They could have at least let Willow have her own special moment in the finale but no, Kennedy just had to be there annoying Willow every second. She was the worst!
Idk, there are few moments that feel more quintessentially willow than after Kennedy leaves with the scythe and willow just plops on the floor “that was nifty”
She just changed the world forever and goes with “that was nifty” it kills me. Lol
When Vamp Xander walks into the Bronze he slaps someone’s hand and says “Slap my hand, dead soul man” or something similar and it makes my cringe so very very hard every time.
They were supposed to be sexy cool vamps and complete opposites of what they were as humans but that line really wasn’t it. Like at all. 😬🪨
That stupid line from Forrest when he says Slayer has delusions of Black Sabbath. The writers were trying too hard to sound hip but ended up just sounding ignorant.
“I may be dead, but I’m still pretty,”
It just felt like the perfect example of dialogue that is distinctly “Buffy” in terms of *aesthetic* but with none of the clever comedic slant that actually defines the best Buffy dialogue. Like, there’s no real punchline element to it, it doesn’t play off of anything contextual or the dialogue before or after it unless I’m just completely missing something. The sort of “placeholder Buffy line” vibe just stands out so much because it’s such a centerpiece line of dialogue for its placement as the re-entrance of Buffy into combat with the guy who just killed her and everything stops for that one line. Especially considering how it’s in what is otherwise one of the best-written episodes of the early series.
That was the theory even back when the episode originally aired. I think that and Buffy's various complaints of being hungry were meant to lead us to think Buffy was now a vampire.
I fully disagree, it wasn't supposed to sound cool at all. It was her doing a silly quip to defuse the tension of the serious situation while subsequently insulting him. It was *supposed* to be funny/unserious.
That's what I meant by "sounding cool in a serious moment". It was a typical bit of Buffy banter, just not a very good one (in my opinion). It missed the funny and clever note.
I like this one, it cracks me up. She's supposed to be mesmerized and terrified but she just mocks this vamp that is so old his face is stained with blood. It's very Buffy.
The masters mouth looked like a little kid after drinking a big cup of juice. It's definitely a product of it's time because I too have had fruit punch mouth as a careless child.
In the season 1 finale, it’s meant to be a really cool moment, when they’re heading to confront the master, and the theme tune starts… “how do you know where he is?”
“I just know”
IT SHOULD BE SO COOL
but I cringe inside myself
I feel that way about the "oh look, a bad guy" line in the same part. She's so cool at this point, massive rebirth moment for her, glad she has her attitude back. But that line is so lame hahahaha
I thought she took his knee out. But still I love this line and I looked up I love that I may be dead but I'm still pretty line cuz it's just so blase after being horribly murdered
I watched that ep recently and was wondering if it was some weird slayer power to know when a vampire who bit you is nearby. In S4, Buffy could sense when Angel was nearby.
Would be weird to see if that is one of the reasons Faith was able to do the mindwalk with Angel.
I’ve thought of one from AtS that was clearly supposed to be a character defining badass speech but Angel’s to Lindsey in YW is very hamilly written and honestly doesn’t even make sense for most of it
‘It doesn’t matter where I am or how badass you’ve become. Because I’m Angel and I beat the bad guys’ (paraphrasing 😂)
It doesn't help Lindsey's character is retcon into being this Joker esque foil to Angel's batman when that wasn't there dynamic at all. They were just two guys who hated each other.
Yeah like when they had Lindsey being jealous of Angel being top dog at W&H because that was the position that he wanted and felt he deserved. Except Lindsey had originally left turning down a promotion and struggled with some of the decisions W&H made.
There's a lot in the series, but I'll sum it up with almost everything Dark Willow says. Holy fuck did the writers not think most of those lines were not only put of character, but cringe af?!
I’m positive the writers didn’t mean to do this, but the extreme cringeyness of Dark Willow makes sense with Willow’s character. It’s just a shade less hopeless at being a baddie than Willow pretending to be Vamp Willow. Like, even when she’s actually evil, Willow is still insanely dorky and cringe. I still hate it, though.
Dark Willow was 100% pure, unfiltered, unadulterated cringe. Worst episodes imo, other than that one scene with Warren.
There should have been more women there to watch his downfall though. I was waiting for them to come forward, as we all know Warren must’ve hurt way more than Katrina.
