Month: February 2014

#BuffyWatch Part Three

/ Shauna Granger / 8 Comments

Oh yeah, you know what that means. I’m on to season four! And guess what? THE SHOW IS GETTING BETTER!

Faith is gone. Angel is gone. High school is over. I like this a lot better. (Also, Brian, how you thought I would like Faith I have no idea. I have nothing nice to say – she is not a villain that I can root for.)

But anyway, season four is really starting to get some legs for me. Funny how, you take out the Buffy/Angel story line, I like the show so much more.

But! Speaking of that, let’s talk about what the writers did with Buffy and her romances and how awful they’ve been so far.

I know, breathe, just bear with me.

Buffy and Angel are constantly breaking up. Buffy is constantly crying. There were so many episodes in a row where Buffy was just walking around sulking and hating life over this guy. I get it, we’ve all been there, but she’s supposed to be this badass heroine and when they drag these parts out until you kind of hope she loses a battle, they’ve gone too far.

I’m not even kidding when I tell you my husband walked out of the room right before Angel decides to take Joyce’s advice and tell Buffy he’s leaving and then came back ten minutes later when they’re in tears and walking away from each other, and he looked at me and said, “Let me guess: ‘I can’t do this anymore! I love you but I can’t be with you!’” And I just looked at him and said, “You just did that whole ten minutes in ten seconds.” There is a lot of predictability in these first three seasons when it comes to the love stories.

And can we talk about how Angel will lose his soul if he “experiences one moment of true happiness.” THAT HAS BEEN DRIVING ME CRAZY. What they mean to say is “if he has an orgasm.” I’m sorry, but if he and Buffy are in love, aren’t they happy? AREN’T THEY? WHY DOESN’T THAT MAKE HIM LOSE HIS SOUL? TELL ME!

So, Angel goes away and Buffy and Willow go to college. And Buffy falls for douchebag Parker after one week of hanging out together. They sleep together, Parker blows her off, and she’s hurt. All fine and good (well not good, but you know what I mean, I’ll buy all this). But then Buffy spends how long fantasizing about Parker falling for her and she won’t let him the fuck go? It is so frustrating. I like a hero/ine with flaws, they should have them, but Buffy has plenty (self-centered, flighty, naïve), this doesn’t have to be one. This was unbelievable, and I mean unrealistic. Someone like Buffy should’ve just wanted to smite the asshole, not daydreamed about him showing up with flowers when she saves his ass.

Anyway, that storyline is over and I have high hopes for the Riley storyline.

I can’t even talk about Oz and Willow right now. When Oz gave in to his animalistic tendencies for that HOEBAG BITCHFACE PIECEOFCRAP VERUCA I nearly broke my television. I just can’t.

Also, I was very disappointed that they killed the character of Sunday in the first episode of season 4. Now she was villain I could’ve lived with for a while. She was like the femme Spike (who I am happy to find is back), they would’ve made a fantastic team. I haz a sad about that.

Season four’s Halloween episode was fantastic. You could see the change in the special effects, shit was actually scary! You know, until the three inch demon materialized, that is.

I wasn’t jazzed about Vampire-Harmony, but after watching the slapfest with Xander and actually laughing out loud about it, I’m willing to give her some time.

So we’ll see. I’ll need some heart-mending over the Willow and Oz story though. Where’s the chocolate?

If you’d like to see how well *cough* Brian is doing, check his latest post here.

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Guilty Pleasures

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

If you’ve been following along, you know I suffer from insomnia. Usually when one of these awesome (read: KILL ME NOW) sleepless spells occur, I lay awake watching crappy TV. The other night, I was awake past midnight, one husband snoring softly and two dogs figuring out how to push us off the bed and steal it for themselves, and scanning through the TV guide.

And a fantastic movie was on: The Day After Tomorrow.

YES THAT’S RIGHT, YOU HEARD ME, FANTASTIC!

I know. People hate this movie. They call it stupid and question the science and blah blah blah. Whatever. I like that movie. I don’t really know why. Maybe it’s Bilbo or learning at what temperature fuel freezes. For whatever reason, if that  movie is on, I will watch. There are other movies like that for me, every single Harry Potter movie. The National Treasure movies (another, I don’t know why), Book of Eli, most Pixar movies. See? Most of that list isn’t bad. Most of that list wouldn’t make anyone embarrassed to admit they’ve watched a thousand times.

But the key word there is “embarrassed.” So, lying in bed, enjoying one of the best worst movies, I started wondering why we’re embarrassed by some things we enjoy. Whether it’s shows, movies, or books. Remember how people used to look down on romance novels? You’re reading along, enjoying a smutty scene and someone asks, “What are you reading?” And you didn’t really want to tell them?

Who cares really? I mean, obviously you’re not the only person enjoying this little escape, otherwise shows like Jersey Shore wouldn’t have lasted as long as it did and Revolution wouldn’t still be on the air.

