Out of sync
Oct. 9th, 2003 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynI feel a bit out of step writing this today. It seems like everyone has already weighed in on their Angel thoughts by the time I get to writing it up, and so I’m out step time-wise. And I’m not even sure the microphone is on these days; in my ‘noided out little world I figured that people probably filtered me out long ago due to my blah blah blah opinions, or did during my little hiatus. And mostly I feel out of step because my feelings about the show and the characters don’t seem to mesh with so many others’ that I read.
See, I’m actually pretty happy. In my perfect world, no, Spike wouldn’t have joined the cast of Angel, especially this way, since the loss of the Spuffy ideal is significant for me. I realize that makes me highly mockable, and I’ve certainly read enough vituperative comments from others about how many of us who liked Spike and Buffy together are refusing to move on or get over it or whatever (well, no, not refusing, it’s just where I liked the story best and I still feel like there are stories to be told). But overall, I mostly feel pretty good, as long as I don’t read my friends or e-mail lists. ;-) Despite what a lot of people think they know about me, I actually don’t enjoy being unhappy with my shows. I want to be happy and enjoy them. Picking them apart and finding fault, or denigrating Joss, or whoever, isn’t fun for me; I watch the stuff I love with a critical faculty, but also a fannish one, intact. I’m having a little cognitive dissonance over Alias and Gilmore Girls this year, because I’m not feeling the happy as much as before, but I’m confident that I’ll get there. And so far, I’m not unhappy with Angel. Are there problems? Well, yeah, but what show doesn’t have them? So I feel out of step writing a review because... well, I’m kinda satisfied. Last week felt unsatisfactory to me because I’m impatient with exposition. This week felt much more gratifying, even if it isn’t necessarily the direction I want it to go. My boyfriends are all back (Spike, Angel, and Wes), something’s different about the show, and the actors seem energized. It’s the only fannish show I have, and I value that right now more than ever.
So possibly I’m out of step because I enjoyed Just Rewards for the most part. Some of it bothered me, yes, but I felt like they were setting up a storyline with potential. Trying to get Spike out of his incorporeal state is going to require teamwork, and that means they’ll all get a chance to participate. I’m hoping that it will also mean my fears of Wes being pushed into the background won’t come true; I got the feeling from the conversations with Angel that Wes is already thinking a great deal about these possibilities.
Do I have any idea how Spike will fit in there, and what he can do besides stand around and snark? No, but then, I kind of consider that ME’s job to tell me (though please, please, let him adapt!). I may not like where it goes, but I’m interested in finding out. There were times that James Marsters’s acting really made me feel Spike’s pain at his condition, and I got somewhat teary in a couple places, especially the scene in the graveyard. He’s an expert at conveying that kind of angry suffering, and his scene with Fred at the end really touched me because it was most like the Spike I enjoy writing in fanfic. Despite appearances, he hasn’t forgotten what happened nor how he felt about it, and he’s not afraid of telling someone he’s afraid.
I’m not in full-on panic mode, either, about them setting up relationships on the show; it didn’t seem to me like they’re trying to do that, especially regarding Fred and Spike. What it seemed like they were trying to do in JR was set up connections, which is a dramatically different thing. The only character there (besides Harmony, but she doesn’t count) he’s had a connection with is Angel, so there’s got to be some kind of baseline established for his introduction. I thought they played easy and loose and nudge-nudge wink-wink about the homoerotic tension between Spike and Angel, but even there, a lot of that is for creating a foundation for the future. The show is, for all intents and purposes, starting anew, and so they have to write like that. Spike is, as always, an outsider, and you have to sort out the old knowledge of who he is as well as define the new information of this new environment.
There’s still the tension of the do-gooders running this evil firm, and they’re making mistakes along the way as they sort it out. Angel attacking his client, sending the flunky to go get chopped into chum, understanding what Wes said about Angel’s style not working anymore for these situations — all of that, for me, was great fun. And I loved that they had a necromancer as the villain, it always seemed strange to me that that was one area they’ve never really strayed into on either show, and so that storyline worked to keep my attention. I especially liked the “showroom” because it seemed like a cool idea, and of course, death by spoon is always a good laugh. Gunn’s new role especially pleases me; I’ve liked him more in these two eps than I have in three years on the show. I’m unclear about Lorne’s and Harmony’s reasons for being, other than that ME loves them, but whatever. It’s small potatoes compared to the other things I’m getting out of it. I cringed when Alexis Denisoff came on the show in place of Glenn Quinn, but in the end, Wes has become my favorite character; I don’t want to exclude the possibility of a change of heart regarding anyone this early in the game.
