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Summary: Buffy Season 3 Coming January 7
Review: Here is the good news, Lifted from DVD.ign.comFox just announced the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for a January 7th DVD release. The season will be presented across six discs with full frame transfers and Dolby Digital Surround sound. Here are details for each disc: Disc One:
Episodes: Anne (9/28/98) Dead Man's Party (10/6/98) Faith, Hope & Trick (10/13/98) Beauty and The Beasts (10/20/98) Additional Bonus Feature: Script for "Faith, Hope and Trick" Disc Two:
Episodes: Homecoming (11/3/98) Band Candy (11/10/98) Revelations (11/17/98) Lovers Walk (11/24/98) Additional Bonus Feature: Script for "Band Candy" and "Lover's Walk" Disc Three:
Episodes: The Wish (12/8/98) Amends (12/15/98) Gingerbread (1/12/99) Additional Bonus Features: Featurettes: "Buffy Speak" and "Season 3 Overview" Script for "The Wish" Cast Bios Still Gallery Disc Four: Episodes: Helpless (1/19/99) The Zeppo (1/26/99) Bad Girls (2/9/99) Consequences (2/16/99) Additional Bonus Features:
> Commentary for "Helpless," "Bad Girls" and "Consequences"
> Interview with Joss Whedon on "Enemies" and "Consequences" Disc Five:
Episodes: Doppelgangland (2/23/99) Enemies (3/16/99) Earshot (9/21/99) Choices (5/4/99) Additional Bonus Features: Commentary for "Earshot" Interview with Joss Whedon on "Enemies" and "Earshot" Disc Six:
Episodes:
> The Prom (5/11/99)
> Graduation Day, Part 1 (5/18/99)
> Graduation Day, Part 2 (7/13/99) Additional Bonus Features: Interview with Joss Whedon on "Graduation Day (parts 1 & 2)" Interview with monster maker John Vulich Featurettes: "Special Effects," "Wardrobe" and "Weapons"
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Summary: Gripping, suspenseful, exciting, palm-sweaty Buffy action!
Review: After the phenomenal Seasons 1 and 2, Buffy the Vampire Slayer returned on 29th September 1998 in the US for its action-packed third season. Season 3 is my second favourite season of Buffy, after the epic Season 5. Fans thought that after the Season 2 finale, things just couldn't get any better (many were right), but I thought Season 3 was a massive improvement on Season 2, even though it was still great. Buffy's fanbase was growing by the episode - as was the critical acclaim. This was going to be a show people would remeber forever. Every episode in Season 3 is phenomenal - 10/10 for EVERY SINGLE EPISODE! You can't say that about many TV shows, can you?! The relationships in Season 3 are tricky business, as with most seasons of Buffy. After sending Angel to Hell in the Season 2 finale, Buffy is reunited with him as he is returns at the end of Faith, Hope and Trick. In his naked and ashamed state it takes a few episodes for him to actually realise who and where he is. This starts an on/off, yo-yo style relationship for the two before he decides he can't be with her anymore in The Prom. Willow is still dating Oz, and Xander is still going out with Cordelia. In Homecoming, Willow and Xander share a passionate kiss. They are overcome with guilt...and really want to do it again! This wrong, but almost sweet, 'affair' continues until Lover's Walk - three episodes later, when Oz and Cordelia catch the two at it. For Xander and Cordelia, it's over but Oz decides to give it another go with Willow later on. In other Buffy storylines, Giles is fired of being Buffy's Watcher after he fails to obey the Council's orders. Enter Wesley Wyndam-Price, a snobby, irritating Watcher from England sent to watch over Buffy and Faith. Buffy's mum also plays a bigger role in Season 3 than she did in previous seasons, but never managed to get her real-life name in the opening credits. The story arc for Season 3 is brilliant. In Faith Hope And Trick, Buffy meets a new Slayer, Faith. It seems that when Kendra died at the hands of Drusilla in Becoming Part 1, Faith was called as the new Slayer. Faith is outgoing, spontaneous, and tough; she doesn't take no "BS" from anyone. Buffy and Faith hit it off after a few complications and spend the majority of the season slaying vamps and killing demons. Bad Girls is a major turning point for the remainder of the season. Buffy and Faith are out patrolling when Faith accidently steaks a human. Buffy is overcome with guilt, yet Faith isn't. Apparently, "these things happen - think about how many people we've saved. One dead guy doesn't tip the scale." Cue arguements, fighting and the darkside. In Consequences, Faith arrives at the office of the Mayor of Sunnydale, Richard Wilkins III. He has a secret plan to take over Sunnydale in a few months that will destroy the town and be over run with demons. The Mayor wants the Slayer dead, as does Faith. "I guess that means you have a job opening," says Faith at the end of Consequneces. Faith and the Mayor work side by side to eliminate the Slayer in episodes