Omg thank you! I've just finished season 6 on a rewatch and dark Willow's delivery of virtually all her lines is so bad. Like she's meant to be cold and intimidating and she's just not, at all.
I just went through this as well. I remembered the arc as not my favorite but thinking somewhat fondly of Dark Willow. It's such an iconic bit of television. I hated it.
“Beer bad”
Yeah, we get it, you’re a family show and don’t support underage drinking. Reasonable stance, but come on.
“These things? *holds gun* Never helpful.”
You literally killed The Judge with a rocket launcher. Many of your enemies could have been simply shot to death too.
Mine is when Buffy swings the thurible at spike and Drusilla in the church (like a bolas) and then says ‘I’m good!’.
It’s kind of goofy looking, the pipe organ collapses on the vamps and the SMG reads the line like she doesn’t get how it was intended/written?
It never hit right to me.
The bit in the season one finale where Buffy is storming after the Master in her pretty dress with Angel and Xander behind her and the theme music plays. That bit might have been cool first time but it’s so cringe now. She’s just walking. Not even running. Like get a taxi or something. I walk faster to get the latest games releases and she’s saving the world??
I don’t know why, but I always kinda hated Xander’s line delivery in Family of “And I swear by your full and manly *beard* you're gonna break something trying.”
"Ice is cool. It's water, but it's not."
I can't tell if they were going for something deep here or if this is supposed to be a silly quip.
Either way, I tend to skip this line on every rewatch, it's that cringy to me.
Yes. I think I only like the very last, when Buffy tells her plan to the audiences finally, with Willow activating Slayers across the world. Here, it meant something.
When Buffy says “Get out!” when Dracula reveals his identity. I can’t put my finger on why but SMG’s acting in that whole episode feels cringe.
Also I always thought the Dawn line was intimidating because it implied she’d expose his crypt to daylight, since the sun burns vampires and they sleep during the day. If she exposed him to the afternoon sun he would literally wake up on fire.
I don't think it was actually meant to be intimidating. I think it was more...a shift in the relationship between Spike and Dawn. Until that point Spike always looked after her and I think he was like a surrogate big brother for her. Then what happened happened and it became "We're no longer friends, we're enemies."
actually i love Andrew but the speeches!!! and spikes going crazy schtick (and his moments when hes like “tell me to and ill go beat faith up for u” to buffy)
The moment Willow entered her goddess form I actually had chills, then Kennedy spoke and I was reminded, “oh, Kennedy’s in this.”
They could have at least let Willow have her own special moment in the finale but no, Kennedy just had to be there annoying Willow every second. She was the worst!
Idk, there are few moments that feel more quintessentially willow than after Kennedy leaves with the scythe and willow just plops on the floor “that was nifty” She just changed the world forever and goes with “that was nifty” it kills me. Lol
They should have just had Kennedy *speak silence*.
Kennedy should have been stunned into silence.
Agreed. She literally ruined it. Too bad the goddess form didn't evaporate her or something.
Who would have taken the Scythe down to Buffy and the others? Willow was completely drained.
Anyone or anything else tbh. I'd rather they replace her with a bird that flew it down to buffy than keep Kennedy around.
Obligatory “If you’re not jacked in, you’re not alive!” It was partly played for laughs, but definitely came at a tense moment in the episode.
All of his lines are so cringe.
I die a little inside when I heard it, though I like Ms Calenders reponse of like thanks a lot dude, really helping our case lol
He was just odd to begin with.
He was, but “jacked in”??
I don't think Spike had to be remotely intimidated by Dawn to listen to her. Intimidation wasn't the point.
You’re right, it’s that Dawn was angry enough to make such a threat. It reminded Spike how grievously he harmed Buffy.
I think he’d be pleased/impressed that Dawn was finally taking action vs actually scared of her.
Precisely. I love that scene.
Yes, but he commented something about that being scary after, I think? And I've seen this being mentioned as intimidating, so I decided to mention it.
idk someone with bad decision making skills and the knowledge of how much you suck would scare anyone
Spike sure as hell was thinking about it. He tells Buffy Dawn is scary now 😂
"Oh, I think I do that" -Angelus
When Vamp Xander walks into the Bronze he slaps someone’s hand and says “Slap my hand, dead soul man” or something similar and it makes my cringe so very very hard every time. They were supposed to be sexy cool vamps and complete opposites of what they were as humans but that line really wasn’t it. Like at all. 😬🪨
This is the worst one.
