UNCUT - Buffy: The Vampire Slayer S4E10 - Hush

I think their reaction was fair enough. It’s like this for me: say I don’t like the sport football. Even if I watch the best, most exciting football game that ever existed, at the end of the day, I still don’t like football, and that’s okay.

Thanks for the reaction! I enjoyed it

So, I think we chose Hush because it was Halloween time. When I was a kid, Hush was really scary for me, and that made it cool. I don't experience fear from media anymore, but I have nostalgia for stuff like A Nightmare on Elm Street for having made me feel the fun of being scared when I was younger. Besides all that, I don't like Alex's attitude. He went into this wanting to hate it, and he did just that. I'm sorry we forced him to watch it by throwing money at him. Poor guy.

14 minutes before the plot ever arrives. THIS is the Buffy episode they chose? Is there really nothing better?

Interesting that you guys called out the added “whoosh” foley sound effects for punches/kicks, etc. Based on that, you guys should avoid Hercules & Xena at all costs, because both those shows are full of those types of sound effects. A pity, as I’m a huge Xena fan, but oh well.

the patreon folks are gonna keep making you watch this just to torture Alex.

I loved Buffy so much at the time and thought it was simply genius but it has really not aged well. The style felt so fresh and funny at the time but now it feels very dated. Even more noticeable is how problematic a lot of it is, which is ironic given how much it was acclaimed for breaking barriers. Definitely time to move on.

Honestly Buffy is mostly just OK if you only look at just a single episode, especially since the thing that really set it apart, the dialogue, is so widely imitated these days. It’s the character and story arcs where it really shines. The arc in the back half of season 2 blew my mind and is what hooked me on the show.

Sometimes entertainment just doesn't catch you, even if they technically have all the things on paper that make it for you. In this case, it seems Buffy just doesn't work for Alex, and that's fine, I'd leave it and not come back.

I didn't watch Buffy back in the day. Now I know why. Thanks for doing this reaction. There is some entertainment value in watching you two gentlemen be tortured. 🤪

Popped in my S4 DVD. Started reading these comments while it loaded. Popped it right back out. One hour of my life saved. Appreciate the effort!

Angel was better

Fascinating reaction! I grew up with Buffy, literally the first show I remember falling in love with and it came out just as I was going into adolescence. Also, I'm was a California girl so extra relatable to the characters here. I've never met anyone who didn't love this show once they started watching it. And I'm not offended or bothered at all that you don't. It shows me how much personal taste factors in. Like, I enjoy the monster genre and the tropes that Buffy embraces and it's not your thing, which is fine! Reminds me of another reactor channel who started watching one of my faves and just didn't like it/get into it. Sometimes things aren't to your taste and that is ok! We can still both love Star Trek for instance. Live long and prosper!

If there was an episode for you two have jumped on and possibly follow through, it would have been episode 14 of S2. That one is the one that made me a fan. It's a game changer resonated throughout the rest of season 2 and most of S3. That being said, I more or less predicted your reactions for this one. Not after hearing your discussions about Trek. That's why I was hoping you guys get around to Babylon 5's Passing through Gethsemane.

Since you won’t be revisiting this universe again, I’ll just spoil the fact that Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase) became a regular on Angel, which had its first season during Buffy season 4.

I was in my late 20's when the show first aired and discovered it after renting the first season from Blockbuster (a CRAZY long time ago now) and really enjoying it. I managed to catch up when it was aired on, oh, USA or something in reruns? Fell in love with it then. I rewatch it every couple of years ago. Its shows its age sometimes, but I still get a lot of enjoyment out of Buff (and Angel). I get it if it's not your cup of tea, though. And I love your guys' honest take on things. Glad you got a chance to see it again and make a fair assessment.

So I'm one of those who falls into the nostalgia category as this was one of the series of my youth. That being said, Buffy is either a hit or a miss when viewed through today's lense. All and all, a good, honest reaction. Thanks as always. 🖖

The idea behind this episode was that Buffy was getting criticized as being nothing but a bunch of witty dialogue, so Joss decided to turn that on its head.

This was a weak season overall. The transition from high school to college. The loss of Angel... To me the most obvious answer would have been to end the show after season 3, but they pushed on, it's a series of highs & lows from here on in. Still, the series as a whole is epic & legendary!

Hopefully we are done with this show

Here's the thing about Buffy. It's the birth of the Whedon dialogue style hollywood became obsessed with. The snarky, flippant, sarcastic jokey tone that in reality would foster resentment amongst people and would be considered unprofessional by quite a few. The fact Alex and Josh felt distanced from Star Wars at a time when dialogue like that entered the IP should be an indicator to their tastes in this matter. That the Treks they've seen so far has relatively little of that writing style is probably part of why they like it so. I think knowing thus we can get a little more accurate in what would be to their tastes. And I don't think Buffy is it.

