Somnambulist has a special place in my heart. Yes, there’s the Kate thing, and I do have a Kate thing*, but I hate ‘Sense and Sensitivity’ (another Kate episode) with such a passion that it’s the lowest of all on my Season 1 ratings scale and I didn’t even mention it in my AtS 1.1-1.10 post (that icky touchy-feely-dorky dialogue! Angel in *that outfit*! Blah!).
So it’s not just Kate-lurv feeding the Somn-lurv. I think what I like is the ‘coming out’ aspect: Angel being forced to reveal to a colleague/acquaintance that he is a vampire, and the fall-out that has on the Angel/Kate relationship. I mean, she was starting to seriously crush out on him by this point, and then he opens this whole scary world to her that she can’t handle. You thought she had issues before this….
*But the vicious rumor that I stalked Elisabeth Rohm at the 2000 Bronze Posting Board Party is just that, a vicious rumor. In point of fact, *she* led me on by grabbing me around the waist when I asked her to pose for a fan pic!
For more thoughts on Somnambulist and other Kate Lockley eps, see my essay, “It’s Not Easy Being Blue: Understanding Kate Lockley”.
“Expecting” marks the first in the almost yearly “why is someone always trying to impregnate Cordelia with their demon spawn?” episodes. The other two are, of course, “Epiphany” in Season 2 and “Apocalypse, Nowish” in Season 4. Cordelia gets a reprieve in Season 3 when it’s Darla who gets knocked up instead.
AtS: a good, old-fashioned show where the men beat up the corpses and the women have the babies.
One of the humorous aspects of season 1 was the constant hard time the writers gave Angel. In almost every episode, there would be a gay/effeminate jab at the Broody One. Angel “the magnificent poof” with the Nancy-boy hair gel, who Cordelia’s friends assume is gay in Expecting, who is the one who should be wearing the push-up bra in The Ring, yada yada. Angel with the clothes and the hair, the almost total lack of a sex-life, the sensitive broody artist who likes ballet and opera and is proud of his good penmanship. Angel can afford the teasing because he kicks A better than anyone.
“Expecting” also raises a vitally important question. You get the impression from this episode that Cordelia was not a virgin before “Expecting”, and yet Xander *was* a virgin when he slept with Faith. So no Cordy/Xander sex. Any speculation on when Cordelia lost her virginity?
One thing that Expecting makes clear is that joining up with Angel was good for Wesley. I mean, yeah, ultimately it introduced him to his dark side and got him killed, but at least in seasons 1 and 2 and part of 3, it gave Wesley a chance to be a fighter and not just a book-man, which increased his confidence and allowed the warrior for good within to come out. OTOH, Wesley got his share of gay/effeminate jokes, too, over the years (including in Expecting).
Almost from the inception of my website, I had Evil on BtVS broken down into discrete categories: Predatory Evil, Evil-as-Chaos, Evil-as-Corruption, and Evil-as-Order. I didn’t categorize Good in the same way for a long time. “She” was one of the episodes that made me realize I *could* sub-divide Good with the same categories. This is the episode where I identified “Good-as-Chaos” (I think “Buffy vs. Dracula” turned me onto “Predatory Good”, and “Good-as-Corruption” came from “Gingerbread”).
The idea popped in my head when the Oden Tal demon calls Jiera “the bringer of chaos”. From his point of view, she is destroying his society. From her point of view, she is fighting for the basic rights of women. It’s that same interesting sympathetic angle you get on revolutionaries and terrorists in Deep Space Nine’s Bajoran/Cardassian conflict.
Another interesting thing about “She” is that that episode was supposed to mark the debut of a new, recurring character on the show, Jhiera. According to a TV guide article that came out at the time, she was supposed to be an occasional, morally ambiguous ally to the gang who also had her own agenda and got in their way from time to time too. Sort of “our pal the feminist terrorist from Oden Tal”. Since she wasn’t that popular with fans, though, they invented a different character to play a similar role on the series, and named him Charles Gunn.
