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Date Posted: 21:20:48 02/18/04 Wed
Author: firechilD
Author Host/IP: 203.48.107.226
Subject: The Essence of ...


My daughter was working her way through the Buffy episodes again the other day, and she got up to 'Anne'. It contains one of my all time favourite Slayer quips (Wanna see my impression of Gandhi?) and also the return of a minor character from Season 2. She then returns in 2 episodes of Angel, and has herself a nice little arc over the course of those episodes. So today's DVD Set is ...

Joan/Chantarelle/Lily/Anne

Buffy S2.07 Lie to Me
Nice introduction of her character, as a young woman looking for some direction in life, and naively making some poor choices. Some great dialogue from her throughout the ep, "We welcome anyone who's interested in the Lonely Ones." "You don't have to be so confrontational about it. Other viewpoints than yours may be valid, you know." These are counter pointed nicely with some Buffy Dialogue "This is not the mother ship, people! This is ugly death come to play!" and "You are playing in some serious traffic here! Do you understand that? You're going to die! And the only hope you have of surviving this is to get out of this pit right now, and, my God, could you have a dorkier outfit?"

Episode ends with her being attacked by Spike who feeds on her, but in the end she is rescued by Buffy. That's the kind of thing that is going to make you question your life choices.

Buffy S3.01 Anne
Time has passed, she's changed her name again, and rather than looking for the answers within an organisation/cult she is pinning her dreams on her relationship with a single guy. She is poor and living on the streets, and has obviously had some more bad experiences since we last saw her, but she is still smiling and upbeat and trying to find happiness. Again, a nice counterpoint to how Buffy is feeling at the start of Season 3.

A great choice to bring back an old character for Buffy to save. Lily could have been just anyone that Buffy had to save, but bringing back a minor character from Sunnydale added to the metaphor of Buffy not being able to run from her past. The final confrontation in "Hell", and Lily has her moment to literally stand up to her demons as she pushes Ken from the ledge. She takes her first step in believing in herself instead of looking for help/approval from others. From her last exchange with Buffy ... Lily: I'm not great at taking care of myself. Buffy: Gets Easier. Takes practise.

Angel 2.12 Blood Money
Having now taken the moniker of Anne (And now I'm wondering if the title of the Buffy episode is referring to Buffy or Lily) She runs into Angel again. Neither of them recognise each other, but that's reasonable. A lot of time has passed, and they've both been to hell and back (in several interpretations of the word). Anne has pulled herself together, to the point where she can not only take care of herself, but is running a shelter to help others that are in need. She has become a lot harder (nearing Buffy's temperament in 'Anne') having witnessed any number of ugly things in the intervening years, the worst of which had no supernatural element. Anne: "Well, I've seen worse things since. A fourteen-year-old girl sitting in her own blood after a rough trick and dozens of people just walking right by, so no, vampires, demons, even lawyers pretty much don't impress me."

This episode is grounded in reality, focusing on the evils of Big Business, and how easily morals can be corrupted even when we think we're trying to do good. She has the opportunity to let herself be used by W&H to get $100 000, with which she could do all sorts of good. In the end she can't, because she knows the money W&H get out of it will let them do all sorts of evil and hurt countless numbers of people. She was not willing to sacrifice people she would never see/know in order to help the people closest to her. And as it happens in morality tales, she is rewarded for her moral upstanding, by receiving the whole amount.

Angel 2.14 The Thin Dead Line
Anne's arc was pretty much wrapped up in 'Blood Money', with her and the shelter mainly being used as background for the action of this episode. We get to see more of the day to day (night to night) running of the shelter, and the rules and structure that Anne has tried to impart on the lives of the kids she's looking out for. This episode coming only a couple of weeks after 'Blood Money', we're not given the opportunity to see how that's changed things for her. Not the greatest of episodes to end her story, but you never know ... there's a handful of episodes left, where she might appear again for her last hurrah.

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Replies:

[> Re: The Essence of ... -- wwolfe, 11:27:44 02/19/04 Thu (161.149.63.107)

It might be interesting to see what she thinks of Angel's decision to work for Wolfram & Hart, particularly as it compares with her own choice in "Blood Money." Whether Joss has any plans to do so, and whether there's enough time left to devote any to a sub-plot like this, I don't know. Plus, we still need to find out the answer to that burning question: what the heck ever happened to Willie the Snitch? I do love how both shows have utilized small, even seemingly inconsequential, roles over the long run of the last eight years. It might not be unprecedented, but I'm willing to bet no other show has done it as well.


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[> [> I'm with you on the use of recurring characters -- Pouncer, 11:52:58 02/19/04 Thu (156.80.140.115)

Buffy and Angel have done it like no other. And Anne was a great character.


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