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Trip to TV Land
First off, today's magic link is courtesy of USA Today, where Joss Whedon lists his ten favorite episodes of Buffy:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-04-28-buffy-top10_x.htm
I suspect such lists will be very coming in the next three weeks, but once the master tells you his, you really have little to add. Expect that I would have dropped "Dopplegangland" and replaced it with "Earshot." And that it's when you see lists like this - where 8 of the 10 are written by Joss - that you see how much his talent makes this show go.
The hype has begun. Buffy's farewell will get the treatment is dserves, and then some. Who would have thought it on that March ninght six years ago? To this day, I'm still surprised that the show wasn't cancelled after six weeks.
And now beyond the cut tag, thoughts on Angel and John Doe
We caught up with Angel and his friends last night, in what I thought was the most gripping episode this season. It doesn't quite stand up to scrutiny - too much was telegraphed, and as Peter David points out, a lot depending in conincidence. But this was a very well-paced and well-written voyage through the sewers of LA. A tip of the hat to Ben Edlund, who moved over from Firefly and who still has the wicked sense of humor that he used long ago in creating The Tick. Edlund is one of a very small number of comic book writers who have made the transition to Hollywood successfully, and it's great to see his talents in the lnad of Whedon once more.
I am alos starting to think that Jasmine is one of the best villains in the Buffyverse. She seems to be the first bad guy not trying to destroy the world, and I am starting to think that she really does mean everything she says about the glory of creating a loving group-mind. It's a different kind of evil, played with great skill by Gina Torres. It's certainly a more engaging evil than the First has been.
I do have to wonder, though, about the First and Jasmine. If Jasmine is now running California - would any Californians care to tell me if this is an improvement - what about Sunnydale? Did the First and Jasmine sign a non-aggression pact offscreen?
And I wonder just how messed up all of the West Coast will be once Jasmine is gone. Batya figures California will be depressed for some time to come. But will anyone remember their mass hypnosis?
Meanwhile, John Doe ended its first (and possibly only) season with an episode that expanded John's powers, brought him face to face at last with the evil Phoenix Group that has been manipulating him, and revealed the identity of the leader of the Group. Turns out that the friendly bartender Digger was a bad guy all along.
At one level, this was a fairly gripping show, directed by Mimi Leder (one of the few women to direct action films at all). She is a master of pacing and drama, not matter how weak the script. This hour delivered the fans some changes and revelations, but raised just enough questions to whet an appetite for another season.
On the other hand, there continues to be an air of the absurd here. After a season of good character play and bad mysteries, it should be no surprise that Digger was actually a bad guy. It doesn't make much sense at all. Why he do everything he did to John when it didn't seem to serve his evil purposes? There's too much contrivance here. And that is why I won't be too upset when this is cancelled. For all its potential, for all the great things they can do with this non-costumed superhero, the writers were never going to get there if they kept fallng back on cliche and coincidence.
Nonetheless, I would like to give the show a chance to explain how what we saw could be. There are so few shows out there that I care for at all that it would be nice to see one not die too soon.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-04-28-buffy-top10_x.htm
I suspect such lists will be very coming in the next three weeks, but once the master tells you his, you really have little to add. Expect that I would have dropped "Dopplegangland" and replaced it with "Earshot." And that it's when you see lists like this - where 8 of the 10 are written by Joss - that you see how much his talent makes this show go.
The hype has begun. Buffy's farewell will get the treatment is dserves, and then some. Who would have thought it on that March ninght six years ago? To this day, I'm still surprised that the show wasn't cancelled after six weeks.
And now beyond the cut tag, thoughts on Angel and John Doe
We caught up with Angel and his friends last night, in what I thought was the most gripping episode this season. It doesn't quite stand up to scrutiny - too much was telegraphed, and as Peter David points out, a lot depending in conincidence. But this was a very well-paced and well-written voyage through the sewers of LA. A tip of the hat to Ben Edlund, who moved over from Firefly and who still has the wicked sense of humor that he used long ago in creating The Tick. Edlund is one of a very small number of comic book writers who have made the transition to Hollywood successfully, and it's great to see his talents in the lnad of Whedon once more.
I am alos starting to think that Jasmine is one of the best villains in the Buffyverse. She seems to be the first bad guy not trying to destroy the world, and I am starting to think that she really does mean everything she says about the glory of creating a loving group-mind. It's a different kind of evil, played with great skill by Gina Torres. It's certainly a more engaging evil than the First has been.
I do have to wonder, though, about the First and Jasmine. If Jasmine is now running California - would any Californians care to tell me if this is an improvement - what about Sunnydale? Did the First and Jasmine sign a non-aggression pact offscreen?
And I wonder just how messed up all of the West Coast will be once Jasmine is gone. Batya figures California will be depressed for some time to come. But will anyone remember their mass hypnosis?
Meanwhile, John Doe ended its first (and possibly only) season with an episode that expanded John's powers, brought him face to face at last with the evil Phoenix Group that has been manipulating him, and revealed the identity of the leader of the Group. Turns out that the friendly bartender Digger was a bad guy all along.
At one level, this was a fairly gripping show, directed by Mimi Leder (one of the few women to direct action films at all). She is a master of pacing and drama, not matter how weak the script. This hour delivered the fans some changes and revelations, but raised just enough questions to whet an appetite for another season.
On the other hand, there continues to be an air of the absurd here. After a season of good character play and bad mysteries, it should be no surprise that Digger was actually a bad guy. It doesn't make much sense at all. Why he do everything he did to John when it didn't seem to serve his evil purposes? There's too much contrivance here. And that is why I won't be too upset when this is cancelled. For all its potential, for all the great things they can do with this non-costumed superhero, the writers were never going to get there if they kept fallng back on cliche and coincidence.
Nonetheless, I would like to give the show a chance to explain how what we saw could be. There are so few shows out there that I care for at all that it would be nice to see one not die too soon.