Buffy: Loves & Hates

[lee]

s1:
Loves. The simpicity and uniqueness of it, also the Master. Loved the fact it was low key and it was only really the scoobies who knew about vampires. Prophecy girl.
Hates. The cheap looking vampire make-up and half the season.

s2:
Loves. Its simple. Spike and Angelus. The atmosphere of s2. Angelus is the best bigbad and story of Buffyverse.
Hates. Eps2, 4, 5, 18.

s3:
Loves. Again its simple. Faith and the Mayor, loved the good slayer v bad slayer thing, and Trick. The main arc. standalones possibly the best in a buffyverse season.
Hates. The Willow and Xander *affair*.

s4:
Loves. Spikes back, so's Anya. The Initiative. The Faith 2parter(amazing) Funniest season. The crossovers with Ats. My favorite season.
Hates. Only thing i can thinkof is where the wild things are.(and Reilly/Forrest)

s5:
Loves: Dracula and William. Dawns key storyline. The last 5 episodes.(i think thats the only time on Btvs the last 5 in a row have been dedicated to the main arc)
Hates. I think the body is overated.

s6:
Loves. The Spike/Buffy story. The Trio and that there isnt really a Big Bad.
Plus the musical. The little mini arc of Bargainning and Afterlife.
Hates. Lack of 10/10 episodes, or even 9/10. Not as good as seasons 1-5. (still good though)

s7:
Loves. hmmm.....um, Spikes got a soul, Faith.... just the fact its Btvs and its still quite good.
Hates. That it just isnt anywhere near as good as the first 6, and gets my lowest Buffy rating of 7.5/10.

[lara]

S1:
Loves: Getting to know the scoobies
Hates: Horrible make up and special effects

S2:
Loves: Angelus & Spike. Episode "Passion"
Hates: Jenny Calendar's death

S3:
Loves: A bit of a more grown up Buffy. The Slayer line split in two
Hates: The first 2 episodes

S4:
Haven't seen it complete yet. But I know Spike becomes a regular in this one, so that's something to love.

S5:
Loves: How well they manage to introduce Dawn in the story. Dawn key factor. Dracula. Spike's flashback (William)
Hates: Riley & Ben, they are insipid

S6:
Loves: Spike, Buffy and sex. The complexity of the drama. Evil Willow. The musical
Hates: Episode "Doblemeat palace". Riley coming back with a wife.

S7:
Loves: The return to "girl power". Spike with a soul and some spuffy moments
Hates: The little interaction between the scoobies

[tokyomonster]

I'm going to cheap out, and not do a blow by blow, but I will say that seasons 1-5 are my favorite, with 6 and 7 being too convoluted for my tastes. The musical was my favorite episode out of the last two seasons. Also, depressed "brought-back-to-life-with-more-baggage-than-LAX" buffy was way annoying and a huge downer.

[Enisy]

"Hate" is a strong word, so you can mentally replace it with "dislike" in all cases...

Season 1
Love: Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, Nightmares, Prophecy Girl.
Hate: Everything else. (Say "cheeeeese"!)

Season 2
Love: The Angelus storyline, Spike and Drusilla, Buffy "growing older".
Hate: Its horrible standalones (Some Assembly Required, Inca Mummy Girl, Reptile Boy, Bad Eggs and Go Fish being the worst offenders), David Boreanaz's acting as Angel (he was like a different actor as Angelus -- not sure what that says about him *g*).

Season 3
Love: The Mayor, the consistent quality of the episodes.
Hate: Faith, I suppose. I never really found her likable or even intriguing until Who Are You?, Five by Five and Sanctuary. Also, the wet(ter), mopey(er) turn the Angel/Buffy relationship took that season, and again, David Boreanaz's acting.

Season 4
Love: Its amazing standalones (Something Blue, Hush, Who Are You?, Restless etc), Spike and Anya being promoted to regulars.
Hate: The Initiative arc, Adam, Riley, Riley/Buffy.

Season 5
Love: The Key arc, Glory, Buffy and Dawn's relationship, Spike's arc, Spike/Buffy, Buffy being at her most likable ever, my favourite season finale in the series.
Hate: Again, Riley and Riley/Buffy, but those didn't last long.

Season 6
Love: Once More, With Feeling, the Spike/Buffy storyline, Tara (didn't much like her before she grew that spine), Dark Willow episodes, Warren, darkness and controversy and purposeful literalization.
Hate: Junkie!Willow, some crappy standalones (like Gone and Doublemeat Palace), and the Nerds worked better in theory than in execution.

