"Billy"
Some random thoughts--can't even really call this an essay....
I don't think Billy's power brought out some sort of primordial hatred or misogyny against women inside of a man. I think it was a transference of his own hatred. There was nothing ever present within Wesley or Gunn or Gavin that suggested even the slightest bit of hatred or animosity toward women. Wesley admired Fred's extreme intelligence (and this is before he had feelings for her) and was proud of Cordelia wanting to learn fight techniques to defend herself. One of the things possessed!Wes commented on was Fred's "provocative" attire. Hardly. Wes' attraction wasn't born from how Fred looked. And if anyone dressed provocatively at the job, it was Cordelia. And let me just say that her body is wicked. Srsly. The skank. Just kidding.
Gavin and Lilah always had a petty rivalry (and isn't Daniel Dae Kim just the cutest thing?). But whenever she told him to leave or shut up, he'd smirk and do just that. He never expressed resentment at her for being a woman in power or anything of the sort.
The old couple of fifty plus years...Yeah, they were all infected--not something buried deep within them brought to the surface.
There was one real sexist asswipe in the ep, however--the cab stand manager.
MAN 2: I got to say, I understand why he did it. I mean, there is a point, am I right? How many times do you feel like talking a fist to a customer?
ANGEL: One of your drivers finally snapped, huh?
MAN 2: Yeah, he beat the hell out of his fare.
ANGEL: A woman?
MAN 2: That surprise you? Probably sitting in the back, nagging, telling him how to drive. You know the type.
ANGEL: Yeah. Probably had it coming to her, huh?
MAN 2: I'm just saying...
It's funny--it affects all men differently. Gunn was able to realize it as it was happening to him, and had partial control over himself before Billy's poison took him over. Angel wasn't affected at all, due to his past evil doing somehow helping him surpass that level of pettyness and hatred, so he and Cordy discussed. That, and it's something he experienced and got over a long, long time ago. I think this contributed heavily to Wes' breakdown at the end of the ep--the fact that he wasn't able to resist, or didn't notice it happening to him. He was clearly too hard on himself, the poor boy.
I never noticed before that in the last scene, Wesley is not only sitting alone in the dark, staring at nothing, he is surrounded by used tissues on the floor (and not of the happy variety) at his desk, crying. He questioned what kind of man he was--how he was unsure. It was kind of sad, really. *huggles Wes*
ANGEL: Just trust me.
CORDELIA: I do.
(Hyperion, basement, Angel is standing behind Cordy, leaning in close.)
ANGEL: Don't stiffen up.
CORDELIA: Yeah, you either.
ANGEL: Alright. A good defense is about moving the line of attack. When the bad guy comes at you, you want to step off the line like this creating a new one. Every time you do, your opponent will be forced to adjust. Always make the other guy work.
CORDELIA: Okay. Move the line. Then what?
ANGEL: Then - just keep moving the line. You'll be able to keep an attacker busy until... You know.
CORDELIA: What? Until he dies of old age or until you swoop in to save me? Angel, I didn't ask you to train me so I could stave. I already know how to stave. Now I need to learn how to fight!
ANGEL: You don't think that I would?
CORDELIA: Would what?
ANGEL: Save you.
CORDELIA: Men-folk not always around to protect the women-folk, you know? Besides, what if it turned out you were the guy I had to fight? Could happen.
ANGEL: Okay.
I love this exchange here. Angel is earnest and wants to believe that he'll always be there to save her, but when Cordelia makes the point that she lives in the real world, he finishes the lesson. He'll be there as much as he can to save her if needed, but he does realize that she needs to be self sufficient.
So, for the ladies of the ep...Fred, who is unfortunately thought of as being an eternal damsel, escapes possessed!Wesley, knocks out possessed!Gunn, and then builds a little gizmo really quick that knocked Wesley on his ass and through the floor. Angel wasn't there to save her, but he wasn't needed. She saved herself. Cause possessed!Wes was totally about to hack her into a bunch of pieces, or until his hands cramped up.
Lilah is beaten horribly by possessed!Gavin. But Billy is not only her client, but the nephew of very important folks in town. She seeks refuge in her apartment, pours lots of drinks, and tells Angel to piss off more or less when he asked her for info. Cordelia comes and...is able to get a location out of her.
CORDELIA: You know that guy that you hired to hack into my visions? What he did to me? What it felt like? I was cut, my face disfigured, and burning with pain every second not knowing if it was gonna end or just get worse till I died.
LILAH: So you think I owe you...
CORDELIA: It's not the pain. It's the helplessness. The certainty that there is nothing you can do to stop it, that your life can be thrown away in an instant by someone else. He doesn't care. He'll beat you down until you stay down because he doesn't even think of you as alive. - No woman should ever have to go through that, and no woman strong enough to wear the mantel of 'vicious bitch' would ever put up with it. Where is Billy going?
<-- <3's Cordy.
Cordelia, feeling partially responsible for Billy's existence in that dimension, since Angel only resuced him to save her life, goes to the airport to presumably kill him, though she does say to send him back (No asswipe--I'm here to send you back). Not sure how she would have accomplished that on her own, so I reckon she was there to kill him. I have no problem with that. But then Angel appears, and says he's going to "waste" Billy himslef. Only he doesn't get the chance--after a quick fight, a shot rings out.
Bad Bitch Lilah is in the distance, holding her gun. That was such a cheer worthy moment...I think it would have been extra awesome, however, if she'd said a scathing insult before she shot him. Either way, it made me a tres happy camper.
