Unpopular Rants, Opinions and Confessions II

This may or may not be an unpopular opinion, but; I HATE Holtz. I get he wanted to make Angel pay, but he did nothing but completely ruin Connor's life. He shouldn't have to suffer just because Holtz went all Vengeance-y.

...or maybe I'm just mad because he's responsible for turning Angel's son into the annoying brat we got in S3/4 😛

Either way. 😀

I've decided I can't choose a side in the Buffy vs. Scoobies Empty Places Fight. They were both in the wrong. The Scoobies shouldn't have kicked her out, and Buffy shouldn't have enforced a God-awful plan.

Alyson Hannigan is simply amazing 😛

I'm definitely less of a Willow fan in Season 6, but I've just rewatched Wrecked and the ending always makes me cry. She did such a stupid thing but her breakdown is so sad 🙁 Aly does such a wonderful job as Willow 😀

GrrArghx said:

This may or may not be an unpopular opinion, but; I HATE Holtz. I get he wanted to make Angel pay, but he did nothing but completely ruin Connor's life. He shouldn't have to suffer just because Holtz went all Vengeance-y.

...or maybe I'm just mad because he's responsible for turning Angel's son into the annoying brat we got in S3/4 😛

Either way. 😀

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I always had a soft spot for Holtz, if Angelus had done that to my family I would have gone off the deep end too. I agree though, Connor shouldn't have suffered for the sins of (sort of) his father. Remember though, it was never Holtz intention to take Connor where they ended up, he was genuinely going to go to Montana(I think) & raise Connor with Justine but Sahjhan, W&H & Angel cocked up that plan. After Sahjhan ripped a hole into the Quor-toth, Holtz was backed into a corner & was actually about to kill Connor before Angel begged him not to. I admit though, vengeance became all that he was. Holtz was a good man, the most succesful non-mystical vampire hunter on record, he was a man of god, a man of faith. The real crux of the matter when it comes to Holtz is that he didn't really blame Angelus (imo) for what happened to his family, Angelus is an animal, a beast. No, Holtz blamed himself, his obsession with Darla (he's the reason she was in Ireland in the first place) brought that fate upon his family. He made it personal & they paid the price. He never forgave himself for that & the righteous man he was pretty much died the day he had to slay his own daughter. That kind of emotional trauma can produce some disturbing pathology & this is why Holtz is my favourite "bad guy", he sort of has a point. None of that really excuses what he put Connor through, perhaps it explains it a bit, but whose to say that staying with Angel, living in that world & growing up with a vampire for a father wouldn't have messed Connor up in a different way.

I have more of an emotional attachment to AI's office in AS1 than Wolfram and Hart or the Hyperion. Sue me.

ApesFindShapes said:

I never liked Riley. I started out watching the episodes out of order, but even before I really knew his character/background, there was still something about him that grinded my nerves. He had this underlying arrogance and close-mindedness. I suppose that is due to lifelong brainwashing, though. For someone who supposedly loved Buffy, he certainly got married quickly.

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I knoow! Riley was so lame! hated that he never got that Buffy didn't need someone to protect her. I never thought he treated her like an equal.

Blixten said:

I knoow! Riley was so lame! hated that he never got that Buffy didn't need someone to protect her. I never thought he treated her like an equal.

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I really disliked Riley the first time around. But after several re-watchings of the dvd I have grown rather fond of him actually.
He's charming and kind in his own way (and like Buffy herself points out - those are good arms to have)

Though I must say I will forever loathe his first haircut in season four - that boyband look so didn't work for him. It was much better then he cut that off.

Taake said:

I really disliked Riley the first time around. But after several re-watchings of the dvd I have grown rather fond of him actually.
He's charming and kind in his own way (and like Buffy herself points out - those are good arms to have)

Though I must say I will forever loathe his first haircut in season four - that boyband look so didn't work for him. It was much better then he cut that off.

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That's interesting. What made you change your mind? Maybe it's like that class mate everyone has and doesn't like, but when you see her everyday she kinds of grows on you? Like, it's much harder to dislike someone when you see them all the time? 😀 Totally agree about the hair. I was chocked and disgusted, lol

I've got nothing against Riley. He wasn't my favourite character by any means but he didn't do anything that annoyed me. There was nothing special about him though. He didn't make me laugh like Spike did on a regular basis and his personality wasn't as appealing as Angel's once he'd left Sunnydale. Also the relationship he had with Buffy wasn't as extreme, passionate or interesting as those relationships Buffy had with Spike and Angel.

