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butterflyI mean, this should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, but... man, I love me some Season Six Buffy.
Just rewatched Once More, With Feeling and it's reminding me of all of the things that I adore about Season Six. Buffy. And Xander. And did you see that adorable parental moment about Dawn? It should be noted that Giles is not part of the "No, it's not." directed at Dawn. It's just Buffy and Xander. They're both so effortlessly in sync when it comes to Dawn (excepting the Big Summers Exception that is Spike).
But yeah, Season Six is the season that made me go, "Oh, Buffy is me." Heh, which is probably why I took the hate personally at the time. People were dissing her and I was identifying more strongly than ever, so it totally felt like a personal diss.
And this is definitely the season of everyone's life going ka-boom. But it isn't relentlessly sad. There are some hilarious moments (and Doublemeat Palace is even more amusing to me now that I'm working fast food.). But yeah, the whole point of the season is that Buffy is depressed. There's going to be a theme of the not-cheerful because of this.
I mean, are there episodes that could have been better written? Well, yeah, but that's true in every season. And are there plotlines that make people go 'out of character'? Of course. This is an evolving show. People change. First Season Willow isn't going to act the same way as Fifth Season Willow.
Ah, but there's growing up and then there's growing up to be boring and/or unlikable people, which is the biggest complaint that I've heard about the latter season Scoobs.
What seems to make someone likable is if they're identifiable. Lots of people adored early seasons Willow because they 'got' her. If you understand where someone is coming from, then you're going to be willing to cut them a little more slack. In general.
I loved the early seasons of Buffy but I can't identify with them like I can the later ones. And that is, in part, because Buffy loses that carefree air. She gets jaded. She doesn't quip as much, and when she does, it has a different feel to it.
Now, if Buffy hadn't died, then I probably would have agreed with how the drabness of S6 was unfitting, but... she felt whole and then she had to go feel human again.
"What is Hell but the total absence of hope? The substance, the tactile proof of despair." (Ken, Anne, S3 Buffy)
Hell is the absence. We can create our own Hells on Earth, and we can create our own Heavens.
Hope - "To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment." (dictionary.com)
And with that, let's segue to Angel: that's what Wesley is saying that Angel lacks. He has no wishes that he believes will be fulfilled. He has no hope. And so he's created his own Hell in Wolfram and Hart. He now belongs to the company that he tried to bring down so long.
"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Mark 8:36; The Bible: King James
To fight the good fight in search of a reward may be less noble then just fighting. And yet, fighting takes a lot of out of anyone. It exhausts people. Being a full-time hero is a job of work. It's back-breaking, and you see the worst of the world.
Buffy's depression came from outside factors. She didn't chose to come back to life (Neither did Darla. They actually have quite a bit in common, besides the obvious.). She didn't choose to live again.
Angel's hopelessness comes directly from his own actions, both as Angel and as Angelus. He chose to join Wolfram and Hart. He chose to swing a knife at his son. He chose.
Buffy fights because she has a sacred duty. Because something inside her must fight. The Slayer is drawn to the fight and to the kill.
In the final episode of Buffy, she gives the potentials a choice. In the last episode of S4 of Angel, he makes an executive decision.
Angel fights because it's the only thing that he can see. What else can he do?
But Angel did pay attention to Numero Cinco. And it is a cautionary tale, one to take heed of.
In the end, it was not fighting that destroyed the First, but someone standing there to let the light in. Despite all the actual light flooding Angel these days, things are quite dark there for a lot of people. They're stumbling in the dark, trying to find their way.
Well, it's lucky that they got sent a light.
Just rewatched Once More, With Feeling and it's reminding me of all of the things that I adore about Season Six. Buffy. And Xander. And did you see that adorable parental moment about Dawn? It should be noted that Giles is not part of the "No, it's not." directed at Dawn. It's just Buffy and Xander. They're both so effortlessly in sync when it comes to Dawn (excepting the Big Summers Exception that is Spike).
But yeah, Season Six is the season that made me go, "Oh, Buffy is me." Heh, which is probably why I took the hate personally at the time. People were dissing her and I was identifying more strongly than ever, so it totally felt like a personal diss.
And this is definitely the season of everyone's life going ka-boom. But it isn't relentlessly sad. There are some hilarious moments (and Doublemeat Palace is even more amusing to me now that I'm working fast food.). But yeah, the whole point of the season is that Buffy is depressed. There's going to be a theme of the not-cheerful because of this.
