Also, next week will be my customary post-season week off. The S5 polls will start the week after, 12/27, with Buffy vs. Dracula.
But now we're wrapping up S4! You all know what that means!
Due to the immense length of the poll, this entry may be slow to load. Give it a sec.
Poll #1802734
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 115
1. Which episode was the best of the season?
View Answers
| The Freshman |
   0 (0.0%) |
| Living Conditions |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| The Harsh Light of Day |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Fear, Itself |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Beer Bad |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Wild at Heart |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| The Initiative |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Pangs |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Something Blue |
| 5 (4.5%) |
| Hush |
| 54 (48.6%) |
| Doomed |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| A New Man |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| The I in Team |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Goodbye Iowa |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| This Year's Girl |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Who Are You |
| 4 (3.6%) |
| Superstar |
| 2 (1.8%) |
| Where the Wild Things Are |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| New Moon Rising |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| The Yoko Factor |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Primeval |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Restless |
| 43 (38.7%) |
2. Which episode was your favorite of the season?
View Answers
| The Freshman |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Living Conditions |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| The Harsh Light of Day |
| 6 (5.4%) |
| Fear, Itself |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Beer Bad |
| 3 (2.7%) |
| Wild at Heart |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| The Initiative |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Pangs |
| 6 (5.4%) |
| Something Blue |
| 38 (34.2%) |
| Hush |
| 11 (9.9%) |
| Doomed |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| A New Man |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| The I in Team |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Goodbye Iowa |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| This Year's Girl |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Who Are You |
| 12 (10.8%) |
| Superstar |
| 2 (1.8%) |
| Where the Wild Things Are |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| New Moon Rising |
| 2 (1.8%) |
| The Yoko Factor |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Primeval |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Restless |
| 26 (23.4%) |
3. Select the episodes that you feel represent the best of the season (Yes, multiple selections are allowed and encouraged).
View Answers
| The Freshman |
| 20 (2.6%) |
| Living Conditions |
| 7 (0.9%) |
| The Harsh Light of Day |
| 45 (5.8%) |
| Fear, Itself |
| 36 (4.7%) |
| Beer Bad |
| 10 (1.3%) |
| Wild at Heart |
| 13 (1.7%) |
| The Initiative |
| 24 (3.1%) |
| Pangs |
| 51 (6.6%) |
| Something Blue |
| 81 (10.5%) |
| Hush |
| 101 (13.1%) |
| Doomed |
| 6 (0.8%) |
| A New Man |
| 23 (3.0%) |
| The I in Team |
| 8 (1.0%) |
| Goodbye Iowa |
| 5 (0.6%) |
| This Year's Girl |
| 52 (6.7%) |
| Who Are You |
| 77 (10.0%) |
| Superstar |
| 40 (5.2%) |
| Where the Wild Things Are |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| New Moon Rising |
| 25 (3.2%) |
| The Yoko Factor |
| 29 (3.8%) |
| Primeval |
| 23 (3.0%) |
| Restless |
| 95 (12.3%) |
4. Which episode was the worst of the season?
View Answers
| The Freshman |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Living Conditions |
| 13 (12.3%) |
| The Harsh Light of Day |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Fear, Itself |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Beer Bad |
| 18 (17.0%) |
| Wild at Heart |
| 2 (1.9%) |
| The Initiative |
| 3 (2.8%) |
| Pangs |
| 2 (1.9%) |
| Something Blue |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Hush |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Doomed |
| 5 (4.7%) |
| A New Man |
| 2 (1.9%) |
| The I in Team |
| 2 (1.9%) |
| Goodbye Iowa |
| 7 (6.6%) |
| This Year's Girl |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Who Are You |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Superstar |
| 6 (5.7%) |
| Where the Wild Things Are |
| 40 (37.7%) |
| New Moon Rising |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| The Yoko Factor |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Primeval |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Restless |
| 1 (0.9%) |
5. Select the episodes that you feel represent the worst of the season (Again, multiple selections are allowed and encouraged).
