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butterflyIt's fascinating how very parental Angel is to Wesley and Cordy in Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2. I'm so used to thinking of them all as equals that it surprises me when I rewatch and see him treat them like a pair of squabbling siblings (though that is how they act much of the time).
When Angel fires them, Wesley and Cordy are forced to become independent fast. And when Angel does come back, he isn't dealing with the 'children' he left behind. Both of them have changed, grown.
Cordy is suddenly more than just adopted family - she was a strong woman who'd stood up to him when he was physically threatening her. When I think about, his turning evermore towards her in S2 and then S3 makes sense. He'd just had this huge epiphany about caring and such, and here was this chance to prove himself. He could prove to Cordy that he was a champion (as he needed to prove to Darla that he was a demon and to Buffy that he was a hero - when it comes to impressing the people he loves, Angel goes all-out).
And then there's Wesley. The Wesley/Angel relationship gets more complicated the more I think about it. But, in the end, it seems to echo what is always Wes' tragedy - he loves more than he is loved. Of course, this may be in part because Wes loves a scary amount. Wesley's love isn't the most comforting thing to have, really.
Wesley killing his father for the sake of Fred mirrors Angel killing Darla for the sake of Buffy more than it does Angel or Spike killing their respective parents. But as Darla is an interesting mirror of Buffy, Wesley has always had shades of Angel and tends to have a parallel story.
On a different subject, it must be a bit nerve-wracking to write Fred, at times. After all, she's the only female regular on the show. It's 'the boys and Fred'. And only with Angel could that sentence ever make sense.
Back onto the first subject, S4 is when an equal Wes/Angel relationship is finally allowed to form. Wes both betrayed and saved Angel, and he's never going to be Angel's 'faithful servant' again. But that's all well and good, because a Wesley with some darkness is a Wesley that can understand more of Angel. Already, he'd understood a great deal of Angel - more than Cordy ever did.
Of course, then Angel decided to save his son. Which is all well and good, only it set the Wes/Angel relationship back a bit (and don't tell me that Angel didn't enjoy having that back). Not too far, but far enough that Wes' gloss hadn't all been rubbed away yet.
But Angel is what caused that surface to get removed in the first place. Angel is the agent of Wesley's change. I'm not entirely sure that Angel understands that. He's the reason that Wesley was able to move past assuming a shell of his father's personality. His absence is what made Wesley take charge. His son is what caused Wesley's downfall. All of Wesley's changes have been because of Angel. And Angel's still there, still having an effect on Wes.
One thing that I've really enjoyed about the last two episodes is Angel reaching out towards Wes. In The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco, he hovers in Wes' doorway, and pointedly mentions that he'll be in his office, all of which had me yelling at Wes to go follow him already.
He trusts Wes to keep the medallion safe - the medallion that has always belonged to a hero (passed down through the generations).
In both Life of the Party and TCToNC, Wesley asks Angel how he's doing, and both times, he gets the short and evasive answer.
Angel wants to forgive Wesley. That's what I'm feeling. He wants to forgive Wes, but the problem is that he wants Wes to ask for his forgiveness.
Wes never did say the words (Wesley's better at showing his love, really). And I think that Angel wants the words (am basing this in part on Awakening, though again, I must mention that I haven't yet seen the episode). And Angel made it impossible for Wesley to ever ask by making Wesley forget what he'd done to need forgiveness.
But though Angel hasn't forgiven Wesley, he does care a great deal for him. And he's starting to understand him, though I doubt he understands the whole of it. Still, he has more of the pieces than Wesley does.
So in Lineage we see some interesting Wes/Angel stuff -
First, there's Angel bursting into Wes' thing at the beginning of the episode. Wes' thing that Angel didn't know Fred was at. And Angel is so focused on Wes that he doesn't notice Fred's blood. Seeing as they just pointed out how strong a pull blood is in the last episode, that strikes chords with me.
