I WATCHED A RANDOM EPISODE OF BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER!! (First Time Watching)
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- First Time reaction to a random episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer!!
This got sad real fast...
#reaction #buffythevampireslayer
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Fine I watched Hush- ruclips.net/video/qu7XqsyAP5Q/видео.html
A random episode? How fun!
“Season 5 episode 16”
never mind…
😆
I think Hush, B3, Tabula Rasa, or Beer Bad would have definitely been "better" (ie, less painful) options.
Exactly. Of all of the episodes...
I’m on a bus with people and laughed out loud without thinking…🤣. Great episode, but FIRST???
@@xyex I was thinking more along the lines of School Hard or Halloween from season 2.
Some added context: Xander and Willow don't have good relationships with their respective parents. Joyce very much became a mother figure for them. The Tara/Willow kiss was their first on-screen kiss. Anya is a former Vengence Demon who would grant wishes to scorned women (so her saying she wished Joyce wasn't dead actually means a lot).
I don't recommend Once More With Feeling, because without context you're not gonna be able to tell just how much is happening. My recs for a no-context watch are:
Season 1: Nightmares
Season 2: School Hard*, Halloween
Season 3: Band Candy, The Wish*
Season 4: Something Blue, Hush
Season 5: Fool For Love*
Season 6: Tabula Rasa
Season 7: Storyteller*
* next to it means it's a tentative recommendation
School Hard and Earshot are a couple of the episodes I think are good introductions.
@@UTU49 Right, Earshot, that's a good one too
There was absolutely no music in this episode, either, other than the windchimes when Buffy opens the back door after throwing up. It really adds to the surreal quality of the episode. If you ever want to give another one a go, try Band Candy or Halloween or Tabula Rasa.
The choice of no music was deliberate. Joss didn't want it to direct the audience reaction the way music usually does in TV shows & movies.
I second those choices. Perhaps along with “The Replacement” and “Hush”.
@@METerrell It also adds a depth to the moment. It's "easier" to see and empathize with their numbness when there's no music, and very little sound too, like background noise.
Not sure about Tabula Rasa. Does it lose too much if you don't know anything about the characters as they originally are? Some of the depth is seeing who they "choose" to be when they have very little context.
@@trinitybernhardt9944 Maybe. But it gives a better idea of what the show is as a one-off. Although I think better episodes are good, monster of the week type, episodes like Hush, I also like "The Wish", as it's different from the norm and I'm a big fan of alternate history content.
For just a slight amount of background (because the commentary track on the DVD version of this episode had a lot of interesting facts:
The cold open for this episode was also the end of the previous episode, which was a very lighthearted episode.
The Christmas flashback after the credits was put there because they didn't want the like guest star credits and whatnot to be rolling under the heart-wrenching scene that followed.
Kristine Sutherland played Joyce; she did want to leave the show, because she and her family wanted to move to Italy if I remember correctly.
Willow and Tara (the redhead and the blonde who wasn't Buffy) had been explicitly a romantic couple for almost an entire season at this point, but this episode was the first time they kissed onscreen.
Anya, Xander's 1,000-year-old girlfriend isn't a vampire, she used to be a vengeance demon. She lost her powers and ended up stuck having to live as a normal human.
This is a real mixed bag for your first and maybe only Buffy episode; this episode didn't require any real lore to experience it. Yes, you undermined the possibility of arriving at this episode organically while being attached to the characters, but on the other hand, it would be an interesting thing to go back to the beginning of the show with all this in the back of your mind. Joyce was a very prominent character so you'd see a lot of her. Three of the main characters you saw in these scenes weren't even in the show since the beginning - I won't say which, but three of them were introduced to the show later, one each in season 3, 4, and 5.
I think the main thing that makes it a good choice is because it makes it very clear that the show has this level of writing, acting, and cinematography on its side. You didn't get to sample the music, because there was none in this episode, but that's pretty good too.
I’m sure that you saw this episode and realized how good the show is, however this is one I can’t rewatch. It’s just too raw. Here’s hoping you choose to do another Buffy episode like hush, halloween, or Ted which are all stand alone episodes worth watching.
Alright, but it's not 'random' if you watch an episode someone declared as the best one in any sort of capacity. Random would be picking blindly, or using one of those randomizers.
In the scene with the paramedics, the weird framing of the scene (cut head) wasn't deliberate. The show was filmed for 4:3 tv's and Whedon DID NOT want it to be 16:9. However, when a few years ago the HD remaster was done to the show, it was done so fast, poorly and sloppy that it ruined many scenes. There is actually a video you can watch called "The Great Tragedy of the 'Buffy' HD Remaster" to understand the size of this issue.
You're a very insightful reactor! Yeah as you know this wasn't good as a first episode but I think you got a sense of why this such a well-regarded and loved show. Maybe you will give the show a shot on your own?
Meanwhile, you're getting a lot of attention with this one and people want you to have the best experience! I suggest making a Community post which your subscribers see and ask for recommendations for any future show you watch. As someone said, oftentimes the Top episode viewed by critics breaks format or culminates an arc and so requires context.
