Season Five - Negative Space
Feb. 12th, 2004 12:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
butterflySo, I have plans to write a S5 Connor essay at some point. I'm not writing it yet, but I'm outlining. I'm pretending that I'm writing the essay now, so that when I do, I have the structure. And of course, I know no spoilers, so any speculation about episodes past Why We Fight is just that - if I'm totally wrong, then I'm totally wrong.
Yes, I'm a huge dork. Let's move on.
First off, let's set the terms.
There are many ways to view Connor, but for me, it all comes down to one thing - Connor is the physical embodiment of all of Angel's hopes.
That's fairly depressing, especially in light of this season. Angel's hopes are missing - erased by his own choices.
First off, this is a particularly appropriate time to do this outline, because the only way to have had more Connor in Why We Fight would have been to have VK show up.
Negative Space
The thread of Connor has been woven tightly into every important show thread since we first heard of his existence. In Season Three, we had potential. In Season Four, we had the experience. And now, in Season Five, we are in the midst of the absence.
The point of this essay is explore the meaning of Connor as a allegory - Connor is Angel's hope. Connor is why Angel fought, and as the title of the latest episode tauntingly pointed out, Angel is missing that reason, that purpose.
In the first episode, the problem is actually articulated - Eve mentions Connor. In our 'checkpoint' episode, Connor is again mentioned by name. Most of the time, Connor is referred to obliquely - there have been many 'ocean' mentions this year, and the ocean is forever a reminder of Connor and when Connor turned on Angel. The sound of the ocean is what fills the empty Angel, who is forever looking out behind the glass wall of his new prison.
The first episode, then, establishes what is missing in Angel - Connor and mercy. Truth and hope. Belief and conviction. All of Angel's parts have been removed and he's empty but for the sound of his wasted dreams.
The second episode sets up the fake-out.
Spike is not Connor and is almost never a true echo (although he's a delicious thing to put next to Angel). Moreover, Spike is from Angelus' past - with Spike, Angel sees the evil of Angelus, with Connor, he saw the failure of Angel. Like Communism, Spike is a red herring. Spike is the one who is not. This was further shown in Why We Fight, when we had a clear (almost too clear at times) mirror of Connor in Lawson (Law's son - appropriate that he returns when Angel has joined a law firm).
The third episode shows us Angel's position in the person of Nina. Her choice is his choice, and he thinks that he made the right one. Yet Nina will still fantasize about ripping out the throat of her niece. Lying doesn't change the facts. As Cordy said, he allowed an evil law firm to rape the minds of his friends, who trusted him.
Then there's the Wesley factor, which again revolves completely around the Connor situation. We have Numero Cinco, who shows us what happens to people who lose their hearts. There's the minefield of Soul Purpose. And Damage reminds us of how a mind can break. So many pieces, all falling into place, marking out the outline of a shape that is slowly becoming clearer.
A whipcord thin boy, with power and grace. Eyes filled with anger and pain and longing. Words of hate and love and need.
Angel: "I'm sorry. You just don't understand how this world works."
Connor: "I understand. Sunny was nice. Now she's dead."
Angel: "I couldn't find a way in."
Connor: "I found a way out."
Connor: "That's what you are."
Angel: "It's part of what I am. A part I hope you will be able to accept one day."
Connor: "You'd have to kill me first."
- A New World
Oh, and we've had a mention of forgiveness this season.
Harmony: "Forgive and forget, I say! It's the Golden Rule."
Gunn: "These guys are not gonna forgive, and they're definitely not gonna forget until we figure out-"
- Harm's Way
On a totally different topic, I need a new job. Not because my old one is in any danger of being lost, but because I'm increasingly being put off by the fast food industry in general. Burgerville may be one of the healthiest fast food places, but that doesn't make it healthy. Fried is fried. I had pizza tonight and I've been increasingly put off by that, too. Anticipating having pizza is more yummy than having one, at this point.
Yes, I'm a huge dork. Let's move on.
First off, let's set the terms.
There are many ways to view Connor, but for me, it all comes down to one thing - Connor is the physical embodiment of all of Angel's hopes.
That's fairly depressing, especially in light of this season. Angel's hopes are missing - erased by his own choices.
First off, this is a particularly appropriate time to do this outline, because the only way to have had more Connor in Why We Fight would have been to have VK show up.
Negative Space
The thread of Connor has been woven tightly into every important show thread since we first heard of his existence. In Season Three, we had potential. In Season Four, we had the experience. And now, in Season Five, we are in the midst of the absence.
The point of this essay is explore the meaning of Connor as a allegory - Connor is Angel's hope. Connor is why Angel fought, and as the title of the latest episode tauntingly pointed out, Angel is missing that reason, that purpose.
In the first episode, the problem is actually articulated - Eve mentions Connor. In our 'checkpoint' episode, Connor is again mentioned by name. Most of the time, Connor is referred to obliquely - there have been many 'ocean' mentions this year, and the ocean is forever a reminder of Connor and when Connor turned on Angel. The sound of the ocean is what fills the empty Angel, who is forever looking out behind the glass wall of his new prison.
The first episode, then, establishes what is missing in Angel - Connor and mercy. Truth and hope. Belief and conviction. All of Angel's parts have been removed and he's empty but for the sound of his wasted dreams.
The second episode sets up the fake-out.
Spike is not Connor and is almost never a true echo (although he's a delicious thing to put next to Angel). Moreover, Spike is from Angelus' past - with Spike, Angel sees the evil of Angelus, with Connor, he saw the failure of Angel. Like Communism, Spike is a red herring. Spike is the one who is not. This was further shown in Why We Fight, when we had a clear (almost too clear at times) mirror of Connor in Lawson (Law's son - appropriate that he returns when Angel has joined a law firm).
