I’ve never seen anyone say it on here, so I must. And it’s something I’ve thought since i first watched ER.
Pratt and Gallant are lowkey boyfriends. Like, they’re in love.
In another universe they’re together. But to further this thought, Neela, Pratt, and Gallant are in a throuple. But not in a Neela/Pratt way cause they’re too sibling dynamic but like Gallant is their boyfriend for real.
I hate Doug Ross. I'm sorry. I hated him my first watch, and binged the first five season purely to get rid of him. However, I forgot how much I hated him, thought that maybe I was exaggerating and that my rewatch was an opportunity to give him a second chance. I was wrong. I think I hate him more. This brings me to another character I dislike... Gates. They are the same character. All they do is try to look hot, sleep around, and lie... to everyone. Their patients, their partners. They ruin everything. And I hate them. Carol (love her) deserves better. And Sam (UGHH I LOVE HER) definitely deserves better.
(Though this is setting up thoughts about the season 15 main cast as counterparts to the season 1 main cast. i.e, gates and doug, neela and peter, rachel and john, and archie and mark (bare with me. I love archie and this is facts))
bentoncarter dynamic gets more interesting if you make believe in your head that they hooked up before carters first day and have a casual hookup relationship throughout the first season until carter falls in love.
rewatched Becoming Part 2. You cannot tell me they weren’t setting up Spuffy from the very beginning. It’s right there in they’re entire shared interaction. And it all ties beautifully into their future dynamic. But what gets me is her right before being told she is all she has and will forever be alone and Spike being the first one to be there afterwards being like, i’m all you got, i’m here to help, i want to help save the world. And this does not change throughout the rest of the series. Through the rest of the show he continues to be the only person who CONSTANTLY has Buffy’s back; specifically paralleling season 7 when Buffy is at her most isolated both emotionally and physically, and Spike is still there, the only person she still truly has in her corner.
rewatching the pilot after watching the entire show hurts. I was in actual tears when Mark was meeting with that other hospital and they guy was talking about pension and saving up for his kids private school and college; MARK DIDN'T GET TO SEE RACHEL GO TO COLLEGE, HE DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS GONNA BECOME A DOCTOR LIKE HIM.
And then Benton; taking charge of a sugary as a resident. Seeing him starting out and know in your heartiest of hearts that he's gonna be an amazing surgeon. Seeing him with Carter and knowing whats to come and how much they're gonna care about each other; seeing the beginnings of the teaching and comparing that to also how you see Benton being taught.
And Carter, seeing him in the E.R, even in his surgery rotation as a med student, how he thrives and learns his way and knowing he's gonna become THE doctor of the E.R.
All of the knowing what's to come and what't going to happen to each character; what these characters have the potential to do and be. Benton's gonna soften soon once he becomes a father. Watching Mark and knowing what a leader and teachers he's gonna be. Knowing every tragedy that's gonna strike John Carter whenever he's a little bit happy.
And overall, seeing the E.R in the early years; the nurses relationships and dynamics, the chaos of the E.R that's happening loudly in the background but isn't distracting the scene. And knowing all the doctors, nurses and patients thats gonna walk through the door. And all the guns, explosions, and diseases that are gonna wreck the E.R to come.
When i first started E.R I did it with a vow that I would watch the Pitt afterwards (I did. and just finished the first season today) but I have been longing for E.R again even though I finished it only three weeks ago.
HE HAD HIS WHOLE LIFE AHEAD OF HIM. HE FINALLY HAD IT ALL. THE JOB. THE LOVE. THE RING. THE FAMILY. HE HAD IT ALL AND THEY JUST FUCKING KILLED HIM. WHAT WAS THAT. WHAT IS THIS. WHATS WRONG WITH THESE WRITERS.
One of my big problems with Spike getting a soul from BtVS is that it means no character has to grapple with the fact that...everyone was kinda a huge dick to Spike in a horrid way for AT LEAST one whole season. Maybe more.
I'm rewatching Buffy with my gf who's never seen the show before. And by the time we got to 6x18 and Xander loudly shouting about 'that soulless thing' my gf turned to me and was like. 'this is no longer funny haha or even making a point, everyone is just being mean to the guy who regularly saves their lives and tries to help them and has done nothing but continuously try to get better'.
