Crazy intense is right. Amusing, frightening, and impressive, all at once.

It got even weirder because individual lines and scenes on BTVS/ATS are not always actually written by the credited writer, so people even attribute traits to people's writing based on a priori assumptions about who they think wrote which bits. [i.e. I decide, sometimes arbitrarily, that something in a DeKnight…

Forgot to mention: the reveal of Angel's role in a coming apocalypse is an interesting slow build - a tidbit every now and then. We've already had W&H tell us "we don't want him dead; we want him dark." Now we have a sense of why he's such a terribly important "project."

Don't let anyone make you feel bad for not recognizing Anne
I didn't recognize her at first either, and neither did many others. It's been awhile. She's the one who inherited the name from a certain waitress who was spending the summer in L.A. a few years back. Previously she'd called herself "Chantrelle" ("Lie To…

Partially agree with HDB. I fon't especially care for Kramer's performance if only because I don't especially care for Glory, but I don't have any particular hatred for it. However, the actor playing Ben gives probably the one and only example in the entire Mutant Enemy canon of a recurring actor whose work on the…

[SPOILERS!]
The only fan of "Hell's Bells" I've ever encountered argues that the whole episode is about the consequences both of Anya's past crimes and of the fact that everyone's been so willing to ignore them.

Brilliant moments this week
Well, you certainly make a case for your mix of appreciation and lukewarm moments. It's indeed true that this week's _Buffy_s don't hold together as complete pictures. But there are some great individual scenes - did you mention Buffy breaking down while surrounded by dishes in LTF?

How about we let Noel decide what he thinks of the episodes? He's already come into these two seasons with the preconception that they're supposed to be among the pinnacles of their respective series. (They're not. In my opinion.)

FYI: The once-suspected link between power lines and cancer has completely failed to hold up to more rigorous studies.

Awesomeness is always there in the background.

Heh. By Usenet standards, though, not just by comment board standards.

Triviaivirtriviaivirtrivia
- Some folks see retcon in the fact that Spike suggests Angel (rather than Drusilla) was his sire in "School Hard." Whedon argues that's a family line thing. Also in SH, Spike claims that the last Slayer he killed begged for her life, which doesn't seem to be the case in FFL, although it's…

Quick nitpick
The sweater line is Gunn, not Cordelia.

What Lurky said.

Short and not particularly noteworthy notes
Not much time today, but "Family" is one that I like a lot - fans debate whether it "earns" its sentimentality and occassional preachyness. I'm also a big fan of "Dear Boy" for the way it piles on moment after moment - all the layers of deception when someone who's almost…

And Bill - FI definitely makes it look that way. Who knows?

[HUGE _ANGEL_ SPOILERS]

The lust for… not "power" so much as "making a bigger impact" is something that will emerge as a defining trait as you keep watching, but it's interesting to see that it's been here all along. Even at this stage where it's not really presented very clearly at all, and I'm not sure the writers really have a handle on…

Sophist is correct with the statement about all of the _Buffy_ finales other than "Grave" being written as potential series finales. Yes, even "Restless." It dates back to S1, which as we know was completed before the first episode had even aired. And it was certainly a useful habit to have on _Dollhouse_. [It's…

The above post is not meant to (necessarily) suggest that Bethany doesn't appear again. Nor is the preceding denial meant to (necessarily) suggest that she does.