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April 25, 2003
OPINION
FAQ
by Daniel Erenberg
Q. I noticed in your Top 10 "Angel" list that you praised Tim Minear by noting that he was similar to Marti Noxon for what he did for "Angel." What is your opinion of Marti Noxon's influence on BtVS? Being a big fan of season 6 myself, I think she's great but the criticism she receives from some fans makes me think that people forget she's a human being and not the Devil.
A. Ah, yes. Marti Noxon, widely considered the Devil by Buffy fans everywhere, is actually one of my favorite writers. I loved season six and I'm loving season seven, but all you Noxon haters should look back to the past and see all of the fantastic work she's done for the show. This is the woman who gave Buffy her Class Protector award, broke up Oz and Willow, and brought back Oz. She did great work for the show and continues to in her executive producing role. Kudos to Joss for choosing her.
Q. How are you/we going to cope when Buffy finally ends?
A. When Buffy ends, I will cope by having the knowledge that the show had a great run without ever becoming crappy. Plus, DVD's. And Angel better damn continue.
Q. Who has been your favourite big bad on Buffy and on Angel, and why?
A. My favorite Buffy Big Bad was The Mayor, this intricately detailed and sympathetic man who just happened to want to become a massive snake-demon. My favorite Angel villain was The Beast, if only for the episode in which he rampages through Wolfram and Hart killing everybody.
Q. What was the first episode of Buffy you saw and what was your first impression? Mine was Reptile boy- Ha!
A. I was a proud watcher of the first airing of "Welcome To The Hellmouth/The Harvest".
Q. Do you have any insight as to why Sarah Michelle Gellar never does conventions or shows up to large fan gatherings? People like James Marsters and Andy Hallet tour almost all year globally, meeting fans and making people smile. At this point if Sarah did a convention she may get squished by fans begging to meet her.
A. Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn't show up at these things because she's Sarah Michelle Gellar. She has a household name, unlike Marsters or Hallett. Sigh and protest all you'd like but it tends to be true. I'm a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan. He's the dude that wrote Fight Club. I went to something once celebrating Fight Club and I met him but do you really think Brad Pitt showed up?
Q. How do you think the fall of Firefly, the end of BTVS, and the possible (Oh please no) end of Angel will effect your site, and fandom in general?
A. I hadn't thought much about this. I'd like to keep on doing the column. Hopefully Angel will still be on though. As for the site? Gosh, I should probably ask Ron or Bec about this one. Fandom will continue as it has for The X-Files. But our show never got crappy. Hooray.
Q. Are you for or against a future Buffy Movie with all major alive cast members returning?
A. Against, unless the finale calls for one.
Q. If you could create the next big Buffy Spinoff, explain exactly what you would create and who it would star.
A. My Buffy spinoff would star Spike. Or a Willow and Xander combo pack. Who knows, really?
Q. Who are you Guessing the "Big Scooby Death" will be ? If Faith dies, I may just rip out my eyes and join the Bringers.
A. I bet there'll be a couple. But, one thing's for sure. It won't be Xander. I think the loss of his eye is plenty of hurt. If I had to guess right now I'd say Anya.
Q. What is your favorite relationship between any two people ever on Buffy?
A. Are you asking if I'm a shipper? No. I always liked the rapport between Willow and Xander. Romantically, I'd like to see Buffy and Xander get together.
Q. Are you as frustrated as I am about the numbers of people who watch Buffy but not Angel?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you think it stands to reason that Angel's ratings will automatically go up next year due to the absence of Buffy and the fact that it will be the only Mutant Enemy choice on television? And do you agree that The WB would be extremely foolish not to consider that possibility and take Angel off the bubble and renew the damn thing already?
A. Well put. If the WB doesn't renew Angel, I'm going on a hunger strike or something. I will personally punch in the face every single higher-up at Warner Bros. Television. Gosh, Angel's been good lately. I'm telling you. Each season has been better than the last.
