Season 2 ended on the high note, with Buffy saving the world (again), and than she left Sunnydale. Angel is dead (or is he?) and the rest of the gang is fighting demons each night. There were some changes in the cast and introduction of new second Slayer. Most important thing about this season is expanding of the mythology and adding number of demons and even more evil forces all converging to town of Sunnydale.

Story

This is darker season than previous one, with several story lines that will lead to the ending and double episode and another Apocalypse. Return of Angel and his hidden relationship with Buffy, new and unpredictable Slayer turning to the dark side, city mayor trying to became a demon, all this will run for the whole season.

But, it’s important that writers decided to keep the formula from previous season and to create several great episodes that have nothing much to do with main storyline. Episodes like The Wish and Doppelgangland  deal with alternate time-line, Homecoming duel of Buffy and Cordy for the title are really great.

Characters

Willow role will finally get expanded and she is not going to be a geeky friend of Buffy. She will start to explore the witchcraft, and also will find love in form of a werewolf (previous season introduced Oz, played by Seth Green). Xanders relationship with Cordelia will evolve and eventually end with great episode The Wish.

Buffy, Season 3 Cast

Through the character Faith we will see that being the Slayer can be take a person to the dark path, and for the most part Faith will be the total opposite to Buffy. But, once again, I just can’t stand Eliza Dushku, and I don’t know why Joss Whedon casts her in most of his series. She is not bad actress, but she plays all her roles the same way and that gets really annoying. I wish they had someone else play Faith, because Eliza’s performance was plain bad in my book.

Angel transformation over this season was interesting and will open the door to spin off series after the end of this season.

Production

Visually, series has grown over first two seasons, and that was really needed since the new demons and creatures must look realistic. Still, CGI effects don’t look that good, and I expected them to be better.

Conclusion

Overall, this is good season, similar in many aspects to previous one, with more character development, more mythology and more substance.

And while season 1 was not so good, it managed to lay a solid foundation for the rest of the series (if you get past the martial arts stupid vampires and the great ease of killing them). Also, first season was too serious, and that’s something season 2 and later seasons will correct adding more fun into the mix. Main and recurring cast is expanded and several very interesting characters are added (and by that I mean Spike).

Story

While the first season was mostly single story line leading to killing the Master, primarily Buffy has episodic nature, but still having a main arc for each season, each one ending with some form of Apocalypse. Main focus of the arc of season 2 is the opening of one of the Hell dimensions and Angel loosing his soul in the middle of the season, and going back to being evil.

But, strongest side of the series are episodes that divert from main story line and deal with unusual and funny events or creatures. This started with episode Halloween, and costumes that transform the people that wear them. Similar type of episodes are Ted, Bad Eggs and my favorite Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.

During this season, we learn a bit more about Giles and his (dark) past, but that only scratches the surface, and it’s a real shame that only handful of episodes during the series deal with this character. At one point, there were plans to create a spin off series about him, but that never made it into production.

Characters

Many new characters were added in this season. David Boreanaz is now series regular, and his character Angel will be replaced by evil and soulless Angelus. To replace the Master, we get two new characters: Spike and Drusila. They both have a long history with Angelus and they will together plan the opening of Hell. Spike character will get huge fan base during this season, and it’s decided not to kill him off, but to expand his role in the later seasons. James Marsters is excellent in this role. Another great decision is to expand the role of Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) beyond the cliché character she was during the first season, and Cordy is definitively one of my favorite characters in these early seasons.

Buffy, Season 2 Cast

And while series is still plagued by inconsistent writing, too many clichés that will get annoying very quickly, improvement over first season is significant. Also, it’s very important to know that series intended audience is younger than I am, so maybe teenagers will find it much better than I did.

Conclusion

Much better season than first one, with at least 5–6 great episodes and very few really bad episodes. Adding Angel/Angelus twist and character of Spike will prove as excellent move and will ensure the success of the series. So, grab your Chosen Collection box set and start watching. Rest of seasons reviews are coming.

The Vampire Slayer is longest running vampire and supernatural series ever made, even though I think is far from the best. It’s a first major creation for Joss Whedon, and while I like some of his later work (Firefly), I never really watched Buffy and Angel series. So, I recently got my hands on the Chosen Collection box set, and decided to give Buffy a chance. And, overall, my opinion about the series is mixed at best.

First season is the shortest of one with only 12 episodes. And it started a whole new following that spanned not only to TV and long successful line of Buffy and Angel series, but expanded to other media. Joss created very complex mythology and there were not many similar franchises like Buffy was. In the years after Buffy, many vampire series were created, and only the latest one True Blood managed to remain on air for more than a season. Seven season of Buffy don’t mean that Buffy is the best, because I liked both Moonlight and Blade more, but Buffy was much different than any other similar series.