such as Enemies, Choices, Graduation Day Part 1 and Graduation Day Part 2. The last two episodes, Graduation Day Parts 1 and 2, the two-parter season finale are some of the greatest episodes in Buffy's history. Things get really ugly when Faith poisons Angel with an arrow. He needs the blood of a Slayer to live, so Buffy goes to Faith and stabs her in the stomach with her knife - a present from the Mayor. Faith would rather see herself die than Angel to live. "You killed me. Still won't help your boy though," she says before falling onto the back of a moving truck. As Graduation Day Part 2 begins, Buffy offers herself to Angel. He finally agrees, in his vampire state and drinks Buffy's blood. Buffy is admitted to hospital and lives. Faith is in a coma and it's highly unlikely that she will ever regain consciousness - a subject that is highlighted later in Season 4. All the students arrive for Graduation Day, as the Mayor ascends into a huge 100 foot snake - a demon in true form, according to Anyanka (a former vengance demon who has a greater impact on the show later on in Season 4). Buffy finally kills the Mayor, with the help of hundreds of students in a spectacular display of teamwork and determination, by leading him through the school and blowing it up with him inside. Once again, Buffy and the Scoobies save the day... OVERALL GRADE: 10/10 Season 3 of Buffy is a classic and a favourite amongst many. Other standout episodes of this season include Anne, Band Candy, The Wish, Helpless, Doppelgangland and Earshot. The extra DVD footage is fantastic - as always and really is great value for money. For Buffy fans, this is essential - buy it now from Amazon!
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Summary: Fantastic!!
Review: I had not watched T.V. in about ten years when a young friend turned me on to Buffy. I am so glad she did! This series is a prime example of the television medium being used to its best and fullest extent, and the third season simply gets everything right. For anyone out there who might not be aware of what this show is about, the premise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is this: California teenager Buffy Sommers discovers that she is a Slayer, that is, the one person in the world destined to stand between humanity and the forces of evil -- mainly, as you might suspect from the title, vampires, but also demons and other nasties of various types. Together with a group of in-the-know school friends and School Librarian Giles -- who also happens to be Buffy's "Watcher," a kind of mystical supervisor cum advisor -- Buffy fights the bad and serves the forces of good. With a premise like that, Buffy the Vampire Slayer could easily have devolved into a kind of cheesy monster-of-the week program. That it doesn't is due to a number of things, but mainly the immense amount of detail that is put into the characters and their relationships. Nobody is one dimensional; these are all truly believable real people with real lives that just happen to include fighting the powers of darkness. Even the demons are not solely or gratuitously evil -- they have loves, desires and ambitions like everyone else. Buffy herself is torn between the necessity of her destiny and her desire to do normal things like go to the prom or run for homecoming queen, and we really feel her anguish at having to choose between what she may want and what is "Right" in the bigger sense of the word. Throughout this third season the scripting is phenomenal and the acting is superb; the film editing is practically flawless, the internal continuity is unparalleled and the fight sequences are some of the best I've ever seen. The series also does an amazing job of walking the fine line between darkness and humour, applying comic elements without ever becoming unbearably campy. As it juxtaposes the supernatural with the mundane it really makes us believe that there is more to the world than what is commonly apparent, but it never diminishes the impact of things, like simply going to high school, that are easy to take for granted. I've never seen a series that could so successfully make me laugh out loud at one minute and burst into heartfelt tears in the next. Watch Buffy! You will absolutely not be disappointed.
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Summary: finally
Review: It's here, I hope that they release the following seasons as well, I agree with the majority of peaple who say that this was the last great season, but the show does have a lot of good character develpment after this season. Although it kind of leaves one of the main ideas behind, (coping with slaying and the stresses of high school, but it does stay true to another, the slayer can't have a normal life). Life sucks for the slayer.
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Summary: Buffy's Third Is A Symphony Of Screams!
