|
|
Post by Clare on Sept 24, 2008 13:06:14 GMT -5
5.01 Buffy vs Dracula - Episode #079
Season Five premiere - Buffy comes face to face with the legendary Count Dracula, prompting her to explore the origin of her Slayer powers.
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Feb 9, 2009 17:42:48 GMT -5
A fun episode, but not amazing. I give it a high 7.
I liked dracula, the way he acted like such a stereotypical vampire (turning into a bat, being dark and mysterious) but I didn't like how anya and spike both seemed to know him. It felt like a cheap way for the characters to have something to say, and dracula didn't seem like the kind of person who'd hang out with either of them.
I liked how buffy had a quiet dinner with her mother, then later it turns out she had a sister. The earlier dinner scene reminded us of how in the early seasons it would be just the two of them at home, making dawn's appearance all the more of a surprise.
|
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Jul 29, 2010 15:22:32 GMT -5
Since the rewatch project seems to have stalled, I'm going to go ahead and post the reviews I've written for S5-7 in order.
5x01 “Buffy Vs Dracula”
Episode Rating = 8
My favourite season opener, “Buffy Vs Dracula” is an admirable introduction to S5, and one that ably initiates the year’s most interesting storyline. Unlike prior eps in its position, this one gets to benefit from not having to introduce major concepts (“Welcome To The Hellmouth”; “The Freshman”) or tie up old arcs (“When She Was Bad”; “Anne”), and we instead get a light-hearted standalone with a novel premise, lots of humour, and some pertinent character development. It’s a great change of pace to lead with something ‘airy’, and it’s even nicer to see that the issues of S4 have been dealt with; leaving the Scoobs feeling pleasantly familial and having appropriate integration for Riley, Anya and Tara.
What I Liked about “Buffy Vs Dracula”:
- The first few scenes are very enjoyable. The dialogue-free vampire hunt Buffy engages in during the teaser is fast and exciting; and the beach scene is warm, funny and lets us see the gang hanging out and enjoying themselves, just like the high school days.
- The basic concept of Dracula existing in the Buffyverse is an intriguing one, and bringing him in allowed for some fantastic character examination. Building on “Restless”, this episode used Dracula to explore fascinating ideas about the nature of the Slayer (what is the source of her abilities? Is she just a killing machine? Is she really any different to the monsters she hunts?), and I could understand the power he had over Buffy. Combining the classic Drac seduction plot with these questions put a new spin on an old story, and I was psyched at the prospect of getting a season that would provide answers to them.
- I can’t say that Rudolf Martin’s portrayal of Dracula was the best I’ve seen, but he was certainly up to par with recent movie versions. It helped that the writing did a great job of making him seem mysterious and seductive, and he had a suitably gothic personality that was unlike any prior “Buffy” vampire. It must have also been fun for Sarah Michelle Gellar, who worked with the actor during her stint on “All My Children”.
- The other characters’ reactions to Dracula are excellent. I loved the initial scepticism that was displayed (Xander’s “case of Dark Prince envy” and Sesame Street quip make me laugh every time), and how it quickly changed to being starstruck – after all, Dracula would definitely be a celebrity in this context. Riley’s jealousy over the vampire’s hold on Buffy made sense given his knowledge of what happened between she and Angel, and his chat with Spike was both humorous (“poncy bugger owes me ten quid, for one thing”)and instrumental in setting up conflict for later in the season.
- I liked the reveal that it was Joyce who had invited Dracula into the Summers home, and her unknowing comment about “giving up on men altogether” to Willow/Tara made me chuckle.
- Giles’ sub-plot is very good, and deals with issues that the show needed to resolve. After a whole season of doing nothing, there needed to be justification for Giles’ continued presence, and it made sense that he’d thought about moving away. His early discussion with Willow was nicely emotional, and Buffy’s superbly-written request that he be her Watcher again gave him a real reason to stick around.
- Xander was consistently amusing during this episode. While it was an all-too-obvious path for the plot to take, he made a fine Renfield, and his bug-eating and slavish servitude to the Dark Master(“...bator”) kept the humour coming. However, I thought that his final mini-speech was his finest moment – the poor guy has been a punching bag for too long, and it was great to hear him recognise that and refuse to be one in the future (and it’s pleasing that this and “The Replacement” marked the end of his ‘schlub’ period).
