way. It was perfect.

Comment by Eric Berlin on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Fri, 25 Feb 2005 22:54:35 EST

Very cool Katie, thanks. I'm glad Holloway got a major role -- he's an excellent actor with a meaty part to play out.

Comment by Katie O on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Fri, 25 Feb 2005 21:31:26 EST

To get back to Whedon-Abrams connections... Josh Holloway (aka Sawyer on Lost) appeared on Angel in "City of". He was one of the guys in the bar at the beginning when Angel is acting drunk.

Comment by Jim Carruthers on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 16:26:05 EST

I came late to both Buffy and Angel, and in the first ep of season 4 of Angel, didn't recognize Wesley, who I knew from season 3 of BtVS. "I'll take away your bucket" indeed. One of the best Joss Whedon commentaries on increasing darkness is the one he did for the last Firefly ep, "Objects in Space". Also his method of writing not what the audience wants, but what they need (similar to the credo behind "The Wire"). Amy Acker really impressed me with her craft as an actor in s5 of Angel, playing two characters, and often doing it with just a look. Especially in "The Girl In Question" which was mostly fluff. And how that refers to "Lost" is that what you know about the characters isn't what you think you know.

Comment by Joel Caris on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 14:50:44 EST

Oh, the whole storyline with Fred was absolutely brutal. There were a few scenes between her and Wesley after she became Ilyria that were just heartbreaking. That really got to me, and Angel tended to be a show that never got to me the way Buffy did. I always found Angel entertaining, but for some reason I rarely ever cared about the characters as much as on Buffy. But I did start to care about Fred and found Wesley incredibly interesting. And yeah, the guy who plays Wesley--Alexis Denisof--did an amazing job with that role. That character came so far from his beginning on Buffy, it was an incredible arc. When Wesley first shows up on Buffy, you'd never guess he would become one of the most fascinating characters on either Buffy or Angel.

Comment by Eric Berlin on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 10:13:02 EST

Great points about Angel and Whedon, Joel. There's an amazing moment in Season 4 of Angel, I believe, when Wesley -- asked by someone why he's so different now, why he's changed -- looks at the camera and says in a cold blooded voice, "My friends abandoned me." The guy who plays Wesley (forget his name) is a simply great actor. His character evoloved enormously from early Buffy to late Angel, and really follows Whedon down the darkness trail. Talk about piling on the hurt: killing off Fred only to have her body replaced by a demon who acts like Fred to get into Wesley's pants (and heart)... damn!

Comment by Joel Caris on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 02:33:48 EST

Jim--Oh, the loveliness of "Hush." That staking motion of Buffy's was one of the shows best laughs ever. Almost died when I saw that. Sarah Michelle Gellar played it perfectly. Also, Giles' drawings. Classic. And I was very happy to see them return in season seven, if briefly. Eric--Whedon most definitely trended darker over his career. Season six of Buffy was brutal and season seven got fairly nasty, as well. Firefly was very funny at times but could also be pretty dark, and I'm guessing we'll see more of that with the movie. And yes, the ending of Angel was absolutely brutal. Just a kick in the face. Angel was pretty dark throughout it's run, in fact. I mean, Wesley getting his throat slit was pretty nasty, or when Angel let all the Wolfram and Hart lawyers get killed (possibly the show's single greatest shot and moment, when he's closing that door). I seem to recall a quote from Whedon once when he was talking about how he liked to pile on the pain for the audience, just making it worse and worse and worse to see how far he could take it. He definitely did that, and it was, frankly, one of the things I best loved about him.

Comment by swingingpuss on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 22:27:37 EST

Eric B check out the Carnival Season 1 DVD from netflix. I'm sure you will like it.

Comment by Jim Carruthers on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 22:04:48 EST

Dude, he's Korean. USAian, actually. One of the inside jokes is that Daniel Dae Kim plays a Korean who doesn't speak English, while he is an American who doesn't speak very good Korean (or so I've been told).

Comment by swingingpuss on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 21:45:10 EST

For us, it was actually 'lost in translation' because of a frequent Amber Alert abt a missing child in the area. Good episode - because of the Japanese actor mainly.

Comment by Jim Carruthers on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 21:39:28 EST

On tonight's ep of "Lost" "... in translation", was Daniel Dae Kim amazing, or what? A great script, and a dynamic performance as Jin, with multiple connections to previous eps, especially Sun's backstory. And the ending musical montage scene, I almost pissed myself laughing.

Comment by Jim Carruthers on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 19:47:00 EST

What made BtVS and Angel really work was the mixture of elements. For example, "Hush" is one of the scariest eps, and has one of the funniest gags in the entire series, a triple entendre ("how do we kill them?" Buffy makes a, well motion) during a stylistically unprecedented teevee show. Or "Smile Time" on Angel, or "Tabula Rasa" (I'm Randy Giles!") or "Storyteller". But not "The Body", and definitely not "Beer Bad".

