Angel. The Fall
The main complaints against Angel's arc I saw online boil down to two claims: a) Angel is out of character and b) to service Buffy's journey, Angel is destroyed.
Judging by Jeanty's Q&As, Angel's arc in season 8 is over. He won't be in #40. It's time to sum up his story. What the hell has happened to him?
Twilight - a "brave new world" that wants to be born, needs two superpowered entities to create it by having super-sex. It looks for the candidates and it, apparently, finds them in Buffy and Angel. Twilight knows it can't convince Buffy - so it tries to manipulate Angel into working for it.
So, pre-season 8, Angel comes back to our times from the post-apocalyptic future. He saw the things to come and he knows that the Earth is doomed all the people he cares about will die. ("Once they’re gone, you’ll understand"). He is offered a chance to fix it at the cost of many lives. The entity who makes the offer is very powerful. There is a chance to save the Earth. Doing morally dubious stuff to save the world? In character for Angel.
Twilight, manifesting itself through people and animals, assures Angel that to save Buffy and the world he has to de-power her. Only de-powerment can lead to further empowerment - and starting the new step of the evolution. Twilight keeps the mechanism of the empowerment vague: Angel definitely doesn't know that space-frak is the necessary factor; he definitely doesn't know that the fallout is the death of the old world.
Angel doesn't like the plan. He has a conversation with Whistler who confirms it's the only way to save the day. Now, we don't know if this is the real Whistler, or Twilight!Whistler. We don't have any indication -- but if it was real Whistler, he could be telling the truth. And Angel's actions *did* contribute to avoiding the apocalypse. At a terrible price, but still.
Maybe the alternative was even worse? For example, Angel refuses to follow Twilight's plan; Twilight chooses Roden and Gigi; they give birth to Twilight and provide it with the Seed. Nobody can beat them, because they're Gods. Result: Earth dies.
It's interesting that the events in №34-38 created the impression that the Earth was destroyed. Yet in #39 we find out that the Earth is mostly okay. At least the tourist business in Venice thrives as usual. So, maybe the only way to save the Earth was to make Buffy and Angel Twilight's parents? Connor was the only person who could destroy Jasmine; similarly, Buffy may be the only person who could destroy Twilight.
Leyki on SlayAlive forums has raised a valid point: "So, if Whistler knew about the outcome, why didn't he just say, "Hey, Angel, you know there is a seed in Sunnydale, tell Buffy to grab her scythe and go and break it, or else thousands of people will die including Giles and basically you will be hated if you do something like pretending to be a guy in a mask."
I can argue that Whistler could somehow know that Willow would never allow Buffy to destroy the Seed. The only chance to destroy it was to create the situation when Willow was distracted by the fight, and she was sure that Buffy will defend th Seed at any cost. Maybe the whole Whistler's scheme was about distracting Willow in the crucial moment. (Yes, I know, it sounds kind of lame. Sorry. Sometimes Joss' plots don't make sense. Gipsy curse, anyone?)
Is Angel out of character here? Is he stupid and gullible?
I don't think so. There are many people - clever people! - who acted that way in real life. Who thought they could outsmart the laws of history and adjust them for their purposes -- only to discover that the laws of history used them. Unfortunately, my country's past is full of examples. All revolutions in Russia were made by clever people who thought they could make the world better. Besides, I know personally several people who underwent transformations similar to Angel's journey in season 5. After the fall of the communist regime they planned to create a better world working within the power structures during the Reconstruction. And they failed. 20 years ago they considered themselves rebels against the system and today they turned into the system's servants.
Back to Angel, I think that his hubris is the only factor that can overrun his cleverness. It's interesting to follow the route that led to Angel's perfect happiness in "Awakening". Wo-Pang led Angel to perfect happiness by making him save the world and get the girl. And, in the very end Angel believed in happily ever after. He couldn't get perfect happines without believing in it. The most important to him was saving the world and thus acquiring the love and respect of his family. Twilight played on his weakness perfectly. After everything that happened to Angel on AtS Twilight says that he can start anew. That he gets a second chance. Because he is special. And - deep inside, Angel considers himself special. Twilight deftly cultivated his weakness by molding him into the role of savior (the scene with the plane). I think Angel could buy it. He is not out of character.
Angel is a big-picture guy. It takes a specific personality to send people to fight and maybe die. Buffy, Spike, Faith can lead people to a battle, but they can't wage a war. Angel, Giles, Wesley - they're big-picture guys. Those who wage wars. But (and I think it's the main idea of Twilight arc) once you start killing "for greater good", you can't stop.
A couple of quotes to remind how Joss usually envisions heroic stuff.