Season 7
Love: The first seven episodes, Dawn no longer being whiny, Spike being all soul-having, and the series finale, despite its flaws.
Hate: Everything else. (The screentime wasted on the Potentials, Andrew and Wood, the dropped plotlines, the side-stepping of the bathroom scene -- there are attenuating factors, but I do think it could have been treated more bravely -- the reduction of the humor and snark, etc.)

[Wolfie Gilmore]

s1:
Loves. Nightmares. Buffy as a vampire, brr. Buffy vs prophecy is excellent. Buffy for teh WIN. She failed the written and that is brilliant. Oh and the line about "undead american" being the PC term for vampires. Sid the Dummy. Willow's speech about "they made it theirs...and they had fun" re vampires invading the school. Chilling.

Hates. The Master can get tiresome. And his little boy is very very irritating.

s2:
Loves: the ending. Ouch. The line about "those boys must really love their coach" in Go Fish. The Angel loses his soul metaphor. Leather pants. The Dru/Spike/Angelus love triangle. Ethan's return and his "hello Ripper".

Hates. The fact that the moral issues of Ted get a bit brushed under the carpet...Buffy killed someone she thought was a human at the time...and everyone forgets about that, damn them. Spike's accent/intonation in School Hard - JM took a while to get good imo. And the "someone's in the ceiling" sing song thing just pisses me off in ways I can't quite explain. It's irrational hatred of nursery rhymes used for sinister purposes... horror movie cliche of annoyingness.

s3:
Loves: Communist!Buffy harrowing hell with a sickle. Dumped!Spike and his turvy topsy sentimentality (we killed a homeless man on that bench...awww). The Mayor's relationship with Faith

Spoiler:

Love the return to that in season 8

. Buffy's class protector award. Wesley and Cordy's failed kiss. The Mayor's speech to Buffy and Angel. Giles as Ripper in Band Candy. Especially when Buffy starts to tell him off for smoking.

Hates: The "sexual tension" between Buffy and Angel...when I don't think the actors have much chemistry so it felt a bit forced. Generally the dragging out of the Bangel nonsense. Bored now.

s4:
Loves: Buffy-in-Faith and Faith-in-Buffy (though the latter is best). Chipped Spike's impotence and wacky neighbour fun. The evil roommate (I swear, she WAS my flatmate in college...well, mine wasn't OCD, or a demon, but she was every bit as much of a nightmare to live with).
Hates: The wasted potential of the arc (Adam was disappointing - I would've liked more in terms of his relationship with the prof, more exploration of him as part of the government/the Man rather than just big block of
Nietzsche-y wood.)

s5:
Loves: Dracula, Buffy and Dawn's relationship and Buffy's exploration of the love vs Slayerness dillema (which turns out to be all part of the same continuum).
Hates: Not much, this is my favourite season. There's the odd ep I find

s6:
Loves. The trio. OMWF. The merging of dreams, illusion and reality in Dead Things, especially the "Are you drowning or waving" sequence. The meta of "a vampire with a soul? How lame is THAT?" and the general unravelling of metaphors, meanings and life in general, from Normal Again to the OTT penis lady of Doublemeat Palace who is Lynchily brilliant (cherry pie!).
Hates: The crack addict metaphor. Except the bit where Willow's on the ceiling.

s7:
Loves. The musical interlude in Selfless. Him. Andrew's "word misunderstanding" re vulcanologists. Buffy on the couch with her undead shrink.

Hates. Please, please do not get me started. We will be all day. All week. All year. And I will probably cry. Lry'd just say "many", starting with the First and ending with...the First. And you know how River freaks out over "too much hair" in Firefly...I feel the same about the Potentials. And the terrible English accents. And the speeches. Oh god, the speeches. Kill me. Kill me. Kill me now.

[Nina]

I agree with Enisy about 'hate' being 'dislike', I used dislike on the Angel version of this thread ... so I will use it here as well, only season 7 gets the 'hate'.

Season 1:
Loves: The cute trio, stiffy Giles, light, fluf and fun.
Dislikes: The cheesy demons, make up and effects. And the fact that the writers had no idea who Angel was. Or worse, they didn't knew what to do with the amazing Darla and the great Julie Benz.

Season 2
Loves: The arc, Angelus, the acting, Dru & Spike and episodes like Becoming, Passion and Innocence.
Dislikes: Some weak episodes, a very weird development of the Angel and Buffy relation. I still think that they could've used some time extra.

Season 3
Loves: The great episodes, the characters and the Mayor.
Dislikes: Faith's turn to the dark went to quick, Willow and Xander kissing.

Season 4
Loves: the *special* episodes, Anya, Giles in mid-life crisis.
Dislikes: The arc, the trio growing apart, WTWA and I'm no fan of Spike the wacky neighbour.

