Not Fade Away.
Jul. 16th, 2004 11:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sharplittleteethSo. Angel's finished. Goodbye Buffyverse.
I liked it. It was not without its flaws, but I liked it.
The biggest flaw was the whole Circle of Black Thorns thing. Angel has spent the last five years telling us the embodiment of evil in this world was Wolfram & Hart. And then halfway through the penultimte episode, we're told it's actually these other guys, guys we've never heard of. The Black Thorns just didn't have the history for us to be emotionally invested in them. Even if they had a cool tribal-tatt logo.
So Angel sacrificing everything, including himself, to destroy them just didn't resonate.
It felt like a half thought out idea Joss Whedon tossed out to his team while he was distracted working on Serenity. I mean, here's a better idea: Angel goes all corporate evil to impress the Senior Partners. The Partners agree to hold the Annual General Meeting of Wolfram & Hart at the LA office. The heads of every WR&H branch in the world arrive. And Team Angel slaughter them. You'd still need to set it up, meeting the various heads throughout the season, but it would have wrapped up the series-long conflict much more neatly.
And the other flaw: no mention of Buffy. I know SMG is too busy with her so called "movie career". But the closure reached in the Buffy finale was ripped away here. Angel knew he was going to die. He couldn't have written her a letter?
Enough bitching. Why did I like it?
Cool one-liners. Some great character moments. The "go spend a day like it's your last" was a nice way to tie-up the characters. Spike reading at a poetry slam was just magic.
And Wesley. Poor, dear Wesley. Talk about a character arc. From comedy relief to tragic hero. I admit, his death scene choked me up. Poor bastard never got a chance.
And that ending. In a darkened alleyway, where it all began. The armies of evil bearing down.
Part of me wants them to make the rumoured telemovies, because I love these characters, and want to see more. But part of me hopes they don't, so they don't undermine that last scene.
Part of me hopes that really is the way they go out- outnumbered, doomed, faced with a battle they cannot (and never could) win.
But fighting it anyway.
-
Fuck. Just started crying. Weird. It's just a TV show.
I blame watching the second half of Buffy season 7 and the Angel finale on the same day. Let me just straighten my manliness.
But these things crawl into you heart, don't they? And you miss them when they leave.
I felt much the same when The Sandman ended. Both had their flaws, certainly. But both were something special. They sounded deep notes inside our dreams. And we got to share in these things not as something pristine and complete like a book on a shelf, but as something alive and unfurling before us.
Thank you, Mr Whedon. It's been grand.
I liked it. It was not without its flaws, but I liked it.
The biggest flaw was the whole Circle of Black Thorns thing. Angel has spent the last five years telling us the embodiment of evil in this world was Wolfram & Hart. And then halfway through the penultimte episode, we're told it's actually these other guys, guys we've never heard of. The Black Thorns just didn't have the history for us to be emotionally invested in them. Even if they had a cool tribal-tatt logo.
So Angel sacrificing everything, including himself, to destroy them just didn't resonate.
It felt like a half thought out idea Joss Whedon tossed out to his team while he was distracted working on Serenity. I mean, here's a better idea: Angel goes all corporate evil to impress the Senior Partners. The Partners agree to hold the Annual General Meeting of Wolfram & Hart at the LA office. The heads of every WR&H branch in the world arrive. And Team Angel slaughter them. You'd still need to set it up, meeting the various heads throughout the season, but it would have wrapped up the series-long conflict much more neatly.
And the other flaw: no mention of Buffy. I know SMG is too busy with her so called "movie career". But the closure reached in the Buffy finale was ripped away here. Angel knew he was going to die. He couldn't have written her a letter?
Enough bitching. Why did I like it?
Cool one-liners. Some great character moments. The "go spend a day like it's your last" was a nice way to tie-up the characters. Spike reading at a poetry slam was just magic.
And Wesley. Poor, dear Wesley. Talk about a character arc. From comedy relief to tragic hero. I admit, his death scene choked me up. Poor bastard never got a chance.
And that ending. In a darkened alleyway, where it all began. The armies of evil bearing down.
Part of me wants them to make the rumoured telemovies, because I love these characters, and want to see more. But part of me hopes they don't, so they don't undermine that last scene.
Part of me hopes that really is the way they go out- outnumbered, doomed, faced with a battle they cannot (and never could) win.
But fighting it anyway.
-
Fuck. Just started crying. Weird. It's just a TV show.
I blame watching the second half of Buffy season 7 and the Angel finale on the same day. Let me just straighten my manliness.
But these things crawl into you heart, don't they? And you miss them when they leave.
I felt much the same when The Sandman ended. Both had their flaws, certainly. But both were something special. They sounded deep notes inside our dreams. And we got to share in these things not as something pristine and complete like a book on a shelf, but as something alive and unfurling before us.
Thank you, Mr Whedon. It's been grand.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-15 06:47 pm (UTC)*cries at the thought of Wesley's death*
He was my favourite character. So much changed in that character.
Have you read Joss Whedon's Fray comic? (about a future slayer)
no subject
Date: 2004-07-15 06:51 pm (UTC)sorry sweetie i did this and though it was funny
Date: 2004-07-15 07:21 pm (UTC)Re: sorry sweetie i did this and though it was funny
Date: 2004-07-15 07:23 pm (UTC)(was your name/male/red/piercing blue eyes :P)
Miss kismet with big boobies! shell just fall over *giggle* sorry ..
Re: sorry sweetie i did this and though it was funny
Date: 2004-07-15 07:39 pm (UTC)Warrior-girl. :P
Re: sorry sweetie i did this and though it was funny
Date: 2004-07-15 10:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-17 11:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-17 07:55 pm (UTC)Serioulsy, though. If you didn't like, and didn't watch, Angel, then the last episode wouldn't have done much for you. It used the weight of history behind the characters for its impact.
Whish is what you want, from a final episode.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-21 12:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-18 06:39 pm (UTC)Odd, huh.
I liked the ending, but clearly you enjoyed it more than I.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-18 07:09 pm (UTC)Really?
Still doesn't excuse pulling some Big Bad out of their arses at the last minute, when they had a perfectly good Big Bad from the laast five years.