Zoe: "You know what the definition of a hero is? Someone who gets other people killed. You can look it up later." ("Serenity")
Echo: "Are you saying she's evil?" -- Adelle: "Worse. An idealist." ("Dollhouse")
Joss-penned issue 5 "Chain" could be kind of foreshadowing of Twilight. The nameless girl invades the underworld and provokes a civil war. We see the situation from her POV. We're supposed to root for her. Still, if we don't take the emotional stuff into consideration, the facts are that she has intruded a foreign territory and instigated a war in which many species were killed. Was she right? Was she wrong? It's up to the audience' interpretation. The richer is the text, the more interpretations it provokes.
Is Angel's character destroyed? Is he redeemable?
I remember that back in 2002 fans were unhappy that Joss chose Andrew over Jonathan to join Scoobies and start a redemptive journey. Joss (or some other writer, I don't remember exactly) explained that for Jonathan redemption was too easy. They wanted to explore a character whose redemption was hard and controversial.
So far, Angel was on Greenwalt's redemptive journey, where redemption meant sexy brooding in leather pants. Yes, he had dark moments, but to quote aycheb, "Angel of AtS was an existential hero for about 10 minutes after mouthing the "everything we do" epiphany before he reverted to being the man(pire) who would be champion." Apparently, Joss has another, darker vision of Angel's journey. But he couldn't execute it on TV. AtS almost got closed after the second episode, because network considered it too dark. So writers tried to keep it up to TV standards. I have the impression that the next year we'll see the version of AtS Joss had in mind from the very beginning.
2010 was a game changer for Angel. Everything he believed in turned out to be a lie. He believed he was special. A golden boy of PtB. Turned out he was a puppet in a dirty game. Can he go on fighting after that realisation? What kind of epiphanies he will have? I can't wait to find out.
Angel has to learn humility - and it could be a fascinating journey.
It's not that I don't have issues with season 8. So far, the biggest issue for me, besides space-frak, is the assertion that Angel could try to keep Buffy to himself in their artificial paradise, knowing - seeing! - that her friends are in mortal danger and are fighting for their lives back on Earth. The only way to explain it is the glow's influence. As soon as the glow hits Buffy and Angel, they lose the ability to think clearly. Allie said that they're "drugged". I'd say they are seriously drugged. Apparently it was part of Twilight's plan to pump them up with aphrodisiac that clouded their judgement. Buffy had the willpower to resist the temptation and to convince Angel to return to Earth. Buffy is morally stronger here because it's her show. Angel has to return to his own series to become strong again.
Judging by Jeanty's Q&As, Angel's arc in season 8 is over. He won't be in #40. It's time to sum up his story. What the hell has happened to him?
Twilight - a "brave new world" that wants to be born, needs two superpowered entities to create it by having super-sex. It looks for the candidates and it, apparently, finds them in Buffy and Angel. Twilight knows it can't convince Buffy - so it tries to manipulate Angel into working for it.
So, pre-season 8, Angel comes back to our times from the post-apocalyptic future. He saw the things to come and he knows that the Earth is doomed all the people he cares about will die. ("Once they’re gone, you’ll understand"). He is offered a chance to fix it at the cost of many lives. The entity who makes the offer is very powerful. There is a chance to save the Earth. Doing morally dubious stuff to save the world? In character for Angel.
Twilight, manifesting itself through people and animals, assures Angel that to save Buffy and the world he has to de-power her. Only de-powerment can lead to further empowerment - and starting the new step of the evolution. Twilight keeps the mechanism of the empowerment vague: Angel definitely doesn't know that space-frak is the necessary factor; he definitely doesn't know that the fallout is the death of the old world.
Angel doesn't like the plan. He has a conversation with Whistler who confirms it's the only way to save the day. Now, we don't know if this is the real Whistler, or Twilight!Whistler. We don't have any indication -- but if it was real Whistler, he could be telling the truth. And Angel's actions *did* contribute to avoiding the apocalypse. At a terrible price, but still.
Maybe the alternative was even worse? For example, Angel refuses to follow Twilight's plan; Twilight chooses Roden and Gigi; they give birth to Twilight and provide it with the Seed. Nobody can beat them, because they're Gods. Result: Earth dies.
It's interesting that the events in №34-38 created the impression that the Earth was destroyed. Yet in #39 we find out that the Earth is mostly okay. At least the tourist business in Venice thrives as usual. So, maybe the only way to save the Earth was to make Buffy and Angel Twilight's parents? Connor was the only person who could destroy Jasmine; similarly, Buffy may be the only person who could destroy Twilight.
Leyki on SlayAlive forums has raised a valid point: "So, if Whistler knew about the outcome, why didn't he just say, "Hey, Angel, you know there is a seed in Sunnydale, tell Buffy to grab her scythe and go and break it, or else thousands of people will die including Giles and basically you will be hated if you do something like pretending to be a guy in a mask."