Good luck on your journey!
Wow, what a choice! Buffy has many amazing episodes with great filmmaking techniques, but The Body is pretty much one of a kind.. I would highly recommend watching the whole show! But if you want another random episode to try out I recommend 4x10 "Hush" or 2x7 "Lie to Me".
"I watched a random episode of Buffy..."
Me: Yay!!
* *clicks on video* *
Rakhim: Today I'm going to be watching an episode called "The Body".
Me: Oh shit...
Tbh I'm thrilled you saw this one, imo it's one of the best standalone episodes of TV and it's cool to see someone appreciating that without any additional context
i don't know about criminal minds but Supernatural began long after Buffy and IMO it took several ideas from them (and other shows). Buffy began in 1997 and finished 2003 and had one major spin off Angel. However Buffy also had books and comics that not everyone knows about...the books were made around the same time as the show and graphic novels/ comics continued the series after the TV show finished. on TV it had 7 seasons and the graphic novels went up to season 10.
Enjoyed this reaction. As others have said, Hush is a pretty good episode to watch randomly, but I'd personally recommend Fool For Love, which is so well written, directed and acted, and you don't need to know a load of backstory, you can enjoy it as a self contained episode
I'm actually glad you picked this. If someone's going to watch one (and ONLY one) episode of Buffy, I think this was a good one for all the reasons you listed. With that being said, you should definitely watch them all 🙂
To this day, Buffy fans comfort one another in grief with "it's always sudden."
You need to watch Hush!!
He need to watch the full 7season tbh
This guy is great at picking out the worst random episodes to watch 😅
I’d pick “Halloween” or “Innocence” from Season 2 to randomly watch. It will give you more of a feel for the series.
Holy! What a choice.. on one hand you got to see what many people consider the best episode of the show and frequently places high on best episodes of tv ever lists… on the other you picked one of the most emotional, and least representative- not in a bad way just the emotional weight of this one meant the typical flow and vibe of a Buffy ep isn’t here -episodes of the show. Us Buffy fans actually joke about how impossible it is to get friends into the show because no episode really feels like a stand-alone.. But if you refuse to just start at the start I’d recommend either Halloween 2x6 or band candy 3x6 as more fun and good at giving the vibes of what the show is like without needing much context. Don’t listen to people recommending hush or once more with feeling those are great episodes but not good standalone or representative of general vibes ones. (Also a shame you cut the kiss between willow and Tara out of the edit as joss had to threaten to quit to force the network to actually air a lesbian kiss, the couple had been dating for a bit and never allowed to show them kissing till this big emotional episode. Just early 2000s things.)
It could have been Hush or a Halloween episode but no, it was The Body. 😂
Or the musical episode 😂 bunny song is fire.
@@gaymer07 No, the musical episode is for fans that have seen several years worth of episodes. It'd be wasted on someone who's not seen any other episodes before. 😤
I was thinking The Wish or something fun like that..... no it has to be the episode that wrecked everyone
@xzonia1 I met a friend at my first job who would play the soundtrack to the musical episode all the time and I thought it was so stupid. She later introduced me to the show and it was a whole new experience.
I definitely hoped it would be hush.
Ohhhh, my dude. You picked the ONLY episode of Buffy that is based in realism and heavy af. Excellent, but not a fun one. Try Hush. Very fun. Very supernatural. Very Buffy!
Yes, Hush the episode that came about because someone told Joss that his writing hinged too much on witty dialogue... so he was like "hold my beer" and wrote Hush.
Anja's "I wish that Joyce didn't die" was huge (and often missed). She's a 1000 year old ex-demon who used to grant wishes.
And more specifically, would grant wishes by twisting the request in such ways as to create carnage the wisher didn't actually intend.
Bro... WHAT?! I've watched this show like 8 times through, and I've never once caught that she actually uses the W word there. You're very right, that truly is huge, there is absolutely no way that should flippantly use the word wish, ever. I guess I was always too distracted by her attempting to show actual human emotion to notice while also being lost in the rabbit hole of depression which is "The Body". Whoever suggested watching this particular episode randomly is a monster, for a wide variety of reasons.
(Also, by the way, she spells it with a "y" not a "j")
she was even smart and said Didnt die instead of Wasnt dead
Anya is my favourite
@@homunculus7 Woah! Yes, bearing in mind certain other eps, that is a very important distinction. =:oo
Some people are recommending you watch Once More With Feeling, but I've seen others react to that episode without context, and to them it doesn't make sense and it seems like nothing happens. A person has to have context to understand that Every Thing is Happening in that episode. Hush would be a much better choice, because it really does stand on its own.
Yeah, there's no payoff to watching Once More With Feeling unless you've seen several seasons of Buffy already. It'd just be lost on him. I also recommended Hush.
Definitely Hush!
I also think Restless would be a good one too, I know it needs context, but it’s such a random episode and baffles reactors who do have context anyway, so it would probably make a great reaction!
