Angel 5x18 -- Origin

[butterfly]

I love ME titles. I love that they pretty much cover every aspect of the episode. They can be taken in several different ways, though there's usually one or two dominant readings. Love them.

God, I'm going to miss having a Joss Whedon show to look forward to. The only other show that can hit me as deeply is due South. There are other series that I love, but none of them hit mental and emotional with as much punch as Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and due South have. I suspect that has to do with the characters -- these shows feature characters that feel like people, despite (or perhaps enhanced by) their fantastic surroundings. Truth in fiction. They all also feature people who are flawed, yet who are, at heart, basically good people. People that you'd like to know.

I love how Memory Wiped Connor can say the most two-edged things to us, but they're totally innocent to him.

"Of course, my parents are liars now and I'll never trust them again."

He's perfect, this Connor Not Connor. Well-adjusted, friendly, and still completely Connor. Amazing. I love VK. Such a wonderful actor.

And Angel definitely brought all that on himself.

"You have to trust me."
"I can't. Not anymore."

Damn straight. And I love Illyria being Wes' support. It beats up Spike and calls him a pet, but Wes is a guide, a... companion. "He doesn't follow you anymore." Illyria has got Wes' back, yo.

I adore this episode (and I do like the W/I scenes last week even more in retrospect -- they had some time to bond). God, love it so much.

He remembered. And he got what he wanted -- a better lie. He chose it this time. He chose it.

Connor has a life to go back to now.

Friendly, well-adjusted.

Still Connor.

And Angel now has to live with the consequences of not informing Wesley of his actions. Now, everything is known, and Wesley can't trust Angel or himself.

Comments

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

He remembered. And he got what he wanted -- a better lie. He chose it this time. He chose it.

Yes! Oh yes! I was near sobbing as the credits rolled at that realization - that Connor knew, but with the memories of his happy family he was able to push The Destroyer to the back of his mind. So Angel's decision wasn't in vain.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I never had as much of a problem with Angel choosing the lie for Connor -- we knew, via his monologue with Cordy, that he was fine with a lie that made him happy (though Angel didn't and was just being arrogant in thinking he had the right to make that choice). It was changing the memories that made it a problem for me, especially when it came to Wes, who sucks on partial information. Wesley needs accurate information. Nobody is better at making decisions than a Wes with comprehensive and accurate information. But he sucks with partials.

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

Wesley does need accurate information. Poor Wes.

I wrote up a whole review of Origin that focuses largely on Connor, if you'd be interested. You can find it here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/thepouncer/115124.html#cutid3

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yay! More Connor-focused essays are always good.