The highlight of “She” on DVD, of course, are the outtakes of Wesley and Angel dancing at Cordelia’s party. Check out the closing credits and dance like a dork!
I don’t have a whole lot to say about “IGYUMS”. I liked the concept of looking at demon possession from a religious point of view, and of course the twist with the sociopathic child was chillingly clever. I sort of wish they’d explored Angel’s connection to the Christian religion more in the series as a whole, and his relationship to Catholicism in particular. But that’s one place Joss rarely goes, as it opens up a can of worms he doesn’t like to chew on (he’d rather face the hordes of angry viewers complaining about Willow being a lesbian after “New Moon Rising” than explore *actual* religions and the religious beliefs of his characters, like Willow being Jewish. Hence the need to invent the PTBs). At any rate, the only reason Angel even blinks at the nun in this episode (“nuns are my thing!”) is because she’s nobody’s victim. Tough-ass nun.
Angel(us) and Darla
It’s hard to believe that “The Prodigal” is only the first in what will be a series of flashback episodes that flesh out the Angel(us)/Darla relationship. That relationship is so ingrained in my psyche now that it feels like it’s been there longer.
Maybe it has. That short sequence in “Becoming” made Darla intriguing in a way that season 1 BtVS didn’t, but up until The Prodigal, all we had of Darla was season 1 of BtVS and Angel’s siring in Becoming, and that didn’t tell us much. Watching that sequence in the episode “Angel” where Darla tells Buffy that she and Angel were a thing for “several generations” just made you want to go, “Yeah, sure, sounds epic. *yawn* What kept you together? Crazy glue?,” the time it first aired.
So The Prodigal was just more back story at the time. But it was hella back story, harbinger of things to come. Yes, I am a frothing-at-the-mouth Darla/Angel(us) shipper.
Angel(us) and fathers
Trevor Lockley: “You got any kids, Angel?”
Angel: “No.”
Trevor Lockley: “Right. Then don’t think you know how a father feels, or why he does the things he does.”
What interests me in this episode, re: Kate is not her relationship with her father, but Angel’s relationship with the relationship between Kate and her father.
Retired police officer Trevor Lockley is making some money on the side protecting guys he thinks are trafficking illegal auto parts. Or that he *hopes* are trafficking illegal auto parts. They’re not, they’re big teh_ev0l!!1! demon thugs.
At any rate, Angel wants to protect Kate from being hurt by her father. He’s seen Trevor Lockley in action before, after all–the way Trevor threw Kate’s magic-induced confrontation of him in Sense and Sensitivity back in her face. So in classic paternalistic fashion, Angel sets out to confront Trevor and save Trevor on his own without telling Kate about Trevor’s misdeeds *or* his investigation of them, and without giving Kate a chance to be involved in any way.
So it makes sense that Kate would blame Angel for her father’s death even though Angel didn’t *do* the actual killing.
Kate’s relationship with her dad is contrasted with Liam’s relationship with his own father. Liam wants to blame all his misbehavior on the impossibility of *ever* pleasing his father or meeting his father’s impossible standards for behavior. His father wants to blame all Liam’s misbehavior on his son’s inability to understand that a father just wants the best for/from his son. Liam finally has enough and leaves home and heads right into the arms of the predatory blonde who will become the major influence on his new unlife the way his father was the major influence on his human life.
Darla’s loving amusement at VampLiam’s insistence upon slaughtering his whole family to “get the last word” is now a legendary scene among Buffyverse fans:
Darla: Your victory over him took but moments. But his defeat of you will last lifetimes.
VampLiam: What are you talking about? He can’t defeat me now.
Darla: Nor can he ever approve of you… in this world, or any other. What we once were informs all that we have become. The same love will infect our hearts, even if they no longer beat. Simple death won’t change that.
VampLiam: Is this the work of love?
One of the masterpieces of the season.
Note to self: gotta revisit this one. It will be essential background later in season 6.