I agree, Once More with Feeling would be a bad episode to watch randomly. There's just way too much that a person needs to know to understand what's going on in it. Someone unfamiliar would just be caught up with whether or not they liked the music or not and wouldn't have a clue what it was about.
@@naynay3710
Totally agree. I saw a reactor watch it out of context and they literally thought that nothing happened, which is a little infuriating.
The enormity of the events and revelations in OMWF is not really understandable out of context. You might as well pick up a complex 500-page novel and start reading page 466.
Hush is always the episode I recommend to new viewers. As you said, it holds up on it's own, plus it's also genuinely scary and has some awesome comic moments.
17:50 - Some quick context that even long time fans miss here. Anya is an ex-vengence demon, she spent 1,000 years granting wishes. Wishes are the most powerful form of expression she knows, and not something to be made lightly. So her saying that is a Really Big Deal™
Wow. Long time fan here since the day it first aired and i never realized this. Her making that wish is even more touching and powerful now. Nice catch!
Omg true
I've watched this show countless times and dissected it and I have never, ever caught this. Amazing.
Hush is a great episode to watch randomly to actually have fun instead of ouchie. And you don't need a ton of lore going into it.
The writing was even nominated for an Emmy. I think it was the only Emmy nomination the show ever got too.
Yes i would recommand that one too
@@LaBlueStateGirl That's cool, I didn't know that. I always thought "The Body" should have won an Emmy.
Hush is great.
I feel like 99% of the time if you look up a list of the best episodes, they're all going to be extremely lore heavy/tie up some sort of long running arc, or else be a super unusual (and probably emotional) departure from normal episodes.
He definitely needs to change his methodology in choosing the episodes. Maybe choose the second, third or fourth best episodes.
@@mortimerbrewster3671 I dunno, even the second, third, or fourth best episodes of a long running show are going to either be something super lore heavy/important to an arc or a one-off weird episode. Like for Supernatural 2, 3 and 4 are (with super vague descriptions) Lazurus Rising (4.1, i.e. Dean and Cas meet each other), All Hell Breaks Loose (2.21 and 22, i.e. tying up the Azazel stuff), and Two Minutes to Midnight (5.21, episode before Swan Song, Dean gets the last ring). Further down the list you've got one-offs like The French Mistake and Baby.
Seems like a better idea to just ask viewers what is the best archetypal episode that I can watch to get a flavor of the show without needing to know everything.
@@mortimerbrewster3671 Yeah. Also, "random" and "best" are not synonyms. Choosing the best rated episode form the highest-rated article on Google is pretty much the least random episode.
@@mortimerbrewster3671 Maybe like he did for Criminal Minds where he asked a fan what is the best episode that ISN'T lore heavy.
You're either going to get a lore heavy one, or you're going to get an unusual one that's also lore heavy (Once More With Feeling), or in the case of Doctor Who, you'll get an episode that barely features the title character at all (Blink).
Just found you do to Supernatural, was so excited you were trying Buffy. "Wonder what episode.... Oh, shit". I would recommend "Hush" if you want a great episode that is self contained and more the flavor of the show. "The Body" is an episode of TV brilliance but it's brutal,, obviously.
The Body did also have the first same sex kiss on network TV. Joss got a lot of pushback on that. The women were dating for awhile at this point but the studio wouldn't allow an on screen kiss. When it finally happened it was just a natural moment between an established couple. Joss has a lot of personal and professional faults but I'm glad he fought for that.
It was Willow and Tara’s first on screen kiss, but I doubt if it was the first on network tv.
@@donsample1002 you got me to research it. Looks like LA law had the first lesbian kiss on network tv 7 years earlier. It was described as a publicity stunt, the female lover was written off the show and the women immediatelywent back to straight relationships, but it was there. Most other same sex kisses I found were on UK TV, so it does seem like it was one of the first in America, but not the first. Sorry, my bad. That's what I had heard before.
Agreed hush would be a good stand alone.but Buffy was always doing this some times episode deal with filming episodes differently exploring
Hush was FANTASTIC and honestly still gives me chills thinking about it. Scarier than most horror movies out now a days.
+1 for Hush.
Buffy has to be one of the best TV shows EVER and no other show on this planet is comparable in terms of complexity and visuals....this generation will probably never understand the impact it had in the late 90s....
This ✨️✨️ this show was so ahead of his time, by far
Agreed!
I am a 48 year old male m and I think that this is the best TV show ever
@MK-he3qq I didn't bash the modern audience or generation, but they won't able to experience the show like those who grew up in the 90s did. It's the same with movies such as Alien/ Jurassic Park/Blair Witch project and so on....those were all genre defining films that were ground breaking at the time with never seen before visuals....
Tied with Game of Thrones for best series of all time (my opinion). BTW, 76 year old fan of Buffy from day one.
Random episode?
Cool! Well, as long as it isn’t The Bo-
Oh damn
Not that it was in any way bad, just not “fun.” I don’t think you need tons of lore to enjoy “Hush” Season 4 Episode 10 so I recommend it
@@paulidjit And Hush is way more fun than... this.
@@Lady-Seashell-Bikini I don't think episodes that break format are good random samples for the show.