- The fights are nicely filmed and choreographed. They do look a bit daft in places (like when gravity is ignored, as Dracula hits Buffy with an uppercut and she soars and lands on the table), but they’re otherwise exciting.
- As a whole, the castle segment is fun. You get both the substance of the Buffy/Dracula conversation, and the comedy of Riley/Giles exploring and encountering Xander/the Sisters (who could blame Giles for not wanting to leave?) The moment where Buffy staked Drac was nicely dramatic (“How do you like my darkness now?”), and his subsequent attempts at reforming were funny, as was the suggestion that he wasn’t entirely defeated (fitting for a being of his stature).
What I Disliked about “Buffy Vs Dracula”:
- The ep marks the first appearance of the unfortunately-named Thomas Wanker as incidental music composer, and his output pales in comparison to Christophe Beck’s. It lacks a lot of the emotional nuance, and pieces like the blaring, horn-led fight theme are so blatantly bad that they’re distracting. The quieter moments are better, but they still sound cloying, and the strings appear to be the product of a synthesiser rather than actual instruments – which is in stark contrast to the organic and flowing accompaniment Beck provided.
- The lighting in the indoor scenes appears off. It’s never been a problem before, but quite a lot of the material filmed at Giles’ apartment and Dracula’s castle has an unpleasant yellow tinge. Between the flaws here and the sub-par music, I’m assuming that the show’s budget took a hit.
- Anya and Spike’s mentions of knowing Dracula before were amusing, but the writers need to be wary of making references like these. Put in too many, and the characters’ histories will become just as inconsistent and contrived as Angel’s.
- Depressingly, this is the last episode untainted by Dawn. Her micro-scene at the end was a surprising cliffhanger, but that doesn’t make her introduction any less stupid; or the character any less irritating.
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
I liked it just as much. Despite being something of a gimmick episode, “Buffy Vs Dracula” strikes a great balance between substance and giving the viewer a good time, and treats the Dracula myth with respect (after all, he isn’t truly vanquished at the end) while not being afraid to poke fun at its cheesier aspects (the accent; cape and magically appearing castle). It’s refreshing to have an opening episode that’s unburdened with clean-up from the previous season, and the characterisation, humour and pacing are all top-notch. I’d go so far as to say that this is my second or third favourite episode of the season, and it’s subsequently one that’s deserving of a strong eight out of ten.
|
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Jul 29, 2010 17:13:01 GMT -5
Since the rewatch project seems to have stalled, I'm going to go ahead and post the reviews I've written for S5-7 in order. Does this mean you've already reviewed every single episode? |
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Jul 30, 2010 15:32:19 GMT -5
^ Yep.  |
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Aug 1, 2010 17:12:28 GMT -5
Impressive! If you want, you could post the s6 reviews up next. I reviewed s6 fairly recently and won't be reviewing it again, so once your reviews are up we can jump straight to the discussion. |
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Aug 30, 2010 14:52:51 GMT -5
Unlike prior eps in its position, this one gets to benefit from not having to introduce major concepts (“Welcome To The Hellmouth”; “The Freshman”) or tie up old arcs (“When She Was Bad”; “Anne”), and we instead get a light-hearted standalone Yep. Usually shows have cliffhangers to make sure people come back to watch the new season, though advertising the new episode as 'buffy vs dracula' works too. - The first few scenes are very enjoyable. The dialogue-free vampire hunt Buffy engages in during the teaser is fast and exciting; and the beach scene is warm, funny and lets us see the gang hanging out and enjoying themselves, just like the high school days. Agreed. - The basic concept of Dracula existing in the Buffyverse is an intriguing one Meh, I wasn't a big fan on having dracula appear, especially since the characters all knew who was. It made no sense, I mean if they had all seen the dracula movies/read the book, then he must be a fictional person, but if he's as real as any other vampire then they shouldn't know who he is until they first meet him. It's like if buffy turned on the tv and buffy was on. He shouldn't be real and fictional at the same time. and bringing him in allowed for some fantastic character examination. Building on “Restless”, this episode used Dracula to explore fascinating ideas about the nature of the Slayer (what is the source of her abilities? Is she just a killing machine? Is she really any different to the monsters she hunts?), and I could understand the power he had over Buffy. Combining the classic Drac