Saturday, September 12, 2009

September Silliness - The Buffy Episode Tournament (End of Round 1)

We're at the last part of Round 1. If you're just tuning in now, we're trying to determine which Buffy episode is the fan favorite and things are going to get harder from here on out. We started with 128 randomly paired episodes fighting for the title and after this batch we'll be down to the top 64.

Apparently someone out there thought it would be a good idea if I, the Great Bits-ini, were the one to unveil the winners of the previous round. Oh, you poor deluded fools. Now if the hour of your pun-filled discontent but, praise be to the Buffy gods, because here's the results!

"Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" cast a spell on everyone (ya get it?) beating out "Choices" (aka "the episode where the Mayor eats a big box o' spiders") 147 to 120 votes.
"Becoming Part 1" easily beat "Life Serial" with 190 to 76 votes.
"School Hard" sent "Conversations With Dead People" home, sweet home, beating it 140 to 125 votes.
Spike wearing a Xander shirt in "Doomed" is apparently all it took to barely inch out against "Two to Go" 136 to 129 votes.
"Helpless" was anything but as it easily took away "Potential's", well, potential with 211 to 55 votes.
"Gingerbread" won the battle of the blands against "Him" and it's combo of 50's music with 70's video montage with 176 to 91 votes.
"The Replacement" proves that two Xanders really are better than one (except for Michelle and I who hate him) making "Get it Done" totally done out of this competition with 187 to 79 votes.
"Prophecy Girl" doesn't wanna die, Giles, so it's a good thing it killed the crap out of "Entropy" 165 to 100 votes.
"Wild at Heart" pulled out a shocking upset victory against "What's My Line Part 1" at the eleventh hour with 139 to 125 votes. Sorry, Kendra and your wacky pants.
"Pangs" I am so grateful you defeated "Smashed" 158 to 108 votes. That's all I'll say.
"Once More With Feeling" made "Lover's Walk" it's bitch with 243 to 27 votes but at least "Lover's Walk" is episode enough to admit it.
"End of Days" sealed it with a kiss, taking out "Intervention" with 161 to 102 votes.
"Fool for Love" showed those Watchers what was up by destroying "Checkpoint" with 209 to 58 votes.
"What's My Line Part 2" showed that two Slayers are better than Xander with a puppet by slaying "The Puppet Show" with 215 to 53 votes.
"Grave" saved my personal world by beating "Doublemeat Palace" in all it's heinousness, with a yellow crayon 238 to 30 votes.
"The Body" proves that dead moms = great television by wiping the floor with my favorite Buffy episode of all time, "Passion" 191 to 78 votes.

There were a lot of really tight races this round and I'm excited to see what everyone will make of round 1d which represents the final leg of round 1.

OK, Round 1d below has 16 matches. Voting for this part ends Saturday at 11:59 pm EST at which point the final part of Round 2 will begin.

If you need a refresher, click here for the full list of episodes and their descriptions. Happy voting!

Region 3: England
Location: The Watcher's Council
















If your curious to see the entire bracket of Round 1, click here to enlarge:






9 comments:

Anonymous said...

A bit embarrassing to be be the first one to post a comment again ;) I'm clearly a bit obsessed with this tournament. I found the choices much easier this time around. Goodbye season 4. I won't miss you. Only episodes I love from that season are the Faith ones, and "Something Blue" (although I didn't even vote for SB because it was up against "The Prom")

My fave eps in this go around are "Dopplegangland," "Homecoming," and "Tabula Rasa."

Also, I am in solidarity with Michelle and Bitsy on the Xander-hate. Sorry everybody else.

Tara said...

Well I'm certainly with you herionetv...the tourney is totally addicting!

"Homecoming" vs "Forever" was kind of tricky for like a hot minute until I remembered Forever kind of sucking. So that took care of that. Dawn trying to resurrect Joyce was a world of no.

And really "Goodbye Iowa" vs "Revalations"? who cares?

The biggest challenge for me was "Welcome to the Hellmouth" vs "Harsh Light of Day". I went w Hellmouth in the end even though it might not be as good as HLoD. I just think it's a great premier of a series. It handles the lore the way no other show ever does and it sets the characters up so well. Love it.

Dalton said...

Voted, droogs.