Story

Vampire Slayer is warrior born in every generation, always a girl, with super human strength, rapid healing and only one goal: to kill vampires and other demon folk. Series is set in small California town of Sunnydale. And this small town is a center of demon activities, with opening of Hellmouth in the middle of the local highschool. Vampire Slayer has a Watcher, someone who has a task on training the Slayer and watch over her.

First season will introduce main characters, Slayer’s small group that will later be known as Scooby Gang. They know all about Buffy and are helping her fight evil. And not all people that are helping her are human. During first season they are fighting the Master who is trying to open Hellmouth and start Apocalypse.

Characters

Sarah Michelle Gellar is in the role of Buffy, and for the most part I like her performance. She manages to play two sides of Buffy, a vampire slayer by night and a “normal” teenage girl by day. Her watcher, Rupert Giles, is working as a school librarian, and library will be a major gathering point and center of the series in the first couple of seasons. Watcher is played by the Anthony Stewart Head. Buffy’s best friends are Willow (played by Alyson Hannigan) and Xander (Nicholas Brendon). In the beginning they are mostly annoying, sort of comic relief sidekicks. Over the time, that will change and they will get much more developed and better roles.

Buffy, Season 1 Cast

Buffy has a helper on the other side in form of vampire with a soul Angel. He is featured in half of episodes in the first season, but his role will also grow.

And while I like the complex and deep mythology of the series, there are many things that I feel are bad. For the most part, vampires are presented as a joke, easy to kill, stupid, and all with knowledge of martial arts. Fights all look the same, and you will grow tired of them. And this first season is responsible for setting the bar too low when the vampires are concerned. Many elements of vampire mythology are under developed and (sorry) plain stupid (biting and blood drinking are very stupid). I feel that idea Joss had was very good but somehow it was watered down to unrealistic and mostly week villains. And while the story will get better as time goes on, this basic elements will remain week through out the series. I know that they wanted to make mix of teenage comedy and horror, but this has gone too far.

Conclusion

Fair start of the series, and maybe the weakest season of all. Anyway, if you get past the initial obvious mistakes and plot wholes, series is actually enjoyable and fun to watch. It will get better after first season.

A decade ago, CSI: Las Vegas has aired for the first time it was very unique kind of show bringing forensic sciences to mainstreams TV. And, due to enormous success, many more similar shows were created over the years. One of them is Bones. Bones is based on the works and novels of real forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, and is set in fictional Jeffersonian Institute in Washington DC. So, why this show is different from CSI?

As I said, this show is based on the series of novels and works of Kathy Reichs. Main focus, as the name suggests is forensic anthropology based on the analysis of bones and reconstruction from bones. And Bones is the nickname of the show lead Dr. Temperance Brennan, played by Emily Deschanel. Her partner, FBI agent Seeley Booth is played by David Boreanaz famous for his roles in the Buffy and Angel. They are working with specialized team to solve crimes using nothing bot bones.

Cast and characters

Chemistry between Emily and David is great, and that is the main driving power of this show. Their dialogs are never boring mostly because of the fact that Bones is not familiar with the most of the pop culture, and all the references and remarks from Booth she doesn’t get. Character development is good with a lot of back stories, but at the times that doesn’t feel complete, and things are known to be left unexplained. I would like to point out the appearance of Billy Gibbons from Texas hard rock band ZZ Top who play father to Angela, computer expert and artist played by Michaela Conlin.

Season 1 cast

Writing

Well, this is where this show fails. Most of the episodes we have seen before on the C.S.I. or Crossing Jordan, but this time we have a chance to see it from the bones perspective. Still, a feeling of deja vu is all over. There are bunch of original cases, and I believe that some cross overs are necessary, but still this is generally not a good thing. Also, the level of tech-talk is just too much for me, and at times you will be left out not understanding what the hell they are talking about.

Production and visuals

In some areas they went too far, like with creating holographic super computer system that can be used to easily recreate the human face and features based only on bones. While that is possible, here is that far from reality, but still necessary to move a story along quickly without days or months of waiting for computers to finish they job. Level of details when the remains are used is simply amazing, and that is one of the highlights of the show. Music is for my taste too generic and another not so good thing about Bones.

Conclusion

All in all, Bones is a good show, and this first season is part of finding the direction show wants to take, and will take in the next few seasons. You need to watch it for Bones and Booth if for nothing else.