Author Nancy E. Shaffer 
i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
Hunh….you know, I had kinda assumed no Cordy/Xander sex. I don’t know why.
Could it be because Xander apparently lost his virginity to Faith, in the Zeppo, after Cordy had dumped him. You know, the bit where he’s in the car afterward going “I just had sex!”.
Of course, he was teasing Willow about how far she had gone with Oz, so I’d say there was some implied Cordy/Xander serious groping. I also assumed that Cordy wasn’t a virgin, what with all the college guys etc etc, she oozed “more sexually experience than thou” all over the place in seasons 1-3 of BTVS
OK, now back to reading the rest of Masq’s post…
Oh, now you’re making me want to go back and have a season one viewing marathon.
I actually always liked Sense and Sensitivity, the extreem sillyness appealed to me, and there were a few LOL moments. Also, the scene where Kate opens up and talks about her feelings at her father’s retirement party, is still painful to watch.
The Prodigal is right up there with my favourate eps from that season, mainly because of the wonderful Angelus/Darla flashbacks. Their final excahange gave me chills the first time I watched it. I think those two are my Ats OTP as well, all that history, and chemistry and angst. Hmm. Though on BtVS I’m a hopeless B/F shipper…and you are almost at Five By Five, and Sanctuary. *bounces excitedly*
Interesting information about why they brough Gunn in as a character, the show would have been very different if they had gone the way they originally intended. I wonder if it would have succeeded as well as it did.
Angel 6.1 co-writer simultaneously checking in and goofing off.
Masq:
I’m poring over your first draft, and will have recommendations when I’m finished. Doesn’t so much need to be “fixed” as “beefed up.” More character bits, more exotic alien-ness, maybe a twist or two, because it’s very “a to b to c” right now. I want to start off with a “Deep Down” not a “Conviction.” (If you know what I’m sayin’.) But for now–fun!
(Somnambulist)
One of the best eps of the season. Vintage Minear script and tremendous direction by Winrich Kolbe. A lot of people complain that Somnambulist solidified a metaphorical link between vampires and serial killers and that ME tripped all over themselves with that one. I’m not so unforgiving and inflexible. Kate staking Penn through Angel was one of the coolest shots in series history. Elizabeth Rohm never should have taken the L&O golden parachute. She had a great character going on AtS.
(Expecting)
Other than Wes’ tenderness and compassion towards Cordy (awww), completely forgettable. And yes, the first of three(!) CC demon spawn impregnations. (And since I considered that old horror cliche a failure of imagination the first time around, you can guess how I felt about the other two.)
(She)
I acknowledge that there were serious issues raised here, but how can I respect Marti’s intent when the script makes stupid jokes about gay health spa directors and how the alien women make Wes horny? The ep is an unholy mess, and there’s zero chemistry between Bai Ling and DB. (Thank God the braintrust came to their senses and never brought her back.) The museum tour bit was good and the dancing sequences are gold, but that’s two minutes out of 45. Burn the other 43.
(IGYUMS)
Great stuff. The first sign of things to come for Wes, the darkenss lying within the loveable goof of a bookworm. Love it even more since TCH brought to my attention that the family is a metaphor for Angel Investigations, trying to find a way to go on after the death of a loved one. For an Exorcist-style horror extravaganza, remarkably subtle.
(The Prodigal)
“What we once were informs all that we have become.” If I ever get confused about vampires in the Whedonverse, I simply repeat this line of dialogue to myself and the fog rolls away. It’s amazing how Minear can convey complex ideas that other Buffyverse writers cannot seem to grasp in such a powerful and direct fashion.
P.S. I loved Sense and Sensitivity. Spot on satire of Lalaland psychobabble.
Big B/F ‘shipper myself. ; )
I am not a fan of silly episodes as a general rule. S&S made me cringe like fingernails on a chalkboard.
I love that Faith gif, by the way ; )
Re: Angel 6.1 co-writer simultaneously checking in and goofing off.
