Gotta disagree about "The Pack." On my own rewatch I moved that one into the "Better than I remember" category. Yes, it's a clunky metaphor, but it paved the way for soooo many things. Heck, you can trace Ward's betrayal in Agents of SHIELD back to Xander's turn in "The Pack." Without that ep, half of the Whedonverse would be much less interesting.

ManEnoughToAdmitIt | May 21, 07:26 CET

I take issue with the level of contempt and snark.

For me, the first season establishes the foundation for everything else, and okay, it took them a while longer to perfect the show.

Does this author not remember that they shot an unaired pilot first? I assume that gave them extra time to work out the kinks.

The Pack? I like it quite a lot.

I don't want to gripe about the relative shortcomings of the first season compared to the achievements of later seasons. Compared to shows that are actually bad? Not much for me to find to gripe about in the first season beyond some obvious growing pains.

The actors look impossibly young with lots to learn.

Not sure I feel the need to gripe about the clothing or hair. (Over all, the ugly combo of green and orange (frequently shared by Willow and Xander in later seasons, presumably to highlight their sidekick status) is far more annoyingly hideous than any individual outfit that didn't work.)

Scraggles | May 21, 09:00 CET

I agree, Scraggles. Those early episodes always feel open and playful when I go back to them after finishing the last two seasons, and it's fun to notice again the seeds of things to come.

[ edited by TwelveDozen on 2014-05-21 19:56 ]

TwelveDozen | May 21, 09:30 CET

Contempt? Snark? This is so mild the reviewer barely recognisable as an ex-Twopper. Yeah, I disagree with her view on The Pack, but that's fine. I'm going to enjoy these. Between Previously and MeFi's new Fanfare forums and Gawker's Morning After, the loss of TWOP ain't so bad anymore.

Caroline | May 21, 09:39 CET

Yeah, I definitely don't read this as contemptuous or snarky at all... It feels like a solid, measured take on a handful of early episodes.

Knuckleball | May 21, 10:33 CET

One of the commenters said that they tried to do a rewatch but just couldn't get into it. They attribute this to the fact that they're forty now. I find that amusing considering I was forty when the show first came out. I loved it then and still do.

witchlover | May 22, 09:44 CET

I was 55. And still do too.

[ edited by TwelveDozen on 2014-05-23 15:55 ]

TwelveDozen | May 23, 06:47 CET

On the Extra Hot Great Podcast recently, Sarah Bunting made a case for Buffy ending with season 3. I really hope she re-watches the show with an open mind. When you dismiss 4 seasons of the show, I think you're really missing out on the best that Buffy had to offer.

electricspacegirl | May 23, 07:57 CET