VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 19:56:08 11/26/01 Mon
Author: KhaliG
Subject: Re: Shanna's Commentary on "Lullaby"
In reply to: Blue 's message, "Shanna's Commentary on "Lullaby"" on 09:37:55 11/26/01 Mon

>from the Angel newsgroup:
>
>Spoilers for "Lullaby"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>I've never had strong feelings one way or another
>about Darla, but she was at her best here. I loved her
>confusion that at first had her teetering between her
>usual edge and the tenderness the baby's soul gave
>her. I liked that there was a distinct difference
>between human Darla with a soul and Darla affected by
>the baby's soul. Darla's soul was too harsh and jaded
>to ever really get any impact from her sins as a
>vampire. She just didn't like the weakness that came
>from being human. She never really showed any signs of
>regret. But the purity of the baby's soul couldn't
>deal with everything she'd done.

While I loved the portrayal of Darla in this ep, I am beginning to believe that Darla's changes throughout Lullaby, started in Quickening, were a combination of the baby's soul, Darla's own feelings, and the fact that she *saw* the baby for the first time on the ultrasound. I remember that the crack in darla's armour didn't start showing until she began crying in the back seat of Angel's car and that was most likely due to the fact that she was given the chance to see the baby and realize that it was not some foreign body inside of her. The baby was a part of her and it wasn't until Quickening that she began to fully acknowledge that to herself. I think that darla's been connecting to the baby all through her pregnancy and her actions in Offspring, while wrong on a humongous scale, were her way of trying to deny the fact that being pregnant changed something inside of her and she refused to allow herself to feel connected to her baby.
>Angel -- As much as he's seen, he still seems quite
>the idealist. He still believes in miracles and happy
>endings. He couldn't accept the idea that he would get
>half a miracle. And he seemed genuinely pleased with
>Darla's "redemption." He's said he didn't love Darla,
>but I'd say his feelings for her are rather
>complicated. I'm curious to see how he responds to
>this child now
>that it's born. I also enjoyed his initial encounter
>with Holtz. He never tries to justify himself. He
>doesn't try to offer explanations. I have to respect
>the fact that he never tries to get out of his fate,
>saying only that things have changed.
You had to wonder what kind of woman Darla
>would have been if she hadn't faced whatever hardships
>had hardened her so much, if she'd known real love as
>a human.

I guess, for now, the best way to define Darla is "What could have been." I found it very sad that darla thought of the world as a horrible place and she kept wondering why anyone would want to bring a baby into this world. It just seems so sad that this character is so devoid of hope, yet so insipiring that this very same character was willing to give her life so that a new being could have hope.
>

I think the scene
>between Angel and Darla in "The Trial" when she
>accepted her death just before Dru showed up and the
>scenes between Angel and Darla in this episode showed
>(in my opinion) a deeper connection than any other
>pairing I've yet seen involving Angel. And not only
>was there a real depth, but there was more of a sense
>of equality than he's had with anyone else. I suppose
>they are soulmates, in a way. Nobody else could
>understand either of them enough to have that kind of
>connection.

I'm not a fan of the word, "soulmates". It's used way too often in fandom to describe 'ships that are the status quo and sometimes stifling to the story. However, I can get what this poster means. Watching and re-watching the Angel/Darla scenes in Lullaby give me such a strong feeling of utter *connectedness* between those two characters, that I have yet to feel with Angel/Cordy or even Angel/Buffy. You can so see the deep sense of history and depth of feeling between those two that's just begging to be mined and explored. The Angel/Darla relationship is a 'ship that for me, just defies easy categorization just as Buffy/Spike do on BtVS. I'm not sure if I can call their relationship "just obsession", that ignores the level of history and the length of time they spent together. I'm not sure if I can call their relationship "just lust", because while there was plenty of sex, there just seems to be something more to it. I'm not sure if I even truly believe in Angel's statement that he never loved Darla and she never loved him. I think that I need more information and time before I can make a judgement call on the 'ship, but I'm not sure if I should or can. Maybe the Angel/Darla relationship just is and that's all there is to it.

~Khali

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

  • Re: Well I agree much more with this review than with David Hines.. -- Trinity. . . jumping right in! =), 21:04:50 11/26/01 Mon
  • Re: Well I agree much more with this review than with David Hines.. -- KhaliG, 22:16:45 11/26/01 Mon
  • Re: Well I agree much more with this review than with David Hines.. -- ngser, 22:44:59 11/26/01 Mon
    Post a message:
    This forum requires an account to post.
    [ Create Account ]
    [ Login ]
    [ Contact Forum Admin ]

    Forum timezone: GMT-8
    VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
    Before posting please read our privacy policy.
    VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
    Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.