Last week, inspired by an SFX article, Buffyfest came up with our own list of the Whedonverse's Greatest Tearjerkers which you can find here. We've decided to balance out the sadness with some of the happy, albeit fleeting, moments throughout the years. Trust me, it's much harder than you'd think and I'm not sure anyone will leave this post feeling happy. Sorry.
"I Will Remember You"
Buffy and Angel in bed and laughing with ice cream. It's a rare moment when you see either of these two so happy and relaxed, so when they're doing it together, it must be a really happy moment. Of course, we all know how that ultimately ends.
Dr. Horrible
Captain Hammer just might sleep with the same girl twice! But, then she dies.
"Sleep Tight"
The beginning and I mean only the beginning of that episode. Angel is all "Daddy's here" when Connor is fussing. He's so happy and then...and then...damn you Wes.
"Bad Eggs"
Buffy's grounded at the end of that episode, but she's all smiles as she secretly smooches with Angel through her bedroom window. Uh, that episode ends well I guess, but then..oh, never mind.
"All the Way"
There's really nothing funny about Season Six at all, but Anya's excitement about her engagement to Xander is one of the happy moments. Of course, she eventually gets left at the alter and then sliced in half a year later, so...yeah, okay, moving on.
"Passion"
Giles is about to get back with the woman he loves and he's about to (one would assume) get some, so he's all smiles as he enters his house to find the lights dim, rose petals strewn on the floor and...oh, dammit.
"Seeing Red"
Willow and Tara get back together and they're happy and Dawn's happy for them, but as I mentioned above, Season Six will suck the happy out of anyone, so by the end of the episode Willow's all, "Tara? Come on baby. Get up." I hate you Powers that Be (meaning Joss)!
"Graduation Day Part II"
The end when the gang is sitting outside the school and Oz tells them to take a moment. They graduated/survived. That's a happy one, right? It doesn't matter that Buffy's beau just skipped town leaving her with a bite mark scar and a bunch of other internal scars that will last till the end of the show and that Cordy ends up with visions that nearly kill her, but not before an evil god takes over her body and Willow goes evil and Oz skips town and Xander dumps his bride. Oh well, I tried.
And Honorable Mention goes to...
"Surprise"
Even though there's nothing truly happy in this episode, attention must be given to the fact that Angel was REALLY happy by the last scene, enough to make his soul go bye-bye.
Screencaps courtesy of Screencap-Paradise
12 comments:
Ha ha. This is great. My sisters and I were just joking the other day that we dread the happy moments most, because we know what's coming. Happy Whedon moments are just signs of upcoming heartbreak.
Happiness on Buffy is similar to cosmic microwave background radiation-it's always there, even though we're not able to detect it at times, particularly during the darkest moments of the show. The love our Scooby gang has for one another keeps everything in motion and prevents the Buffyverse from disentangling and ripping itself apart at the subatomic level. And folks, if you're able to find friends like this on your journey here on planet earth, you're damn lucky.
It's really tough to narrow down my happiest moment of the show, so I won't even try. But the main reason Buffy is my all-time favorite show has something to do with the way Buff and the gang feel about each other, and the degree to which they will go to maintain their loyalty to one another. Killing vamps, living over a hellmouth, and fighting the good fight is pretty cool, too....
How about in Serenity, when Simon tells Kaylee that his only regret is not being with her (as in sex), and she's all "To hell with this - I'm gonna live!" That was happy, right? (Even though it followed on the heels of Wash's death...)
I got the same feeling of dread in Dollhouse when Ballard and Mellie slept together for the first time. I was convinced it was going to be another Tara moment.
Thankfully it turned out she was only a Doll! Who says Whedon can't do happy?
Missed: Buffy's mom has a date with a nice guy, and hey she's over that illness problem...
Ooh, ooh, I got one! In the Firefly episode 'Shindig' when Kaylee walks into the ballroom in her pink layer cake dress, she -- and everyone who sees her -- is all smiles. That's a happy moment. Of course, then that Banning girl is all snotty at her, but she gets smacked down by the nice older gentleman, so I still think it counts.
...right?
I've got to have a happy Spike moment, how about when Buffy asked him to stay with her and just hold her, or in that moment that if you blinked you missed it when she came down into the basement to be with Spike. Hey those were happy..for me anyway.
I always liked the Angel season 5 episode that ends with them ordering Chinese from Angel's apartment. They're all together and very happy.
Crap . . . I love all things Whedon and I'm not able to think of one really happy moment . . how is that even possible??
Oh, wait, how about at the end of When She Was Bad? Buffy walks into the classroom thinking Xander and Willow are going to be mad at her for her behavior and then they just act like nothing happened. It was all smiles then.
I'll agree with Sam about the Chinese food in Angel season5. I also love the end of Pangs when they are all eating Thanksgiving dinner and Xander spills the beans about Angel being there and they all just sort of smirk at Buff...gives me a happy:)
Surely we must recall the end of the Firefly episode "Trash", where our Big Damn Heroes outwit Saffron and make off with the Lassiter. The closing scene has Mal standing buck naked on Serenity's cargo ramp, exclaiming, "Good day!"
Last December through June, I watched Buffy and Angel for the first time. I'd had no experience whatsoever with the Buffyverse and passionately watched it as I cheered for Buffy: she deserves a steady man! I've since learned not to cheer for happy relationships. =)
Oz leaving Willow took me by surprise. I loved them so much! Forget watery eyes, that was a sob story!
"Tomorrow," in Angel, was another happy episode about Angel and Cordy realizing a love for each other and yet everything screwed up by the end. I knew by then to expect it to go well for long!
Post a Comment