seduction plot with these questions put a new spin on an old story, and I was psyched at the prospect of getting a season that would provide answers to them. I enjoyed that potential storyline too, shame they didn't go far with it. - The other characters’ reactions to Dracula are excellent. I loved the initial scepticism that was displayed (Xander’s “case of Dark Prince envy” and Sesame Street quip make me laugh every time), and how it quickly changed to being starstruck – after all, Dracula would definitely be a celebrity in this context. Pleh! It made no sense! (“poncy bugger owes me ten quid, for one thing”) ^ That made even less sense! I'm really not buying that spike and dracula would have hung out, they're just so different. It's within the realm of possibility I suppose, but it's a stupid line that wasn't at all necessary. - Giles’ sub-plot is very good, and deals with issues that the show needed to resolve. After a whole season of doing nothing, there needed to be justification for Giles’ continued presence, and it made sense that he’d thought about moving away. His early discussion with Willow was nicely emotional, and Buffy’s superbly-written request that he be her Watcher again gave him a real reason to stick around. I loved that too, having giles stick around so he could help buffy discover what it means to be a slayer. ... is it just me, or did willow really cake-on the makeup during her scene with giles? - Xander was consistently amusing during this episode. While it was an all-too-obvious path for the plot to take, he made a fine Renfield, and his bug-eating and slavish servitude to the Dark Master(“...bator”) kept the humour coming. However, I thought that his final mini-speech was his finest moment – the poor guy has been a punching bag for too long, and it was great to hear him recognise that and refuse to be one in the future (and it’s pleasing that this and “The Replacement” marked the end of his ‘schlub’ period). Agreed. I loved him referring to the dark prince... baiter. The moment where Buffy staked Drac was nicely dramatic (“How do you like my darkness now?”), and his subsequent attempts at reforming were funny, as was the suggestion that he wasn’t entirely defeated (fitting for a being of his stature). It was amusing that he kept coming back, but I'm not really buying how it's possible. If there's a way for vamps to survive a staking, why aren't they all doing it? Surely vamps like the master or even angel should be aware of tricks like that. - The lighting in the indoor scenes appears off. It’s never been a problem before, but quite a lot of the material filmed at Giles’ apartment and Dracula’s castle has an unpleasant yellow tinge. Between the flaws here and the sub-par music, I’m assuming that the show’s budget took a hit. I didn't find any problem with the music, and I just figured the yellow lighting was just they way dracula likes his castle. - Anya and Spike’s mentions of knowing Dracula before were amusing, but the writers need to be wary of making references like these. Put in too many, and the characters’ histories will become just as inconsistent and contrived as Angel’s. Agreed. Certainly man-hater and social situation avoider anya wouldn't have been hanging out with a vampire. And what's worse is that they never did anything with these comments, we never saw anya or spike interacting with drac. So what was the point? - Depressingly, this is the last episode untainted by Dawn. Her micro-scene at the end was a surprising cliffhanger, but that doesn’t make her introduction any less stupid; or the character any less irritating. Untainted! Ha! She's in one scene with one word of dialogue, and you're still ripping into her. I’d go so far as to say that this is my second or third favourite episode of the season, and it’s subsequently one that’s deserving of a strong eight out of ten. I found the amusement factor high, but there was also plenty for me to be annoyed about. I'm giving it a low 7. |
|
|
|
Post by partcynic on Oct 3, 2010 6:04:22 GMT -5
Who's to say the book is fiction in this context? Aren't plenty of books and films made about real people? And though the Drac of the books obviously isn't real, he had human inspiration from Vlad the Impaler. She really did. Aw - that's not ripping into her at all. You'll have to wait and read my reviews of those poor Dawn-centric eps to get that. |
|
|
|
Post by cyclica on Oct 3, 2010 17:29:54 GMT -5
Who's to say the book is fiction in this context? Aren't plenty of books and films made about real people? And though the Drac of the books obviously isn't real, he had human inspiration from Vlad the Impaler. So in the buffy universe dracula is real, but he was also in books and movies, because he was the inspiration for the character based on him? Ok that does make some sense, but it's still convoluted. It's just too bizarre of an idea that there is a real dracula in this universe, living among humans, even though anyone who meets him would instantly know who he is. |
|
