Angel thoughts:

[butterfly]

So, I only have 53 of the Angel episodes on tape, a testament to how erratic my viewing and love of the show has been.

My problem was always that I didn't care about Angel. First I cared about Doyle, then Wesley, then Wesley and Connor. So I wasn't in it for Angel's journey, which made it easy for me to stop watching the show. It was on a level with Dawson's Creek, where I only watched for the Pacey/Joey and didn't bother watching if the buzz didn't sound good.

Now that I love Angel, I'm mourning my lack of tapeage. I have almost all of Season Two (missing half of ep 15 because of taping issues), much of Season Four (missing eps 3 and 8-11), ten Season One eps, and only five Season Three eps.

Season Two is when I totally fell in love with Wesley, after hating him for taking Doyle's place in first season. I also adored Darla, as I recall, which wasn't the popular thing. And Lindsey was brilliant. I loved the Darla/Lindsey/Angel thing. "It's not me you want to screw."

I fell out with the show in Season Three because I hated the Baby!Arc and I hated the Angel/Cordy thing.

Then it took a while for Season Four to hook me, but I was only watching because of Wesley and (to my great surprise) Connor at the start. Then, finally, Angel started to reach me. He touched my heart. And it's staying. I've rewatched some earlier eps, and I'm with Angel. I get him now. I never did before.

Watching Angel is a totally different experience when you love him.

Comments

[dkissam.livejournal.com]

Dude, I'm so with you on this.

Angel, particularly on BtVS, was a total cipher to me. It wasn't until this past season on AtS that I realized why. On BtVS, we saw him only through Buffy's eyes. We rarely saw anything from him that she didn't see, and she lacked all curiosity about him. Well, probably not, she probably just didn't want to know what she'd find out if she really got to know him.

But this past season he has so worked for me. I actually actively admire him now and felt every step of his terribly journey with Connor. Angel's totally my boy now.

The same thing happened for me with Buffy. I didn't really fall in love with Buffy as a character until S5. Before then I liked her okay, but watched the show for the other characters. Not necessarily in *spite* of her (I continued to watch AtS in spite of Cordy, whom I came to despise) but never because of her.

Hail, fellow Darla adorer of the first hour!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

And yes, it definitely wasn't the cool thing in season 2. I remember endless bitching about how she took air time away from Cordy or other regulars, how JB couldn't act (ha!), etc.
Now of course things are different, but, to quote the Jasmine minion, we loved her first!
I did like Angel, too, but I lost emotional contact with him during the Pylea episodes and never truly regained it during season 3. The first shudder of empathy came when Connor returned from Quartoth in "A New World". Season 4 then brought the emotional connection back.
As for Cordy: my emotional connection went away during season 3 as well and never came back, but apparantly, that was what happened with the writers, too (see Tim Minear admitting at the Succubus Club they wrote themselves into a corner with the St. Cordy thing).

[imation23.livejournal.com]

God, I loved Darla. Especially after she was turned for the second time.

"Winners will be given the chance to spread carnage and destruction. Losers will be gutted and left for dead." Hee!

And I'm glad you've finally found the Angel love. I've had it since Buffy Season 1. *g*