Buffy Review – The Complete Third Season

This was the season that set the stage for the current season of Buffy through the episode titled Amends. It also introduced Faith, Wesley, and Anya to the series, while setting the stage for the spin-off.

Cast

The complete cast and crew listings are available here from the
IMDB. The main stars are:
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendan as Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
Anthony Stewart Head and Rupert Giles
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
David Boreanaz as Angel
Seth Green as Oz
Eliza Dushku as Faith
Harry Groener as Richard Wilkins

The show is the brainchild of Joss Whedon.

Original Airdate

This season originally ran in the 1998/1999 season.

Synopsis

Mayor Richard Wilkins is ready to complete a 100 year old plan for
Sunnydale.

High Point

The graduation ceremony. The panning shots across the group were
fantastic in execution and reaction.

Low Point

We didn’t learn enough about the history of the Mayor. We don’t know
why he thought his plan was a good thing. We know he’d been around
100 years and that he’d founded Sunnydale, but that’s it. There’s a
lot of history there that was left completely unexplored.

The DVD Set

The DVD set has a nice set of extra features, including a few
commentaries and some featurettes, which are listed at
www.TVShowsOnDVD.com
.

The Review

This is a very original show. They strive to change up the
relationships to make sure there is no status quo, and that something
significant changes every few episodes to keep things fresh and
moving. I give it 5 out of 6.

The physical effects looked great. Unfortunately, a lot of
the CGI effects (such as the key effect in the season finale) looked
like CGI effects superimposed on live action footage. I give it 4 out
of 6.

The story in this season wasn’t quite as developed as the
second season’s, or as the subsequent seasons. The individual
episodes were still well written, and the long term arc only really
seems undeveloped compared to other seasons of Buffy. Most
series don’t get this level of preplanning. I give it 5 out of 6.

The acting is great from most people involved. Sarah
Michelle Gellar and David Boreanez occasionally faltered, especially
in some of the key scenes in Prom Night. I give it 4 out of
6.

The emotional response this produced was excellent. I loved
the villain and wanted to see a lot more of him. Jonathan’s speech at
the prom actually had some power to it, as did the graduation
ceremony. There are several times that I laughed out loud. I give it
5 out of 6.

The production has been fairly fine tuned at this point. The
crane and pan shots in the season finale were especially well
executed. The lighting perfectly set the mood, and the set
construction started to look more like locations than sets this
season. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, this was a great season of a great show. I give it
5 out of 6.

In total, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Season Three receives 33
out of 42.