Q. Do you have any information on the whereabouts of Ron and his equally entertaining articles?
A. Ron is an enigmatic man shrouded in mystery. His whereabouts are unknown to me. Actually, I usually speak to this girl Bec, who pretty much runs the website. She's like the Bosley and Ron is the Charley. And I, of course, am Jaclyn Smith. (Actually, Ron is more like Jill Monroe! - Ed)
Q. What are your thoughts on how Cordeila was sent off without any acknowledgment on Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Do you think the 4th season of Buffy suffered (in comparison to the 3rd season's ratings) due to the absence of Angel, Faith, Oz, and Cordy?
A. I don't think the fourth season suffered at all. I'm a huge season four fan. If anything, I think excising Cordy, Faith, Angel, and Oz was a fine decision and did a lot to replenish the show. Buffy felt so new in season four. Plus, it made way for Spike becoming a regular, Riley, a personal favorite of mine, and the dearly departed Tara.
Q. What kind of true evil would cause Angel to wear a yellow striped shirt? I mean pastels?? and where, oh where did he get it? I know, I blew my one question on the horrible shirt!!!
A. Terrible shirt, I know. But, I think if my brain was washed by an eternity-old God-like being, I would wear atrocious yellow button-down shirts as well.
Q Why is everyone so convinced that Spike was purposely going to get his soul restored?
A. Cause Mr. Joss Whedon says so.
Q. Each and every season of Buffy was great, but if you had to pick a favorite in which you thought everything worked together so perfectly, which season would you choose?
A. Season Two. Season one was bogged down by bad effects and too many bad monsters-of-the-week. In season three, Buffy felt a bit out of character in spots. Season four had a pretty bad Big Bad. Season five was inconsistent in spots. Season six had a couple of lulls. Season seven is coming close. I can't make my decision until the end of the year.
Q. Will we ever ever find out what happened with Buffy and Angel when she came back from the dead in season 6?? They both did not want to talk about it - but we all do!!! Any chance of a book or something?
A. The book is already out. Jane Espenson did a one-shot comic for Dark Horse about three possible things that could have occurred on that fateful meeting.
Q. Okay, the Angel episode from season one called "Eternity". Was the person who OK'd this garbage high on poppies at the time? What are your musings on the "fake Angelus", I wonder? I've yet to come up with an explanation that doesn't conflict with everything in existence. Think we should all just pretend that this episode never existed?
A. I always thought that "Eternity" only existed to show fans of Angel that had never watched Buffy before how evil Angelus could be. It was not an episode for die-hard Buffy fans. It was for the newbies.
Q. Do you belive that Joss did a disservice to the character of Xander by inferring that he had a disfunctional and possibly violent family but not bothering to expand on that idea?
A. Nah. It all goes with the bottle-up-and-explode nature of the Xander character.
Q. Hey Daniel, my question(s) is/are why did you not include the episode "I Will Remember You" in your list. Its so emotional at the end, I feel it has to be one of the best episodes of Angel.
A. Alright. I took a lot of heat from "I Will Remember You" fans this week. Here, once and for all, are my reasons for not including it. I liked it. It was a good episode because it perfectly captured the Buffy/Angel relationship before-and-after the fact. However, it had a reset button ending and not one iota of a repercussion on later events. The episodes that I DID feel bad about leaving off are as follows: "City Of", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "To Shanshu In L.A.", "Darla", "Lullaby", and "Spin The Bottle".
Q. What is your one big disappointment with Buffy? That is, what's the one thing you always wished they would have done, but didn't?
A. My biggest regret is that I wish they'd have done a Xander episode in the same vain as "Fool For Love" and "Selfless". I'd have liked to see some cool Xan-man flashbacks.
Q. I'd have to say that my most favorite Buffy Episode of all time would i have to be" I Only Have Eyes For You " Every minute of it was completly captivating for me, and the ending left me incredibly speechless. I was just wondering if you could give me a comlete breakdown of the epidsode? Could you please analyze it for me! I would be forever greatful!
