Character Peaks

[Wesley Pryce]

Which is your favorite season for each of your favorite characters? Which season exemplifies what you love about each character most? have fun BB.

 

[AnthonyCordova]

S5 for Buffy. She's challenged in so many deep ways that season (more than ever before) and she meets those challenges in spectacular fashion and keeps everything together. Her character learns and discovers more about herself this season than any other (she has real epiphanies).

S3 for Xander. In my opinion he just kind of never grew in many respects for the entire show. Not real growth; substantive, tangible, permanent growth. On S3 he was at his most appealing and charming and it hadn't occurred to me yet that his character wouldn't go very far afterwards.

I'm very cool with Willow S1-5. These are the seasons I like her most.

I'm very partial to Giles during S4 and S5. In S4 I kind of like his lack of specific purpose and direction, his unemployment, and how he goes about dealing with that and staying relevant. I kind of like the place he's in this season, it's interesting. And I like his reaffirmation of his duties and responsibility towards Buffy in S5. He's grand in S5. And instrumental in helping Buffy overcome Glory.

I'm just going to list my favorite seasons for everyone else, for now:

Dawnie S5 she's just an after thought in other seasons, unfortunately
Spike S4
Anya S4
Angel S2 (Buffy) S4 (Angel)
Angelus S2 (Buffy) and S4 especially (Angel)
Cordelia S3 (Angel)
Oz not a fan
Wesley S3-S5 (Angel) it's a tie
Gunn S4 (Angel)
Fred S4-S5 (Angel)
Lorne S3 (Angel) New sides of him emerge this season
Faith S3 (buffy) in terms of my interest (Faith as villain) but also S4 (Angel) in terms of sheer likeability.

Anyone else?
Can't think of anyone else.

 

[EVIL UU]

Buffy. I like Buffy in season 1. I think that this is when she knows best what is truly important.

Willow. I think that season 5 strikes a nice balance between the peppy, happy Willow and the scary as hell super-witch.

Xander. I like Xander the most in season 7 when he's finally OK with who he is.

Spike. Season 2, hands down.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

Buffy-S5- She has to deal with a lot this season and even sacrifices herself
Willow-S4-Willow goes through a lot of changes this season and discovers herself
Xander-S6-I think by the end of this season Xander has grown up a lot
Giles-S3-He's still Buffy's watcher but then gets fired and gets to be more badass, his character goes downhill after this season.
Anya-I personally prefer the S3 Anya, if she had left in S7 after 'Selfless' I would have picked that because she finally grows as a character, but then goes back to the same old Anya after that which is a shame.
Spike-S2 I prefer evil, chipless Spike
Angel-S3 AtS
Cordelia-S2 AtS
Faith-S4 AtS but S1 is where we see her start to change.
Wesley-S4 AtS
Fred-S4 AtS

 

[thetopher]

Buffy- S5. Buffy is truly The Slayer here, she deals with real loss as a grown up, has responsibility thrust upon her, takes on a Hellgod, wins, but has to sacrifice herself anyway to save her sister and the world.

Willow- S3. Willow at her most likeable, supportive, sweet, brave and clear-sighted about what she wants to do. She doesn't know yet how much the magics will cost her, or change her.

Xander- S7. No mopeyness, no constant self-doubt about his place in the Scoobies. He's earned his stripes and respects himself after saving the world with his mouth. This continues on into the comics of S8, where he's one of the best characters there also.

Giles- S5. Giles finds his purpose not just as a Watcher, or as an adult, but also as Buffy's unwavering Father figure, Buffy's rock, supporting her in times of hardship. Where this guy goes in S6 or 7, I have no idea.

Anya- S5. I liked her best here, before her sctick wore pretty darn thin in S6, and then her character became a waste of time in S7.

Spike- S2- I'll take evil, chipless Spike the Big Bad. We never see him anymore, not even in flashback.

Dawn- S7. She's mature, fairly wise for a teen, especially in the beginning episodes before the Potentials show up. She does get ignored after this but MT still gives a likeable performance.

Faith- Angel S4/Buffy S7- More on Angel than Buffy but I like mature, reformed Faith best. Reformed and redemptive, sexy and sassy, mature but without losing her kickass edge. Should've had her own series after this.



Angel- Buffy S2/ Angel S4- These two seasons we see the most sides of Angel, petty, heroic, brave, jealous. Plus we have Angelus as well. 🙂 Oh, and 'Orpheus'. Genius.

Cordelia- Angel S1- I know she grows into the 'heart of team Angel', but I like me some shallow, snarky starlet Cordy best of all, plus Cordy/Doyle, plus her constant arguing with Wesley. She grows a lot, even before getting the visions.

Wesley- So many to choose from, but I'll go with S5 of Angel. Because we get all sides of Wes here- bumbling, slightly clueless, awkward, dark and dangerous, drunk and deeply unstable, comic and tragic.

Gunn- Angel S2- When they knew what to do with him and he felt like part of the group, instead of a bystander. In S5 he becomes relevant again, but loses something of his character in the process.

Fred- Angel S4. I don't particularly like her romance with Gunn (its kinda boring) but her smoldering with Dark Wes...and she's pretty much the only thing worth watching for most of the Jasmine arc, when she's all alone and trying to figure stuff out.

Connor- Angel S5. I can't hate Connor because of who he turns into, an amazingly well-adjusted super-powered teen who gets on well with his Dad, and comes to help him save the day. Season 5 Connor is awesome. 🙂

 

[Robb Stark]

I think all of the Scoobies peak in S3. Buffy is always integral to the plot of course and has huge developments in every season of the show but I liked her best in S3.