And it's true! Giles tells Spike at one point towards the end of season 5 that he isn't in the group, that being nice to them or helping isn't a way to Buffy. And definitely there's this sentiment online that spike is 'made soft by the love of a woman' and that 'hes a bad boy that only Buffy could change'. But that's...not really true? That's certainly a motivating factor in season 5. But by the end...
Well. In the gap between season 5 and season 6 buffy is DEAD. his supposed 'only motivator' for being a good person? Gone. And he DOES NOT KNOW that anyone is trying to bring her back. He FULLY BELIEVES SHE WILL NEVER COME BACK AND HE WILL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN. he is not trying to win any brownie points with a future version of Buffy he is hoping to date. And he still fights side by side with the Scoobies. He still protects Dawn and seemingly hangs out with her in a babysitting capacity regularly. He is in on keeping the vamp/demon population low to protect the town and regularly patroling. He's...essentially one of the gang? So much so that he's genuinely betrayed that they didn't tell him their plan?
And then Buffy comes back and it's like we, the viewer, are supposed to forget the whole past 6 months of Spike helping everyone and forming bonds with everyone. The show for the next 9 episodes will not be able to decide whether or not Spike is a good guy or not. A goofy guy? A love interest? But oh boy will people continue to make snide comments and be mean to him.
Midway through season 6, Spike discovers that the chip 'isnt working'. My partner was telling me how for a very brief moment they were SUPER intrigued by this storyline. Spike has kissed Buffy twice at the point he finds this out, but they're hardly together and she is consistently being rude to him because she is mad about said kisses. My partner was like ohhhhh we are going to get a whole plot now about whether or not Spike IS good or not without the chip, and this will lead to eventually Spuffy when Spike proves that he's really truly changed. And that will stop Xander and everyone being mean to him because everyone will have to examine the fact that oh. It's not just the chip. It's him. Spike would thus essentially become no different to Anya - perhaps the show would even draw that parrellel as Xander overcame his whole thing about Spike being The Worst.
But instead, they leave THAT plotline until season 7 when Spike already has a soul so it's no longer particualrly relevant. Instead, he can only hurt Buffy. And from here on out, they're sleeping together. Now, I do find it compelling that Spike spends the next few episodes thinking that his only way to be with Buffy is to show her that she's dark 'like him'. For a while this seems to be setting up a question of not just is Buffy dark and scary but...is spike? He believes he is, but we the viewer have seen proof he's not really. The worst he's done all season is gambling?? So...okay. perhaps we could get an arch about Spike realising he doesnt have to drag Buffy to the dark - she can drag him to the light (what ends up happening anyway by season 7s conclusion).
But then we have my least favourite, Buffy-bashing episode of season 6. As You Were. Buffy gets to know just how bad her life is compared to Joss Whedons favourite love interest Riley Finn. And turns out Spike has been the evil and incompetent bad guy Riley has been tracking all along!! Gasp. Hey look audience, remember, spike is soooo bad and so much worse than this previous love interest who now has a cool wife and a cool life. Not only that, but spike is also stupid! Hes bad at being a bad guy (despite the fact that we KNOW spike is incredibly competent at being a bad guy, because he's killed two slayers in the past single handed, a feat so scary he's the only bad guy in the show to ever be described as managing to kill more than one).
So spikes character development kinda goes down the drain. Buffy breaks up with him which again could have spurred...something interesting! Perhaps spike grapples with what he is without her. but instead we get what we got which is Xander and Riley and all the others being vindicated by a very very OOC SA scene that everyone universally hated. TRY AND LIKE HIM NOW you can practically hear Joss Whedon laughing at your face throughout that entire scene. How dare the women in my audience actually care about this guy??? Well. Female audience who liked this guy enough to bump the ratings and make him a main character, we're gonna drag you through the dirt and make you feel awful about that, in the most violent way possible. But hey! At the end of this spike can have a soul! Ain't that super and great!
And that just. Removes any nuance? People were mean to this guy for a whole season, and he never got to actually have much of an arch or prove they were wrong despite us, the viewer, seeing that they were wrong on multiple occasions and that he does indeed have a good side without a soul. Xander and Riley are vindicated and so is everyone who ever said a mean word about Spike. Buffy is punished again for her sexual choices (a theme from season 2 onwards) and is basically told she's a bad little girl who should have known better than to sleep with this guy in the first place because of course it would end up this way. He's evil. Ontologically. Because he has no soul.