Oh, definitely “beefed up”–it’s really an outline that turned into a bunch of dialogue. That’s how I write, generally. I start with dialogue, add in blocking and action, then and only then get to the descriptive part, which is my weak point. So I thought I’d hand it off to you guys rather than even *attempt* description that would have to be re-written anyway.
Re: Angel 6.1 co-writer simultaneously checking in and goofing off.
Elizabeth Rohm never should have taken the L&O golden parachute. She had a great character going on AtS.
I’ve heard a lot of people say that in connection to my season 1 reviews. Since I have never seen a single episode of Law and Order, I’ll have to take their word for it. It does aggravate me that shows like L&O get emmies and shows *I* like… don’t.
the family is a metaphor for Angel Investigations, trying to find a way to go on after the death of a loved one
TCH is a font of wisdom, isn’t he?
I think the moment I *knew* I hated Sense and Sensitivity was that “painbow” line.
*shudders*
OTOH, the ep does have one of my favorite lines of Angel’s:
Sensitivity guy: “Tell me about your parents.”
Angel: “My parents were great! They tasted like chicken.”
in classic paternalistic fashion, Angel sets out to confront Trevor and save Trevor on his own without telling Kate about Trevor’s misdeeds *or* his investigation of them, and without giving Kate a chance to be involved in any way
((rolls eyes)) That’s so Angel (and then, disastrously, later on it’s also so Wesley). D’you think it maybe comes from a hero’s-eye-view of himself — he has to save people, so he’s automatically their protector, a sort of father figure?
Well, yes, but there’s father figures and then there’s father figures. Some fathers encourage their “children” to learn their own lessons, they guide them. Other fathers insist on protecting their children and doing everything for them so that they never learn.
And actually, everyone Angel insists on playing father to are grown-ups who can and should be expected to solve their own problems, or at least be let in on the decision-making process. He makes life-altering choices for people like Buffy and Kate without consulting them. It’s patronizing and insulting. “I’m going to play the big hero and make the big sacrifice and spare you the pain of it all.”
What I’m trying to figure out is where that tendency comes from in Angel. Does it arise from his relationship with his own father?
All Faith icons are sexy… well, all of *mine* are
Xander made it pretty clear in “The Zeppo” that he was a virgin. A guy doesn’t tell a girl like Faith in the heat of passion that he’s “never been up with people” if it’s not true.
And yeah, I assumed Cordy lost her virginity in high school, too, *before* she dated Xander. Which leads to another puzzle, why she and Xander never did it. Because I seriously doubt he would have said, “No”.
Aw c’mon, Masq–be a rainbow, not a painbow!
That line killed me–in a good way. It was so stomach-churningly awful, so typical of a new age/granola, psychobabble tagline, and DB’s delivery was so dead on, that I had to love it. I was rolling on the floor when Doyle and Cordy wanted Angel to vamp out, and Angel refused:
Doyle: Angel, come on. You’ve got to snap out of this.
Cordelia: Right now. It’s time for you to get all vampy and… GRRR! Kate needs you!
Angel: I don’t want to. You both withdraw when I go vamp. I feel you judge me.
Cordelia: We won’t judge you. Will we? Give it a try.
Angel: Closeness is too important to me right now.
And, of course, these classic bits:
Officer: We’re closed.
Doyle: You’re the police. You can’t close!
Officer: Why not? Haven’t we done enough? It’s always “find this” “rescue that” with you people.
Lloyd: What were your parents like?
Angel: My parents were great. Tasted a lot like chicken.
Angel: Okay, I think someone needs a hug!
Cordelia: Okay…ew! Ew!
And then, of course, there’s Kate’s emotional toxic waste spill at the end and Trevor’s completely non-reaction. Ouch. That hurts.
Re: All Faith icons are sexy… well, all of *mine* are
Why Cordy and Xander never did it? …um cos they were teenagers.