Season 5
Loves: The good episodes, Joyce after she left the hospital, Giles and the Magic Box and Buffybot.
Dislikes: Dawn (not the character, but her storyline), Riley's stupid storyline, Glory.

Season 6
Loves: The realistic version of a depression.
Dislikes; The downfall of Willow and in a lesser degree Buffy and Giles. Almost no Xander, saint Tara, Magic is crack ... and Willow is a junk!

Season 7
Loves: Anya has depth ... for a whole episode (after that there is no time for Anya.) Dawn is cool.
Hates: I just agree with Wolfie Gilmore, If I start ranting for myself I don't stop for the next couple of hours. Most evil season on tv ever ... and yes I count Bones season 3 and Gilmore Girls season 6 ... but season 7 is worse ... it's evil and bad ... and it makes me cry.

[Pandora's_Box]

Season 1
Love: The characters introduction
Like: The master, Prophecy Girl and Nightmares
Hate: Direction, Visual Effects, Plots and everything else.

Season 2
Love: Bangel, Passion, Becoming, Jenny Calendar, Spike, the four core's unity, the writings.
Like: Drusilla, Angel, the direction, Xandelia.
Hate: The 10 first episodes, Oz, Willoz.

Season 3
Love: The Wish, Giles.
Like: Doppelgangled, Graduation, The Mayor, Wesley.
Hate: Faith, Bangel and lots of episodes.

Season 4
Love: Hush, Primeval, Restless, Giles appartement , Spike.
Like: Adam, Pangs, Something Blue, Willow, Tara, Tillow, Anya, Xanya.
Hate: Riley, The Initiative, Forrest, Soldier Buffy.

Season 5
Love: The epic of the season, Glory, The Body, The Gift, Intervention, Spiral, Spike, Spuffy, Buffy, Xanya, Tillow, Magic Box.
Like: Harmony, Joyce.
Hate: The 10 first episodes, Dawn, Riley, Ruffy.

Season 6
Love: Everything
Like: Nothing
Hate: Nothing

Season 7
Love: Everything
Like: Nothing
Hate: Nothing

BtVS
Love: The characters evolution, Writings, Season Finales, Buffy, Willow, Season 6, Season 7, Spuffy, Chosen, Grave, The Body and a lot of things.
Hate: Riley, Oz, whiny Dawn, The Initiative, Season 1, Season 3's Bangel and some things.

[Fuzzy]

s1:
Loves: The newness of it all! Stiff-Giles, Buffy actually having meat on her bones.... The cuteness.
Hates: The Master, How young and bad everyone looks, Darla not being Darla.

s2:
Loves: Angelus, Spike & Dru, Halloween, Giles & his past, Kendra, The ending.
Hates: All the crappy monster eps like Ted, Inca Mummy Girl, Bad Eggs, Go Fish etc.

s3:
Loves: Buffy on her own in "Anne", Faith, "The Wish", Spike in "Lovers Walk", The Xander/Willow relationship, Angel returning, "Band Candy".
Hates: How the gang treat Buff in "Dead Mans Party", "Gingerbread" & "The Prom", Scott & Buffy.

s4:
Loves: The gang being out of their comfort zone, "Pangs", Spike, Anya, "Hush", Tara, Faith, "Restless".
Hates: Riley!!!! The army/inititive crap, Adam, Parker.

s5:
Loves: My fav season so pretty much everything!!
Hates: DAWN, "Triangle".

s6:
Loves: Evil Willow, Bargaining/Afterlife, OMWF, "Tabula Rasa", "Normal Again", The ending.
Hates: "All The Way", The Trio, "Smashed", "Wrecked", Buffy/Spike love thing, "Gone", "Doublemeat Palace", Riley coming back...

s7:
Loves: Everything until the Potentials/First come.
Hates: Pretty much everything but the above... I hate this season the most. I shall spit on it!

[Matt]

Season 1:

Loves: Getting to know the characters in depth and also the unpredictability of it, ie Jesse being turned so early on. Marcie Ross, Cordelia's relationship with the gang.
Hates: The bad make up/CGI.

Season 2:

Loves: The characters and the storylines, Spike & Dru, Angel/Angelus, Acathla. Episodes such as Passion. Willow & Oz.
Hates: Episodes such as Some Assembly Required and Inca Mummy Girl.

Season 3:

Loves: Faith!! Willow/Xander relationship and Cordelia and Oz's reactions. Episodes such as Doppelgangland, The Wish, Enemies, Earshot, Homecoming... just really great episodes.
Hates: Scott Hope, Mr. Trick, the Buffy/Angel thing.