His what i would call a solid character who fitted into the story well.

As far as unpopular opinions go I think I win. Riley is my favorite Buffy bf. 🙂

Conner and Dawn both have every right to be whiny and incredibly annoying. Angel sucks. Buffy's "better than thou" attitude makes me wanna scream and she had in coming in Empty Places. Riley and Kennedy are two great people. Xander was sexy when he was all hyena-like.

Blixten said:

That's interesting. What made you change your mind? Maybe it's like that class mate everyone has and doesn't like, but when you see her everyday she kinds of grows on you? Like, it's much harder to dislike someone when you see them all the time? 😀 Totally agree about the hair. I was chocked and disgusted, lol

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I'm not sure, perhaps it's as simple as the fact that I myself got a bit weary of 'bad boys' in my personal life.
All I know is that now when I see Riley I'm like 'aww, he's so sweet and kind. Give him a chance'.
He's the guy I want to want you know, but I don't... :biggrin3:

Even though a lot of people like her, I never got the big fuss over Harmony. I respect Mercedes McNabb's comedic abilities with the way she delivers her lines, but honestly, the writers were what made her so funny. I found the character herself really annoying most of the time.

Taake said:

I'm not sure, perhaps it's as simple as the fact that I myself got a bit weary of 'bad boys' in my personal life.
All I know is that now when I see Riley I'm like 'aww, he's so sweet and kind. Give him a chance'.
He's the guy I want to want you know, but I don't... :biggrin3:

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I always thought that Riley was presented as a "nice guy" but in actuality was a massive douche. His neathanderal attitude to Buffy was what really pissed me off. He was all "me man, me protect pretty girl", and got pathetically insecure when he discovered she was stronger than he was. 'Bad boys' Spike and Angel were a hell of a lot nicer because they actually respected Buffy's strength and treated her as an equal.

Anyway, on topic.... I don't know how unpopular this is, but as soon as AtS started it was superior to BtVS every step of the way (ie. S1AtS>S4BtVS, S2>S5, S3>>>>>S6, S4>S7). I haven't seen S5 yet but I'd put good money on it being better than a nonexistant season.

TheVoid68 said:

I always thought that Riley was presented as a "nice guy" but in actuality was a massive douche. His neathanderal attitude to Buffy was what really pissed me off. He was all "me man, me protect pretty girl", and got pathetically insecure when he discovered she was stronger than he was. 'Bad boys' Spike and Angel were a hell of a lot nicer because they actually respected Buffy's strength and treated her as an equal.

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Spot on! 🙂 That's really what I didn't like about him either.

TheVoid68 said:

I always thought that Riley was presented as a "nice guy" but in actuality was a massive douche. His neathanderal attitude to Buffy was what really pissed me off. He was all "me man, me protect pretty girl", and got pathetically insecure when he discovered she was stronger than he was. 'Bad boys' Spike and Angel were a hell of a lot nicer because they actually respected Buffy's strength and treated her as an equal.

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true I always just kind of added that up to him being fairly inexperienced with girls and coming from a small town (he did have a fairly black and white worldview pre-Buffster).
She showed him more than once that she didn't put up with that attitude and I think he liked that (I mean look at his wife, she also was very bold and bossy)

I just thought that he took far too long to move away from his black/white worldview and never really completed the journey.

Aww instinctually, I always feel the need to defend Riley. The reason being is that I don't believe his problem was just about Buffy being stronger than him. She actually made two fundamental errors with Riley. Yes he felt insecure about her being stronger than him but it was more about her not responding emotionally to him as much as she did with say, Angel. Funnily enough in OOMM, she says if she wanted someone superhuman, she'd be dating Spike (*cough*, behold the irony), but this still misses the larger question, superhuman or not did Buffy really need Riley?

I think Riley's issues were understandable even if he didn't handle things well. My only issue with the hate on the guy is that Buffy made mistakes in their relationship as well. Good people can make stupid mistakes, just my view.

Buffy didn't respond emotionally to him because he was an arse. I LOL at his pain.

TheVoid68 said:

Buffy didn't respond emotionally to him because he was an arse. I LOL at his pain.

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Lol, I got to fly the Riley flag, because apart from me and my mother, he hardly has any fans lol.