I don't think Billy's power brought out some sort of primordial hatred or misogyny against women inside of a man. I think it was a transference of his own hatred. There was nothing ever present within Wesley or Gunn or Gavin that suggested even the slightest bit of hatred or animosity toward women. Wesley admired Fred's extreme intelligence (and this is before he had feelings for her) and was proud of Cordelia wanting to learn fight techniques to defend herself. One of the things possessed!Wes commented on was Fred's "provocative" attire. Hardly. Wes' attraction wasn't born from how Fred looked. And if anyone dressed provocatively at the job, it was Cordelia. And let me just say that her body is wicked. Srsly. The skank. Just kidding.
Gavin and Lilah always had a petty rivalry (and isn't Daniel Dae Kim just the cutest thing?). But whenever she told him to leave or shut up, he'd smirk and do just that. He never expressed resentment at her for being a woman in power or anything of the sort.
The old couple of fifty plus years...Yeah, they were all infected--not something buried deep within them brought to the surface.
There was one real sexist asswipe in the ep, however--the cab stand manager.
MAN 2: I got to say, I understand why he did it. I mean, there is a point, am I right? How many times do you feel like talking a fist to a customer?
ANGEL: One of your drivers finally snapped, huh?
MAN 2: Yeah, he beat the hell out of his fare.
ANGEL: A woman?
MAN 2: That surprise you? Probably sitting in the back, nagging, telling him how to drive. You know the type.
ANGEL: Yeah. Probably had it coming to her, huh?
MAN 2: I'm just saying...
It's funny--it affects all men differently. Gunn was able to realize it as it was happening to him, and had partial control over himself before Billy's poison took him over. Angel wasn't affected at all, due to his past evil doing somehow helping him surpass that level of pettyness and hatred, so he and Cordy discussed. That, and it's something he experienced and got over a long, long time ago. I think this contributed heavily to Wes' breakdown at the end of the ep--the fact that he wasn't able to resist, or didn't notice it happening to him. He was clearly too hard on himself, the poor boy.
I never noticed before that in the last scene, Wesley is not only sitting alone in the dark, staring at nothing, he is surrounded by used tissues on the floor (and not of the happy variety) at his desk, crying. He questioned what kind of man he was--how he was unsure. It was kind of sad, really. *huggles Wes*
ANGEL: Just trust me.
CORDELIA: I do.
(Hyperion, basement, Angel is standing behind Cordy, leaning in close.)
ANGEL: Don't stiffen up.
CORDELIA: Yeah, you either.
ANGEL: Alright. A good defense is about moving the line of attack. When the bad guy comes at you, you want to step off the line like this creating a new one. Every time you do, your opponent will be forced to adjust. Always make the other guy work.
CORDELIA: Okay. Move the line. Then what?
ANGEL: Then - just keep moving the line. You'll be able to keep an attacker busy until... You know.
CORDELIA: What? Until he dies of old age or until you swoop in to save me? Angel, I didn't ask you to train me so I could stave. I already know how to stave. Now I need to learn how to fight!
ANGEL: You don't think that I would?
CORDELIA: Would what?
ANGEL: Save you.
CORDELIA: Men-folk not always around to protect the women-folk, you know? Besides, what if it turned out you were the guy I had to fight? Could happen.
ANGEL: Okay.
I love this exchange here. Angel is earnest and wants to believe that he'll always be there to save her, but when Cordelia makes the point that she lives in the real world, he finishes the lesson. He'll be there as much as he can to save her if needed, but he does realize that she needs to be self sufficient.
So, for the ladies of the ep...Fred, who is unfortunately thought of as being an eternal damsel, escapes possessed!Wesley, knocks out possessed!Gunn, and then builds a little gizmo really quick that knocked Wesley on his ass and through the floor. Angel wasn't there to save her, but he wasn't needed. She saved herself. Cause possessed!Wes was totally about to hack her into a bunch of pieces, or until his hands cramped up.
Lilah is beaten horribly by possessed!Gavin. But Billy is not only her client, but the nephew of very important folks in town. She seeks refuge in her apartment, pours lots of drinks, and tells Angel to piss off more or less when he asked her for info. Cordelia comes and...is able to get a location out of her.
CORDELIA: You know that guy that you hired to hack into my visions? What he did to me? What it felt like? I was cut, my face disfigured, and burning with pain every second not knowing if it was gonna end or just get worse till I died.
LILAH: So you think I owe you...
CORDELIA: It's not the pain. It's the helplessness. The certainty that there is nothing you can do to stop it, that your life can be thrown away in an instant by someone else. He doesn't care. He'll beat you down until you stay down because he doesn't even think of you as alive. - No woman should ever have to go through that, and no woman strong enough to wear the mantel of 'vicious bitch' would ever put up with it. Where is Billy going?
<-- <3's Cordy.
Cordelia, feeling partially responsible for Billy's existence in that dimension, since Angel only resuced him to save her life, goes to the airport to presumably kill him, though she does say to send him back (No asswipe--I'm here to send you back). Not sure how she would have accomplished that on her own, so I reckon she was there to kill him. I have no problem with that. But then Angel appears, and says he's going to "waste" Billy himslef. Only he doesn't get the chance--after a quick fight, a shot rings out.
Bad Bitch Lilah is in the distance, holding her gun. That was such a cheer worthy moment...I think it would have been extra awesome, however, if she'd said a scathing insult before she shot him. Either way, it made me a tres happy camper.