Hahahaha
literally when this came up on my recommended I was like 'imagine if it was The Body lol'.........FFS
To choose this as your first introduction to buffy is wild. But I really enjoyed your reaction. I cry everytime I watch this episode.
If your gonna do another random buffy episode, maybe Hush or Fear Itself.
Yeah, I didn't say that in my other comments on this video, but he did react really well to the episode for having never seen a Buffy episode before.
I saw in an interview with Joss Whedon that he wanted to write an episode just showing the reality of dealing with death, and he was amazed at how many letters he got from people saying that this episode helped them process an important death from their own life. Kristine Sutherland wanted to go to Europe that summer, so she was okay with her character being killed off. This was also Willow and Tara's first on-screen kiss, very important because theirs was the first ongoing lesbian relationship on TV, and the kiss was presented as a normal part of someone comforting their partner, rather than a sexy/romantic moment.
He may be a dick but the man is kind of a genius
Well...at least it wasn’t Seeing Red. 🙈
XD
Or Go Fish 🤢
Both super heavy emotionally AND in lore!
Or The Gift 🥺
@@soniajpalazzolo4987 That would be Swan Song all over again. 🙈
A bit of lore: Xander’s girlfriend (Anya) is a ex-demon.
The monster on the hospital is a vampire.
Not only an ex demon but an ex VENGEANCE demon who used to grant nasty WISHES. For her to say "I wish..." was BIG!
What? The body!! You could have chosen any other episode really as an understanding of the show. That said, this episode is brilliant, but it must have felt out of context for you...
Someone else has already said this, but please please please watch Hush - 4x10. A really fun and creepy episode. Chalk and cheese with this one. Also a Joss Whedon epsiode, and often considered to be one of the top 3 (4x10, 5x16 and 6x07). I only found Buffy in 2020, and have been through it completely 5 or 6 times already, and just love it. Never seen your vidoes before, but so enjoyed (???) you watching this episode.
all i can say about "The Body" was it was one of the most historic bits of acting by Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) she had to display these emotions of pure shock and then show herself breaking down in those few seconds before the intro...and when she says "mummy" that is her completley returning to her childhood...because she is broken inside.
the primary reason for the mum dying was to do with character building on Buffy's part...sometimes you have to lose people to strengthen others...Joss Whedon did this a few times.
Yes, Joyce's death was central to the themes of Season 5.
Joss had been planning the story and themes of Season 5 at least 2 years in advance. He talked to Kristine Sutherland about Season 5 way back in Season 3.
Oh no! This one was too heavy for a 1st time. 😅 Try "Hush" S4 E10, it's a fan favorite.
THE BODY??? REALLY?????????
OOF! What an episode to have as you introduction to the Buffyverse !
I’m glad you liked the episode, and I hope you choose to watch the whole show at some point.
It is well worth the watch.
I think this was a good episode for this situation, it really shows what the cast and the show is capable of and doesn't require a ton of lore knowledge, though you do lose some by that lack of knowledge, and, of course, are not completely destroyed (like the rest of us) due to our attachment to the characters.
I loved how you did pick up on so much of the important information (like Buffy saying The Body) and the meaning of some of the abnormal but intentional camera shots.
I would love to see you react to this whole series (its not all sad like this I promise) and I think you would pick up on some of the more subtle, but important, aspects that are done throughout the show. This show is about real life and growing up, and pretty much everything "fantastical" is a metaphor for a real life situation.
Random episoe? Lots of possibilities for fun and exci- The Body? You picked The Body?
Oh dear....
If you want a good "fun" episode that needs no extra lore, watch season 4, episode 10... "Hush". One of best episodes of television ever.
This episode is easily the most crushing of the 144 episodes. Rough first choice, though you have a point about not needing a larger context. I’d watch you do any other, or hell, the whole series.
The random episode just happens to be the best (or at least one of the best) written episode of the series, one of the hardest to watch for some viewers, but also the greatest for reactions and perhaps considered one of the greatest episode's in TV history? I feel this wasn't as random as it seems. Or perhaps it was and he wasn't influenced in some way. 🤷🤷♂🤷♀ I loved it any which way.
In terms of killing the character off it was entirely a creative decision. No drama BTS at all, which is interesting as the creator turned out to be problematic.
He got most confused when the vampire showed up because he knew nothing about the lore, so in some ways this was a good episode to choose from.
Not everyone notices Buffy imagining the doctor saying he's lying to her when he isn't saying that at all, and when they do, they rarely get what's happening.
All ill say is is Buffy is in a different league to Supernatural. Every season is different, even the weaker episodes focus on character development, and one week you could be watching Xander possessed by a Hyena demon, to an alternative reality, where nothing as it seems, to the heat breaking The Body. Its honestly one of a kind.
Facts, Buffy is the epitomy of supernatural/ horror tv shows, it's mix of comedy, action and deep subjects was so unique, not to mention it is a trailblazer dealing with feminism and LGBT representation on the genre and tv History in general.
