Episode Deletion

[joan]

This thread was inspired by the recent conversation that is taking place in the "Say anything's possible, who should Angel be with?" thread.

So here's how this thread works:

Say you could delete any episode from the Buffy/Angelverse canon: which one would you choose and why?

We all have issues with some choices the writers have made in the series for whatever reason. Perhaps for the Spuffies and the Tillows, it's the entirety of "Seeing Red." Or, maybe it's Spike's "No you don't. But thanks for saying it" at the end of 'Chosen.' Or, maybe it's Anya's death you could never understand, or Angel's decision to kill Conner that gets to you. Maybe you wish Spike had never showed up, so you'd choose to delete 'School Hard' from the canon. Perhaps you wish Doyle had never died, and you'd choose 'Hero.' Or, maybe you felt that Joyce should have never died, so you'd choose to delete 'The Body.' Get it?

...the possibilities are endless! Forget about any repercussions/ripple effects/glitches that the deleted episode would potentially cause in the the 'verse - there's no rules here, this is just for fun - simply choose what episode you would "delete" if you could and tell me why!

Mine is 'Seeing Red.' As you all know, a day doesn't go by where I don't wish that episode didn't exist for several reasons. Spike's assault on Buffy will always seem OOC to me, and Tara's death will always feel needless and cruel. *sigh*

I look forward to your responses.

[Jaz ♀♀]

^^ I agree with your choice...."Seeing Red" is the only ep I would delete.

[winterdreamer]

This is a fun idea.

Hmmm, what would I delete.....alright, I would delete 'Lies my parents told me'. Mostly because Giles behaves like an almighty twit and since I like him a lot, I would like his behavior to just go away. I would also have the opportunity to wave farewell to the whole William and his Mum business. I can never see the whole 'you....you want to bring your Mum with us' conversation without feeling vaguely embarrassed for Spike.

[lightandmagic]

Weird, cause I have an episode for both Angel and Buffy that I wish didn't happen. Exactly one each.

For Buffy, Hell's Bells. Xander and Anya should have gotten married. I would have been alright with it if some good plot lines came from it, but other than Selfless, nothing good really came of it other than the two of them questioning where they stood. It was a huge mistake on the writer's part to not put these two together. And this is coming from someone who wasn't even that huge a fan of their relationship (Anya's my favourite character, Xander...not so much). Also, it's just a really poorly written and poorly executed episode in general. (Really, Xander's annoying family fighting the demons? It was ridiculous. And also, they're demons, Xander's family should have been slaughtered.)

For Angel, You're Welcome. Don't get me wrong, one of my favourite episodes of the whole Angel series. And it was executed perfectly. But Cordelia shouldn't have been killed off. She had tons of storyline potential, and it's sad that Charisma Carpenter and Joss Whedon's falling out/feud ended with the death of this character. After what they put her through in Season four, she should have been around in AT LEAST season five (if the show went on, hopefully more) to redeem her character.

[The Girl In Question]

"Lies My Parents Told Me" only because Spike was an irredeamable dookie waffle in that epsiode. Seriously, he was a jerk. Spike not apologizing to a man who's mother he killed (who was not evil or anything)? And he's supposed to have a soul now? Worst Spike character moment ever (yes, even worse than the event in "Seeing Red" because he didn't have a soul then).

For Angel, that has to be "Tomorrow." I hate hate hate that episode! The cheesy Cordy-realizing-she-was-in-love-with-angel-by-talking-to-her-reflection thing was crap. The fact that they even wanted to pursue a relationship was crap (um..Gypsy curse anyone?). Cordy becoming a higher power was rediculous (only to later find out it was so she can get posessed and give birth to Jasmine). And Cordy's haircut...sigh. Why didn't the hairstylists do something with that? And I know it was Charisma Carpenter's idea to cut it in the first place so shame on her!

[CourtneyDax]

I'd hate to be obvious, but my number one choice would be to delete Seeing Red. Tara dying sucked beyond anything else. But a close second would have to be "Hell's Bells". I never understood why Xander left Anya, and the answer he gave was really lame too. And then he instantly regrets it and screws up everything! It always bugged me so badly.