Review: After the first two seasons, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" just kept getting better and better. It was unbelieveable. This set of the show's incredible third season starts right off with what happened in the end of the brilliant second season. The set starts off with "Anne", a rather disappointing, but still entertaining episode. Buffy has moved to L.A. and is working as a waitress. Her friends are taking over for her back home. After a horrible incident in L.A., Buffy heads back home. Things start to go crazy. Our favorite gang are starting their senior year at Sunnydale High. Buffy just worries about getting back in after being expelled. In "Faith, Hope, And Trick", the gang is introduced to Faith, the slayer called after Kendra's death. She is the 'Anti - Buffy'. Unconventional, violent, wild, and sexual as all get out. This begins a long, twisted, and sad journey for Faith. I don't want to give anything away, but it's apparent that she isn't playing with a full deck. For this marvelous portrayal of the character, you have to really credit the intoxicating talent of Eliza Dushku. Not to mention the fact that she's a real beauty. Angel, having been dispatched last season, also comes back. Buffy nurses him back to health, while keeping it a secret from her friends. Spike also returns to town in glorious fashion in the excellent "Lover's Walk". This is not the same Spike we know. The season also includes the excellent Christmas episode titled "Amends", which is one of the finer episodes of the season. It deals with Angel being revisited by the ghosts of his past victims. This season also introduces the main villain. This is not the same villain we have come to know in this show. He is the mayor of Sunnydale. His name is Richard Wilkins III, and he is played superbly by Harry Groener. There has never been a villain like him. He is an ancient demon who is counting down to his ascension where he will become a full blown snake-like demon, and bring hell upon earth. Groener makes the character so normal and likeable, it's hard to want this guy dead. He makes funny comments and is a stickler for family morals and clean fingernails. He is a joy to watch. This is the season where we also meet Anya, an ex-vengenace demon who first appears in the episode "The Wish". She later becomes Xander's girlfriend in the future. The season brings many great, classic 'Buffy' moments. The final half with the dueling slayers is fantastic and breathtaking all at once. Things get wild for Buffy and Faith in "Bad Girls", where Buffy takes a liking to Faith's wild lifestyle. That lifestyle leads to trouble and things get out of control in the conclusion episode, "Consequences". It is evident that something bad is happening to Faith. The whole season is heading down to the Mayor's ascension, which is put on hold for the wonderful episode, "The Prom". This episode is both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. It also includes one of the best 'Buffy' moments ever, as well as one of the saddest. The season also gives us adults(including Giles and Mrs. Summers)acting like kids in the amusing "Band Candy". There is the shocking ritual Giles must put Buffy thru in "Helpless" that changes things between the two. There is a split vote regarding the Xander - themed episode "The Zeppo". It's a wonderful, comical episode that deals with Xander and how he feels about his position in the gang. The fact that the others are fighting to save the end of the world is in the background was lost on so many people. It wasn't about the end of the world. It wasn't about the re-opening of the hellmouth. It was about Xander and a day(and night)in his shoes. It was a wonderfully done joke, but you have to be in on the joke to get it. So many people didn't catch on. The two part season finale begins with "Graduation Day Part 1". Our heroes are trying to stop the Mayor while Angel is poisoned and near death. This leads to a devastaing scene between Angel and Buffy. It concludes with one of the best roof raising fights the show has done. Amazing. "Graduation Day Part 2" is even better. It's graduation time and everyone just hopes to make it out alive. The Mayor plans on his change at the ceremony. This gives way to a great battle between the Mayor and the entire graduating class. It's an episode that definitley finishes this chapter in the show's history. A real slam bang finale. This season had other highs as well. The important and brilliantly done "Earshot", where Buffy gains the power of hearing and overhears someone saying they are going to make the students pay. It deals with teen violence in a wonderful way. It twists it around in the end and it isn't what you originally thought it was. Wonderfully done. There are lows to this season as well. The horrible "Beauty And The Beast" is a message episode about physical abuse that falters in every way. Not a good one. The new watcher, Wesley Wyndham-Price, is introduced here, and the character is a huge stereotype in the very beginning. Along the way, he comes into his own. Thank the charming portrayal of the character by Alexis Denisoff. The writing and direction is still top notch. It's still clever, smart, funny, and hip. The make-up and costumes are still the best to be seen on television. Joss Whedon has created a remarkable fantasy world with the show and this season proves that the characters and their surroundings change aorund them as well. The cast is one of the tightest and most talented currently on T.V. They make these characters relatable and loveable in such extreme situations and storylines by doing such a magnificent job. The Emmy board needs to push out some older members and get this show and cast recognition!!. This season marked the end for Angel and Cordelia(David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter), who left the show to appear in the spin off "Angel". All in all, this is a superb season that is not to be missed. This is pure Buffy at it's peak and best. This is the last 'classic' season. While another reviewer said it was the last great season and the remaining three seasons aren't good, well, he is wrong. The future seasons are all good in their own right and each have a number of classic episodes. This third season is the last chapter in this section of the show's life. It all changes after this. Changes so much that it seems like a new show. Buffy's third season is rich with intelligence, humor, thrills, action, romance, you name it. It's all here. The third time is definitley the charm.