Comment by Eric Berlin on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 19:33:53 EST

Spike is always great, whether funny or serious (and he's often hilarious). I'd love to see him get his own show as a new spin-off. I have no idea which season was funniest. What makes Buffy such a great show was that it was a delicious mix of horror, drama, and comedy. Whedon never let the show drift too far in any direction, with always the perfect pull to yank a moment out of any complacency. That said, Whedon trended darker throughout his television career, don't you think? The series finale of Angel was almost a final, vengeful kick in the teeth to the TV world.

Comment by Joel Caris on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 19:25:41 EST

Well, it's a common opinion that season two was the best. I don't quite go for that, but I did love the season. It's actually when I started watching Buffy--a little ways into the second season. I can't remember exactly which episode I came in on. So I do have fond memories, especially of the season finale. Here's a question: Which was the funniest season? It's a tough one, but I would probably go with season four, in large part thanks to the hilarity of Spike throughout that season. The third season, though, was very funny, as well.

Comment by Jim Carruthers on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 19:22:13 EST

"Carnivale" is an interesting series, but two-thirds of the way though season two, we have got no indication that it is going anywhere other than a simple Manichean battle which will result in WWII. And every ep ends with:

"Goodnight Ben", "Goodnight Sophie", "Goodnight, Stumpy" "Goodnight, Rita Sue", "Goodnight, Samson", "Goodnight, Iris", "Goodnight, Norman", "Goodnight, Justin", "Hail, Satan!!!!!, er, goodnight"

Comment by Eric Berlin on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 18:56:53 EST

Spike & Dru, the Ms. Calendar storyline (Gile's one and only serious love interest!), the burning hot flame of young love, the emergence of Angel as a major character (both good and evil), sweet Willow's love sickness and the goofy young love fun between Xander and Cordelia... Sorry Joel, but Two is tops... but I appreciate the addition of it into your peak era (wink).

Comment by Joel Caris on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 18:53:30 EST

See, I think season two is somewhat overrated. Now, the second half of the season is awesome and the ending is just heartbreaking, but there are some early episodes in there that are mediocre at best. However, Spike and Drusilla shows up in season two, so that's some great times there. How about I just say that season 2-5 is the peak? Can a peak encompass more than half of a show's run? Heh.

Comment by Eric Berlin on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 18:52:58 EST

Swinging - I hope you're not implying that Lost is for the short attention minded. I find it to be one of the more intelligent shows on nowadays, especially as I am not so blessed as to receive HBO.

Comment by swingingpuss on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 18:46:53 EST

Jim I never said that Carnival is faster paced than Lost but its better produced and has a richer story line. Further more this show requires an attention span more than that of a peanut unlike many others.

Comment by Eric Berlin on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 18:36:14 EST

Joel - You're right, my patience is just about done with Netflix. They actually make it very difficult to contact them nowadays. Maybe they grew too fast, which is sad, really. And no, they have not explained the super-slow down. Jim - Great call in mentioning Gina Torres, who has shown great versatility in Alias, Angel (I love every minute of the episodes involving her story arc), and especially Firefly. What an incredible pair she makes with the hilarious/talented Alan Tudyk. Jon & Joel: I couldn't disagree more on declaring Seasons 3 - 5 to be Buffy's peak. Season 2 is remarkable and amazing and probably Whedon's best season of television. Season 3 comes very close, after which 4 and 5 fall off a little bit. Seasons 2 & 3 form the peak in, my opinion, with flashes and periods of greatness coming from 1, 4, and 6.

Comment by Jim Carruthers on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 18:09:18 EST

There's also the cross-over with "Veronica Mars" (which some have called the new Buffy) with Alyson Hannigan appearing as a recurring character, and the title character being played by Kristen Bell, who appeared on "Deadwood" until she got fed to the pigs. And I'm sure there is some cross-over between in actors, writers or directors between "Veronica Mars" and "Lost". BTW "Veronica Mars" is quite good, though rich California high-school kids don't really interest me that much these days.

Comment by Joel Caris on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 17:28:28 EST

I just started watching Carnivale, have so far seen the first two episodes. It seems like a good show--with the potential to be a great show--but yeah, not exactly fast pacing. It's very slow, in fact.

Comment by Joel Caris on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 17:27:04 EST

Jon, you'd probably be better off grabbing Lost when it hits DVD, as I imagine it will this fall before season two comes out. It would be the perfect show for a marthon DVD viewing, that's for sure. And I'm in complete agreement about seasons 3-5 being the peak. I think it's coming up on time for me to rewatch the entire show. Need to do that with Angel, too.

Comment by Jon Sobel on Dumpster Busting TV: Buffy's Lost Connection

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 17:21:11 EST

Funny how often things get turned into "Buffy" threads. Right now I'm revisiting Season 1 on DVD. Remarkable what a good show it was from the very beginning, even though I've always said seasons 3 through 5 were the peak. This discussion has made me want to check out "Lost," but it's so hard to commit to watching a show every week with my nutty schedule and lack of Tivo.