I knew the lamest Buffy episode of all-time would eventually show up--Inca Mummy Girl. This is the lowest it gets, folks.

Beer Bad was very cool. I always love when frat pricks get pummeled. Bastards. Frat pricks and sports fanatics. They should all die, in my humble opinion. Difficult choice between that and Bargaining. Went with Beer Bad. (And for all of you Buffyfesters who hate both professional sports and lowlife loser sports fanatics, here's a fun website--www.sportssuck.org)

Dopplegangland vs Triangle was a real toughie. Went with Dopplegangland. Loved when the bad Willow pinched the good Willow's tushie wushie.

Out of Mind, Out of Sight had an important overall message to convey, so I chose that bad boy.

Homecoming rules, even though Forever was pretty damn good, as well. Chose the former.

New Moon Rising was bad ass because Oz almost tore Tara a new one, but was sad when Oz learned Willow is in love with Tara. That pulled on my heart strings, folks. Poor Oz. Even though Old and Far Away was cool as hell, I chose NMR (Loved the candle scene at the end).

Revelations all the way.

I loved the Freshman, particularly at the end when Buff staked that nasty ass skank for going through her stuff.

Primevil all the way, despite the fact Nightmares totally rocks.

Band Candy hands down. Giles gets some of that hardcore Joyce action. Gotta love it.

Tabula Rasa. No competition here, droogs.

Finally, I had to vote for Welcome to the Hellmouth. HLoD was okay, but come on. Welcome to the Hellmouth is Welcome to the Hellmouth.

P.S.-I'm changing my vote and giving it to Lover's Walk instead of Once More with Feeling, changing the total from 243-27 to 242-28. Can I do that?

The Groosalugg said...

Dopplegangland vs. Triangle both aren't among my favourites really, though they have their moments.

Lessons vs. Out of Mind, Out of Sight, went with Out of Mind, Out of Sight, one of the better eps of the first season (IMO).

Homecoming vs. Forever, Homecoming is a bit cheesy, but it's also vintage Buffy. Forever on the other hand is just sucky.

Enemies vs. Beneath You, Beneath You has lots of Anya and Spike going for it, but Enemies features some of the best moments in the wonderfull Faith/Mayor arc.

Older and Far Away vs. New Moon Rising another underappreciated S6 comic episode (featuring Clem!), this time up against an Initiative/Riley heavy episode. I hope that's what it takes to get one through.

Goodbye Iowa vs. Revelations vintage Buffy ep (featuring Faith!) vs. an other Initiative/Riley ep. Easy!

The Freshman vs. Afterlife. Two strong eps. But The Freshman takes the crown.

Wrecked vs. Surprise. I hate the cheesy magic is drugs arc and love the Angelus one, so for me this is the easiest choice so far in the tournament.

Primeval vs. Nightmares. Both aren't among the very best, but Primeval has a lot going for it.

Faith, Hope, and Trick vs. Same Time, Same Place. Another easy one (IMO).

Beer Bad vs. Bargaining Part 2. Two strong and underappreciated eps. I'm not really familiar with Bargaining as two separate episodes, so that made the decision even harder.

Band Candy vs. Bad Eggs. Scratch that whole thing about Wrecked vs. Surprise being an easy choice :).

Some Assembly Required vs. Tabula Rasa. I know I'm on the minority on this one. Maybe it's just that it's right after OMWF and therefore looks bad by comparison, but I never really liked Tabula Rasa.

The "I" In Team vs. Inca Mummy Girl. There aren't a lot of episodes Inca Mummy Girl would beat (though it isn't as bad as the worst S2 cluckers like Reptile Boy or Bad Eggs) but this is one of them.

Beauty and The Beasts vs. All the Way. A very close one in terms of quality. Went with the underdog.

Welcome to the Hellmouth vs. Harsh Light of Day. I really digg the first half of S4. Even one of the weaker ones like this one is really quite good.

Michelle said...

"Dopplegangland" over that stupid episode that I don't even understand.

"Out of Mind" is a quality Season One episode and it features one of Cordy's great screams.

My fellow Buffyfest Bloggers know how much I like "Homecoming". I think it's an underrated episode. The only reason I like "Forever" is because Angel appears, but that's not a good enough reason to vote for it.

"Enemies" without a need for explanation.

