Why dont I get it?

Wesley Pryce

Wesley Pryce

Angel Investigations
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Nov 3, 2013
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Age
49
Location
Georgia
Black Thorn
I like season 3,i love it in fact,but I don't really get why it seems to consistently make most people's top 3 list. For me its number five,which isn't a bad spot at all,as I said just a bit,i love it. Bit I don't love it as much as most others seem to so. Now,its fine of course to have a difference of opinion,and we here at BB have a vast array of varied and interesting opinions on any number of fun subjects. BUT,the difference here I have noticed is that season 3 seems to be almost ACROSS THE BOARD one of the top 2 seasons for most Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans. So what am i missing? What is it i am not getting? Why don't i love this Buffy season more. Maybe your perspectives can help me figure this out. I know this post is kind of odd, thing is i want to know a few things. 1. Am i right about everyone loving it or am I truly alone on this? and 2. Why exactly is it so loved,i mean I love the Mayor and Faith and Wesley of course 🙂 but i still don't get it,perhaps i'm just the hopeless minority 😀,lets find out,have fun


Oh,and one more thing,this is in no way intended to be a hateful,season 3 sucks type of nasty post,just so we are clear.
 
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Fuffy
Fuffy
For me, it's on #4
Here's my list:

1. Faith

2. Angel's back!

3. Anya!

4. Four words: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

5. Willow starts using magic more frequently! 😀

6. Principal Snyder's downfall! (Though I liked him a lot! He was funny)

7. A BIG GIANT SNAKE TRYING TO DESTROY THE WORLD ON GRADUATION DAY! What gets better than that?
 
Quickly then what comes to my mind:

the first reason is that It has such great consistency from episode to episode. there is not a single "bad" episode in the whole season, not even close. In terms of consistency, s3 feels like it has the best writing (s5 is pretty damn solid though).

Character development is very well done this season (and here I would point primarily to Faith and her arc, which poses some interesting questions/topics to think about her situation and her reaction to the way the events of season 3 unfold. She is an extremely interesting character study and I love that kind of thing. Not necessarily entirely likeable at this stage (at least for me) but that's a complicated and different issue.

The mayor wasn't my favorite big bad, but he was very, very entertaining. When he and Faith start working together the entire season finds sharp focus and becomes extremely compelling must-see tv. The obvious parallels and also contrast between faith and the mayor and Giles and Buffy are also interesting and thought provoking, at least for me.

We have all of the scoobies arguably at their best AND most likeable. I mentioned character development, and I don't just mean the Faith arc. Buffy, Angel, Willow and Xander all go through some soul-searching and development (they search for answers to themselves and their issues), and it is well done, believable and interesting. The scoobies are at their best together this season than any other (they are a well oiled machine and their relationship has never been stronger and closer) and they are also likeable/interesting considered each on their own.

Plus the nostalgia factor a lot of people feel for high school, especially the emotions and formative issues that most people recall from that period of their lives and identify strongly with in the high school years of BtVS.

I really liked Cordelia a great deal too this season. Okay, I'm stopping now.

In the end, S5 is still my favorite and S3 is second. I can make an argument both ways...but to me (especially with some distance from the show) these two peaks stand out the most on the horizon when I look back and over my shoulder at everything.

---------- Post added at 07:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:01 PM ----------

WillowTaraHolic said:
Four words: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
Click to expand...

Wasn't that Season 2?
 
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It's understandable. I feel the same way about season 5. Most people love that season but it's my least favorite and I don't know why it's loved so much. But oh well.

Season 3 I think appeals to a wider audience maybe. There is something for everyone to like and so it becomes a favorite for a lot of different reasons. For me, season 3 was the first season I got into Buffy. A big part of that was Faith. A lot of nostalgia for this season.