And then we get to the Angel/Wes/Eve scene. Personally, I'm fascinated by the fact that Eve's there. Why? To remind Angel to keep his mind on business and on Fred and on now? And while part of the reason that Angel is pissed at Wes is over Connor, I wonder if another part doesn't lie in the fact that Angel didn't even notice that Fred was there until Wesley pointed it out. This is, as he puts it, one of his people, and he didn't protect her. After losing Connor and Cordy, it makes sense that he's in the "no more" frame of mind.
He and Eve talk, and she brings up Connor, which Angel only bothers to snap at once before letting her continue on about.
"I just want to be kept informed," Angel tells Eve, and I've no doubt that that's true - Angel would like to be kept informed, as he's a total control freak when he's emotional.
And then we get the scene where Angel meets Wes' dad. Angel actually does expect Roger to shake his hand. He (and Gunn) do their best to make a good impression on Roger.
Then we get two interesting looks - from Wes to Angel, pretty much apologizing for his father's behavior, and then the one between Angel and Eve, who share a look and leave together.
Perhaps now would be a good time to note that Eve is decidedly not with Angel when he and Wes have their next talk. They shared a look and left together, and then, from the looks of things, Eve was leaving. What did they talk about? Definitely Wesley, but what was it and what effect did it have on Angel and Wes' next talk?
So that brings us to the second Angel/Wes convo, which is decidedly different from the first, starting from the very basics. This time around, Angel is more understanding and this time around, Angel tells the other person in the room to leave and talks to Wes one-on-one.
We see shades of the first season Angel/Wes relationship, with Angel giving Wesley a job and his full confidence that Wesley can do it. After all, this Wesley is one that Angel knows how to deal with.
And then we're almost to the rooftop. Angel hears that Wes needs him and is immediately on his way, delegating the other two to not be with him. He bursts out onto the rooftop, calling Wes' name.
And it turns out to be a trap. Angel's will is sapped from him, leaving him only an observer in the final confrontation (and unlike Spike's battle with Pavayne, Angel never 'finishes off' the fake Roger - that's left for Wesley alone).
Wesley's willing to die to save Angel. That's no surprise to anyone. Would he have been willing to kill for Angel? Of course, but the situation on the rooftop didn't demand that type of action. Roger didn't have a stake or a sword - he had a gun. He had no way of killing Angel, nor would he have, if he truly wanted Angel fighting on his side. Wesley knew that Angel was not in danger at that moment.
Fred, on the other hand, was expendable in the eyes of his 'father'.
How long would the stalemate have lasted if Fred hadn't intervened?
Magic crystals, like magic orbs, appear to be very fragile. It's possible that the reason the cyborg didn't shoot Wes was because it was afraid that even that short a fall might break the crystal or crack it enough to render it useless... or weaken it enough for Angel to finish the job. It wasn't worth taking the chance as long as there was a slim hope of finding another way.
In the final Angel/Wes scene, Angel comes a step closer to truly forgiving Wesley - he understands that it was done out of the best intentions and that's starting to matter more to him.
He compares Wes' killing of the cyborg to his own killing of his father. Angel is identifying with Wes, though here it's a faulty comparison. All the same, the emotional bases behind the killings did have similarities. "Fathers and sons."
As I mentioned above, I do think that Angel does have an equivalent killing in his past - killing Darla to save Buffy.
He had conflicted feelings toward Darla as Wesley had toward his father. Darla was instrumental in creating many of Angel's strengths and weaknessess, ditto Roger for Wes. And after Angel was souled, he tried to be the demon she wanted, but just didn't have the stuff anymore.
He had all this pain tied up in Darla. Pain and history, and none of it mattered when Buffy was threatened. Just as Wes was ready to argue with his father all night until Fred was threatened.
And both of them represented an ideal. Buffy was humanity - pure and fresh and golden. Buffy was what Angel was afraid that he'd lost.
And Fred is what Wesley is afraid that he's lost. Fred has done and seen horrible things in her time, but she bounces back. Wesley... not so good with the bouncing. Fred is innocent in a way that Wes envies. Fred can see the worst of the world and still want pancake kisses.
