Giving Buffy a Second Try

Denisa and I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night. We’d tried this before, but didn’t get past the first four episodes or so. It just wasn’t enough to hold our attention, and we gave it up. However, enough people who I know and respect swear by this show, and I’d heard since that it improves in later seasons–that it took some time for the show to really get its feet under it. I can appreciate that, so this time we skipped season one and went right on to season two. Got through two episodes last night. The first one was underwhelming, but I really want to give this show its fair shot, so we kept at it. Episode two was much better. Funnier, more story to hold it together, and generally a more fun time. Where the first episode was a two star outing flirting with one and a half stars, the second episode was easily two and a half, maybe three.

Enough for me to start to see what people see in the series. We’ll keep at it.

Honestly, I’m not usually so forgiving with something I’m watching or reading. If a book doesn’t hold me by the first fifty pages, it’s gone. There are too many other books out there for me to read. With a movie, I’m more tolerant. Rarely will I turn one off, just because I know that in another hour or so, it’ll be all over anyway, so why not give it its shot. A TV series is a huge time commitment, and since they’re episodic anyway, I can put one down just as easily as I can put down a book. The fact that I’m sticking with Buffy as much as I have this far is a testament to how much word of mouth can do for a piece of art. Well, that and the fact that we both loved Firefly (a TV series created by the same guy who created Buffy)–so, word of mouth and quality of other works by the same creator.

I’ll try to keep you posted on what I think of the rest of season two.