I can argue that Whistler could somehow know that Willow would never allow Buffy to destroy the Seed. The only chance to destroy it was to create the situation when Willow was distracted by the fight, and she was sure that Buffy will defend th Seed at any cost. Maybe the whole Whistler's scheme was about distracting Willow in the crucial moment. (Yes, I know, it sounds kind of lame. Sorry. Sometimes Joss' plots don't make sense. Gipsy curse, anyone?)
Is Angel out of character here? Is he stupid and gullible?
I don't think so. There are many people - clever people! - who acted that way in real life. Who thought they could outsmart the laws of history and adjust them for their purposes -- only to discover that the laws of history used them. Unfortunately, my country's past is full of examples. All revolutions in Russia were made by clever people who thought they could make the world better. Besides, I know personally several people who underwent transformations similar to Angel's journey in season 5. After the fall of the communist regime they planned to create a better world working within the power structures during the Reconstruction. And they failed. 20 years ago they considered themselves rebels against the system and today they turned into the system's servants.
Back to Angel, I think that his hubris is the only factor that can overrun his cleverness. It's interesting to follow the route that led to Angel's perfect happiness in "Awakening". Wo-Pang led Angel to perfect happiness by making him save the world and get the girl. And, in the very end Angel believed in happily ever after. He couldn't get perfect happines without believing in it. The most important to him was saving the world and thus acquiring the love and respect of his family. Twilight played on his weakness perfectly. After everything that happened to Angel on AtS Twilight says that he can start anew. That he gets a second chance. Because he is special. And - deep inside, Angel considers himself special. Twilight deftly cultivated his weakness by molding him into the role of savior (the scene with the plane). I think Angel could buy it. He is not out of character.
Angel is a big-picture guy. It takes a specific personality to send people to fight and maybe die. Buffy, Spike, Faith can lead people to a battle, but they can't wage a war. Angel, Giles, Wesley - they're big-picture guys. Those who wage wars. But (and I think it's the main idea of Twilight arc) once you start killing "for greater good", you can't stop.
A couple of quotes to remind how Joss usually envisions heroic stuff.
Zoe: "You know what the definition of a hero is? Someone who gets other people killed. You can look it up later." ("Serenity")
Echo: "Are you saying she's evil?" -- Adelle: "Worse. An idealist." ("Dollhouse")
Joss-penned issue 5 "Chain" could be kind of foreshadowing of Twilight. The nameless girl invades the underworld and provokes a civil war. We see the situation from her POV. We're supposed to root for her. Still, if we don't take the emotional stuff into consideration, the facts are that she has intruded a foreign territory and instigated a war in which many species were killed. Was she right? Was she wrong? It's up to the audience' interpretation. The richer is the text, the more interpretations it provokes.
Is Angel's character destroyed? Is he redeemable?
I remember that back in 2002 fans were unhappy that Joss chose Andrew over Jonathan to join Scoobies and start a redemptive journey. Joss (or some other writer, I don't remember exactly) explained that for Jonathan redemption was too easy. They wanted to explore a character whose redemption was hard and controversial.
So far, Angel was on Greenwalt's redemptive journey, where redemption meant sexy brooding in leather pants. Yes, he had dark moments, but to quote aycheb, "Angel of AtS was an existential hero for about 10 minutes after mouthing the "everything we do" epiphany before he reverted to being the man(pire) who would be champion." Apparently, Joss has another, darker vision of Angel's journey. But he couldn't execute it on TV. AtS almost got closed after the second episode, because network considered it too dark. So writers tried to keep it up to TV standards. I have the impression that the next year we'll see the version of AtS Joss had in mind from the very beginning.
2010 was a game changer for Angel. Everything he believed in turned out to be a lie. He believed he was special. A golden boy of PtB. Turned out he was a puppet in a dirty game. Can he go on fighting after that realisation? What kind of epiphanies he will have? I can't wait to find out.
Angel has to learn humility - and it could be a fascinating journey.
It's not that I don't have issues with season 8. So far, the biggest issue for me, besides space-frak, is the assertion that Angel could try to keep Buffy to himself in their artificial paradise, knowing - seeing! - that her friends are in mortal danger and are fighting for their lives back on Earth. The only way to explain it is the glow's influence. As soon as the glow hits Buffy and Angel, they lose the ability to think clearly. Allie said that they're "drugged". I'd say they are seriously drugged. Apparently it was part of Twilight's plan to pump them up with aphrodisiac that clouded their judgement. Buffy had the willpower to resist the temptation and to convince Angel to return to Earth. Buffy is morally stronger here because it's her show. Angel has to return to his own series to become strong again.