I mean, are there episodes that could have been better written? Well, yeah, but that's true in every season. And are there plotlines that make people go 'out of character'? Of course. This is an evolving show. People change. First Season Willow isn't going to act the same way as Fifth Season Willow.
Ah, but there's growing up and then there's growing up to be boring and/or unlikable people, which is the biggest complaint that I've heard about the latter season Scoobs.
What seems to make someone likable is if they're identifiable. Lots of people adored early seasons Willow because they 'got' her. If you understand where someone is coming from, then you're going to be willing to cut them a little more slack. In general.
I loved the early seasons of Buffy but I can't identify with them like I can the later ones. And that is, in part, because Buffy loses that carefree air. She gets jaded. She doesn't quip as much, and when she does, it has a different feel to it.
Now, if Buffy hadn't died, then I probably would have agreed with how the drabness of S6 was unfitting, but... she felt whole and then she had to go feel human again.
"What is Hell but the total absence of hope? The substance, the tactile proof of despair." (Ken, Anne, S3 Buffy)
Hell is the absence. We can create our own Hells on Earth, and we can create our own Heavens.
Hope - "To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment." (dictionary.com)
And with that, let's segue to Angel: that's what Wesley is saying that Angel lacks. He has no wishes that he believes will be fulfilled. He has no hope. And so he's created his own Hell in Wolfram and Hart. He now belongs to the company that he tried to bring down so long.
"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Mark 8:36; The Bible: King James
To fight the good fight in search of a reward may be less noble then just fighting. And yet, fighting takes a lot of out of anyone. It exhausts people. Being a full-time hero is a job of work. It's back-breaking, and you see the worst of the world.
Buffy's depression came from outside factors. She didn't chose to come back to life (Neither did Darla. They actually have quite a bit in common, besides the obvious.). She didn't choose to live again.
Angel's hopelessness comes directly from his own actions, both as Angel and as Angelus. He chose to join Wolfram and Hart. He chose to swing a knife at his son. He chose.
Buffy fights because she has a sacred duty. Because something inside her must fight. The Slayer is drawn to the fight and to the kill.
In the final episode of Buffy, she gives the potentials a choice. In the last episode of S4 of Angel, he makes an executive decision.
Angel fights because it's the only thing that he can see. What else can he do?
But Angel did pay attention to Numero Cinco. And it is a cautionary tale, one to take heed of.
In the end, it was not fighting that destroyed the First, but someone standing there to let the light in. Despite all the actual light flooding Angel these days, things are quite dark there for a lot of people. They're stumbling in the dark, trying to find their way.
Well, it's lucky that they got sent a light.
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-07 09:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-07 09:57 pm (UTC)*nods*
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-07 11:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-08 09:33 am (UTC)With you on the sixth season love...
Date: 2003-11-07 11:30 pm (UTC)Re: With you on the sixth season love...
Date: 2003-11-08 09:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-08 12:04 am (UTC)In the end, it was not fighting that destroyed the First, but someone standing there to let the light in.
I just want to say that that was phrased beautifully.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-08 09:36 am (UTC)And yeah, Spike did a good thing last year. He took an unknown dangerous thing and let it do whatever it would. That takes guts.
Season Six
Date: 2003-11-08 08:34 am (UTC)I am a new person in LJ, and I am so happy I found your journal. I, too, love season six and identify with Buffy of that period more than of previous ones. it actually helps me to live my own live.
Oh, and I totally agree about hell as the absence of hope. This description goes back to Dante's Inferno, I think (not that know much of Dante, honestly). I am intrigued how this theme will develop on AtS this year.
Re: Season Six
Date: 2003-11-08 09:38 am (UTC)It's nice to meet you.
And I don't know a lot about Dante either (sometimes, I think about reading the book, and then I remember that I actually really don't want to, because descriptions of pain and torment aren't my thing).
And yeah, Angel looks all kinds of interesting this year.
Re: Season Six
Date: 2003-11-10 11:52 am (UTC)The piece I keep thinking, watching Angel now, is the inscription above the gateway to hell: ABANDON EVERY HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE.
Seems fitting.
Re: Season Six
Date: 2003-11-10 03:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-09 09:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-10 03:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-10 07:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-11-10 07:54 pm (UTC)Which I remember pointing out at TWoP and being told "Who cares if it's realistic - it's boring". And really, at that point, all you can do is say, "It isn't to me." and leave it at that.