The Whedoning is my review blog where I’ll be watching Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, and other Joss Whedon stuff, all in order, and writing a blog post on each one.
The first week just wrapped up, so here’s a roundup of my reviews.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992 film):
I only watched this film reluctantly. Why? Mostly because Joss Whedon has basically disowned it. He’s been fairly open about the fact that he felt director Fran Rebel Kuzui mishandled his script. So, for this reason, the movie is sort of the black sheep of the Buffy franchise. But you know what? I actually quite enjoyed it. Kristy Swanson’s Buffy will never be my Buffy, but by no means does that make her a bad Buffy. Click here for the full review.
Buffy unaired pilot:
Like the movie, Joss has disowned the pilot, and declined to release it in any form. As far as Joss is concerned, there will never be an official release of the Buffy pilot presentation. In fact, the pilot isn’t really all that bad. I think it’s genuinely about 80% of where Buffy was by the time it made it to air. Most importantly for me, it contains all of the sparkling Joss dialogue you’d expect, and even a few gems that never made it to air (which I’ll let you experience for yourself). Click here for the full review.
Buffy 1x01 - “Welcome to the Hellmouth”
Many dislike the first season of Buffy, but I’m not one of them, and I think the premiere is a particularly strong moment for the show. “Welcome to the Hellmouth” provides a great introduction to these characters and this world. There’s a lot going on in this episode, from the setup of the world to some great (and not-so-great) performances by the cast. It all adds up to a very enjoyable beginning that just oozes with potential. Click here for the full review.
Buffy 1x02- “The Harvest”
This episode provides us with some of our first really big action sequences, as well as some of our first big library exposition scenes. Overall, it’s a fine conclusion to the gang’s first adventure, kicking off Buffy in style. The season arc, while basic, is set up well here and we get a pretty good sense of what the world of Sunnydale is going to be like for Buffy. Some of the performances still aren’t up to what they’ll one day be, but nonetheless it’s quite enjoyable. The ending scene is just bad. Click here for the full review.
Buffy 1x03 - “Witch”
This episode provides some really solid drama and a well-told, twisty-turny “monster of the week” procedural aspect. There are some strange shifts in characterization from the premiere, and there’s virtually no serial aspect to this episode, but neither of those prevents it from being a great episode of Buffy. Click here for the full review.
I’ll be doing these posts every week. I don’t want The Whedoning to take over this blog, but if this is going to be my “writing” blog (as I intend it to be), then The Whedoning needs to have some sort of presence here, doesn’t it? I think this is a good compromise.
Tom Dickinson is as much a writer as anything else.
