Any Buffy fans around to discuss some things that have annoyed me on rewatching?

[MrsBertMacklin]

Posting in Chat because this doesn't warrant a permanent thread. I fully admit to overthinking the issues below, I've been binge watching and may have lost perspective.

• Faith was made a slayer when Buffy died the first time. When she dies in Season 5, no mention of a duplicate Slayer, correct?

• The Principal in Season 7 talks to Buffy about how he's looked through her file, why is her response not, 'you creepy fuck, what a breach of privacy, I left school 5 years ago'?

• Neither Buffy or Willow have regular jobs (Willow is never seen in employment). Who pays for Willow's flights to England for rehab, their weapons, various house repairs (don't tell me Buffy could get insurance for accidental damage / civil unrest with her claims history), Dawn's school books etc.?

• When Spike goes to get himself restored to his former self: why exactly does that Demon con him and actually give him his soul? If it was a good demon I could understand it's ultimately setting him on the road to redemption, but it's not.

• Why did Joss Whedon make Angel Irish, when it must have been obvious within 5 syllables that David B's Irish accent was the worst thing in the world?

• Kennedy: I was all for Willow finding someone else after Tara, why on earth did they make that person such an utter knob? Is she meant to have some redeeming features / be perfect for Willow and the actor ballsed it up?

• After Joyce died, why didn't Buffy's dad make a single appearance, surely they could have found some reason / decent plot to make this happen, it's so clanging for me that a parent, no matter how absent, wouldn't even stop by once after his childrens' mother died suddenly.

Jeanne, it's the 'have at it' at the end of that quote, with the glasses being polished, that does it for me.

Buffy shut up! Did she really?! Wow.

I've stalked met James Marsters.

Definitely the glasses being polished.

Which reminds me, I love the bit where Buffy realises Giles is always cleaning his glasses so he doesn't have to see her being teenagery.

I still have a crush on James Marsters now, even though he's technically old enough to be my dad (if he'd been a teenage father)

Seventies Spike with the eyeliner

Total leaf on the wind moment.

Whedon is a git. Feel more sorry for Zoe than Willow though.

A blueberry scone in the US isn't what you might think - scones there are more like a cross between a muffin and a rock cake

US school records are permanent and can follow individuals throughout much of their life, certainly into young adulthood

I was always disproportionately annoyed by the sudden discovery of a university in Sunnydale once the characters got beyond high school age

Didn't Joyce's death lead to an insurance policy payout? (Though anyone living there must have had extortionate premiums, what with the high death rate...)

Total leaf on the wind moment.

Whedon is a git. Feel more sorry for Zoe than Willow though.

The episode of Angel where Andy Hallett (God rest his beautiful soul) finally made it into the opening titles, I spent 43 minutes in a state of high anxiety, convinced that meant Lorne was about to die horribly.

Whedon messes with my head.

And yet...
Numfar. Who doesn't love him?

Whedon wanted to put Jesse in the
credits for Ep1 S1 but didn't have the budget to redo credits at that point.

Yy to Bored now.

Buffy & Cordy go on a double date with college guys in s2 so there must have been a Uni close by.

But, closer, Giles is English, speaking to an English person.

And surely even in the US, schools blowing up still destroy records?!

Agree about Sunnydale University. I had never connected it with the frat boys though, which is a fair point.

Whedon specifically wrote Hank Summers out early on as a deadbeat dad as he didn't like the dynamic of the character so it stands to reason why he never returned.

You'd think a town with a university would have more than one nightclub though!

'Beer bad, fire pretty' also a good quote

PP who said about mobiles - certainly school children in the UK didn't routinely have mobiles when the series started, assume the same was true for the US.

And I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be just one paper copy of school records kept onsite in the school - they'd be copied somewhere central in case of routine things like fire, flood, demon incursion...

good point about the frat boys

Whedon - though obv a bit of a god - doesn't seem to know v much about English people, idioms etc. Or he was only writing for a us audience who wouldn't (on the whole) notice

Oh, I dunno yonic. Cambridge has two universities and it's still remarkably limited on clubs.

I don't really understand The Bronze as a club. Are there real clubs in the US where you go for coffee if you're underage, and sit in a nice civilised room to drink it?

PMSL at 'flood, fire, demon incursion'.

Woah there! Angel is supposed to be Irish? That's what that's supposed to be? Irish?

I'm watching them properly for the first time on Netflix. Missed the Buffy boat the first time around.

Almost any decent sized town/city in the U.S. Will have a college of some sort near it, even if only a community college. Many of these aren't so great, and may only provide 2 or 3 year course with diplomas rather than a full degree. It is possible for a community college to do a full degree and be reasonably high standing. Students will often live at home and have their parents pay the fees (which won't be that high), which is what Willow does.

Hence, yes, there is a college nearby, and yes, Willow could go to it, then have her parents pay for her rehab.

Incidentally, I live near a U.S. City that has at least 5 really good colleges (e.g. Leeds uni or better) within a 10 mile radius, so completely believable.

The watchers foundation is one of those ancient orders which has money invested from way back and can therefore afford to support watchers.

Buffy gets insurance that covers the cost of the house, but has to work for her other money.

Yes, permanent records are a thing, and would be sent to employers like a reference. They are likely to be stored in the basement on a school, or even at an off site facility (which is what happens where I teach) so would have still been available.

I always thought Spike was after his soul, wasn't that what he was trying to prove to Buffy?

And yes, with a drinking age of 21, there will be 'clubs' that cater for high schoolers. They will serve food and non alcoholic drink. No one with a fake ID or actually over 21 would be seen dead in there. Not even a vampire.

Maybe it's one of those things that doesn't translate across the Atlantic - US viewers will assume that there is a college / uni in town, so it never needs saying. It just came a bit out of the blue to me.

Arf at not being seen dead in a club

Mind you, Druscilla was fab, one of my favourite recurring characters - but another shocking accent...

I am in shock that people don't "get" Willow and Tara - the instant Tara looks up and sees Willow in the Wicca group meeting, I felt breathless because I just knew.... gosh, I remember how exciting it all was watching it for the first time, waiting every week for the new episodes... The internet and spoilers ruin everything now, but back then everything was

And I thought Willow as the Big Bad was completely believable... I actually enjoyed S6 immensely, it was a shame S7 ruined pretty much everything (only redeeming quality being that Faith was back). I think you need to know what it's like to be on the edge of sanity to "get" how easily that could be someone grief-stricken and power crazy. Jeez, if I'd had loads of magick when my ex dumped me without a word of explanation after six years, I'd probably have gone batshit mental and tried to end the world too.

The Spike soul thing always confused me... I, too, thought he was tricked, but upon further reading online I see that JW carefully wrote Spike's words to appear as though he was going to get his chip removed (the audience would naturally think that as he was always banging on about it), but actually he wanted to prove himself to her, that he was worthy of her.

It's interesting how I never liked the Spike/Buffy relationship upon first watch as a teenager, but as an adult I think he is the best. Ever. My perspective changed in a lot of ways, actually...

Never watched beyond S2 of Angel so think I will need to do that now thanks to previous posters recommendations - is it on Netflix? (And speaking of, Faith is redeemed and has a lot more character development in Angel, I love the episode where they broke her down, just so powerful, amazing writing).

While we are discussing the sudden arrival of the college, may I bring up the subject of the Docks? A useful plot device in seasons two and three, but barely mentioned before or after!