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Summary: A doodle. I do doodle. You too. You do doodle, too.
Review: When analyzed closely, season 3 proves to be quite an oddity. It is, in my opinion, the only season without an obvious standout episode yet it is also the only season without a single bad episode. Season 1 was building the foundation so it is kind of unorthodox to nitpick; Season 2 had Becoming and Innocence; Season 4 had Restless and Hush; Season five had The Body and Season 6 had, what is in my opinion the best episode of the entire series, Once More With Feeling. Season 3's best episode's are (imo) Earshot, Doppelgangland, Lover's Walk and Consequences. Now while all of those are worthwhile and fantastic episodes (as most Buffy ep's are) they lack the uniquness and pure artistry that make Hush, Restless, The Body and OMWF standout. Likewise, while (among others) S1 had I Robot, You Jane, S2 had Killed By Death, S4 had Beer Bad, S5 had I Was Made to Love You and S6 had DoubleMeat Palace, Season 3 stands alone as the only season not to feature a dud episode. Beauty and the Beasts is, arguably, the most useless and boring episode of Season 3. Be that as it may, it is much more watchable than some of the afformentioned episodes of seasons past and future. This paradox, however, works very well in Season 3's favor. Although there are no "classic" episodes, each episode works very well to complete what could be considered the best season long arc to date. Because of this, Season 3 is usually viewed as a whole season, and not in individual episodes. And as a whole season, it stands among the series' best. It feels more like a jigsaw puzzle than any other season and because each episode feels like it fits and deserves its place, season 3 seems like the most realized and fulfilled. It not only boasts the best season long villian (Faith), the best group dynamics (Buffy, Angel, Willow, Xander, Oz, Cordelia and Giles. Season 5 could easily fill this spot, though), the first appearance of Anya (my future favorite character), some of the best storylines and the departure of Angel and Cordelia, but also the end of Buffy's first chapter: High School. When all is said and done, season 3 is an accomplished one that, when Buffy is sadly over, will sit as one of the series' best seasons. And since Buffy is probably the best TV show ever (argue if you must), this inadvertantly bronzes its place as one of the best seasons in all of television history. When you get right down to it, though, season 3 is Quintessential Buffy. Fan or not. Also worth mentioning: In Anne, Season 3 boasts both the weakest season premiere and also the weakest Whedon penned episode. Which is not to say that it is a bad episode, because the worst of Whedon is still better than the best of... some really bad writer. Come to think of it, though, season 4's The Freshmen could give both those standings a run for their money; let's just hope that Lessons gets us back to basics.
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Summary: The last great season.
Review: I recommend buying this DVD box set as well as the season one and season two sets. All three seasons are terrific. However, this is the last season I would recommend buying. If they continue to release all the other seasons, don't bother wasting your hard-earned dollars. This is the last season that's really worth anything. After this the stories get washed up and stripped down, two major cast members leave (Angel and Cordelia) and the gang is in college. The acting gets bad and the episodes lack the punch they have here. The whole premise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in high school ends here, with the gang graduating at the end of this season. If only they had ended it there. That would have been nice. Instead they let the show stray so far from its original roots that now that thing they call Buffy that airs on UPN is like some joke. In my head, and I hope in yours, you see this as the last season, the perils of Buffy and friends ending with graduation. The episodes here are from the old Buffy days when the show was fresh and exciting and such a delight to watch every week. Each episode was a classic leaving you yearning for more. Now, gone are the days of good stories, interesting characters and situations and overall quality. The first three seasons are classic television. TV at its best. Sadly, that cannot be said about the rest of this series. Graduation Day truly was the end of an era...the end of the glory days of one of the greatest series ever.