I mean… I just found out that I wasn’t supposed to enjoy Gravity with Sandra Bullock. Apparently the physics didn’t add up. What the fuck, people? Can’t we just watch a movie or a show and enjoy the story being told? Can’t we suspend our disbelief for a couple of hours and just listen and watch? Why do we have to tear down people for liking stuff that probably couldn’t happen in real life. Hate to say it, but DUH IT ISN’T REAL LIFE. Let me enjoy my damn story.

There are a lot of shows I enjoy that I know some of my more intelligent friends don’t vibe. My two favorite shows right now are Elementary and Grimm. Every week they’re on hiatus, a tiny part of me dies. But I’m not embarrassed to admit I like these shows. Elementary because I love BBC’s Sherlock too and, while I was skeptical in the beginning, I love the gender-swapped Watson. Grimm, because well, it’s awesome. But I don’t really know anyone else who likes that show besides my hubs.

Anyway, I just think it’s silly, that, as adults, we’re embarrassed to admit we like certain shows and movies. Who cares? There are shows and movies your friends like that you don’t, or that you think are stupid or whatever. So it’s okay for you to enjoy the things critics call THE WORST THING EVER. Put on your PJs, cover yourself in cats or dogs (whatever your flavor of crazy), and cue up the DVR and watch with pride.

Let’s stop calling them “Guilty” Pleasures and just enjoy.

Are there shows, movies, or books you’re kind of embarrassed to admit you enjoy? Share it here and revel in your honesty! OWN YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE!

#BuffyWatch Part 2

/ Shauna Granger / 9 Comments

(If you haven’t watched, beware of spoilers ahead)

As of this writing, I am currently at season 2 episode 20, which means I just have 3 more episodes to go to finish season 2. Still trouncing Brian! (ETA: I am onto Season three now. Brian. It’s gonna be a blood bath.)

And I’m still not loving the show.

Well, more accurately, I am still not loving Buffy and Angel. I go back and forth on who I dislike the most. Sometimes I think it’s just the acting. I watched the episode “I Only Have Eyes For You” where two ghosts are haunting the school, possessing people to force them to reenact their deaths over and over again until the end of the episode where the ghosts latch on to Buffy and Angel. I have to say, that was the best few minutes of acting either of them accomplished thus far. It looked real. It sounded real. It worked. I dunno why, because they’re crying and hollering, which they do a lot of and I hate, but in that scene it was much better.

I find I am still watching the show for the other characters. When Oz and Willow finally got together, I cheered. When Cordelia realized admitting to liking Xander was worth the scorn of her loser cronies, I was happy. When Angel cornered Ms. Calendar and ended her storyline, I actually gasped out loud (though part of that gasp was due to me being surprised they actually killed her). When Giles gets all British awkward, I laugh.

But when Buffy mopes around, acts petulant, has a major mood swing, is bitchy, is whiny, WHATEVER, my eyes drift to my book, or twitter, or something.

You know, when Willow finally catches Xander and Cordelia making out and you hear her heart break, she runs off to have her embarrassing cry, but then, when she faces Xander, you realize why she’s so awesome. They’re dealing with some life threatening thing and Willow says it’s more important that her heartbreak, there are bigger things going on and she has to deal. I love that.

When Buffy gets her heart broken she takes every chance to remind people how crappy her love life is. She holds grudges. She mopes. Just. Gah. Okay? Geeze!

That’s my main problem with the show, the MCs. I’m just glad there’s a good supporting cast around her.

I wanted to talk about how angry the episode of “NED” made me, but I went off on a little tangent there. So, suffice it to say, I did not like what they did with Buffy’s mom in that episode. I’m not talking about while she’s drugged on the food, I’m talking hours later when the creep isn’t around. If your kid tells you a guy threatened to hit them, you freak the fuck out at the guy, not your kid. That episode alone, as cheesy as it was to find out he’s a robot from the 50’s, almost made me refuse to keep watching. It’s bad enough her mom lets the new principle talk to her the way he does, but the guy you’re dating? No. Not believable, not with the kind of mom she’s supposed to be.

(ETA: Thoughts after finishing season 2 and starting season 3 – a goddamn miracle is going to have to happen for me to even like her mom at this point. I don’t empathize with Buffy, but when it comes to her mom, I want to punch my screen. The writers went too far with her, IMHO.)

Anyway. I’m sticking with it. Even my mom promises me it gets better. At least Buffy doesn’t make creepy sex noises when fighting anymore, now she sounds like she’s actually fighting. But you if you made a drinking game of how often that four note piano music comes on to show us Buffy moping around and feeling all angsty for herself, you’d pass the eff out.

I know I’m leaving out a lot, but it’s still early in the show.

(DISCLAIMER: And let me be clear: I do not HATE the show. To be honest, I thought I would. I really expected that I would end up hate watching it just to win the bet. I do not hate it. I’m just not a fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar, so that’s working against it, and I’m not a fan of her Buffy. The sugary-cute pouts, the big eyes when she’s sad, the dramatics. That’s what I dislike. Also. I’ve never found David Boreanaz attractive so he doesn’t work for me as the main hotness lead.)