It’s true they are extremely different but I love both for different reasons 🙂
I actually prefer Supernatural for many of the points you state. I started Buffy the day the pilot aired and it was my favorite show until I found Supernatural. Still love Buffy of course.
Every single Season of Buffy is a brand new show, with a completely different story, different themes, characters following different plot threads. Virtually every main relationship on the show changes, develops, and grows every single season.
Some seasons lean into the comedy a little more.
Some seasons are absolutely heart-breaking and other seasons aren't really heart-breaking at all... so a first-time viewer never has any idea what the next season is going to be like.
I'm surprised this and not something like Hush. But reminds me how well constructed this episode is and its not simply sad because you know the characters.
Anya wasn't a vampire. She's human now, but she had been a 'Vengeance Demon' where she granted wishes to scorned women, until our crew defeated her and she lost her powers and became human again (she had been human about 1100 years ago before becoming a demon). Her saying she wished Joyce didn't die is actually pretty important. She never wishes anything, because in this world, wishes can be very powerful. Yes, that was a vampire at the end of the episode.
Umm they prefer justice demon FYI 😂
@@joeslater2390 I always felt the next logical spin-off from "Buffy" was "Anya Jenkins, Prosecuting Attorney" (or whatever the correct American legal jargon is). She takes her extremely literal mindset, and her instinct for righting wrongs (especially those against womankind), and makes them work in the "mundane"/non-demonic world by being *utterly meticulous* in her interpretation of the law *as it is written*. And, on the very rare occasions when that doesn't bring about actual justice... Well, she has certain Friends(TM), with certain Powers(TM)...
=:o}
@therealpbristow add an overly angry boss & wide eyed well meaning but nieve side kick & I'll start the fund rasing
Joss Whedon was the show's creator and executive producer and had input into most episodes even if he wasn't directly involved, but this is one of the few episodes that he wrote and directed. I don't know what inner forces caused Joss Whedon to behave in such a way to ruin his reputation, but when he writes and directs an episode it's something special.
As far as I know, all he actually did was being rude.
For comparison, Bertolucci pretty much made Brando rape Maria Schneider on camera.
The saddest part of watching this is that Rakhim would actually love Buffy the series and he spoiled it 😭😭😭
There are much worse episodes for spoilers, actually. Seeing Red would be a doozy of a spoiler.
Could you imagine if he picked Restless? He'd be like, "what the fuck is this?!?!?"
@@spamfilter32 your comment itself is a spoiler 🙄
@@ethancharles2189 no.
@@spamfilter32omg restless that would be fun 😮
@yayazow it would be really interesting to watch someone who has never watched an episode of Buffy react to that episode.
Dude just rolled into our collective sorrow.
WHO TOLD HIM THIS ONE
He looked up a list in one of those "best episodes" articles. Artistically, yeah, sure. But it's not a feel-good episode. A lot of people skip it on rewatches because it hits too close to home. I'd go with the choices of Halloween or School Hard from season 2 as others often recommend for first timers.
Of all episodes to be your first episode! LOL! Oh man I can't get through this episode without crying. To answer your question, the actress that played Buffy's mom didn't want to leave.The creator Joss Whedon informed Kristine Sutherland (Buffy & Dawn's mother Joyce) that he wanted to kill off her character some time in the previous season. He didn't let anyone else know his plans til the cast read the script.
Buffy was a dope show, I love seeing new people give the show a chance all these years later hopefully this isn't the last episode you watch.
Lmfao clicked not expecting you to be watching the most soul crushing episode hahaha
holy shit starting with The Body
It's a really special episode in several ways. There is zero background music (don't know if you even noticed that), so it's eerily silent (the very next episode that continues this story goes back to normal with the music, and the contrasting experience is really powerful). For such a supernatural show, it's such a natural death, and with the exception of that one vampire at the end, you don't see anything supernatural in the whole episode. No, Xander's girlfriend is not a vampire, she's an ex-demon. Not important for this episode, but she's essentially re-learning what it's like to live as a mortal human after a thousand years as an immortal demon, which gives her a very different perspective on things.
As for episode recommendations, there are SO many great ones. I would really recommend "Hush" (Season 4, episode 10). I think that would be a great next one for you to check out.
Scrolling to see if anyone had already mentioned the musical score for the show......
Joss decided to omit it because he felt that music is a comfort. The score of a show tells you when to be happy, when to be sad, anxious etc.
He didn't want the audience to be comforted, he wanted us find our own feelings without any help.
I would describe the results as brutally effective.
@@PromptCriticalJello Everytime I see The Body the lack of a musical score reminds me of those moments in life when I've been in total shock and everything around me has felt muted and unreal. You are right, it's brutally effective.
OK, that was quite a choice XD This episode is tremendously good, but well, not a fun one. And yes, it's more heartbreaking when you know these characters. But I see that Joss did his job well, cause you notice everything you should. The lack of music definitely makes it more real. This episode is harder to watch since my own mother dies, so I avoid it, unless it's through a reaction.
Since you asked, Anya is not a vampire, she is a former demon, now human and trying to adapt to "normal" life. And yes, that creature at the end is a vampire.