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Summary: BUFFY'S HEART GETS SLAYED
Review: This is Buffy's best season hands down! A new slayer? Angel is back from Hell? Giles and Joyce (Buffy's Mom) going out or not? Spike comes back for a visit? Willow & Xander are having an affair? Angel trys to kill himself? Joyce get possessed Hansel and Gretel and trys to burn Buffy at the stake? Buffy loses her power?, there are 2 Willows', one a vamp? Angel loses his soul again or not? Angel and Buffy get MARRIED or not? Angel leaves Buffy for L.A.? YOU MUST GET THIS!!!
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Summary: A great season (SPOILERS below)
Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Three It's interesting how the goals of this show seem to change with every season. Each successive goal comes as a result of the successful completion of the previous goal, or it builds upon the previous goal. The first season was setting the ground rules of Buffy, everyone's favourite slayer. It immediately laid the groundwork for the chemistry amongst the cast. The second season set about the explore the romance between Buffy and Angel, while elucidating on the overwhelming alienation felt by the Slayer. It climaxed in the two-part series Becoming, the second part being inarguably the single best episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer yet. The third season set out to explore Buffy's struggle between right and wrong, and to end the high school section of the series in a way befitting the show. One of the strongest facets of the show is the ease that the writers have in conveying the conflicts among the characters. Buffy, Willow, and Buffy's mother have a wrenching confrontation in Dead Man's Party (episode 2) that clearly delineates that discord felt among the Scooby gang. This discord arises from shifting pattern of relationships. The romantic quadrangle between Oz, Willow, Xander and Cordelia is complex and it works. The introduction of Faith (another Slayer) provided some incredible fireworks to the show. Her chemistry with both Buffy (antagonistic) and the Mayor (Harry Groener in a superb comic performance) is real, and intense. The growth of Giles filial love for Buffy reaches a climax in the middle of the third season. The return of Angel allows for some wonderfully sappy romance; and who knew that Xander would go to the prom with an ex-demon? The show also continues to astutely detail the horrors of high school. In the funniest episode to date (and in my mind, of the show's first six seasons), Earshot (episode 18), Buffy receives a telepathic power. What she hears is a choir of deafening teenage-angst; the ease that this show has at balancing comedy with pathos as well as incisive observations is continually impressive. I also like how Buffy's mother, Joyce, deals with finding out about her daughter's vocation. Each cast member gets the opportunity to shine throughout the season, and they all make the most of that opportunity. Spike (that marvelous mixture of menace and drollness) returns for one episode in the third season (in Lover's Walk), and James Marsters is an absolute delight. Willow gets to show another side to her in both The Wish (episode 9) and Doppelgangland (episode 16). Alyson Hannigan modulates her voices slightly differently in these episodes, and it works to great effect. Nicolas Brendon continues to work his 'Matthew Perryish' charm strongly, especially in The Zeppo (episode 15). Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, Anthony Stewart Head, Seth Green, and Eliza Dushku all turn in strong performances. However, it's Sarah Michelle Gellar who gives this show it's heart. Watching her in episodes like Amends (episode 10), The Prom (episode 20), and Helpless (episode 12) displays her understanding of her character, in all it's facets. She's an underrated television actress. In the second season, the Becoming two-parter was a high point for ensemble acting. While episode reaches the heights of that episode, several (Including Dead Man's Party, Revelations, Helpless, Consequences, and the finale, Graduation) showcase the entire talent of the cast. Another thing I have to mention is the astonishing fight sequences. Graduation climaxes in one of the greatest of the series. What always impressed me about this show was the ease at which it brings each episode to a resonant conclusion. The third season continues that tradition. From the sublime ending of Lover's Walk to the tear-inducing conclusion of The Prom, the conclusions were all highly effective. In my mind, none more effective then the conclusion to Amends, the Christmas episode. It features incredible writing, brilliant acting by David Boreanaz and a marvellously redemptive snowfall, one of the most moving moments in this show's history. It's a perfect end to one of my favourite episodes, and my favourite of the third season. Is the third season better than the second season? I personally think so. For it's elegant and powerful examination of trust, love, and making amends, I prefer it to season two. Just barely. Why carp when there are two brilliant seasons that complement each other impeccably? So, my thanks to Joss Whedon.
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Summary: If it had only ended with this season.
Review: The third season of Buffy is the best season.
After it the quality of writing, acting and directing got worse and worse until the show self-destructed in season six.
So get this boxset and see that Buffy was a really great show back then.
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