Of course, it's never as simple as it seems, and neither Buffy nor Fred can be summed up in one word.
When Angel fires them, Wesley and Cordy are forced to become independent fast. And when Angel does come back, he isn't dealing with the 'children' he left behind. Both of them have changed, grown.
Cordy is suddenly more than just adopted family - she was a strong woman who'd stood up to him when he was physically threatening her. When I think about, his turning evermore towards her in S2 and then S3 makes sense. He'd just had this huge epiphany about caring and such, and here was this chance to prove himself. He could prove to Cordy that he was a champion (as he needed to prove to Darla that he was a demon and to Buffy that he was a hero - when it comes to impressing the people he loves, Angel goes all-out).
And then there's Wesley. The Wesley/Angel relationship gets more complicated the more I think about it. But, in the end, it seems to echo what is always Wes' tragedy - he loves more than he is loved. Of course, this may be in part because Wes loves a scary amount. Wesley's love isn't the most comforting thing to have, really.
Wesley killing his father for the sake of Fred mirrors Angel killing Darla for the sake of Buffy more than it does Angel or Spike killing their respective parents. But as Darla is an interesting mirror of Buffy, Wesley has always had shades of Angel and tends to have a parallel story.
On a different subject, it must be a bit nerve-wracking to write Fred, at times. After all, she's the only female regular on the show. It's 'the boys and Fred'. And only with Angel could that sentence ever make sense.
Back onto the first subject, S4 is when an equal Wes/Angel relationship is finally allowed to form. Wes both betrayed and saved Angel, and he's never going to be Angel's 'faithful servant' again. But that's all well and good, because a Wesley with some darkness is a Wesley that can understand more of Angel. Already, he'd understood a great deal of Angel - more than Cordy ever did.
Of course, then Angel decided to save his son. Which is all well and good, only it set the Wes/Angel relationship back a bit (and don't tell me that Angel didn't enjoy having that back). Not too far, but far enough that Wes' gloss hadn't all been rubbed away yet.
But Angel is what caused that surface to get removed in the first place. Angel is the agent of Wesley's change. I'm not entirely sure that Angel understands that. He's the reason that Wesley was able to move past assuming a shell of his father's personality. His absence is what made Wesley take charge. His son is what caused Wesley's downfall. All of Wesley's changes have been because of Angel. And Angel's still there, still having an effect on Wes.
One thing that I've really enjoyed about the last two episodes is Angel reaching out towards Wes. In The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco, he hovers in Wes' doorway, and pointedly mentions that he'll be in his office, all of which had me yelling at Wes to go follow him already.
He trusts Wes to keep the medallion safe - the medallion that has always belonged to a hero (passed down through the generations).
In both Life of the Party and TCToNC, Wesley asks Angel how he's doing, and both times, he gets the short and evasive answer.
Angel wants to forgive Wesley. That's what I'm feeling. He wants to forgive Wes, but the problem is that he wants Wes to ask for his forgiveness.
Wes never did say the words (Wesley's better at showing his love, really). And I think that Angel wants the words (am basing this in part on Awakening, though again, I must mention that I haven't yet seen the episode). And Angel made it impossible for Wesley to ever ask by making Wesley forget what he'd done to need forgiveness.
But though Angel hasn't forgiven Wesley, he does care a great deal for him. And he's starting to understand him, though I doubt he understands the whole of it. Still, he has more of the pieces than Wesley does.
So in Lineage we see some interesting Wes/Angel stuff -
First, there's Angel bursting into Wes' thing at the beginning of the episode. Wes' thing that Angel didn't know Fred was at. And Angel is so focused on Wes that he doesn't notice Fred's blood. Seeing as they just pointed out how strong a pull blood is in the last episode, that strikes chords with me.
