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butterflyIt would, I think, be a little fascinating to chart who liked last night's Angel and who didn't. It reminds me of the difference between people whose favorite dS seasons are the Vecchio ones and those who favor three and four.
Because the Kowalski seasons definitely embrace farce and genre and change more than the first two do. I'm reminded of reading about how Fraser was so very out of character during some later episodes (Seeing is Believing, Odds, for example).
On Angel, there's been a lot of use of plays in perspective this year. We don't see Buffy because Angel and Spike are not in a mental place where they can see Buffy. Rome is... well, you saw Spike's black and white flashback. They weren't trying to show us Italy. It was Italy through the eyes of two vampires who weren't paying attention. All they notice are the things that are blatantly shoved under their noses because they're so busy chasing Buffy that they can't see anything else.
They don't just do it to Rome -- they do it to everything. The Immortal is powerful, seductive, and unseen. Buffy is elusive and tempting. Andrew is a total leech and then suddenly suave and wise. The Angel/Spike storyline is the culmination of the way they've been acting like idiots around each other all season. Because the Immortal is Angel to Spike and Spike to Angel. They never see him because they're standing right next to him the entire time.
And then they take the same basic theme -- lost love -- and show the complete tragic nature of it (the tempo of the show reminded me of Moulin Rouge). Wesley's scenes with Illyria qua Fred were heartbreaking. We see him making a choice similar to Angel's for the sake of a loved one -- a kind lie instead of the painful reality. We see him rejecting that for himself, not because he doesn't want it, but because it wouldn't be enough.
I've mentioned before the scariness of Wesley's love, especially when it comes to Fred -- he wants everything, though he's usually willing to settle for what he can get (in other words, he'll so break if Illyria keeps up her program).
Because the Kowalski seasons definitely embrace farce and genre and change more than the first two do. I'm reminded of reading about how Fraser was so very out of character during some later episodes (Seeing is Believing, Odds, for example).
On Angel, there's been a lot of use of plays in perspective this year. We don't see Buffy because Angel and Spike are not in a mental place where they can see Buffy. Rome is... well, you saw Spike's black and white flashback. They weren't trying to show us Italy. It was Italy through the eyes of two vampires who weren't paying attention. All they notice are the things that are blatantly shoved under their noses because they're so busy chasing Buffy that they can't see anything else.
They don't just do it to Rome -- they do it to everything. The Immortal is powerful, seductive, and unseen. Buffy is elusive and tempting. Andrew is a total leech and then suddenly suave and wise. The Angel/Spike storyline is the culmination of the way they've been acting like idiots around each other all season. Because the Immortal is Angel to Spike and Spike to Angel. They never see him because they're standing right next to him the entire time.
And then they take the same basic theme -- lost love -- and show the complete tragic nature of it (the tempo of the show reminded me of Moulin Rouge). Wesley's scenes with Illyria qua Fred were heartbreaking. We see him making a choice similar to Angel's for the sake of a loved one -- a kind lie instead of the painful reality. We see him rejecting that for himself, not because he doesn't want it, but because it wouldn't be enough.
I've mentioned before the scariness of Wesley's love, especially when it comes to Fred -- he wants everything, though he's usually willing to settle for what he can get (in other words, he'll so break if Illyria keeps up her program).