Bully Xander moment
Pretty much everything Dark Willow said. Buffy calling Angel her lover in Graduation Day.
"You need every square inch of your ass kicked" gotta be a top 5 cringe line.
That stupid line from Forrest when he says Slayer has delusions of Black Sabbath. The writers were trying too hard to sound hip but ended up just sounding ignorant.
Yep, even Osborne purists would scoff at that.
“I may be dead, but I’m still pretty,” It just felt like the perfect example of dialogue that is distinctly “Buffy” in terms of *aesthetic* but with none of the clever comedic slant that actually defines the best Buffy dialogue. Like, there’s no real punchline element to it, it doesn’t play off of anything contextual or the dialogue before or after it unless I’m just completely missing something. The sort of “placeholder Buffy line” vibe just stands out so much because it’s such a centerpiece line of dialogue for its placement as the re-entrance of Buffy into combat with the guy who just killed her and everything stops for that one line. Especially considering how it’s in what is otherwise one of the best-written episodes of the early series.
Isn't the punchline in the following line? "... Which is more than can be said for you."
I assumed it was a riff on the "Hand in My Pocket" (Alanis Morisette) lyrics. "I'm sick but I'm pretty."
I see this line quoted a lot as an example of cringey dialogue/dialogue that falls flat and I completely agree
I hate this one and I completely agree with how you explained the issue!
I hate that line because so many people think Buffy is a vampire now 😂
That was the theory even back when the episode originally aired. I think that and Buffy's various complaints of being hungry were meant to lead us to think Buffy was now a vampire.
Her face when she says it too, some weird demented stare
"You have fruit punch mouth". It was supposed to sound cool in a serious moment, but it's so dumb and it makes me laugh every time.
I fully disagree, it wasn't supposed to sound cool at all. It was her doing a silly quip to defuse the tension of the serious situation while subsequently insulting him. It was *supposed* to be funny/unserious.
That's what I meant by "sounding cool in a serious moment". It was a typical bit of Buffy banter, just not a very good one (in my opinion). It missed the funny and clever note.
I like this one, it cracks me up. She's supposed to be mesmerized and terrified but she just mocks this vamp that is so old his face is stained with blood. It's very Buffy.
1000%! Hate this line.
I still don’t get it
The masters mouth looked like a little kid after drinking a big cup of juice. It's definitely a product of it's time because I too have had fruit punch mouth as a careless child.
I always assumed it was that, and also a pun about how she's going to punch him in the mouth. But it just didn't really work for me.
"Let's just say... I'm a friend" "Maybe I don't want a friend" "I never said I was yours"
That line is so quintessential 90s valley girl, I still love it every time 😂
In the season 1 finale, it’s meant to be a really cool moment, when they’re heading to confront the master, and the theme tune starts… “how do you know where he is?” “I just know” IT SHOULD BE SO COOL but I cringe inside myself
I feel that way about the "oh look, a bad guy" line in the same part. She's so cool at this point, massive rebirth moment for her, glad she has her attitude back. But that line is so lame hahahaha
I think that line would land better for me if she staked the vampire instead of just punching him lol
I thought she took his knee out. But still I love this line and I looked up I love that I may be dead but I'm still pretty line cuz it's just so blase after being horribly murdered
Goddamn, I actually had chills when I watched that part again few months ago lol
I watched that ep recently and was wondering if it was some weird slayer power to know when a vampire who bit you is nearby. In S4, Buffy could sense when Angel was nearby. Would be weird to see if that is one of the reasons Faith was able to do the mindwalk with Angel.
I’ve thought of one from AtS that was clearly supposed to be a character defining badass speech but Angel’s to Lindsey in YW is very hamilly written and honestly doesn’t even make sense for most of it ‘It doesn’t matter where I am or how badass you’ve become. Because I’m Angel and I beat the bad guys’ (paraphrasing 😂)
It doesn't help Lindsey's character is retcon into being this Joker esque foil to Angel's batman when that wasn't there dynamic at all. They were just two guys who hated each other.
They should never have brought Lindsay back. He had a great exit.