Now this may seem silly as I’ve asserted my deep belief that Cordy was sexually experienced. But as you so astutely pointed out at atpobtvs, the old Cordy wasn’t much of a feminist and I think she wouldn’t have being comfortable taking the lead in an overtly sexual situation, she would expect the guy to make the moves (and probably complain to her friends if he didn’t). Also, I think she was quite taken aback by being attracted to Xander, and again at realizing that she actually cared about him. This would have meant that she wasn’t sure enough about the attraction to actually screw him in the beginning and that she later was savouring the romance, such as it was, and wanting to let things take time.
Re: i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
Yeah, but at the time she would have rationalized that he wa wealthy and had a great car…
I sort of feel sorry for Bai Ling.
In a year in which Angel had a number of fabulous female guest stars, plus Kate recurring, she kind of got lost in the shuffle. Maybe there were problems with her English, since it was reported that she had to learn her lines phonetically. “She” was not exactly a top-class episode with its bimbos-on-ice. But I thought after watching it that Jhiera did have promise.
Re: Aw c’mon, Masq–be a rainbow, not a painbow!
Um… *why* are we talking about S&S in my journal?
*eek*!!!
I’m having acid-flashback Herb Saunders nightmares!
Re: i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
heh
I was just thinking that my insight into Cordy’s highschool sexual activities was pretty well thought out for someone who never got into the fanfic thang… see I don’t even know this new “fanwank” jargon, although it doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
Re: Aw c’mon, Masq–be a rainbow, not a painbow!
Oh, but I did like the introduction of Lee Mercer. He was scary-smooth.
Lindsey McDonald, Lee Mercer, and Lilah Morgan. Never did figure out why they gave the legal-evil triumvirate the same initials.
Lineage
RedRedShoes says: “Ya know, it seems like Angel’s father (do we ever learn his name? One nice fanwank was that his name was Connor, soo….) was more the be like me, value what I value, or else I won’t love you, type — the parent seeking replication and validation in the child, and, when not getting it, rejecting the child as a kind of flawed mirror. Angel’s “parental” love seems the opposite — he wants to inappropriately protect his loved ones from even knowing about dangers they could fall into. I think he’s sort of projecting his own unloved childhood onto the people he loves — and so wants to take care of them in a way he wasn’t taken care of, although it’s really just as inappropriate as his father wanting him to be a good little carbon copy.”
Or does all that sound terribly Psych 101….although now given Wesley’s awful childhood, I suddenly have a little more insight into why he was so obsessed with Fred.”
Yes, it’s a little Psych 101, but it’s Psych 101 we can use. I’d like to see this incorporated into Masq’s “Fathers and Sons” storyline in 6.11. And Masq, are you planning to do something with Angel’s mommy? What role does she play in this screwed-up family dynamic?
Do you know how deeply scary and unlikely it is that Liam’s father was named “Connor”? Too many associations for Angel to name his son that.
the parent seeking replication and validation in the child
I think Angel eventually fell into this trap with Connor. Wanting to groom him to be “a champion”, and Connor ultimately choosing *not* to do that, first in his heart-rending monologue in “Peace Out”, and then again after he kills Sahjhan in “Origin”.
It’s not that Connor is incapable of being a champion, or *isn’t* one despite himself, it’s more that Angel was really invested in it (that speech in “Deep Down”, for ex), and pre-mind wipe Connor wasn’t ready to deal with it. First off, being like his demon father was an anathema to him, and second off, I think Connor saw demon-fighting as an undesirable survival necessity rather than a vocation.
Sorry I got off on this Connor tangent. I’ve been thinking about his relationship to Angel and the champion thing a lot lately.
To be fair, Willow’s religious beliefs aren’t Jewish, they’re Wiccan. At least, the Whedon brand of Wicca.
Re: i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
Aww, maybe poor Cordy gave it up to some frat boy. That makes me feel kinda bad for her.
