FAVORITE TV SCENE(S)
It began here. I found it here. I liked it so...here it is. Like it says on the tin. Favorite scenes from television.
I'm using the Denis McGrath model here. Two scenes. One of them, a "commit moment" as he calls it. The moment where you are no longer trying a show on, you're paying for it at the counter and wearing it home.
Except I'm specifically using the commit and the non-commit. I do this for a reason. A lot of my favorite scenes are usually so strong to me because they build on years of character development. It's a part of what has drawn me to writing for television. They have their power because I know these people. They've come to my house over and over again for season after season. That will be the first scene.
I guarantee you, ask me tomorrow and I'll have two different favorite scenes.
My favorite character in this show, right from the beginning, was always Giles (librarian, trainer of vampire slayers and portrayed by Tony "No Pants" Head). The coolest parts of his character emerged so very rarely, but it was always in there. This man is a badass. He trains goddamn vampire slayers for fuck's sake, he has to be a badass. Generally, though, we see the somewhat stuttery, proper librarian. Second season, stuff started coming out. His past associations with black magic users like Ethan Rayne. His punk youth in the late seventies, early eighties.
To those who know their comics, it seems that Rupert Giles was once very much like John Constantine (and not the crappy Keanu Reeves version) of the Hellblazer comics.
For the most part, he's more father figure and researcher. He got a little more hip after he lost his job due to the high school exploding. It really hit me, though, at the end of Season Five, when he found Ben, the largely innocent (though not completely, but c'mon, he was in a tough spot) host to the evil god Glorificus. He lay damaged, but he'll live. And as long as he lives, Glorificus can wreak untold havoc on Earth.
The only way to make the world safe from "Glory" is to deny her that portal. Giles explains to him that Buffy is a hero. She won't take a human life. He reaches down with one hand and holds the struggling Ben's mouth and nose shut, ever so calmly.
"She's not like us."
The second, the "commit" one, builds on nothing (save perhaps the episode it is a part of, but let's not pick nits). It is what it is in the here and now (or the there and then).
Some series get you in the first hour. Firefly. The West Wing. This. And if for some bizarre reason you haven't gotten around to this in the last five years, I feel no pity for you in spoiling the pilot here.
That's the whole series right there. The beginning and the end and the promise of an amazing ride. It's everything you need to know in one determined flash.
ZOMGWTFBBQ! My favorite scenes involve the good guys killin' folks.
Contenders for these scenes during the 15 minutes or so I was thinking about it were:
I'm using the Denis McGrath model here. Two scenes. One of them, a "commit moment" as he calls it. The moment where you are no longer trying a show on, you're paying for it at the counter and wearing it home.
Except I'm specifically using the commit and the non-commit. I do this for a reason. A lot of my favorite scenes are usually so strong to me because they build on years of character development. It's a part of what has drawn me to writing for television. They have their power because I know these people. They've come to my house over and over again for season after season. That will be the first scene.
I guarantee you, ask me tomorrow and I'll have two different favorite scenes.
My favorite character in this show, right from the beginning, was always Giles (librarian, trainer of vampire slayers and portrayed by Tony "No Pants" Head). The coolest parts of his character emerged so very rarely, but it was always in there. This man is a badass. He trains goddamn vampire slayers for fuck's sake, he has to be a badass. Generally, though, we see the somewhat stuttery, proper librarian. Second season, stuff started coming out. His past associations with black magic users like Ethan Rayne. His punk youth in the late seventies, early eighties.
To those who know their comics, it seems that Rupert Giles was once very much like John Constantine (and not the crappy Keanu Reeves version) of the Hellblazer comics.
For the most part, he's more father figure and researcher. He got a little more hip after he lost his job due to the high school exploding. It really hit me, though, at the end of Season Five, when he found Ben, the largely innocent (though not completely, but c'mon, he was in a tough spot) host to the evil god Glorificus. He lay damaged, but he'll live. And as long as he lives, Glorificus can wreak untold havoc on Earth.
The only way to make the world safe from "Glory" is to deny her that portal. Giles explains to him that Buffy is a hero. She won't take a human life. He reaches down with one hand and holds the struggling Ben's mouth and nose shut, ever so calmly.
"She's not like us."
The second, the "commit" one, builds on nothing (save perhaps the episode it is a part of, but let's not pick nits). It is what it is in the here and now (or the there and then).
Some series get you in the first hour. Firefly. The West Wing. This. And if for some bizarre reason you haven't gotten around to this in the last five years, I feel no pity for you in spoiling the pilot here.
Terry Crowley has been assigned to tough cop Vic Mackey's Strike Team. Vic knows something's up, so when they go on a raid (crooked, but achieving a just goal), after they've taken down their target, killing him in a shower, Terry walks up to Vic. "Good job," and all that. Vic turns around and shoots him dead. Right in the face. A fellow officer.
That's the whole series right there. The beginning and the end and the promise of an amazing ride. It's everything you need to know in one determined flash.
ZOMGWTFBBQ! My favorite scenes involve the good guys killin' folks.
Contenders for these scenes during the 15 minutes or so I was thinking about it were:
- The Wire: "Old Cases" - The "fuck" scene
- Homicide: Life on the Street: "Crosetti" - Pembleton salutes Crosetti's funeral procession in dress blues
- The West Wing: "Two Cathedrals" - Bartlet's ranting at God in Latin
- Doctor Who: "Doomsday" - The Doctor's farewell to Rose
- Rescue Me: "Guts" - Tommy tells the psychiatrist about the little girl and the cat
- Firefly: "The Train Job" - Convincing the thugs to take the money back
- Homicide: The Movie (still TV) - Gee sees Adena Watson skipping through the squad room
- Deep Space Nine: "In The Pale Moonlight" - Sisko confesses to the station computer then erases it
- M*A*S*H: "Abysinnia, Henry" - Radar reports Col. Blake's death
- Veronica Mars: "Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough" - V extracts the copy machine confession