4 episode lead-up to OMWF

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sarahk79

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Here's a semi-hypothetical question for you all: Suppose you have a friend who has no previous Buffy background but who is interested in watching, and is particularly interested in watching "that musical episode". The amount of time she has to watch the show is pretty limited, so she will only have time for a few episodes. If she asked you to recommend four episodes to watch PRIOR to "Once More With Feeling" that will give her as much background information as possible, which four would you recommend and why?

I have my opinion, but I am curious to see what others would say first.
 
So the whole of Buffy upto OMWF boiled down to its essence in four episodes. Not easy 🙂 But here's my attempt . . .

1. Becoming (both parts, but if not, Pt 2) This episode shows who Buffy really is, the girl and the slayer. It speaks to her history, what she's had to do in her past and the horrors she's seen and perpetrated, and of the depths of love she feels. It shows the scoobies both working together and slightly at odds, which is their usual mo, and Buffy's home life and relationship with her mother. There is a snapshot of Spike, pre-chip but still making a truce with Buffy. I think it gives a good first view of all the major players in Buffy's life so your friend will know who everyone is in OMWF

2. Helpless - (OK you might have to explain why Angel is back from the dead) This episode is about the complicated relationship between Buffy and Giles and how Buffy sees Giles as her father figure. I think the scenes between them in OMWF are so emotional, but only if you understand their relationship. Also, even without her supernatural slayer powers, Buffy Summers is still an amazingly resourceful girl, and has strength that even she didn't know she had. Knowing this , and then seeing her suicidal in OMWF, is heartbreaking

3. Family - This goes some way to explaining who Dawn is what's she's like as a person and her importance to Buffy and she show. It shows Xander and Anya are together, and the relationship between Willow and Tara, and that they are witches. It has all the scoobies standing together against a common enemy, and Spike is now scooby-adjacent and helping them out.

4. The Gift - Buffy's sacrifice, the reason she died, which I think you do need to know to make OMWF make sense. It also has Xander proposing to Anya (their wedding being a big plot point in OMWF), some lovely Spuffy which makes the kiss at the end of OMWF more understandable, Giles kills Ben so showing he takes a lot of Buffy's tougher jobs from her, Tara getting her mind back which sort of explains why Willow's memory spell was so terrible.

I think those 4 eps explain who everyone is and where they are at by OMWF so making that episode easier for your friend to understand. And once she's seen all 5 eps there would be no way she wouldn't want to watch the whole 7 seasons! 😀
 
1. Becoming Part 2, it shows Spike becoming an ally, Buffy's willingness to sacrifice and make hard decisions, Willow using magic for the first time, and gives a pretty good outline of each of the characters.
2. The Prom, it gives closure on Buffy and Angel, closure on the high school setting, and a great father daughter chemistry between Buffy and Giles.
3. Fool for Love, mostly because of Spike's role in OMWF and the dynamic between him and Buffy. But also this episode hints at the fact that Buffy and Riley are falling apart and it has Dawn and a bit of the Buffy/ Dawn dynamic.
4. The Gift, I think this one is obvious, it's got such a huge effect on OMWF, not only for Buffy, but for Dawn, for Xander and Anya, for Spike, for Giles, and for Willow and Tara, because it hints at how powerful Willow has become.
 
Becoming Part 2 and
Bargaining Part 1 or 2

Those are essential to understand the concept of the series and who Buffy is.

Something Blue

This one is just for the fun of it. You have got to add some fun, otherwise she might stop watching before she gets to Once More With Feeling

The Gift or Hush.

The Gift is essential for what happens in Once More With Feeling and Hush is an example for how extraordinary, wonderful and outstanding the series is.

flow
 
I would say:

Becoming Pts 1&2
Fool for Love
The Gift
Bargaining Pts 1&2

Becoming shows the sort of sacrifice Buffy will make to save the world
Fool for Love sets up Spike's back story and his obsession with slayers
The Gift shows Buffy giving the ultimate sacrifice to save the world
Bargaining shows Buffy's return (because otherwise your friend will wonder how Buffy came back)

I realise having both parts as one episode is technically cheating, but I think they're both equally important to the plot.
 