Season 4:

Loves: So many great standalone episodes, the Faith thing in Buffy & Angel, Wild At Heart.
Hates: The Initiative, Riley, Forrest etc.

Season 5:

Loves: The Introduction of Dawn, Glory, Dracula, The Body because it's so sad, everything generally.
Hates: Riley's sucking addiction.

Season 6:

Loves: Buffy's resurrection and her reaction to being brought back, Once More, With Feeling, After Life. The realistic storylines - finances, Willow's magic/drug addiction, great episodes such as Hell's Bells. The Trio for being so funny.
Hates: Willow's dark side thing, although was quite interesting, lack of Giles etc.

Season 7:

Loves: The slayer storyline, the Scythe, some potentials, Dawn's evolution, Anya's storyline, Andrew's attempt at fitting it, Faith's return.
Hates: Potentials, First, lack of Xander, Principal Wood, a lot really.

[buffyholic]

S1
Love: the gang all happy and innocent, the dialogue and just the feel of the season.
Hate: IRYJ, Teacher?s Pet and some bad makeup and effects.

S2
Love:The Angelus arc, some outsanding episodes (Innocence, for example), an amazing finale and again, the gang and the whole atmosphere.
Hate: Some weaker episodes, but very few..

S3
Love: Faith, the Mayor, Oz, Willow, Buffy, Cordelia, Xander, the introduction of Anya and some really strong episodes.
Hate: Willow and Xander romance, and a lack of really strong emotion like in
S2 and S5

S4
Love:Character development, humor and Anya. Also episodes like Hush, Restless and Who are you come to mind
Hate:Adam, Forrest and the Initiative arc

S5
Love:Character development, especially for Willow, Buffy, Spike, Dawn as the key, Glory, kickass humor and emotion, awesome standalones and from the arc.
Hate: Nothing at all (this season is perfect for me).

S6
Love:Buffy?s depression, Spike, Tara, the whole "Life is the Big Bad" and OMWF, Normal Again, Dead Things and the risks they took.
Hate: Willow?s addiction and weaker episodes mid-season.

S7
Love:Buffy, Spike, Willow, Kennedy, Dawn, Robin Wood, the whole slayer storyline, Anya and Andrew.
Hate: The First isn?t very well explained, even though the potentials is a good idea, they overdone it with the number of slayers.

[litzie]

SEASON ONE
Loves: the simple feeling I get when rewatching, because everyone was all happy! even when they were emo. Oh, and Flutey. Ooooh, and the introduction of Snyder.
Hates: The annoying One, the lameness of most of the episodes, Cordelia's shoe-horned role in a plot that is otherwise about the scoobies

SEASON TWO
Loves: The end. The fact that Buffy runs away from her problems (but faces her demons, haha). Angelus. What's My Line. The line with the coach in Go Fish that Wolfie beat me to mentioning. I Only Have Eyes for You
Hates: The way Spike says 'angelus.' The patronizing-verging-on-racist impressions Buffy does of Kendra's accent. Bad Eggs. Bad Eggs. Bad Eggs.

SEASON THREE
Loves: Jane Espenson's humor. Giles as a teenager sleeping with Joyce on a police car. Jonathan. Faith and Buffy slash. Willow and Buffy slash. The big battle. The Wish. Vamp!Willow. The increased ambiguity of the Watcher's Council. The introduction of Wesley. The Mayor.
Hates: Blah blah blah bangel blah blah.

The rest of the seasons tomorrow...

[Weredog]

Season 1:
Love: The days the Scoobies were innocent kids; Willow wanting Xander who wants Buffy who wants Angel; The Master.
Hate: Xander and Willow's centric episodes.

Season 2:
Love: Spike and Drusilla; Angelus' arc (especially the season finale); the shift in relationships within the Scoobies
Hate: The stand alone episodes, except "Halloween"; Werewolf Oz costume

Season 3:
Love: Every single thing.
Hate: Nothing.

Season 4:
Love: The standalone episodes.
Hate: the arc's execution was off; the sudden drastic change in cast; Marc Blucas

Season 5:
Love: Buffy's arc; Joyce's death; Riley's leaving
Hate: No vampire villains; Dracula's cheese; Dawn's screaming; Marc Blucas

Season 6:
Love: Buffy's depression; Willow's addiction; Xander and Anya not marrying
Hate: Dawn's (non)arc; Warren(/Adam Busch);

Season 7:
Love: The first seven episodes; "End of Days" and "Chosen"
Hate: Giles; Scoobie who?; The First got tiring and un-intimidating; the "war" they all talked about was actually a 15 minute battle