Detail to point out since you've never seen the show, Willow and Tara had been a couple for a while now, but that's their first on screen kiss, a big deal back then, and strategically placed in this episode so that it wouldn't be the center of attention, but something perfectly normal for two people who love each other.
If you choose to do another episode, I'd suggest Hush, also excellent, and not heavy on lore or past history of the characters. But really, you should watch the whole show ;)
That little flashforward that Buffy does where her mom starts breathing and everything's fine again, that's definitely a thing that can go through your mind. It did with me, anyway, when my mom had a heart attack. (She's totally fine, by the way.) It's like your brain can't handle what's happening, so it runs some sort of fantasy scenario, almost as if you're wishing for that to be true. And then you come back to what's actually happening and it's horrible.
You're going to be getting a lot of recommendations for "Hush" 4x10. Which is is truly great episode. But after this particular episode you should watch something funny like "Pangs" 4x8 or "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" 2x16
Yeah, this is a fantastic episode of television... but it's also the most depressing episode of television ever 😅 Great observations! The acting, directing, writing, sound and lighting design of this episode are all so perfect, which is why it was top of that list. If you're looking for a more 'fun' episode of Buffy, like others, I recommend 4x10 'Hush'.
I bawled when I first watched it. I really appreciated your take at the end of your video about why you enjoyed doing a random watch of this episode. It was actually kinda amazing to see how much you were affected by the story telling seeing as you knew nothing of the show or characters - simply the acting, story and filmmaking drew you in. So much worse when you’ve watched everything up until this moment lol. You’re a fucking wreck. I still cry every time I do a rewatch and I get to this episode.
Halloween is a good episode, Band Candy, Hush, Tabula Rasa.
Wow. That was a...choice. But good reaction and you're right, it's actually a good episode to go in blind. You don't have to know much to understand the gravitas of what's happening. But yeah, super heavy. For something more fun, I recommend Once More With Feeling. Heavy with the lore but still just a lot of fun.
"I'm reacting to a *random* Buffy episode."
Me: oh... ok, interesting, let's see.
"It's 'The Body'."
Me: that's *NOT* random. 😑
PS: a good stand alone Buffy episode to watch is "Hush". 🤫
Ok...go back to your list and pick another one. Anything else you pick will be much lighter and fun. But...do not watch Once More With Feeling. You do need to know what's going on in order to appreciate it to the max.
ohh, oh nooo, this is a heavy heavy episode to just jump into.
No, no, no.
I'm out.
Although it's THE BEST episode (imo) of the series i don't have the strength to rewatch it.
See you later.
Sorry (but not so much).
I agree that of all Buffy episodes, this is probably one that needs the least context to connect emotionally with. And yet, with context, most of us wind up in a puddle on the floor over this episode.
Buffy was one of the most realistic shows to ever be on TV. It presented hard truths under the guise of a team battling monsters. They never talked down to their audience about the nature of responsibility. While the writing was very funny a lot of the time, at least this episode showed the professional care that went into the production. And yes, this episode just desrtoyed fans emotionally. Joyce had been a loving mother figure for five seasons.
You did an excellent reaction and picked up more about themes probably because you weren't as emotionally connected to the characters as someone who took the journey to get here and is emotionally devastated while watching. Good to know this episode does send the messages it intends without knowing anything. Really a sign of a well done episode. Great job.
I cried through this whole episode when it first came out and I still tend to. I also cry during 5x22 The Gift.
If you're gonna watch more I'd do Hush, Prophecy Girl, Tabula Rasa, Halloween, Band Candy, The Wish or series finale. The Gift is one of my faves but you won't know wth is happening.
Also, the actress who plays her mom did not die and SMG who plays Buffy begged Joss to not kill her off but Joss wanted to do a realistic episode exploring death (based on his experiences after his Mom's death) and also some symbolism of Buffy growing up.
I think this was also willow and tara's first on screen kiss.
Yes
This is one HELL of an episode to choose...
This was a fun video and concept! (Even with the circumstances LOL) thanks for this 😂🎉
p.s the next episode you should do is "Hush"
Welcome to 'The Buffyverse'. You have chosen one of the greatest shows of all time. The way this series develops over the seven series is incredible with brilliant, characters, storylines and meaningful life metaphors. The show has everything life, love, lust, friendship, betrayal, grief, joy and brilliant comedy too, all told in brilliant drama, you will love it. S1 of BTVS is a bit cheesy due to low budget etc but if you persist you will see it improving leaps and bounds from S2 onwards. It is an amazing show. Most people who start to watch it become totally engrossed in it and cant wait for each episode. The Body is one of the best episodes of the whole show, and is completely different to any other episodes in the show!. Man try doing the top 20 episodes as stated from IMDB in chronological order of course to get the right progression. The Body is not really a 'normal' BTVS episode but it is one of the best depictions of grief ever shown on TV.