Great suggestions here! I had originally been thinking of a different approach: I agree with those who think The Gift is an important episode, and I was planning to choose episodes that set the stage for THAT episode (while still trying to introduce the important relationships). So I was going to go with No Place Like Home, Blood Ties, and The Gift. Then I was having trouble deciding between Bargaining Part 1 (to answer "how did Buffy come back to life?" and show how her friends were certain they were saving her from a hell dimension), Something Blue (because it is fun and introduces us to all the main characters minus Tara), or Hush (because it's a great episode and it does introduce Tara).

Athena said:
I realise having both parts as one episode is technically cheating, but I think they're both equally important to the plot.
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In the real-life scenario with my friend, we probably don't have time to watch six episodes, but I posed the question semi-hypothetically to allow for answers that took some liberties. 😉
 
The Weight of the World is important, because it will make your friend sympathise with Willow. Series 6 could be dubbed the-year-Willow-****ed-up-a-lot. It is important that your friend has the right context.
 
I really struggled to not include Hush. Not only because it introduces Tara, but it's also outstandingly good (but to be honest I'd already exceeded my episode quota quite considerably!) 😀
 
The Gift- Buffy's death which is the catalyst for why she's depressed. It also shows all the scoobies that appear in OMWF.
Bargaining Part 1- Shows the scoobies struggling to cope without Buffy.
Bargaining Part 2- Shows Buffy's struggles on being brought back.
After Life- Shows the ramifications of Buffy's resurrection and why she is so depressed about it. Would also explain the scoobies shock when Buffy reveals she was in heaven.
 
Now me , I would want to choose 4 of the best episodes to lure them in to watch all the show later . 😀 Personally I don't thnk you could get a decent overview with such a scant selection , so I d be tempted to focus on one element of the story .

There's so many routes you could take but I d be inclined to home in on the Buffy and Spike dynamic /conflict .
School Hard
Pangs
Fool For Love
Intervention

Everyone is a classic . It's not too 'Spuffy' . I would kill to have 'Something Blue' in there too .

Tara might also be a damn good focus .
Hush
Family
Tough Love
The Gift
You could probably swap out 'Hush' for 'Who are You' without diluting her story much ..or sacrificing quality .
 
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If it's just to setup for OMWF, then I have a different approach.

1) Becoming Part 1 and 2 (Because you see when Buffy is called in them and they're better written than Welcome to the Hellmouth, the also setup Willow as the witch, also show Spike working with Buffy)

2) The Gift (It's got that awesome previously which retells the series from the beginning, shows Spike being in love with Buffy, shows Xander proposing to Anya, Willow and Tara as a couple, and Buffy's love for Dawn as well as the quote "the hardest thing in the world is living in it" which will be quoted in OMWF)

3) Bargaining Part 1 and 2 (Obviously Buffy coming back from the dead, Willow's overuse of magic, Xander's hesitation to reveal his engagement to Anya)

4) Afterlife (An important follow-up to Bargaining, and it shows Buffy revealing she was in heaven to Spike which is an important detail that will come up in OMWF)
 
Everyone's choices are great, but I wouldn't show your friend Afterlife, because I think it's more enjoyable and shocking if OMWF is the big reveal when Buffy admits she's been in heaven and her friends dragged her out, and that shattered look on Willow's face is priceless
 
Then perhaps All the Way, which is a good lead up to OMWF. It's got Xander revealing the engagement, the beginning of Tara's dissatisfaction with Willow's magic.
 
sosa lola said:
Then perhaps All the Way, which is a good lead up to OMWF. It's got Xander revealing the engagement, the beginning of Tara's dissatisfaction with Willow's magic.
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One of my favourite episodes of season 6, so I am biased, but I think it'd be a great episode to show someone, with lots of Xander showing how he might become worried enough to steal the pendant and make the wish. Good choice 🙂
 
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