Which might explain why she *didn’t* have sex with Xander. She wanted to go slower with him, and he being a basically good kid and virgin, respected that, but before they could ever consummate he broke her heart.
*poor Cordy*
Re: All Faith icons are sexy… well, all of *mine* are
Agree. This is kinda what I said to RRS below. Somewhere.
Re: i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
Yes, sex as an investment.
Which is pretty naive, because I’m sure the guy was thinking, “High school girls are like potato chips! You can never *&^% just one!”
Re: Angel 6.1 co-writer simultaneously checking in and goofing off.
she could return for a virtual Angel season
….ooh, plot bunnies….
Re: i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
Does the term “fanwank”ing come from the fanfic subculture? Since I don’t read fan fic or engage in discussions about fan fic that’s been written, I wouldn’t know the origins of the term if these were in fact its origins.
I have heard the term used in ordinary fan speculation, e.g., after an episode airs and we try to fill in missing info or spackle plot holes in ordinary discussion.
Re: Aw c’mon, Masq–be a rainbow, not a painbow!
I hear ya! Doing an anti-PC episode in the midst of the then anti-PC backlash wasn’t exactly a bold move and disappointing coming from ME. S&S was the episode that saw me become a sporadic AtS watcher for the rest of the first season. Which had its benefits – I’ve never seen She for example.
Re: Lineage
Ooo when are we going to see this season 6? You should put out some teaser promos for everyone.
Re: Lineage
I think Angel’s mommy is even more relevant than his dad. This is full-on retcon wank, but what if Liam saw his mother as something of a victim of his father? One imagines that the high puritanical standards he placed on his son would have also been placed on his whole family. Maybe he was a little abusive with his insistence that his family act a certain way, be a certain way, etc.
I could imagine a young Liam, prior to his “I don’t give a fuck” phase, seeing that and identifying with his mother and wanting to save her from it. It would go a long way to explaining the paternalism he has towards women he cares about.
Re: Angel 6.1 co-writer simultaneously checking in and goofing off.
You don’t want to feed *my* plot bunnies. They’re scary and hard to kill and the stuff of Anya’s worst nightmares!
Well, I’m thinking mostly of Willow’s pre-Wiccan period, and the beliefs of her parents (probably more likely her father than her mother). What was Willow raised to believe (other than Thanksgiving is a sham?)
Probably stuff with the capital-G-o-d word in it, or, you know, the Hebrew equivalent.
I am not a fan of silly episodes as a general rule. S&S made me cringe like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Yeah, I have to admit that although I liked S&S, TGIQ had that affect on me, and I normally have a high tollerance for silly.
I love your B/F by the way; one of my all time favourite scenes, *goes to a happy place* If only it had been longer.
My Faith gif was supplied by the lovely zerographic, I’m not sure if it’s on her website as she made it for me by special request, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you wanted to snag it, so long as you credit.
Re: i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
I think the ep was called ‘Some Assembly Required.’
Yeah, her mother didn’t seem particularly religious.
But much was made of Willow’s chosen religion–Christianity and Judaism aren’t the only *real* faiths, even though Wicca had a markedly bad rap on the show.
Re: Aw c’mon, Masq–be a rainbow, not a painbow!
Well, for me, the pain of that episode was really more about Angel’s dignity. Forced to talk that obnoxious touchy-feely talk when he’s more comfortable being broody and standoffish. Dressing up like a road flare and pretending to be a tourist to catch a bad guy.
*shudders*
I started a club at the Bronze after that episode, “Defenders of Angel’s dignity”.
It was a thing.
Re: i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
an effort to sort of knit together canon, rather than invent something totally new.
A noble mission!
Re: Lineage
We’ve been working on it steadily since May, and are *only now* writing the first couple episodes. I haven’t felt comfortable putting out teasy advertisements, in case the whole thing fell flatter than a poorly-baked cake.
Once we have a few scripts in hand, I want to mass-advertise to all the BtVS and AtS sites and boards I can find. It will be posted in the Existential Scoobies fictionary pages.