[Iceeh★]

Agreed with Dax! Seeing Red, well, there's Tara of course, but the Spuffy attempted rape also really got to me. I can't even rewatch that scene. And yeah, Hell's Bells. WTF Xander!? I'll never understand his reasoning there.

[winterdreamer]

Spike was an irredeamable dookie waffle

Ok, maybe its the vodka talking....but that was the funniest thing I've read in ever!
dookie waffle??!
Hahahahaha!

[jellymoff]

Hi have to agree with the Seeing Red votes. And not for Tara death, but rather the Spike/Buffy ickiness.

[henzINNIT]

I'd delete Hells Bells. Hell, I effectively already have as I never watch it.

[buffyfan21]

Hmm, episodes I would delete:

Seeing Red
Empty places (yeah, it's important to the story but just so hard to watch).
The entire Cordy/Connor arc of Angel S4.
The Body (brilliant episode but I wish Joyce hadn't died. It is the only episode out of the entire series I have seen maybe a handful of times at most. It's just too heartbreaking).
Hells Bells (really wish Anya and Xander had gotten married).
The Killer in Me (Kennedy plus Warren, enough said).

[Beaumonde]

Seeing Red. To bypass the whole Dark Willow thing. Could've done without that catastrophe. Although I do like Tara, I just don't miss her anymore, so the death doesn't bother me as much.

Hells Bells. I wanted Xanya marriage.

Bad girls. Faith is one of my favourite characters ever and I really love her journey in the buffyverse but it makes me sad when she gets evil. I'd love to see her stay and fight against the mayor, flesh out her character a bit. We know she had a crappy childhood but I'd have liked that stuff to be explored more.

[The Girl In Question]

Jan 27, 2010 0:16:38 GMT -5 winterdreamer said:

Spike was an irredeamable dookie waffle

Ok, maybe its the vodka talking....but that was the funniest thing I've read in ever!
dookie waffle??!
Hahahahaha!

Yeah...my insults are kind of awkward, lol.

[Skytteflickan88]

Jan 26, 2010 22:46:17 GMT -5 CourtneyDax said:

I'd hate to be obvious, but my number one choice would be to delete Seeing Red. Tara dying sucked beyond anything else. But a close second would have to be "Hell's Bells". I never understood why Xander left Anya, and the answer he gave was really lame too. And then he instantly regrets it and screws up everything! It always bugged me so badly.

'

He didn't really change his mind, he still didn't want to get married, just be with her. But from what I remember of the end of Hell's Bells, he didn't make clear if he dumped her, or just didn't want to get married, so he could have changed his mind.

I know, who cares about that silly detail? Besides me...

[CourtneyDax]

Jan 27, 2010 19:08:46 GMT -5 Skytteflickan88 said:

He didn't really change his mind, he still didn't want to get married, just be with her. But from what I remember of the end of Hell's Bells, he didn't make clear if he dumped her, or just didn't want to get married, so he could have changed his mind.

I know, who cares about that silly detail? Besides me...

Well...then I still didn't want Hells Bells to happen. That would've stopped the marriage and failure to happen. I just wanted them together again.

[Randi Giles]

Honestly I have to say that whole thing was stupid and just another way not to let the characters be happy. Even though I don't ship them I think they should have gotten married and there is still no reason why they shouldn't have even after everything that went down in that episode. I mean seriously he still wanted to be with her and he said he still loved her so why didn't they get married? Oh because all those things the demon showed him (even though they were fake) could happen. Garbage. Xander and Anya was the only good thing in that season and they should have stuck with that.

[Smashed]

My answer is, without a doubt, Seeing Red. Tara and Willow followed the Buffyverse cliche of "happy couple that was sad, happy again and BAM! Death". They deserved more than that. Maybe without Tara dying, we could have Willow not become some cheesy-line toting dark-with. And maybe we could even bypass the horribly confusing ~future dark will~ that we see in season 8. Willow's stories took a turn for the worst after Tara died.

[gumgnome]

I'd get rid of "Wrecked" to see if the subtler and darker Willow-addicted-to-power storyline continued instead of the lame Willow-is-a-crack-addict line they jarringly insert with this episode.

[Eric]

What's the episode where Kennedy shows up?

[buffyfan21]

^^ Bring on the Night?