"New Moon Rising" because it has Oz and because I can't remember what the other episode is about on first glance.

Anything with Riley and The "Initiative" is stupid.

I went with "Afterlife" because it was the beginning of Season 6 when the story arc had the potential to be awesome.

"Surprise" without a need for explanation.

I went with "Primevil" to the surprise of some, I'm sure. I like the Matrix rip-off at the end. I really do.

I wish Mr. Trick stayed with us longer.

I went with "Bargaining II" for the same reason I went with "Afterlife".

Although I love "Bad Eggs", "Bandy Candy" has Ripper and young Principle Snyder. It's hilarious.

"Tabula Rasa" is funny.

Anything beats Initiative episodes in my book. As you can see proven here.

"Beauty and the Beast" because Angel's alive!

This was a tough one, but I went with "Welcome to the Hellmouth" because it's a quality opener with a nice set-up of characters. Now, if this was the 2nd parter of "Harsh Light of Day" over on Angel, I would have picked that episode.

Oh, and Heroinetv, I like your thinking!

Anonymous said...

I think this round was actually easier. Anything with Riley in it get's a NO vote. Anything with too much drippy Angel/Buffy angst also get a NO. Anything with Spike gets a YES.

All done. ;)

Nolan said...

I happen to love "Triangle," it was the first episode I watched when I bought Season 5 on DVD for myself (which was also the first season I bought for myself). I think "Dopplegangland" is fun and awesome and everything, but I know it will win and I have to throw some love to one of my favourite episodes.

I'm not a huge fan of either "Lessons" or "Out of Mind, Out of Sight," but I went with "Lessons."

"Forever" made me really uncomfortable what with possible zombie-Joyce, but I still dug it enough to vote for it.

Ok, I love how Spike delivers the "From beneath you, it devours" line in "Beneath You," but the "second best" reveal in "Enemies" just completely rules.

I like "Older and Far Away" because of all the characters being in one place at the same time for pretty much the whole thing, but I also love Oz. Screaming Dawn means that I go for "New Moon Rising."

Didn't really like "Goodbye Iowa." "Revelations" isn't a favourite either, but its better than the former.

I actually really liked "The Freshman," I thought it was neat to see Buffy out of her element in so many ways, and then getting her groove back, so to speak. "Afterlife" was just a mix of forgettable and depressing.

The birthday party scene in "Surprise" is one of my favourites in the show.

"Primevil" wasn't bad or anything, but "Nightmares" was pretty neat in a lot of ways.

The Gnarl is creepy as hell, but introduction of Faith beats it.

"Beer Bad" is not a good episode.

Neither is "Bad Eggs," but "Band Candy" is awesome anyway.

"Tabula Rasa" is great, better than Frankenstein Buffy-style.

I actually like "The 'I' in Team" because of the turn of Walsh and whatnot, and it is just better than "Inca Mummy Girl."

I went with "All the Way," but it was pretty much a coin toss.

Pilot all the way, even if it wasn't the best ever.

Now we get to the nitty-gritty.

Michael (mbatz) said...

Why all the Riley hate?! I mean he didn't try to rape her (a stupid plot by the way, suddenly Buff can't beat the shit out of Spike WTF) or try to kill her half a season. And Buff treated Riley like shit. Okay, so he was picking up vamp whores...no big:)Season 4 has become my fav season...over time. Anyway, I went chalk this round. The only 3 pics of mine that are currently losing are...The Freshman - gotta luv a vamp named Sunday, and Mr Gordo...I thought it was the best premiere ep of the series. Light and funny. Great fight. Also Harsh Light of Day - just love Spike's keen insight into Buff/Parker..and staking Harmony. And finally...All The Way ...what can I say, I'm a sucker for any Halloween themed eps.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Tara and Michelle:)

I agree that "Homecoming" is an under-rated episode. It's winning now, but just in case ... If anyone needs a reminder as to why "Homecoming" is so awesome, here's a little list:
1. Oz: "Where Willow goes, so goes my nation."
2. Cordelia and the spatula. Oh, that spatula. Priceless Cordy moment.
3. Cordelia scares away the cowboy vamp just with her personality. "What do you think I'm gonna do to you?!"
4. "SlayerFest '98"!!!
5. Mr. Trick.
6. 90s homecoming dress awesomeness.