A. No time for a breakdown, Dr. Jones. However, an interesting tidbit about that episode: David Boreanaz's performance in "I Only Have Eyes For You" impressed Joss Whedon so much, that Joss decided immediately afterward to give Boreanaz his own series.
Q. I personally love the beginning seasons of Buffy the most - up to season 4 and I didn't start watching Buffy until season 5! Every time I go read articles or lookat discussion boards, every "critic" seems to think there's something so great about the later seasons. Do you like the innocence and one-liners from the earlierseasons? Or do you like the melodramatic eps from the later half of the series? Why? And perhaps you already answered this and I'm not a loyal enough reader(*tear), but please answer it anyways...who do you think the biggest loss to the show was? In death only! Could be a good guy or a bad guy!
A. I like the later seasons equally to the earlier seasons. And the biggest loss in death by far is Tara Maclay.
Q. Hey, where on Long Island do you live? I'm on Long Island, too! Hahahaha
A. I live in Lynbrook, the land of one movie theater and four bagel stores, adjacent to Valley Stream, and right by Malverne.
Q. WHAT! NO I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER! WHEN BUFFY AND ANGEL hOOKED UP AHHHHH WHAT ARE
YOU THINKING
A. You want to talk in all caps? WELL LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE ABOUT THAT MEDIOCRE EPISODE!!!
Q. When a vampire gets slain, why do the clothes disappear? Give me your answer, before you quote Joss's answer. And why wasn't "I Will REmember You" in your top 10? Talk about heart breaking.
A. A vampire's clothes disappear because it's convenient and it looks better that way. And, seriously this time, shut up about "I Will Remember You".
Q. Hey Daniel, I know you must have millions of people writing you and asking you things about Buffy, so if you're too busy to answer me, it's okay, I understand. But if you want to answer then that's cool too. I was just wondering what your favorite directorial job was...sorry if that's confusing...like the director or the best direction in an episode....I always liked Michael Gershman's style. I thought Consequences and Passion were wonderfully directed. Although there are many other eps that are directed well. Alright, I'm done. If I have anything else on my mind, I'll ask for your opinion again. Thanks bunches!
A. Joss Whedon is my favorite. But I also like Gershman and Contner. Noxon is pretty damn good too.
Q. In an interview recently, Freddie Prinze Jr. said SMG would have probably returned if the feeling of the show hadn't changed so much. That egos had begun to get in the way. Can you comment on this and who's egos? We have not seen nor heard much from Willow, Dawn or Xander in all of the interviews either. Do you know why?
A. Nick Brendon, the way I hear it, still loves being on the show and would continue if he could. Michelle Trachtenberg is a massive fan of the show (and was even before she was cast) and also would like to move on. Aly Hannigan has a budding movie career but she seems to also still be enchanted by Joss Whedon's world. I think the decision to end it was pretty much Sarah's and Joss's.
Q. I don't have the first clue what to ask for next week's column LOL I just wanted to say that for the first time I am disappointed in you LOL I can't believe "I Will Remember You" wasn't on your Top 10 Angel episodes LOL Ok ok, to each his own but STILL LOL That was my all-time favorite Angel episode!!!
A. That's it. No more talking. I just pulled an all-nighter on a play I'm working on last night and this night I spent on my novel and my column, stopping only to watch The Daily Show and The White Stripes on Conan O'Brien. And, apparently, no one cares about my personal life or anything. You only care about Buffy. Well I guess that's true of me too.
See you next week.
| Daniel Erenberg lives in a gothic-looking house in a suburb of Long Island shrouded by trees and darkness. His backyard is so overrun with shrubbery that he can't plant flowers in the soil. He's penned articles for numerous magazines (and a couple of websites for free). Currently, he's writing his first novel, entitled People That I've Long Since Forgotten. He's also written two plays, Little Room and Dystopia and a screenplay called Youth Or Consequence. He lives a fairly happy life alone and hankers constantly for the hour of eight P.M. to nine P.M. on Tuesday nights. You can contact Daniel on daniel@slayage.com. |
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