Haven't checked the article yet. But, I always consider Buffy S4, which is the season with more college stuff and was the transition season, as one of the best season from the show.

Restless is still my favorite ever episode from the show, and I'm really fond of The Freshman.

Numfar PTB | November 01, 16:30 CET

Saved by the Bell: the College Years anyone? ;)

Grounded | November 01, 16:34 CET

Good to see the love for season 4. It's almost my favourite too. Restless is great, and I love the Freshman, and all episodes up to Hush, an episode, which I think itself is one the best of the series.

I don't agree with the writer though about Buffy never resorting to cliches and gimmickry in it's first three seasons. I think lot's of Monster of the Week story's in those seasons were (brilliantly used) cliches, and one can't miss the gimmickry in The Zeppo, can he? And whole vampire falls in love with the slayer thing too felt cliche. It think it's just that the writers used the cliches and gimmicks in the right way.

the Groosalugg | November 01, 18:06 CET

I enjoy Stephanie Zarachek's articles. She's a great writer, although the more I read her movie reviews the more I wonder sometimes if the only thing we have in common is a Buffy love. Could someone let me know the nature of the spoilers? I suppose if she's discussing VM and there's a spoiler warning, that means I probably shoudl wait to read it....

Season four, and in particular (since it's been mentioned) "The Freshman" gets better with each passing year, as well as all the more traditional favourites.

the Groosalugg, I haven't read the article (spoilerphobe), but if her statement was that Buffy never RESORTED to cliches and gimmickry, then it is true. Buffy never resorted to them; it revelled in them and utilized them in the best way possible. Most shows just fall back on them when they run out of other ideas.

WilliamTheB | November 01, 19:23 CET

I have not read the article either because -work- but I agree that BtVS used cliches and gimmickry purposely and often subversively rather than resorting to it.

I also enjoy S4 in spite of the rather lame big bad of the season. Since the monsters have always been something I like BtVS in spite of, that part of it is easy to ignore while enjoying everything else.

As an aside, I am having such a good time listening to an almost totally unspoiled friend's reactions as she watches BtVS for the first time. Last I spoke to her, she was half way through "Surprise" in S2. (What a place to stop.) She called me to say, "I was so surprised that Jenny Calendar is a gypsy sent there on purpose!" She went on to say that she had really been starting to like Jenny. With her next breath she mentioned that she also likes Oz and hopes they don't kill him off. (Note irony.) She is beginning to get an idea of how things work on the show and has also expressed the hope that Oz does not turn out to be some kind of monster rather than the nice guy he seems to be. After all, it is so nice to see a guy appreciate Willow for who she is.

As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time whistling and saying "Just keep watching." Of course you can all imagine what I want to say...besides "Will you PLEASE finish 'Surprise' and 'Innocence' so I can stop risking a broken blood vessel containing myself when you talk about how insightfully the series deals with what people really do go through in life?"
;-)

[ edited by newcj on 2006-11-01 18:56 ]

newcj | November 01, 20:55 CET

To be honest, I didn't really enjoy Season 4 when it was being aired, but all that changed when I got it on DVD. The Freshman was a great start to the season, and Restless is still one of my favourite episodes of the show.

Ameer | November 01, 21:31 CET

newcj, I finally had a similar experience yesterday. I used the excuse of Halloween to lure a group of four "unspoiled" co-workers into watching what I dubbed the "scariest episode" of Buffy (Hush, of course). There we sat, at lunchtime, at work, laughing and gasping our way through perhaps the very best episode of the series. The biggest laugh went to Xander's "boobies" gesture during Giles' overhead presentation on The Gentlemen. The biggest gasp: the surprise appearance of a floating Gentleman right in front of Giles' window, shot from Olivia's POV.

1starbuckstown | November 01, 21:33 CET

It's spoilerish for The O.C. (hence the tag), I haven't seen the new season of Veronica Mars so I can't say whether it has spoilers for that show.

I am thrilled to see Stephanie Zarachek talking about the Buffyverse. It's been a while.

Simon | November 01, 22:37 CET

There are spoilers for all seasons of Veronica Mars in the article, if you aren't current.

zeitgeist | November 01, 22:45 CET

What if you're a raisin?

I've hit a new low.

Simon | November 01, 23:10 CET

I think Buffy's transition was made easier by the fact that most of the whiny freshmen were killed off before they drove the audience away. ;-)

cabri | November 01, 23:51 CET

Oh, boy, have you ever :) /pelts Simon with currants.

zeitgeist | November 02, 00:27 CET

Tonight on Buffy: (Season Finale)
"Female of the Species."
Norman Mailer guest stars as master of horror novels Harvey "Fug" Marker, Visiting Professor at U.C. Sunnydale. An unknown Hellmouth adversary is using Dark Magicks to split Sunnydale residents permanently into their male and female components, and the Scoobies step in to investigate when Marker and the town fall prey to this devastating spell. Can the masculine survive without the feminine? And vice versa? What happens when they're locked in eternal combat? And are Willow and Tara involved? Tune in and enjoy the mystery and the havoc wrought by this startling division as we find out what happens when Venus and Mars divide and collide.

QuoterGal | November 02, 01:39 CET

*Why on earth did Norman Mailer pick that show to guest-star on?*

Probably because he's been referenced all over the place. At least in the first two season's that I've seen -- GG is one of the most literate and literature loving shows around.

On an unrelated topic, Dawson's Creek died when everyone went to college breaking up the core group -- interesting idea that went horribly wrong.

feelinglistless | November 02, 02:49 CET

Was it then that they had a couple of episodes of "Dawson's Creek", without Dawson himself in it.
It's like Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, without Buffy. Angel without Angel. Felicity without Felicity. Veronica Mars without Veronica Mars. Desperate Housewives without the Housewives. Battlestar Galactica without the Galactica. Firefly without the ship. And so on, so on.

Numfar PTB | November 02, 04:45 CET

Bwahaha, QGal.

I love 4; imo, 5 is the best in terms of quality, but I enjoy rewatching 4 more than any other year.

Reddygirl | November 02, 05:42 CET

Preaching to the choir around here. *sniffle*

Love's Bitch | November 03, 01:28 CET