And it's just...so mean spirited. The whole thing. There was a point where the meanness from the Scoobies towards spike was justified (season 4 into season 5), but that meanness just serves nothing in season 6 beyond trying to remind the audience this guy who's been slowly becoming good is actually evil and bad because he...doesn't have a soul? He's just ontologically evil. What a fucking sad thing to reinforce by giving him a soul and saying that was the only way for him to ever get better or be loved.
Idk man. I know people enjoy that spike goes and improves himself for Buffy via his own initiative by getting a soul, but I just find it reductive of a much more interesting dynamic they almost had. The choice to be good via soul would have been much more interesting if it was just...the choice to be good. And I find spikes treatment in season 6 overall by the Scoobies to do nothing but make the Scoobies look like dicks. And the way you can feel contempt for a female audience in the things they do to turn you against him in season six is just...sad. and a big yikes.
I can’t wait til me and my girlfriend get further into the series so she can see how much spike (and dru but spike is more prominent in the show) changes the show
She’s already said that she wants to see drusilla become a good guy. which i was so happy to hear because thats one of my opinions too. i wish she was just a more prominent character cause she was so interesting and had a lot of character potential.
I also lied and told her that the Angel show takes place BEFORE btvs so that when he dies at the end of the season she’s really happy and then he gets brought back next season she can be pissed. She pressured me to tell her, she really wanted to know and said if i didn’t tell her then she’s look it up so I had to lie. Though i dont know how much she bought it cause i have told her Cordelia goes onto it, but I’ve also told her we see a lot of Angel’s past and history and everything so idk.
im making my girlfriend watch buffy the vampire slayer and so far she has all the correct opinions. We’re on season 2 episode 6 rn so here are her opinions:
1: Her favorite character is Willow. she loves her and i think she’s gonna love Oz cause he was just introduced.
2: She hates bangel. shes so done with their bs already.
ANYWAY. We’re gonna be Willow and Tara for halloween cause she said like WAY early in our relationship that we can do a buffy couple costume AND; whilst my first thought was obviously spuffy, i wanted to pay homage to the lesbian root and do tillow. especially cause she has her hair dyed red rn snd my roots are growing out.
Now, i’m just getting to know Abby and Luka so this may change soon but so far this is my character list. Some of my favorite extras are Jerry and Randi, I also love all the nurses.
I love this show. It’s so good. Im not prepared for what I know is coming up though.
I have had a few stray tears but only 1 sob-fest and it was the John intervention at the end of season 6, specifically the moment between him and Benton cause their dynamic means literally everything to me.
Kerry experiencing her sexuality conversion right now, did not expect it to be with the snow queen from Once Upon a Time but okay (I know she was in Lost or something I just never watched it)
I need the Abby and John romance. I’m tired of her and Kovac (honestly he’s kind of boring. like. he’s one of my moms favorites. so he probably gets better.) They just don’t seem serious at all as a couple, but that might be because i know she and John get together.
I will say though, whenever I hate a character they die or leave the show which is a nice change of pace from every other show I watch.
Now I do have some words about the pattern I’ve noticed with all the women who leave the show but I’ll save that for when I finish it in case it gets better.
started binging ER. I have to say, so far its SO good. Im at the beginning season 2 so no spoilers (except i know some things because my mom is a HUGE fan of the show and had told me years ago when we thought id wouldnt watch the show)
So far, I love john carter. He’s so just charming, dorky and cute. Also was recently introduced to weaver and i love her, i hate how the nurses are treating her tho (like the doctors, fine I understand, but the nurses are hating on her when she came in and made their jobs easier.) I like almost all the characters rn tbh. Except for doug (i hate george clooney. there is no definitive reason as to why) but it just at first felt they really wanted me to like him whilst he was really just a jerk/fuckboy, now i still feel the same way i just also know the future for his character.
My favorite part of the show though is the nurses and all the ER chaos that goes on in the background. Like there would be just something crazy happening in the background, or their fixing the AC or the ceiling, or a patient is crashing. And the nurse really bring that chaotic but close/friend vibe that really sell the show for me. So far at least.
My plan is to finish the show and then start the Pitt so i can pretend Noah Wyle is a grown up john carter.
I think I had a dream last night of just me talking and obsessing over Leverage. Which isn’t that different than my waking life, seeing as I currently recommend it to everyone all the time. It’s my go-to recommendation. I’ve watched 4 times in a year, It’s just completely so good, honestly one of the best pilots ever.
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