Customer Reviews
The Official Companion to Seasons 3 & 4 of "Buffy" - By: , 19 Nov 2001 
"The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2" is hard to rate because while it is superior to the vast majority of official (or unofficial) companion volumes to various hit television series, it does not seem to be as good as the first volume, which means it is still a great deal for fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." There are three major & two minor sections to this volume, with focuses on seasons three & four of Buffy. First there is the Buffyverse, which recaps what we need to know from the first two seasons of the series in terms of the whats & wheres, covers the main characters with choice quotes from each, & includes an interesting section on "The Pain" which explores the rich pathos of the series. Section two covers the episodes from seasons three & four by providing plot synopses, choice quotes, lines cut from the original teleplays, continuity concerns, pop-culture footnotes, & updates on "The Agony & the Ecstasy" dealing with the aforementioned pathos. The third section provides cast profiles, which are reallly a hit & miss compilation, with most of the regulars receiving brief treatment & then interviews of varying lengths & value with the rest, most of whom are guest stars. The use of interviews continues throughout the fourth section on the production side of Creating Buffy. The last two sections deal with "The Bands of Buffy" & "Merchandising."
The first volume of "The Watcher's Guide" offered 300 pages & while Volume 2 taps out closer to 500 you do not reallly get the feeling you are getting that much more in terms of quality. When I look over this volume now I think I know why: It is not because the original team of Christopher Golden & Nancy Holder split up for him to do "The Monster Book" & her to do "The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2." It is because the second half of the book consists of interview transcripts & I think this comes across as being sort of the easy way out. There is some good information & stories in most of the interviews, but sure, a few of them are not worth the effort. You cannot fault Holder & her new cohorts Jeff Mariotte & Maryelizabeth Hart for being comprehensive, but taking more than one pass at each of these people might have been helpful. The main thing is that Joss Whedon's people are out there putting extra effort into these companion volumes & you are not going to find something for another show as good as this volume, whatever its problems.
A great book - By: , 15 Mar 2001 This book is a must for any true buffy fan. It has cast info, ep guides & more.
This book is a must have ! - By: , 25 Feb 2001 i got wg2 for xmas & it's a brilliant read that contains interesting facts & gives you behind the scene info from the cast & crew :alll in alll a good buy!!!
A follow up that's as good as what came before ... - By: , 07 Dec 2000 It seems that every popular show nowadays has some kind of episode guide/companion book hastily thrown together to go with it so its a delight to see one that is actuallly worth the price & even better, its as good as, if not better than Volume One. To any Buffy fans, this book is a must & even if you're not a fan of the show, dip in - its informative without being gushing & has some excellent colour stills of the cast & behind the scenes info - & you might find yourself realising that its more than just a 'kids show'.
Definitely matches expectations from the first Guide - By: , 12 Nov 2000 This companion to seasons three & four is detailed, with excellent synopses for each episode complete with notes on continuity, relationships etc, a good selection of photos from the set, the show & publicity shots, & an amazingly in-depth guide to how the show is put together with interviews with cast & representatives from most of the crew areas. Certainly value for money.
But as a Buffy/Angel fan (of the couple), I was disappointed. I felt that in both the section on romantic relationships & also in these sections of the episode guide, their relationship was played down, as if the writers let their knowledge of the end of season three colour how they wrote the relationship actuallly during season three. Some details of the 'Angel' crossover eps would also have been nice. In contrast to that, I felt that the Buffy/Riley relationship was played up to an extent not backed up by the show.
But buy it anyway, because the other stuff makes it worth it.
