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Date Posted: 20:25:24 01/29/04 Thu
Author: Pouncer
Author Host/IP: 165.247.85.185
Subject: I loved it.
In reply to: Kuzibah 's message, "Angel 5/11 *SPOILERS*" on 09:49:42 01/29/04 Thu

How does Drew Goddard dip into my mind? I remember watching the first season of Angel and wishing he would meet one of his victims, a girl who had seen her family slaughtered by Angelus and Drusilla. She lay just inside the glass door where her mother had frantically pushed her, telling her “Don’t invite them in!” as her final words.

I wanted Angel to meet her, to have to live with his actions in a way Buffy never addressed. To know her pain and her struggle to survive seeing her mother and father and baby sister ripped to bloody pieces in front of her. (This fantasy was inspired by Drusilla’s remark about finding a child to kill after Angel kissed Buffy in I Only Have Eyes For You – I just knew that they had found some innocent.) So watching Dana the psychotic Slayer take out her rage and hurt on Spike was gorgeous in a completely horrifying kind of way. The final scene where Spike and Angel discuss what they loved about being a vampire was transcendent. Spike, all about the rush and the kill, Angel invested in the art of torture – each of them realizing the very human consequences of their actions.

Seeing Andrew again was pure joy. The echoes of Storyteller made me so happy, and his condescension towards the W&H group seemed perfectly in character. He’s part of the Cool Slayer inner circle now, while the rest of them are either Sunnydale cast-offs or unknowns. Andrew’s always wanted to see himself as an insider, as superior. I’m kind of surprised that Wesley didn’t taser him, actually. (Flashback to a favorite Conner moment: “Fred, I thought you were more of a taser girl.” Oh, delicious snarky sexy Connor. I miss you.)

I was impressed that I couldn’t decide if Spike had really been the one to torture Dana. He had moments where I was sure he was remembering the location, and she was so *certain*. The ambiguity of his reactions, when he tried to convince Dana that he hadn’t hurt *her*, even though he’d hurt many, many others – it made me shiver.

I liked the theme of seduction to the W&H side of the struggle. Gunn is going over the edge first, but the rest of them are being pulled into the dark too. Andrew’s final speech, backed up by the late-arriving Slayers, alerted our Heroes to their potential defilement. I hope they consider his warning. Although, being rejected by your former allies in the fight against evil must have a disheartening effect of its own.

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[> I agree with everybody. -- wwolfe, 22:26:19 01/29/04 Thu (68.69.234.250)

I can see the justice in Kuzibah's criticisms, but as I watched the episode last night I enjoyed it very much. The one glitch for me was the presence of all the Slayers at the end. Mike's explanation is possible, I suppose, but it still seems highly improbable that Andrew would be able to assemble so quickly such a large group, had he been instructed to do so by Giles at some point after Spike and Angel started their search for Dana. (I'd add that I liked the performance by the actress who played Dana. It was essentially a silent movie performance, given the near-total lack of dialogue foe the character. As such, she had to convey the character's essence through pantomime and other silent movie technique. In my view, she succeeded admirably. Kudos to the make-up people, or whoever chose to leave the three stripes of blood on the actress's face for most of the episode. It made her look like a warrior in battle make-up, which was perfect.)

One thing I liked, and found in character, was that Buffy didn't trust Angel after she found out he'd joined Wolfram & Hart. That just felt like her, to me. This wasn't Angelus, it was Angel choosing to work for the Devil, and Buffy has always had a problem with moral shades of gray. I agree with Kuz that the point of this season is to explore the moral ambiguity present in working with evil to do good; for me, it was important to show that, among the broad spectrum of possible responses to that situation, one would be immediate and outright rejection by someone close to Angel. In other words, not everyone would respond by mulling over the many difficult questions raised by Angel's situation. Someone would respond viscerally by saying a loud, firm "No." Based on everyone's past behavior, that someone would be either Buffy or Xander, and using Buffy obviously had more impact. (It also serves the handy real life purpose of explaining why Buffy won't be appearing on the show, given Sarah's decision in this regard.)

The one point there seems to be agreement on is the last scene, and I'll add my vote. For me, this was one of the best scenes ever from either show. Written with intelligence and subtlety, and played with his usual excellence by James. the surprise for me was David's work here: this was his best acting, in my view. Without showing any strain, without making a big show of *acting*, but with a very appealing calmness and sense of sureness in his ability, he projected a difficult and grown-up mix of very complex, contradictory emotions and thoughts - to a large measure, using only his eyes and his facial mask, in the bargain.


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