[.ca] Watcher's Guide 2 (ISBN 0613633660)

From Amazon.co.uk:
Packed with information, photos and hundreds of great quotes from seasons three and four of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Watcher's Guide Volume 2 is just as comprehensive as the first Watcher's Guide. For newcomers, the background to the Slayer, her Watcher and their duties to fight the forces of darkness are sketched in, then the book moves rapidly on to character profiles and brief episode guides for seasons three and four, all liberally sprinkled with chunks of razor-sharp dialogue and explanations of pop culture references. An insightful section, "The Pain", focuses on the doomed relationships, deaths of loved ones, experiences of betrayal and lack of trust that have forced the characters to develop and change. These are the serious stories about growing up that have always been at the heart of Buffy. Having thoroughly dissected the characters, the book then goes behind the scenes with profiles of the actors, an in-depth look at the many aspects of production, listings of featured bands and songs and a brief section on merchandising. The main omission is any focus on monsters--for that, turn to the excellent Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Monster Book, which goes into encyclopaedic detail on all the monsters to have appeared on the show. This book is a more general companion, and performs its duties as well, and as sassily, as the Slayer herself. --Elizabeth Sourbut

Wow- -Unbelievably Bad:
Like the title says--Unbelievably Bad. Its an official companion to the show, and it sucks. Bit Me--An Unofficial Guide is so much better and much more worth the money. This is pretty much straightforward, spoiler packed, boring takes on the show and its characters. Bit Me, has interesting things about each episode, such as mistakes to look for, while this, just tells about each episode and goes on to the next. This has half page summaries of the characters, while Bite Me has sever pages per, including a summary of Buffy from the Movie to the planning of the show, all the way through the change of networks. i must say, this was one of the most worthless things I've ever bought.

The Bible to seasons 3 and 4:
The Watcher's guide vol 2 is a definite improvement on the first. It is more geared to the adult viewer and fan and fully covers season 3 and 4 of BtVS. It is a more indepth review of the actors, characters, behind the scenes workers and of course the episodes. It does an especially good job with the Season 4 finale (restless)- which is confusing and full of symbolic meaning, allusions and prophecy. It also gives us an indepth behind the scenes view of what goes into making a Buffy episode (the I in team). The book is also filled with great photos and ilustrations. It is a great book for all Buffy fans, and even the casual viewer will appreciate all the nuances that are involved in each episode. Buy this book!

The Agony and the Ecstasy:
If it was the end of Season 2 that made it clear that Joss Whedon's little fancy of a young Slayer and her doughty band of misfits was a force to be contended with, it was the following two seasons that demonstrated the ability of BTVS to baffle its critics and make original dramatic statements completely beyond the range of standard teen fare. Volume 2 of The Watcher's Guide is a giant concatenation of all that went into the making of those two years. From props to folks, and every kind of critter in between. This is the time when love blossoms and falls on its face - the spectacular Zander/Willow/Cordelia/Oz breakup playing counterpoint to the winding down of Buffy's relationship with Angel. Then graduation, college, the Initiative and even more strange relationship vibes. The appearance of Riley, Anya, and Tara. The repercussion of these two seasons are still echoing years later, so watching them and learning their backgrounds are required reading for the Buffy fanatic \oin my case it's Willow fanatic\c Partially, this is a repeat of Volume 1's style with more details, fewer quotes and a whole lot of interviews. Of course, it is quite a bit thicker. Some of which is explained by the presence of more glossy photos, but a major component is the writers' compulsive expenditure of energy on lengthy interviews. This is a good, not a bad. Moreover, very little is a rehash of the Volume 1 articles. One of my pet likes was the planning of all the staff interviews around the production of Episode 13 from Season 4, 'The I in Team.' It introduces all the people who never get on film, and provides a mini-lesson on what goes into the making of an episode. As I said, if you are going to be a fan you have to read these. So put down the stakes and rest in your coffins with a good book.

Even better than the first Watcher's Guide!:
While the first Watcher's Guide was almost like a test for the Buffy audience to see if such a book would appeal to them, this second Watcher's Guide is written on the author's knowledge of the success of the first! Its format is much like that of the first Watcher's Guide with a detailed episode guide and interesting explanations of Joss Whedon's pop culture references in the show. As Season 4 became more complex than previous seasons, this book is an essential and informative guide that will help viewers to understand the meanings of such episodes as "Restless" as well as pick up on smaller things that they may have missed. It also includes exclusive information about the makeup and behind-the-scenes work done on Buffy including photos of the cast backstage, which is always interesting. There are several pages of colour photos throughout the book which are also a good item to have for any die-hard Buffy fan. The only gripe I have about this book is that I would have loved to have seen more quotes!! The writing is one of my favourite parts of the TV show so I would have liked to have seen them show off some off Joss' best work! Other than that, this book is a great read for any Buffy fan with a lot of time on their hands; it's a fair bit longer than the first Watcher's Guide but that's just more fascinating information on the show to learn about! A must-have for any Buffy fans, and it is an obvious addition to the first Watcher's Guide if you already own that one. I say, bring on Watcher's Guide 3!

A Good Guide To Go By:
I found 'The Watcher's Guide 2' a very interesting book. Not only did it have great detail about the main characters, but special guest stars as well (in character that is). I also found the choice of photos refreshing since they are not the same photos you seem to see everywhere.