I never really watched Buffy: The Vampire Slayer ON PURPOSE, but there was some show that I used to watch early in the morning when I was working at the computer 20 years ago. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer came on right after it, and I was too lazy to change the channel. I seem to remember some episodes with Spike being amusing, but that's about all I remember.

Meh. Bring back BSG or Game of Thrones please.

Im not shocked . Im meh on this show, ive seen it all several times cause my wife and daughters are all over it. its a campy fun watch 90s TV show. overall its pretty mindless.

Season 4 of Buffy isnt my favorite season. Still though, ok episode.

Excited for you to watch The Expanse! While Star Trek was a huge influence on me and largely responsible for my love of sci-fi. The Expanse is my favorite sci-fi show period. I love how the show uses real world science to build a realistic, lived in sci-fi setting mostly without relying on hokey space magic tech.

You watched this sober??? XD o7

When the time is right, quite a way down the road obviously, I think the TV series "Supernatural" (2005) might tickle their fancy.

The show progressed from season 1 as far as storytelling, acting, character development, etc goes. Not so much as a form of style if you thought we meant that it would change its 90s ways in the time it aired which was the 90s.. and the campiness is part of what makes the show fun. With that said, I feel that Josh was the reasonable one here who took at as it was and enjoyed it while Alex came in with his mind already made up. I picked this episode for the reasons I listed before.. it was a good story of an episode and unique in its own way with the creation and thought process and villains. I wasn’t expecting either of you to dive into the characters nor be persuaded to go back to watch the full series.. as you know, Farscape is the series that I hope you take on fully, but I didn’t pick an episode from that series because I would rather see you watch from start to end. And with Buffy, I figured your journey would end here.. but at least you seen what it is capable of in a good episode 👍

I was a massive Buffy fan back when it first aired, but it hasn't aged particularly well. There are a few standout episodes, however I've never thought of "Hush" as one of them. Season 5's "The Body" never fails to choke me up - possibly the best episode of the show.

Buffy was always a bit hit or miss for me, but I've always been skeptical of people showing Hush or the musical episode as the "showcase" episode that will hook people on the show because so much of the power of these episodes comes from the investment you've made in the characters over the years. I just don't think they work as standalones to get people drawn in. I will say, the show does noticeably improve after Series 1 - you all might not have been able to notice it in a one off viewing because of the sheer Joss-ity that permeates the show, but the overall quality of the episodes significantly improved over time and when they were firing on all cylinders, the show could be very entertaining. Completely understand why it wouldn't hook you, though.

Different strokes, etc. I would say the horror elements in this episode are way less hokey than Night Terrors.

Honestly I think all their comments are 100% solid and that's from someone who loves Buffy (Though more of an Angel fan). It's a show that's strength was very much a YA style character interactions, relationships, and growing into themselves. That's not a genre or style I ever got the vibe would hook you. Also Hush is a fantastic episode but I am always confused of it being shown to people who aren't into Buffy, because how standout and different parts of it are. The show experiments but not *that* often so if this did bring you in. I feel it would only lead to disappointment.

I think it's one of those shows that if you happen to 'get hooked' (characters, setting, and/or story) you're probably going to get really invested in it and enjoy how it all unfolds, and unfortunately if not then, well, the above is the reaction instead. It's too bad, but it is what it is. I found the show as a teenager, fell in love with it, got really invested, and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Now that I'm a lot older, I look back on it and it doesn't do it for me the way it did twenty five years ago, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for it, and I still fondly remember several highlights from it. And it's still fun when I come across reactors who happen to 'get hooked' because they tend to appreciate it despite how it's aged. Oh well!

Saying it's stereotypical 90s is silly -- it aired during the 90s of course it's going to represent those times. What I like about both of you is the honesty of your reactions and the visceral feel on your takes. But it's a bit of a double edged sword -- some of the "zeitgeist " of being alive (and being a teenager / early adulthood) during those times comes off as "shlock" when you look back at in through the lens of current day. This episode is in the top-5 for most people watching the full series. As you deduced the ending leads to several major plot points and the I'm glad at least the symbolism of having both Buffy and Riley sit silently -- now with the ability to talk, but not the words -- was not lost on you. The best parts of Buffy really aren't the supernatural or horror elements. It's the character drama and long arcs that play out over the seasons. That isn't to say that the horror and fantasy doesn't have a place, but when you delve deeper it becomes a very compelling story about how people grow up -- how people grow up differently -- and how differences that seem so important in high school seem to fade away as you get a bit older and a bit more mature. I wish you had stuck with it one more season.

I have never seen any Buffy.....so losing my cherry here. Finished watching. Well, that was a painful waste of time that cost me at least 10 IQ points. I would scream but what good would that do?