In the Breaking - Wesley's fall

[butterfly]

Guise Will Be Guise is the beginning of the true ripping away of bumbling!Wes to reveal what was underneath.

Because it was always nerves. We were reminded of that in Lineage. Our first hint that Wes was very different when he wasn't trying to impress anyone came in the first season episode The Ring (interestingly enough, this episode also introduced Lilah - just an coincidence?). When Wesley isn't worried about how he's coming off, he's incredibly good at what he does.

And Wesley is amazingly talented. But only human. And very prone to falling victim to self-doubt. And the second that he lets himself give into that doubt, his talent falls down a black hole. But as Angel figured out in S1 (and showed that he remembered in Lineage), the way to deal with a clumsy Wesley is to show him that you have absolutely no doubts as to his competence.

And so Wesley begins his journey to being a true leader by assuming Angel's guise. The season rolls along and by the end, he has assumed Angel's place in the leadership of the group.

But when he pretended to be Angel for Virginia, he kept forgetting about all the little downsides of being a vampire - drinking blood, no reflection, crosses burn, etc. And when he took on Angel's role as leader, he forgot what made Angel fall from that position in the first place - an obsession with a woman that caused him to ignore his friendships. When Wesley falls for Fred and then pulls away from the group because of it, he's setting himself up for a fall. The situation is different, yet not as different as it seems on the surface.

Wesley finds out that Angel's child is in danger (and I'm wondering if Jasmine planted a fake prophecy for that demon to make into a real prophecy) and he takes on the same fool-hardy "I must fight alone" nonsense that Angel pulled in S2.

And then the worst happens - the child is stolen from him (which kind of echoes Darla getting vamped in front of Angel's eyes - he'd fought so very hard, only to have it snatched away just as he'd thought he could rest a moment).

And no one tries to find out Wesley's side of things. They know him. They've fought with him. But no one goes to Wesley and asks him why. I don't blame Angel for his reaction. Connor was his son. He had a living link to this world and it was taken from him.

But Fred tells Wes not to come back to the hotel. When Gunn visits Wes, it's only to ask for his help. And Cordy never even bothers trying.

Makes sense that he'd take up with Lilah - she was the only one who even wanted to look at his face. She sought him out. Tried to woo him to Wolfram and Hart (and, in retrospect, that makes me kinda giggle - wish granted, Lilah! Good job.)

And this is getting down to semantics, but though Wesley did betray Angel in actions, he never betrayed Angel in his heart. He thought it all for the best.

The road to Hell, yes?

All of Team Angel's good intentions led them to Wolfram and Hart. All of Wesley's good intentions led him to this strange, broken place.

And, like Dru, Wesley loved not wisely, but too well. Wesley loves like a vampire loves, all sharp edges and blood and need.

Comments

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

So yummy. I need to rewatch key Wesley episodes now.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Wesley has one of the most amazing journeys. Actually, so many of Angel's characters have brilliant arcs - Angel himself, Wesley, Lindsey, Darla, Lilah, Connor.