Greatest Buffy TV season for character study.

[Wesley Pryce]

Which season of Buffy had the best and greatest character studies.

---------- Post added at 10:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 PM ----------

For me it came down to a tie really between 2,5,and 6,but i went with season 2. 🙂 Im kind of biased i guess since I'm presently rewatching 2 🙂

 

[Blaze]

s6 for me, that's why I like it so much. It was a very character driven season, although many people didn't like where the characters actually went. It's the most fun to analyse character wise for me. Second choice would probably be s2 because you could write a book on Angel/Angelus and the repercussion on Buffy.

For a single episode though, Restless is the most interesting for a character and a plot study.

 

[AnthonyCordova]

I sound like a broken record when I say s5, but to me it has it all.

S3 has Faith though, who is an outstanding character study at that point in the show (and a figure of friendly dispute among me and some other BBers as a result). Looking back, it was enjoyable to have such a deep and fleshed out character like Faith to regard, and even more in the rewatch of S3 I have been doing recently. S2 offers a lot in the form of Buffy and Angel/Angelus. S6 has plenty of engaging character studies (to me at least) but everyone finds them distasteful. I can appreciate S6 in regard to this topic.

But S5, oh man...Willow turning to dark magic, Willow and Tara in unison, Anya gets deeper and more interesting, Dawn and her circumstances, Glory (believe it or not, she fascinates me in many ways that I've mentioned in other threads...maybe I'll repeat all of those reasons later), Spike (he's most amusing in S4 but most interesting from the perspective of character study in S5 to me. Early evil Spike is fun and most people who dislike him like that version most, but from the perspective of this question he is not that interesting at that point, he's straightforward and unproblematic...lacks depth of character to me in the early seasons, but he's fun)...S5 is my personal favorite. Maybe not objectively (although it should still rank very high) but I did the most scrutinizing and reflection on characters in that season.

and like Blaze mentioned, the episode Restless is so wonderful for so many intellectual reasons, including this topic. You could frame a television screen looping that episode from beginning to end and back again and hang it on an art museum or proper art gallery wall and I would argue against any pretentious critic that it belongs there. Work Of Art.

 

[Taake]

I picked season 4 because it's such a changing time of young peoples lives. Off from high school, into college, new settings, new people, new priorities, semblance of adulthood... there's a lot going on there and the whole Scooby gang were going through it all, separately. And at the point in the show even Giles, who had been more or less 'the same' for three seasons was stumbling and not sure of who he was in SD or where he belonged. Even Spike had to adjust to entirely new circumstances during s4.

🙂

 

[thetopher]

Firstly I was gonna say S4 for 'Restless' alone, but I honestly think overall S5 is better at exploring the characters and how they grow into adulthood.

I think after this Season the viewer understands where Buffy, Xander, Willow, Spike, Giles and even Glory come from. We get Dawn pretty much fully realised into the show, it's just top-notch writing.

I'd honorably mention S3 for Faith's arc, which is extrememly good considering that she was just a guest star.

I'd argue that S6 is an anayalis of issues rather than character.
Depression, addiction, feeling disconnected from others and doomed, horrible, destructivr relationships are all picked over, but I have to say I don't really recognise the characters all that much. 🙁

 

[Fuffy Baith]

It's hard to pick just a season, because there are a lot of great character study episodes and arcs in other seasons as well, such as Faith, Angel/Angelus and Restless. I ultimately went for S5. My deciding factor was Giles and Xander. Buffy and Willow always have character development, but Xander and Giles fell flat in S4 and after S5 Giles doesn't get any better. So I think seeing Xander grow up and having Giles find his place working in the magic shop and being Buffy's watcher again, is what puts this season at the top for character arcs. Plus we get Buffy growing up and losing her mom and being a big sister. And then there's Willow and Tara and their magic, and Anya finding her place in the world. While this is my least favorite season, it's not because of the character development. This season works great for character study, the 2nd season I think would be S3.