The third episode shows us Angel's position in the person of Nina. Her choice is his choice, and he thinks that he made the right one. Yet Nina will still fantasize about ripping out the throat of her niece. Lying doesn't change the facts. As Cordy said, he allowed an evil law firm to rape the minds of his friends, who trusted him.
Then there's the Wesley factor, which again revolves completely around the Connor situation. We have Numero Cinco, who shows us what happens to people who lose their hearts. There's the minefield of Soul Purpose. And Damage reminds us of how a mind can break. So many pieces, all falling into place, marking out the outline of a shape that is slowly becoming clearer.
A whipcord thin boy, with power and grace. Eyes filled with anger and pain and longing. Words of hate and love and need.
Angel: "I'm sorry. You just don't understand how this world works."
Connor: "I understand. Sunny was nice. Now she's dead."
Angel: "I couldn't find a way in."
Connor: "I found a way out."
Connor: "That's what you are."
Angel: "It's part of what I am. A part I hope you will be able to accept one day."
Connor: "You'd have to kill me first."
- A New World
Oh, and we've had a mention of forgiveness this season.
Harmony: "Forgive and forget, I say! It's the Golden Rule."
Gunn: "These guys are not gonna forgive, and they're definitely not gonna forget until we figure out-"
- Harm's Way
On a totally different topic, I need a new job. Not because my old one is in any danger of being lost, but because I'm increasingly being put off by the fast food industry in general. Burgerville may be one of the healthiest fast food places, but that doesn't make it healthy. Fried is fried. I had pizza tonight and I've been increasingly put off by that, too. Anticipating having pizza is more yummy than having one, at this point.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
I just wanted to say
Date: 2004-02-12 12:45 pm (UTC)The question is, is Connor hope itself and Angel has killed hope, or just the vehicle for it that Angel no longer needs? Angel seems full of hope in Sunnydale.
Re: I just wanted to say
Date: 2004-02-12 06:34 pm (UTC)Agreed. Buffy is about the leap and Angel is about the wait - faith and hope. It makes sense that they fell in love, because both are at the heart of love.
I was hoping that is what Jasmine was. She bypassed our desire to act on our free will by enfusing us with hope. I was disappointed they just went the way they did, but I can't complain too much about season 4.
Me neither - S4 was very tight, very well done. Like you, I can see some things that I would tweak, but I'm very pleased with the shape of it.
The question is, is Connor hope itself and Angel has killed hope, or just the vehicle for it that Angel no longer needs? Angel seems full of hope in Sunnydale.
At first, Angel found faith in Buffy and that let him hope. When he turned evil, he lost hope that faith could work for him - that's what led him to LA, where he found companionship and The Mission. Purpose could, perhaps, fill the gap - and it did for a time. But then came Darla and everything came crashing down - he rejected friendship and mission for her and it bit him. Then came Connor - S2, Epiphany, Connor was conceived even as Angel realized that he could hope again. Since that moment, hope has been found in the potential, the person, and the absence of Connor.
And that's actually works as a piece of the introduction of essay. The conception of hope.
Here's part of an essay I wrote about hope last season.
Date: 2004-02-13 08:12 am (UTC)1813. "The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.[Cf. 1 Cor 13:13 .] "
1818. "The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity. "
Take hope out of theology and away from God and it still lives in the breasts of Man. It is faith, hope and love/charity that makes us Men worthy of being called Men. Joss has the soul as the moral compass, a simple switch that goes from good to evil. In Catholicism, that compass is the virtues.
1803. A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.
1804. "Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good.
The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love. "
1805. "Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called 'cardinal'; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. 'If anyone loves righteousness, (Wisdom's) labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage.'[Wis 8:7 .] These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture."
sect 1806-1809 are more specific about the Cardinal virtues.
1810. "Human virtues acquired by education, by deliberate acts and by a perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine grace. With God's help, they forge character and give facility in the practice of the good. The virtuous man is happy to practice them. "
1811. "It is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to maintain moral balance. Christ's gift of salvation offers us the grace necessary to persevere in the pursuit of the virtues. Everyone should always ask for this grace of light and strength, frequent the sacraments, cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and follow his calls to love what is good and shun evil. "
The only place I see the Buffyverse disagreeing with this is that they come from God and that divine grace elevates them. Take all the God stuff out and empower humans to act in His place and I don’t see a lot of disagreement about the importance of the virtues in the Buffyverse.
This post explores the virtue of hope with regards to Jasmine. The best definition I have seen of it is hope is faith which looks forward. We can’t see what is forward, so hope is a double-edged sword. In Catholic theology, this hope is in God’s promises, so there is no risk of being let down. In the secular world, hope is in secular things that can let us down. Still, it is hope that lets us take risks.
Re: Here's part of an essay I wrote about hope last season.
Date: 2004-02-14 11:59 pm (UTC)Very true. And I love that definition - faith that looks forward.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-02-12 06:06 pm (UTC)*sends you good job vibes*
Re:
Date: 2004-02-12 06:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-02-12 06:43 pm (UTC)I always read your posts but I'm not very good at commenting...usually cos I'm stunned by your insights.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-15 12:00 am (UTC)Thanks. And I'm agreed on that - his absence resonates so strongly with each episode that I can't see how his presence could be as strong (doesn't mean I wouldn't love to see VK, though).
I always read your posts but I'm not very good at commenting...usually cos I'm stunned by your insights.
Wow. Thank you, very much.