Anyas not a vampire she’s what’s called a vengeance demon which is a demon that kills men for cheating on women and stuff like that. I think you should try watching buffy again or you should try Angel which Is the spin off show for buffy! Love this video btw ❤️
12:28 not shown, basically the first lesbian kiss on network television
This is my first video of yours I ever watched, probably because the algorithm suggested "Buffy" content lol but it was very interesting to see. I was wondering what random episode you'd do and when you announced "The Body" I was very, very curious how you were going to take it. To touch on something you said a couple of times, yes, watching this after nearly 100 episodes before it was devastating, but it used to be a lot harder for me to rewatch because Joyce (the mom) died medically exactly how my grandfather did, and "The Body" has always been kind of an extra stab to the gut for me because of it. I think weirdly enough you picked a really good episode to do for a 'random but the best' take. Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn, her little sister), and Emma Caulfield (Anya, the demon-turned-human) all did some of their series-best work in this episode. The episode does tie into the overall arc of Season Five, which was mainly showing how heroic Buffy is because at her core she is a normal human woman in a normal world being forced against her will to deal with horrifying extraordinary circumstances. But no matter how powerful the Slayer is (in-universe, enhanced reflexes, speed, endurance, and strength), she can't beat actual Death itself.
This episode was shot very intentionally to make the viewer uncomfortable, which you definitely picked up on, and the camerawork is superb. The constant, kind of traumatic snaps back to Joyce's body throughout are stark reminders no matter the tiny bits of humor and normal life that crop up in the episode, something enormous has happened and can't be undone. Dawn is still in school. Xander still gets a ticket for double-parking. Because Joyce dying is huge to *them* but to the rest of the world it's just another day in life. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is known for its phenomenal score work (it actually won an Emmy for best score for the season two finale "Becoming, Pts. I & II" by composer Christophe Beck) but there is no music in this episode because music tends to make things feel more fictional and fantastical than they are, whereas what Buffy goes through (minus the one vampire that pops up) in this episode is something we all go through at one point in life when we lose a parent.
If you ever do consider watching the entire series, I think that you would enjoy it. There are little bits and bobs of it that showcase its age or that have aged poorly, but overall it's a remarkably well-written dramedy about very, very relatable characters that are given supernatural metaphors for day-to-day life that makes the episodes really engaging and often tear-jerking and/or hilarious because you're watching things we all go through just given fangs, horns, and tentacles for the sake of television.
To this day I still mostly skip “The Body” episode because I just can’t stop crying the entire episode. It emotionally rips me apart EVERY SINGLE TIME 😭
Here i thought, "Okay, I can get through it since it'll just be short clips in this reaction video."
Silly, silly me.
😭😭😭
Everyone is recommending "Hush" and that is an amazing episode. I think they won awards for that one. But for fun factor, I'd personally instead go with "The Wish" to know more about both Vampires and Xander's girlfriend, Anya. Or "Tabula Rasa" because it's just a really fun episode.
I think anything past season 5 should be a definite no.
@@tiamod true. Way too many spoilers
I don't think Tabula Rasa would be funny if you didn't know the characters.
It has been 23 years since i first watched this episode, i have seen it many times since, and i am still sitting here, watching your reaction, drinking my morning coffee, and crying.
Oh wow, it's such a shame that this is the episode you landed on.. Buffy is one of the best cinematic shows to have been made, and one thing it excelled in was balancing humor, horror and drama, as well as having an amazing score - two things which are thematically and purposefully absent in this episode.
Yes, the choice to kill off Joyce (the mother character) was a narrative decision. Buffy's story had her dealing with the supernatural horrors for 5 years now, ever since she was 16, she has become proficient in it, adapt, mature and capable (she wasn't at the start), so Joss wanted to now confront her with something she couldn't fight her way through, couldn't turn to magic to solve, something mundane and natural that, for a change is flat out presented to the audience, instead of being masked in metaphors.
I thought you were going to react to maybe the musical episode, or Hush, but The Body... OMG
I think "Hush" or "Fear, Itself" are good stand alones. S4 had some great ones.
If you want ansolute and utter confusion then do my favorite episode "Restless".
From S3 maybe "Earshot" would work too. It's self contained and both funny and heavy. Or "Halloween" from S2 for chaotic hilarity.
Its so strange having this pop up and watching...been preparing for a garage sale this week and was debating selling my full series of buffy I hadnt touched in YEEEEARS but sitting here crying all over again watching this...I think I'll hold onto it a bit longer...
Rakhim, watch s4e10 "Hush" for your next Buffy reaction. it's got a really unique concept for the episode. you won't need much lore info heading into it either.