The writing for this season was perfect, the only episode I don't like is 'Gingerbread'. The season isn't overly dark but not as light as 4. It has Bangel, and Woz and Cordelia and Xander (not sure what their ship name is. Cander?). We get an episode with Spike, we get Wesley, and Mr. Trick. There are just so many great characters this season and they all play off of each other so well. I also like the vampires that we get. After this season there is a lack of threatening vampires, which I personally don't like. There are great comedic moments and episodes like 'Band Candy' and 'Doppleganglang'. The final fight at the end, blowing up the school, is just awesome. There is a lot to like about this season. I guess it all comes down to what we as individuals prefer to see in our shows and what we connect with more.
 
Wesley Pryce
Wesley Pryce
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Wouldn't everyone like to do that to their high school? And the principal? With the assistance of the school librarian?

We see Field Marshall Buffy arranging the covert entry into battle and getting all of the students organized and the defense goes off as planned. The leadership shown by Buffy is exemplary - in later seasons, she goes completely off the rails as far as leadership goes.

Faith and Anya arrive, Willow gets enough magic to dust a vamp and the mayor is the most recognizeable big bad in politics - the hypocrite who cannot abide someone swearing but is ready to consume the world. There is little dross in this season - the episodes seem to be uniformly well written.
 
Season 3 is so great because it builds on the relationships set up in Season 2 and then adds to them. Cordelia/Xander, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Oz, Giles/Buffy. It takes these established pairings and all the relationships inbetween, and plays around with them to great effect. We get conflict, drama, angst- and none of it seems artificial because we've had a previous year to get used to all these differingcharacter dynamics.

Plus, all the new elements they add to the Season are great- Faith, naturally. We see a good guy (and great character) go bad, not because of some (rather nonsensical) curse, but from more understandable, human, motivations- mistrust, envy/jealousy, guilt, self-loathing, anger (unrequited love...)

Then we get memorable bad guys such as Trick and The Mayor, and the great way they interact. That's followed by the twisted/touching Father/Daughter thing with the Mayor and Faith.
Even most the one-shot episodic villains are pretty good. (Kralich, Balthazar, The First, Kakistos, The Watcher's Council...)

We get to see returning badguys: The Master again, and Angelus (sort of) and Spike (sort of) and Ethan Rayne! 🙂

We get great character centric episodes (Homecoming, The Zeppo, Doppelgangerland) which remind us why we love that particular character so much. Every character gets a chance to shine.

Plus highschool is used to great effect as a setting- Homecoming, Earshot, The Prom- all of these utilise the school 'events' in a fun way. And then we get all the little cameo characters- Snyder, Larry, Jonathan, Percy, Harmony.

Plus, if you love Bangel angst, this is the season for it- Buffy rescues Angel, keeps him a secret, they kiss, they deny, then Buffy breaks up with Angel, they get back together, and then Angel breaks up with Buffy, but then he goes to the dance for her, and then he gets shot by Faith and he's dying, so Buffy has to save him....and so it goes. Non-stop melodrama. 🙂

We get all of this in 22 episodes, there's hardly a wasted episode in there. Everything is great, the writing and acting are on top form. It's all good. 🙂
 
Season 3 was the culmination of the high-school years and those years were Buffy... at its best: the banter was funnier, the gang was closer and the bad guys were better. Season 3 encapsulates these elements perfectly and plus there's Faith and Oz and Snyder and Angel. What's not to love?
 
S3 is the best season of the show in my opinion, but I fee the exact same way you do about S5. It's good, very good, but I don't really get the gushing people do for it.

Basically, S3 just kills it across the board. They do almost everything extremely well. They do an outstanding job of building on and successfully climaxing everything great about the show's first two seasons while at the same time every new element they introduce is top-notch. They really tap the storytelling potential of having two Slayers, where Faith completely changes the dynamic of the show in an incredibly positive way (I don't anyone who doesn't like Faith).

Everything just comes together so well in S3. I feel like it's the highpoint of the series because it's where everything just hit stride at the right time.

Also...Snyder in "Band Candy". That is all.
 
Still a Scoobie
Still a Scoobie
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