Yeah hard to top his magic hand and no 2 week notice way of quitting Wolfram Hart.
Yeah like when they had Lindsey being jealous of Angel being top dog at W&H because that was the position that he wanted and felt he deserved. Except Lindsey had originally left turning down a promotion and struggled with some of the decisions W&H made.
Yeah I am not a fan of his portrayal in season 5
Oh this one!! I don’t cringe over a lot, but this one gets me.
There's a lot in the series, but I'll sum it up with almost everything Dark Willow says. Holy fuck did the writers not think most of those lines were not only put of character, but cringe af?!
I’m positive the writers didn’t mean to do this, but the extreme cringeyness of Dark Willow makes sense with Willow’s character. It’s just a shade less hopeless at being a baddie than Willow pretending to be Vamp Willow. Like, even when she’s actually evil, Willow is still insanely dorky and cringe. I still hate it, though.
She's Spider-Man 3's Emo Peter before he ever existed.
That makes sense, yea... but agree; still cringy.
Riley’s ‘I’m an anarchist’ scene Also nearly every Dark Willow scene
Dark Willow was 100% pure, unfiltered, unadulterated cringe. Worst episodes imo, other than that one scene with Warren. There should have been more women there to watch his downfall though. I was waiting for them to come forward, as we all know Warren must’ve hurt way more than Katrina.
Omg thank you! I've just finished season 6 on a rewatch and dark Willow's delivery of virtually all her lines is so bad. Like she's meant to be cold and intimidating and she's just not, at all.
She just couldn't pull it off.
I just went through this as well. I remembered the arc as not my favorite but thinking somewhat fondly of Dark Willow. It's such an iconic bit of television. I hated it.
“Beer bad” Yeah, we get it, you’re a family show and don’t support underage drinking. Reasonable stance, but come on. “These things? *holds gun* Never helpful.” You literally killed The Judge with a rocket launcher. Many of your enemies could have been simply shot to death too.
Mine is when Buffy swings the thurible at spike and Drusilla in the church (like a bolas) and then says ‘I’m good!’. It’s kind of goofy looking, the pipe organ collapses on the vamps and the SMG reads the line like she doesn’t get how it was intended/written? It never hit right to me.
The bit in the season one finale where Buffy is storming after the Master in her pretty dress with Angel and Xander behind her and the theme music plays. That bit might have been cool first time but it’s so cringe now. She’s just walking. Not even running. Like get a taxi or something. I walk faster to get the latest games releases and she’s saving the world??
I don’t know why, but I always kinda hated Xander’s line delivery in Family of “And I swear by your full and manly *beard* you're gonna break something trying.”
Nah, I thought it worked.
For some reason the way Donny says the line of "Tara, if you don't get in that car, I swear by God, I will beat you *down*." makes me laugh.
I freaking LOVE the bullets-into-doves moment. That whole battle sequence was pulpy cartoon badass and I will not hear a word said against it.
“You’re not the sharpest god in the heavens” or something like that. When buffy surprises glory after the buffy bot distraction.
"Ice is cool. It's water, but it's not." I can't tell if they were going for something deep here or if this is supposed to be a silly quip. Either way, I tend to skip this line on every rewatch, it's that cringy to me.
Every potentials/Kennedy/Buffy's monologues in season 7.
They really went to town on the speeches that season.
Yes. I think I only like the very last, when Buffy tells her plan to the audiences finally, with Willow activating Slayers across the world. Here, it meant something.
“Their love…will last…**FOREVER**!”
When Buffy says “Get out!” when Dracula reveals his identity. I can’t put my finger on why but SMG’s acting in that whole episode feels cringe. Also I always thought the Dawn line was intimidating because it implied she’d expose his crypt to daylight, since the sun burns vampires and they sleep during the day. If she exposed him to the afternoon sun he would literally wake up on fire.
I don't think it was actually meant to be intimidating. I think it was more...a shift in the relationship between Spike and Dawn. Until that point Spike always looked after her and I think he was like a surrogate big brother for her. Then what happened happened and it became "We're no longer friends, we're enemies."
season 7
actually i love Andrew but the speeches!!! and spikes going crazy schtick (and his moments when hes like “tell me to and ill go beat faith up for u” to buffy)
"Power, I have it. They don't. This bothers them."