Some of the things I found lacking were the typical David Fury hamfisted missteps — the guy doesn’t know subtle from a hole in the ground. There are other intensifiers and swear words besides bloody, bollocks, and hell. And if you’re going to throw in a Brit phrase every five words, then at least get them right, for fuck’s sake — starkers=naked. Not that Spike necessarily didn’t want to see Angel naked (I’m sure the slashers want him to say that!), but at the time, that wasn’t what he was talking about. I’m shocked they let that one slip through. And the distinction of the soul has been further lost on me. I’ve written about this in the past, my utter confusion over what the freaking hell a soul is supposed to mean in this universe, and all this ep did was confuse me more. This isn’t an element that should be fluid and open to interpretation by different writers. They’ve messed it up so badly, what it means to be a demon, or to have a soul, that I can’t even figure out what I think anymore (especially after Lies My Parents Told Me last season on Buffy). If they were attempting once again to draw a distinction, I didn’t get it.
And it seemed so typical that they would naturally cut out Buffy saying she loved Spike from the Chosen clip. God forbid, we’d want to even hint that Spike wasn’t deluded in believing that Buffy cared for him, despite Angel’s protestations. I hate this constant Buffy/Angel backpedaling from ME; if that’s where the story is going to go (they ride off into the sunset), fine, but you have to acknowledge the reality of what happened in seasons 5-7 on Buffy, for pete’s sake. While I enjoy Angel most when he’s petty and small and stuck with seeing how annoyed others are at his petty smallness, I wasn’t keen on seeing Spike and Buffy’s relationship reduced to a pissing contest between the two vampires, but that seemed like typical Fury stuff. Hopefully once we get an ep from Drew Goddard, that’ll change. ;-) The other thing that just leapt out at me and caused me enormous difficulty was the bizarre looping of over half of Spike’s dialog. Not only was it bad looping, it was done for huge segments at a time, and I couldn’t figure out why. What was happening to the sound that they had to (badly) loop so much stuff, and will they fix that? Because man, it’s distracting.
One thing I did love was the parallel between Angel and Buffy, and the lead character’s unwillingness to share information and truths and feelings. Angel is so used to holding back, so reluctant to let go for fear of what’ll happen to him, that he can’t see the forest for the trees and understand how his reticence affects others. He’s nearly dishonest when it comes to expressing his feelings. That came to a head in season two when he went all dark avenger; Wes knows all too well what Angel’s like in this respect, and I get a sense of his doubts regarding Angel and Angel’s history with Spike. This could add some cool tension, and mirror a lot of what led to story developments on Buffy when it was at its best. The lone hero who doesn’t understand how not to be a loner story is a solid one; I’m curious to see whether this will affect the truths of what happened with Connor, and Spike’s role in fleshing that out. Now that’ll be something to write about.
See, I’m actually pretty happy. In my perfect world, no, Spike wouldn’t have joined the cast of Angel, especially this way, since the loss of the Spuffy ideal is significant for me. I realize that makes me highly mockable, and I’ve certainly read enough vituperative comments from others about how many of us who liked Spike and Buffy together are refusing to move on or get over it or whatever (well, no, not refusing, it’s just where I liked the story best and I still feel like there are stories to be told). But overall, I mostly feel pretty good, as long as I don’t read my friends or e-mail lists. ;-) Despite what a lot of people think they know about me, I actually don’t enjoy being unhappy with my shows. I want to be happy and enjoy them. Picking them apart and finding fault, or denigrating Joss, or whoever, isn’t fun for me; I watch the stuff I love with a critical faculty, but also a fannish one, intact. I’m having a little cognitive dissonance over Alias and Gilmore Girls this year, because I’m not feeling the happy as much as before, but I’m confident that I’ll get there. And so far, I’m not unhappy with Angel. Are there problems? Well, yeah, but what show doesn’t have them? So I feel out of step writing a review because... well, I’m kinda satisfied. Last week felt unsatisfactory to me because I’m impatient with exposition. This week felt much more gratifying, even if it isn’t necessarily the direction I want it to go. My boyfriends are all back (Spike, Angel, and Wes), something’s different about the show, and the actors seem energized. It’s the only fannish show I have, and I value that right now more than ever.
So possibly I’m out of step because I enjoyed Just Rewards for the most part. Some of it bothered me, yes, but I felt like they were setting up a storyline with potential. Trying to get Spike out of his incorporeal state is going to require teamwork, and that means they’ll all get a chance to participate. I’m hoping that it will also mean my fears of Wes being pushed into the background won’t come true; I got the feeling from the conversations with Angel that Wes is already thinking a great deal about these possibilities.