And then we get to the Angel/Wes/Eve scene. Personally, I'm fascinated by the fact that Eve's there. Why? To remind Angel to keep his mind on business and on Fred and on now? And while part of the reason that Angel is pissed at Wes is over Connor, I wonder if another part doesn't lie in the fact that Angel didn't even notice that Fred was there until Wesley pointed it out. This is, as he puts it, one of his people, and he didn't protect her. After losing Connor and Cordy, it makes sense that he's in the "no more" frame of mind.
He and Eve talk, and she brings up Connor, which Angel only bothers to snap at once before letting her continue on about.
"I just want to be kept informed," Angel tells Eve, and I've no doubt that that's true - Angel would like to be kept informed, as he's a total control freak when he's emotional.
And then we get the scene where Angel meets Wes' dad. Angel actually does expect Roger to shake his hand. He (and Gunn) do their best to make a good impression on Roger.
Then we get two interesting looks - from Wes to Angel, pretty much apologizing for his father's behavior, and then the one between Angel and Eve, who share a look and leave together.
Perhaps now would be a good time to note that Eve is decidedly not with Angel when he and Wes have their next talk. They shared a look and left together, and then, from the looks of things, Eve was leaving. What did they talk about? Definitely Wesley, but what was it and what effect did it have on Angel and Wes' next talk?
So that brings us to the second Angel/Wes convo, which is decidedly different from the first, starting from the very basics. This time around, Angel is more understanding and this time around, Angel tells the other person in the room to leave and talks to Wes one-on-one.
We see shades of the first season Angel/Wes relationship, with Angel giving Wesley a job and his full confidence that Wesley can do it. After all, this Wesley is one that Angel knows how to deal with.
And then we're almost to the rooftop. Angel hears that Wes needs him and is immediately on his way, delegating the other two to not be with him. He bursts out onto the rooftop, calling Wes' name.
And it turns out to be a trap. Angel's will is sapped from him, leaving him only an observer in the final confrontation (and unlike Spike's battle with Pavayne, Angel never 'finishes off' the fake Roger - that's left for Wesley alone).
Wesley's willing to die to save Angel. That's no surprise to anyone. Would he have been willing to kill for Angel? Of course, but the situation on the rooftop didn't demand that type of action. Roger didn't have a stake or a sword - he had a gun. He had no way of killing Angel, nor would he have, if he truly wanted Angel fighting on his side. Wesley knew that Angel was not in danger at that moment.
Fred, on the other hand, was expendable in the eyes of his 'father'.
How long would the stalemate have lasted if Fred hadn't intervened?
Magic crystals, like magic orbs, appear to be very fragile. It's possible that the reason the cyborg didn't shoot Wes was because it was afraid that even that short a fall might break the crystal or crack it enough to render it useless... or weaken it enough for Angel to finish the job. It wasn't worth taking the chance as long as there was a slim hope of finding another way.
In the final Angel/Wes scene, Angel comes a step closer to truly forgiving Wesley - he understands that it was done out of the best intentions and that's starting to matter more to him.
He compares Wes' killing of the cyborg to his own killing of his father. Angel is identifying with Wes, though here it's a faulty comparison. All the same, the emotional bases behind the killings did have similarities. "Fathers and sons."
As I mentioned above, I do think that Angel does have an equivalent killing in his past - killing Darla to save Buffy.
He had conflicted feelings toward Darla as Wesley had toward his father. Darla was instrumental in creating many of Angel's strengths and weaknessess, ditto Roger for Wes. And after Angel was souled, he tried to be the demon she wanted, but just didn't have the stuff anymore.
He had all this pain tied up in Darla. Pain and history, and none of it mattered when Buffy was threatened. Just as Wes was ready to argue with his father all night until Fred was threatened.
And both of them represented an ideal. Buffy was humanity - pure and fresh and golden. Buffy was what Angel was afraid that he'd lost.
And Fred is what Wesley is afraid that he's lost. Fred has done and seen horrible things in her time, but she bounces back. Wesley... not so good with the bouncing. Fred is innocent in a way that Wes envies. Fred can see the worst of the world and still want pancake kisses.
Of course, it's never as simple as it seems, and neither Buffy nor Fred can be summed up in one word.