Wow that’s a tough one to start with, my man. But to give some context:
1. Anya is not a vampire. She’s an ex vengeance demon. She used to grant wishes to women who were broken hearted by man, but she lost her powers when fighting with Buffy and the gang (it’s a whole thing, with an amazing progress throughout the show). That’s why is so amazing when she says “I wish Joice was not dead” because she actually had this power before
2. Nothing in this episode is random. So all the little things they show, such as the parking ticket and the blue tshirt that Willow can’t find, the teen drama at school and most importantly the vampire at the morgue is to show us that, even though we go through a tragic experience, life still happens around us and we don’t get “free pass” not when our relatives die because life doesn’t stop, the world keep doing its thing
3. There’s no music or sound track in the episode
4. All scenes that are shot from “weird angle” is to show how uncomfortable and unorientted Buffy is feeling
5. The flashback in the beginning is there because Joss didn’t want the credit letters to appear on top of Joice’s (the mom)’ body. So we won’t get distracted with letters when we should be focusing in the heaviness of the scene
6. Anya’s reaction mirrors a child questioning death.
7. The only one “sane” in this situation is Tara, because she’s the only one who went through this
8. This is a personal opinion, but in my view, this is the best episode of any series ever released in television :)
9. Oh, I almost forgot! The kiss between Tara and Willow was the first kiss of a lesbian couple in television (couple as in a relationship, not as a hookup). They fought very hard to bring this to the screen and the reason why they put in this episode specifically was because Joss didn’t want the audience to feel that the kiss was a SEXY thing or a p0rn view like it was used to be represented back then. Just real life of two people who love each other.
❤ Buffy is a masterpiece, really.
Problem is, the episode choice was NOT random. Choosing the top of the Best Of list means you aimed directly at the one episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I think you should've avoided.
"The Body" is top of that list because it is a very very extreeeeeeeeeeemely special one, and it was intentionally made in many ways to be the OPPOSITE of what the show is normally like. It's meant to be jarring and surreal and disorienting that none of the stuff that happens in regular Buffy episodes is happening in this one.
You should definitely watch another episode. I vote for "Hush".
omg thats the LEAST supernaturalish episode u could choose
theres like no real enemies in this one ffs lol
Ok guys this is for all the Buffy fans, we gotta take these online lists DOWN haha they’re spreading some bad info for new watchers. This guy is fucked but we can save the others.
Great reaction. That was a Vampire in the hospital. Anya, Xander's girlfriend is an ex-demon not a vampire. You should watch the last episode if season 1 to get a better idea of the show, and also the episode called "The Wish."
If you want recommendations for another episode after this tear fest:
Hush - 4x10
Band Candy - 3x6
Something Blue - 4x9
Or something even more fun and out of the norm - 6x7 once more with feeling
You should watch Buffy S4 E22, Restless. You’ll understand nothing but we’ll have fun watching you confused by that episode 😭
For the reason why they killed off the mom, it was purely a narrative choice. The actress who played Joyce actually wanted to leave the show earlier, but Joss (the director and creator) wanted her to stick around a little longer because he was going to kill her off anyway.
Buffy is a show about growing from a teenage girl into an adult, and losing a parent was part of that narrative.
This is IMO the best episode of television ever made, and probably the worst choice you could have made for this.
I am a huge fan of Buffy, it made my childhood and it's genuinely such a rewatch-able show. I think this is actually a great episode as a random choice bc it is something everyone can relate to as far as the content - losing a loved one. it also showcases their relationships, it gives you a sense of how intense the show can be despite how campy it starts off. gives a bit of the humour at times, just in a small dose. every season has a major arc and this, while being a spoiler, doesn't't ruin the whole show int he slightest. it's not even the major arc of that season, just a catalyst to it! if you ever give it a chance, don't listen to the people being dramatic saying it's ruined, it's absolutely not. if that were the case, I couldn't rewatch it every year lol
If you want to watch an other random episode of Buffy, pick Hush season 4 episode 10
Buffy is hard to recommend a one off random episode because the lore all builds on itself. Probably the best one as others have stated is Hush in season 4. Though Prophecy Girl, the season 1 finale, is also a great one as it’s not too lore heavy yet but still has some great moments.
You picked one of the saddest episodes of BTVS. Try Hush
Of ALL episodes to choose from!
Buffy's one of the few shows where what's widely considered the best episode, and what's widely consider everyone's favourite episode are two completely different things. Usual phrase is "the best episode of TV I never want to see again". Everyone brought their A-game to this episode. As you say, you don't need much context for it, but if you do have the context it elevates it another couple of notches further.
If you were wondering about the cut-to-credits being abrupt, that entire opening was the last scene of the previous episode. Making everyone relive that and then sit through the credits AND then the flashback scene was a special form of torture. The flashback scene was mostly there to stop the on-screen post-intro credits from distracting from the immersion of the story-telling during the main timeline. The more you find out about the episode the more you get to appreciate the craft on display to work with the constraints they had to still produce the emotional impact the episode has.
Since this was supposed to be fun and you happened to pick the heaviest episode of the show, let's see if we can't follow it up with a more light-hearted episode. I think _Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered_ (Season 2 Episode 16) would be a good one. You should be able to understand the majority of the episode without any backstory.
That, or Intervention (S5 E18)
Tabula Rasa was a fun episode too lol.
@@EpicHelios83 Tabula Rasa depends a lot on the viewers knowing the characters though.
Why does everyone keep forgetting School Hard (a lot of vampires in it) and Halloween?
@@EpicHelios83 Except, the ending is quite heavy. You have to know what happened to Buffy and why Willow performed the spell, why Tara is upset with Willow, why Giles is leaving, etc.