Spike probably peaks in S2. It's hard to classify Spike in this way because SO much of his character development begins in S4 and extends throughout the series. Actually, I would say his absolute best season is probably Angel S5. He just kills it that year.

I like Angel in every season, but his best on BTVS is probably S2. On his own show, I would say S5. I loved his concluding arc in "Not Fade Away". That's Angel at his peak.

 

[Wesley Pryce]

Great posts so far,interesting to see the different perspectives on the Verse characters. 🙂 anyways,my turn i guess

Buffy-season 2,5 and 6
Willow-Season 1-6
Giles-Season 1,2,4,5,6
Dawn-5,6
Xander-1-4
Anya-4,5,6
Tara-4,5,6,more please more 😀
Joyce-5
Jonathan-2,3,6
Oz-2

Angel- BTVS season 2,Angel season 2,3,and 5
Wesley- ATS seasons 2,3,and 5
Harmony- ATS 2
Fred- season 3
Lorne- 2,3, and 4...and 5..i cant pick,Lorne rules 😀
Conner-3,5
Cordy- BTVS 1-3,ATS 1-3,and 5
Gunn- Season 1,2 and 3
Doyle- season 1,i know,but i had to mention our Doyle
Spike- BTVS season 2, and 5,ATS season 5
Faith- BTVS season 4,7 ATS season 1,2 and 4

 

[Blaze]

Very interesting topic. It's weird because I can't really pick a season for my truly fabourite characters because one of thr reason I like them so much is that I love their overall character arc.

Buffy-s5, I love the big sister arc, and what Buffy represents as a slayer in this season

Willow-s6, yes I love crazy addicted slightly psychotic Will the best

Angel-s2 AtS, the darker side, the grey areas, that's what makes him great

Wes-too hard to pick, his whole arc is awesome, but maybe s3 AtS

Xander-s7 for me, Xander tends to have at least one very annoying moment per season (kill Angel Buffy, lets dump my girlfriend at the alter, lets cheat on my girlfriend...), but I really like him in s7

Dawn- s7 I really like how she grew, she has one of the more subtle storyline because she's just the teenage kid, but I like how she was portrayed

Oz-s4 even thought I hated him a bit during the Veruca storyline, I thought it was the season where he shined the most

Giles-s3 at his peak for the role of father figure, I just love him standing up to the council

Cordy-s1 AtS, I kind of like her transition between still kinda shallow to kinda heroic

Spike-BtVS s2,4 when he's a hilarious bad guy, and AtS s5

Tara and Faith I just can't pick, too many awesome options

 

[Silverspike]

For me it would be....

Buffy season 5

Giles season 3

Xander season 4 (yes the character was more assertive then, but ruddy Andrew got in the way in the latter half)

Willow season 6

Dawn season 5

Anya season 5

Spike season 5. Thats when his character really progressed writing wise. I remember at the time Marti Noxon saying that Spike had always been fairly popular with the audience, but after Fool for love was aired his fan mail went through the roof.

Faith season 3

Tara season 5

Oz season 4

Angel season 2

Joyce season 5 sadly. 🙁

 

[chasesummers]

Buffy - Season 5 BTVS
Cordelia - Season 3 ATS

 

[dtrain24]

Hmm...tough choices.

Buffy- Season 5. Strong sister figure, really matures, becomes an adult, knows what's important.

Willow- Season 3. Still finding her way, growing more as a character, maturing, continuing involvement in magic.

Xander- Season 3. His comic relief worked the best in this season, while he matured as well.

Giles- Season 5. Found his way as a father figure to Buffy and the other Scoobies after fighting off the threat of becoming irrelevant.

Spike- Season 5. (Toughest choice, I love nearly every role he's filled, whether it's Big Bad Spike, Morally on-the-fence Spike, Conflicted Spike, Ensouled Spike, etc). Spike had no idea how to act in this season, and had a hard time knowing right from wrong. Did some great things (Protecting Dawn), and did some stupid things (Buffybot).

Oz- Season 3. Felt he peaked as a character here (Hello thread title) and loved him with Willow.

Tara- Season 6. Really liked the arc where she was unsure about her relationship with Willow because of her drug addiction while still showing she loved her. Still upset about Seeing Red though...

Anya- Season 5. Loved her comedy that season, working in the Magic Box. Also liked her in 6. Became a bit useless in S7.

Angel- Season 2 for BtVS, Season 3 for AtS. Loved his transformation to Angelus in S2, he was a superb villain. Liked his connection with Connor (or lack of) and his love for his son blinding his decision making. It turned Angel into a dark character at times.


Dawn- Season 5. She was a big player that season, not as much in the others.

Cordelia- Season 3 for BtVS, Season 1 for AtS. These two seasons are when she made the transition from shallow to heroic, as Blaze said. She hadn't finished the transition yet, but that's what made it fun. Also loved her character interaction with Angel and Doyle.

Wesley- Season 2 of AtS. Still a bit dorky, but starting to show signs of a darker transition. Really liked his character progression though.

Gunn- Season 2 of AtS. Loved his transition from street-fighter who hated vamps to working with one and being Angel's pal (though he'd never admit it at that time). I liked when he was "the muscle" of the gang, his character progression died down in S4.

Fred- Season 4 of AtS. Fred showed she could kick ass and survive on her own, and that she was no longer super dependent upon Angel. Her survival on the run from Jasmine was cool.

Faith- Season 3 of BtVS. S7 is a close favorite, but I like her moral dilemma in S3 way too much. We saw it all: badass antihero turned villain.

Connor- Season 5 of AtS. Only season I could stand him in. I liked his S5 self, but his other counterparts were way too annoying.

Lorne- Season 3 of AtS. As AC said, we see new sides of him.