Fergus!
I’ve decided Liam’s father’s name will be Fergus. Because he looks and acts like a Fergus.
Yes, he is Fergus.
Fergus, Liam & Bon Bon, er, I mean Connor
I’ve decided Liam’s father’s name was Fergus.
Wank, wank, wank.
Yes, I’m spending *a lot* of time lately sorting out Connor’s feelings towards the champion thing and towards his powers. He was definitely *off* the idea in his pre-Home days, and I think the shock of having all that return to him in “Origin” made him off the idea at the end of that episode. You do see him being kind of *keen* on the idea, a little, prior to going into that fight with Sahjhan.
But then, in “Not Fade Away”, he *does* come back to join his father’s fight, and it probably is with the benefit of the time gap between Origin and Not Fade Away. He absorbs everything that’s happened to him in the past year, everything that once happened to him in his old life, everything that “happened” to him in his false memories, and that fact of his supernatural powers that he can’t get rid of, and decides he can’t, at the very least, let his father go into a battle Angel obviously expects to die in without helping.
*sigh*, it’s so… heart warming. *I love my OTP*
Re: Fergus!
Because he looks and acts like a Fergus.
Oh! I played a character called Fergus in a Brendan Behan play called The Hostage. I know what you mean…but, but, but, I hope I don’t look like a Fergus.
Re: i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
Cordy got totally shat upon by the AtS writers.
*sob*!
Vincent K
Heheh. You do enjoy your BonBon….I’m looking forward to seeing VK in other things, too, as I think he’s going to become a terrific adult actor. (And, you know, being a hottie doesn’t hurt either….)
He’s already an amazing kid actor! Now I am going to pimp my review of his movies.
But yeah. There are good things to come.
My father, myself
Angel’s “parental” love seems the opposite — he wants to inappropriately protect his loved ones from even knowing about dangers they could fall into. I think he’s sort of projecting his own unloved childhood onto the people he loves — and so wants to take care of them in a way he wasn’t taken care of
And yet, Angel also had trouble with the loving part, just like his father did. When Connor came back from Quortoth broken and distorted and older and messed up, I think Angel had a harder time loving him, or showing him love. Sort of like his own father withholding love when Liam wasn’t what Fergus-or-whatever-his-name-is wanted him to be. Connor wasn’t what Angel had hoped for when he held his infant son in his arms. He’d been made something very different by Holtz.
How like his father Angel turned out to be
Plot bunnies from hell!
Oooh! I love that!
“My plot bunnies have fangs”
Ooohhh..
Re: Lineage
God, I am getting such insight into Angel’s parental issues.
Episode 11 is going to rock!
I hope.
Re: i don’t have a sexy faith icon but…
All fandom culture seems to have its roots in Dr. Who or Star Trek: TOS.
She also thought she’d get in trouble nailing crucifixes to her bedroom wall. She covered it up with a curtain.
Given how secular/liberal her mom seemed, I’m thinking her mom and dad had an interesting marriage.
I think it’s likely that Mutant Enemy didn’t think they’d get as much flak if they explored (or distorted) Wicca than in they explored the the beliefs of characters that came from more traditional Western religions. They steered clear of explaining/exploring things to do with Judaism and Christianity.
Re: Aw c’mon, Masq–be a rainbow, not a painbow!
Yes, but *I* have the banning, deleting and screening sticks!
Mwah ha ha ha ha!!!
I think it did come from Who
Largely because Who has very little inter-story continuity (if you really want a laugh, look at the incredibly tortured attempts of certain people to produce a coherent framing history for all the Cyberman stories, say).
I’ve seen some numerological interpretations, and a suggestion that it relates to Lucifer Morningstar (which works when you think of Ms Lilith Morrigan)
I’m not sure it would have been particularly interesting if they had done so.
Lucifer, the brightest
angelstar in the heavens?Pretty lawyers in $1,200 suits.
Hmm, I can see it.