Do I have any idea how Spike will fit in there, and what he can do besides stand around and snark? No, but then, I kind of consider that ME’s job to tell me (though please, please, let him adapt!). I may not like where it goes, but I’m interested in finding out. There were times that James Marsters’s acting really made me feel Spike’s pain at his condition, and I got somewhat teary in a couple places, especially the scene in the graveyard. He’s an expert at conveying that kind of angry suffering, and his scene with Fred at the end really touched me because it was most like the Spike I enjoy writing in fanfic. Despite appearances, he hasn’t forgotten what happened nor how he felt about it, and he’s not afraid of telling someone he’s afraid.
I’m not in full-on panic mode, either, about them setting up relationships on the show; it didn’t seem to me like they’re trying to do that, especially regarding Fred and Spike. What it seemed like they were trying to do in JR was set up connections, which is a dramatically different thing. The only character there (besides Harmony, but she doesn’t count) he’s had a connection with is Angel, so there’s got to be some kind of baseline established for his introduction. I thought they played easy and loose and nudge-nudge wink-wink about the homoerotic tension between Spike and Angel, but even there, a lot of that is for creating a foundation for the future. The show is, for all intents and purposes, starting anew, and so they have to write like that. Spike is, as always, an outsider, and you have to sort out the old knowledge of who he is as well as define the new information of this new environment.
There’s still the tension of the do-gooders running this evil firm, and they’re making mistakes along the way as they sort it out. Angel attacking his client, sending the flunky to go get chopped into chum, understanding what Wes said about Angel’s style not working anymore for these situations — all of that, for me, was great fun. And I loved that they had a necromancer as the villain, it always seemed strange to me that that was one area they’ve never really strayed into on either show, and so that storyline worked to keep my attention. I especially liked the “showroom” because it seemed like a cool idea, and of course, death by spoon is always a good laugh. Gunn’s new role especially pleases me; I’ve liked him more in these two eps than I have in three years on the show. I’m unclear about Lorne’s and Harmony’s reasons for being, other than that ME loves them, but whatever. It’s small potatoes compared to the other things I’m getting out of it. I cringed when Alexis Denisoff came on the show in place of Glenn Quinn, but in the end, Wes has become my favorite character; I don’t want to exclude the possibility of a change of heart regarding anyone this early in the game.
Some of the things I found lacking were the typical David Fury hamfisted missteps — the guy doesn’t know subtle from a hole in the ground. There are other intensifiers and swear words besides bloody, bollocks, and hell. And if you’re going to throw in a Brit phrase every five words, then at least get them right, for fuck’s sake — starkers=naked. Not that Spike necessarily didn’t want to see Angel naked (I’m sure the slashers want him to say that!), but at the time, that wasn’t what he was talking about. I’m shocked they let that one slip through. And the distinction of the soul has been further lost on me. I’ve written about this in the past, my utter confusion over what the freaking hell a soul is supposed to mean in this universe, and all this ep did was confuse me more. This isn’t an element that should be fluid and open to interpretation by different writers. They’ve messed it up so badly, what it means to be a demon, or to have a soul, that I can’t even figure out what I think anymore (especially after Lies My Parents Told Me last season on Buffy). If they were attempting once again to draw a distinction, I didn’t get it.
And it seemed so typical that they would naturally cut out Buffy saying she loved Spike from the Chosen clip. God forbid, we’d want to even hint that Spike wasn’t deluded in believing that Buffy cared for him, despite Angel’s protestations. I hate this constant Buffy/Angel backpedaling from ME; if that’s where the story is going to go (they ride off into the sunset), fine, but you have to acknowledge the reality of what happened in seasons 5-7 on Buffy, for pete’s sake. While I enjoy Angel most when he’s petty and small and stuck with seeing how annoyed others are at his petty smallness, I wasn’t keen on seeing Spike and Buffy’s relationship reduced to a pissing contest between the two vampires, but that seemed like typical Fury stuff. Hopefully once we get an ep from Drew Goddard, that’ll change. ;-) The other thing that just leapt out at me and caused me enormous difficulty was the bizarre looping of over half of Spike’s dialog. Not only was it bad looping, it was done for huge segments at a time, and I couldn’t figure out why. What was happening to the sound that they had to (badly) loop so much stuff, and will they fix that? Because man, it’s distracting.
One thing I did love was the parallel between Angel and Buffy, and the lead character’s unwillingness to share information and truths and feelings. Angel is so used to holding back, so reluctant to let go for fear of what’ll happen to him, that he can’t see the forest for the trees and understand how his reticence affects others. He’s nearly dishonest when it comes to expressing his feelings. That came to a head in season two when he went all dark avenger; Wes knows all too well what Angel’s like in this respect, and I get a sense of his doubts regarding Angel and Angel’s history with Spike. This could add some cool tension, and mirror a lot of what led to story developments on Buffy when it was at its best. The lone hero who doesn’t understand how not to be a loner story is a solid one; I’m curious to see whether this will affect the truths of what happened with Connor, and Spike’s role in fleshing that out. Now that’ll be something to write about.