View Answers
| The Freshman |
| 18 (5.5%) |
| Living Conditions |
| 35 (10.6%) |
| The Harsh Light of Day |
| 2 (0.6%) |
| Fear, Itself |
| 7 (2.1%) |
| Beer Bad |
| 43 (13.0%) |
| Wild at Heart |
| 16 (4.8%) |
| The Initiative |
| 9 (2.7%) |
| Pangs |
| 6 (1.8%) |
| Something Blue |
| 1 (0.3%) |
| Hush |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Doomed |
| 26 (7.9%) |
| A New Man |
| 9 (2.7%) |
| The I in Team |
| 22 (6.7%) |
| Goodbye Iowa |
| 30 (9.1%) |
| This Year's Girl |
| 3 (0.9%) |
| Who Are You |
| 2 (0.6%) |
| Superstar |
| 15 (4.5%) |
| Where the Wild Things Are |
| 64 (19.4%) |
| New Moon Rising |
| 3 (0.9%) |
| The Yoko Factor |
| 4 (1.2%) |
| Primeval |
| 12 (3.6%) |
| Restless |
| 3 (0.9%) |
6. Which character did you like most this season? (Not any other season; just this season)
View Answers
| Buffy |
| 28 (25.9%) |
| Xander |
| 3 (2.8%) |
| Willow |
| 21 (19.4%) |
| Giles |
| 4 (3.7%) |
| Oz |
| 2 (1.9%) |
| Spike |
| 34 (31.5%) |
| Riley |
| 3 (2.8%) |
| Angel |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Faith |
| 4 (3.7%) |
| Tara |
| 5 (4.6%) |
| Anya |
| 3 (2.8%) |
| Maggie Walsh |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Adam |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Forrest |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Graham |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Harmony |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Colonel McNamara |
| 0 (0.0%) |
7. Which character did you like least this season? (Not any other season; just this season)
View Answers
| Buffy |
| 2 (1.8%) |
| Xander |
| 3 (2.8%) |
| Willow |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Giles |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Oz |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Spike |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Riley |
| 24 (22.0%) |
| Angel |
| 6 (5.5%) |
| Faith |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Tara |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Anya |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Maggie Walsh |
| 14 (12.8%) |
| Adam |
| 28 (25.7%) |
| Forrest |
| 22 (20.2%) |
| Graham |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| Harmony |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| Colonel McNamara |
| 7 (6.4%) |
8. Which pairing did you like the most this season? (Again, only this season)
View Answers
| Buffy/Riley |
| 9 (8.2%) |
| Willow/Oz |
| 16 (14.5%) |
| Willow/Tara |
| 58 (52.7%) |
| Xander/Anya |
| 23 (20.9%) |
| Giles/Olivia |
| 4 (3.6%) |
9. Let's get a bit scaly. Rate the Big Bad (Adam) on a 1-10 scale. 1 being "He sucks"; 10 being "Best Big Bad EVER".
View Answers
Mean: 3.90 Median: 4 Std. Dev 1.90
Mean: 3.90 Median: 4 Std. Dev 1.90
| 1 |
| 14 (12.8%) |
| 2 |
| 16 (14.7%) |
| 3 |
| 20 (18.3%) |
| 4 |
| 13 (11.9%) |
| 5 |
| 20 (18.3%) |
| 6 |
| 17 (15.6%) |
| 7 |
| 7 (6.4%) |
| 8 |
| 2 (1.8%) |
| 9 |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| 10 |
| 0 (0.0%) |
10. What about the season, as a whole? How would you rate that?
View Answers
Mean: 7.08 Median: 7 Std. Dev 1.38
Mean: 7.08 Median: 7 Std. Dev 1.38
| 1 |
| 1 (0.9%) |
| 2 |
| 0 (0.0%) |
| 3 |
| 2 (1.8%) |
| 4 |
| 2 (1.8%) |
| 5 |
| 3 (2.7%) |
| 6 |
| 24 (21.6%) |
| 7 |
| 32 (28.8%) |
| 8 |
| 38 (34.2%) |
| 9 |
| 6 (5.4%) |
| 10 |
| 3 (2.7%) |
- Current Mood:
blah - Current Music:Pixies - Where Is My Mind? | Powered by Last.fm
Profile
gabrielleabelle- The One Who Isn't Chosen
Comments
I suspect this looks like an extremely well-thought out season, most badly derailed by actor departures. Lindsay Crouse, obviously, but Seth Green too -- you can feel New Moon Rising rushing by to pack in the Initiative/Oz material which probably would have been dealt with differently. Imagine if the Initiative had interceded with Veruca: much more morally ambiguous. The end result is still great on a character level, and some of the thematic integrity of the Initiative arc is still there.
You're not the only one.
I voted Restless, Who Are You?, Hush and Something Blue, and my second tier episodes would be The Harsh Light of Day, Fear, Itself and Pangs, possibly New Moon Rising.
Favorite episode, which I could rewatch and laugh my heart out every time, is Something Blue, but Restless is also up there.
It says something that all the best episodes are standalones. I didn't mind the Initiative storyline, but it's forgettable compared to the other seasonal main arcs. Same with Adam. I barely remember the colonel, so maybe I should've voted for him instead of Adam. Graham was also rather forgettable. On the other hand, Forrest and Maggie Walsh were annoying just as they were meant to be, so they fulfilled their roles.
I was in two minds about the favorite character answer - my favorite is Buffy and it's a good season for her, but she has better ones, so I voted for Faith, because her two-parter, particularly "Who Are You?" is some of the best use of the character. On the other hand, I wasn't even tempted to vote for Spike, because I have issues with the use of his character. I do enjoy Spike (no naughty pun intended) in season 4, but I think the season went too far into treating him as a comic relief and tried to make him into Cordelia 2.0, and he lost a lot of the complexity from season 2 (not to mention that we were meant to laugh at his jokes about his past murders). It took him becoming a love interest for Buffy for the show to start treating him seriously in seasons 5 and 6. Anya had no such luck for a much longer time.
For favorite ship, I was again in two minds; the pairings that were never in running were Buffy/Riley (no chemistry) and Giles/Olivia (we barely saw them together). I do like Willow/Tara, but Tara seemed too shy and weak in season 4, and while I otherwise love Willow/Oz, this was a season where their relationship fell apart, so I went for Xander/Anya because they were funny and their relationship developed from something that seemed like a meaningless fling.