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 04:12 am (UTC)You know, when I see this comment about Wes in relation to Angel, my usual reaction is to sit and bang my head on the table for a few hours. Normally, this is because it is then followed by a tirade against Angel for not loving Wes enough, as though loving someone is dependant on them loving you back in equal amounts.
The Angel/Wes parallel is fascinating because here are two men, with individual issues, who love others to the extent that they will act on that love, despite the hurt that is caused to themselves by their actions. Neither Angel or Wes have any self preservation issues when it comes to the people they love, which makes for an intriguing story when the two people involved are Angel and Wes.
Which is a rather roundabout way for me to say it was a nice change to see this comment in a constructive post, and one which makes me see Wes in a different light as opposed to making me want to scream that Wes finally got what he wanted (and to me, that was total acceptance by a substitute father figure, Angel, mid season 3) and then he did what he always does, which is muck it up because he thinks he knows what is best for the person he loves.
You've been doing some lovely, thought provoking posts recently and I just wanted to let you know I've been enjoying all of them.
Wes and love...
Date: 2003-11-19 10:15 am (UTC)Because, right, love isn't based on 'deserving' to be loved and if you live your life that way, you end up miserable, wanting what you drive away.
Besides, I'm not entirely sure that anyone could ever love Wes enough for him. He'll always doubt it and always find a way to show that his love is the more self-sacrificing.
Neither Angel or Wes have any self preservation issues when it comes to the people they love, which makes for an intriguing story when the two people involved are Angel and Wes.
Right, that's it exactly. No self-perservation at all. Sacrifice all for those you love, down to blood and bone and life itself. Which is scary, because that's the kind of love that can so easily tip over into obsession (Spike with Buffy, pre-soul and Angel with Buffy, post-soul are our prime examples of that).
Thank you. And yeah, Lineage seems to have inspired a lot of thoughts in me (and now bumbling Wes is harder for me to watch, because I've seen the depths of where it came from).
But maybe Wesley will get a chance this season to grow. We actually did see Spike grow past that after he got a soul.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 05:51 am (UTC)Yes.
Just wanted to let you know that I've been reading your posts about all this kind of stuff, even though I suck at commenting. I'm really enjoying hearing all your thoughts, especially about Wesley.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 10:17 am (UTC)Wesley is so incredibly enjoyable for me this year. He's all these issues, wrapped up tightly but with the edges poking out, and though he tries so hard to hide them, he's not capable of it.
Such an incredibly complex character.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 06:36 am (UTC)I really like this: >Wes never did say the words (Wesley's better at showing his love, really). And I think that Angel wants the words (am basing this in part on Awakening, though again, I must mention that I haven't yet seen the episode).<
I think you're very right on this. Angel himself is better with actions than words, usually, but that doesn't mean he doesn't need them himself.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 10:22 am (UTC)Right, and a lot of times, we expect from others what we don't expect from ourselves. It's hypocritical, but it's also just human.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 07:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 10:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 12:12 pm (UTC)Thanks for sharing this-- do come back and tell us more! & :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 12:33 pm (UTC)And if you ever do have time to comment again, I always welcome it (I'm rewatching S2 right now and it's all so fascinating).
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 12:51 pm (UTC)And will come back ASAP! & :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 01:04 pm (UTC)Angel really does seem to be strongest in the even years. I hope we get a sixth season.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 12:54 pm (UTC)Good essay. I liked the comparison between Wesley and his father, and Angel and Darla. It mad me think of how obsessed Angel was with Darla in S2- because she was brought back. Because he killed her, and then she turned up again. And of course, Wesley has to deal with that now, too. His father's still out there. That's why I don't think the whole robot thing was a cop-out.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-19 01:04 pm (UTC)Exactly. It's so much worse knowing what you're capable of - because it's easier and harder the second time.
Wesley knows that he would kill his father. Angel knows that he would kill his sire.
It's amazing how they can keep making Angel and Wes even more similar. Every time I think that the comparision is too close for any more, they come up with something new.