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That's My Take Archive August Through September, 1999 | |||||||||
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This is my take on Season Three. I came in expecting "Becoming" & got something so completely new. I think that Season Three was just one big, long transition into Angel-lessness. They tried to keep it so that Buffy & him didn't really get into it heavily again. & had him be there, but still quite distant from the group. They also did that with Cordelia. First they put her through some trauma, allowing her to grow up a bit, & then distanced her from the group. Toward the end they were all together again, but it wasn't the same & it was just a fitting ending of an era. This being a transition season, they dealt with some storylines that had been put on the back-burner. Like with Willow & Xander. Willow has been in love with Xander for forever & you just knew that someday something would actually happen between them. Season Three left a lot of free time for those just held-off issues. Another example, Joyce & Giles. Come on, if you never saw that coming you just weren't thinking. It's logical. This season they established the possibility, that will make it easier to develop the romance in the future. But, I have a feeling that much like the Willow/Xander thing, the Joyce/Giles thing will be a slow moving storyline. Another point of all this transition free time is that the individual episodes had to be very developed. I think there were just some amazing, brilliant, & artistic episodes this season. They weren't as intense as the Season Two episodes, but they were better thought-out. "Gingerbread", "The Wish", & "Earshot" were brilliant. Most episodes were a lot more entertaining, a lot more things were going on & I think they made you think more. & I think they were scarier. Examples are "Beauty & the Beasts", "Choices", & "Homecoming". Some of the episodes were just truly touching & got to the heart of the characters. Like "Helpless", "The Prom", & "Amends". Some episodes got to the heart of what the show is really about: "Graduation Day", "Amends", & "Consequences" are three episodes that come to mind there. So, what was this big transition season transitioning into? The development of a new Era of "Buffy". A show that isn't framed on the intense relationship between a vampire slayer & a vampire. A show that doesn't center around High School. What exactly that show will breath on? We'll just have to wait & see, won't we. But, there is another part to this transition. Many, many, things about Season Three were leading into the "Angel" series. When I think about Faith... it was: 1) A way to express a lot of the themes of the show about choices & fighting. 2) Just an example. A simple example of one of those lost souls out there. That either didn't have the guidance or wasn't strong enough or didn't understand or were just too scared to change, & to be good. An example. Angel is going to go out there & try to help all those lost souls in the world. All the while with him fighting not to be a lost soul himself. So. Season Three was one big transition & build into "Angel". But, now there will be no Angel. & all we have known will change. Like the Mayor said: Nothing will ever be the same. Nothing. | |||||||||