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La Femme Cordelia
Oct. 28th, 2002 01:54 pmSpoilerin' for Angel episode 10/27, Slouching Toward Bethlehem, if you haven't watched it yet!
I have a creepy confession to make. I began watching Buffy because I liked the movie (yeah, I know, that puts me off center right there) and because of Anthony Stewart Head. And at the start, before the Angel romance took off (which I was huge on), I had this kinda sorta under the radar ship in my head with Giles and Buffy. Now, I know this was wrong of me (he was an adult, she was 16), and it went away, but in the beginning, there was such a cool vibe, and I liked both of them a lot, and Buffy seemed so adult and Giles was so sexy and... okay, I’m rationalizing, but there it is. I am a pathetic human being.
So it’s odd that last night I had an immediate squick reaction to Connor copping a feel on Cordelia, and the teaser for next week with some kind of hint of either a crush-wish on Connor’s part, or possible reality? I don’t know. I just know that I went to a place of minor wiggins and I can’t help thinking of how Mutant Enemy had to make sure Giles and Buffy stood a certain distance apart after the first few eps, because people (pervs like me!) were getting the wrong idea. Connor may not technically be that much younger than Cordy’s supposed to be, but it’s still a place I don’t want to see them go, and hope this is just going to be a very one-sided 16 year old has the hots for teacher kinda thing. A crush I can understand, but anything else... brrr. Maybe I'm just reacting to a lot of the underage fanfic stuff out there, and it's skewed my perspective, but it's something I hope will be avoided.
Unfortunately part of what may have motivated my reaction to that scene was the fact that I felt Cordelia’s automatic response to go with Connor and then to say she’s staying with him because he’s the only one who hadn’t lied to her were both pretty flimsy (myself? I’d choose not being told the whole picture over hanging with the guy who admitted wanting to kill me once) and done in that kind of setup style I dislike, one that Angel does so poorly at while Buffy has usually done far better with. It felt entirely unmotivated and absurd to me. The rest of the episode felt a little stronger (although the contrivance of having Lorne suddenly giving “readings” in his room just in time so we could scare Cordy was kinda... well, contrived), and I’m amused that Cordelia took those few fight lessons with Angel last year and has now become La Femme Cordelia. The Wes and Lilah stuff rocked my world. I never expected that Lilah’s cruel gamesmanship and vituperative nature would ever make me say anything but “kill her now!”, but she was right about Wesley, and he knew it, and they both played that scene wonderfully. Some truly lovely stuff with them.
I’m so not a fan of amnesia storylines, having watched soaps for too damn many years. While I enjoyed some of the softer touches in the story (Cordy reviewing her yearbook and photos especially), the rest of it was clearly a setup for an upcoming arc. I’ve always felt Angel did a worse job than Buffy at story arcs, getting them started and sustaining them, but this seemed to lay some pretty good groundwork, and I hope they can pull it off. From what Lorne’s indicated, it’s going to be very apocalyptic and serious, and this ep, while not a big thrill ride, gave it a good foundation. I wished I could like Connor, but I can’t — the actor annoys me, and I loathe the character, so his desire to have some kind of family isn’t something I can care about right now. I hope that as the larger story arc develops, this will make me get over those issues. Here’s hoping this is a sign of good things to come -- just please with the no Connor and Cordy 'shipping.
I have a creepy confession to make. I began watching Buffy because I liked the movie (yeah, I know, that puts me off center right there) and because of Anthony Stewart Head. And at the start, before the Angel romance took off (which I was huge on), I had this kinda sorta under the radar ship in my head with Giles and Buffy. Now, I know this was wrong of me (he was an adult, she was 16), and it went away, but in the beginning, there was such a cool vibe, and I liked both of them a lot, and Buffy seemed so adult and Giles was so sexy and... okay, I’m rationalizing, but there it is. I am a pathetic human being.
So it’s odd that last night I had an immediate squick reaction to Connor copping a feel on Cordelia, and the teaser for next week with some kind of hint of either a crush-wish on Connor’s part, or possible reality? I don’t know. I just know that I went to a place of minor wiggins and I can’t help thinking of how Mutant Enemy had to make sure Giles and Buffy stood a certain distance apart after the first few eps, because people (pervs like me!) were getting the wrong idea. Connor may not technically be that much younger than Cordy’s supposed to be, but it’s still a place I don’t want to see them go, and hope this is just going to be a very one-sided 16 year old has the hots for teacher kinda thing. A crush I can understand, but anything else... brrr. Maybe I'm just reacting to a lot of the underage fanfic stuff out there, and it's skewed my perspective, but it's something I hope will be avoided.
Unfortunately part of what may have motivated my reaction to that scene was the fact that I felt Cordelia’s automatic response to go with Connor and then to say she’s staying with him because he’s the only one who hadn’t lied to her were both pretty flimsy (myself? I’d choose not being told the whole picture over hanging with the guy who admitted wanting to kill me once) and done in that kind of setup style I dislike, one that Angel does so poorly at while Buffy has usually done far better with. It felt entirely unmotivated and absurd to me. The rest of the episode felt a little stronger (although the contrivance of having Lorne suddenly giving “readings” in his room just in time so we could scare Cordy was kinda... well, contrived), and I’m amused that Cordelia took those few fight lessons with Angel last year and has now become La Femme Cordelia. The Wes and Lilah stuff rocked my world. I never expected that Lilah’s cruel gamesmanship and vituperative nature would ever make me say anything but “kill her now!”, but she was right about Wesley, and he knew it, and they both played that scene wonderfully. Some truly lovely stuff with them.
I’m so not a fan of amnesia storylines, having watched soaps for too damn many years. While I enjoyed some of the softer touches in the story (Cordy reviewing her yearbook and photos especially), the rest of it was clearly a setup for an upcoming arc. I’ve always felt Angel did a worse job than Buffy at story arcs, getting them started and sustaining them, but this seemed to lay some pretty good groundwork, and I hope they can pull it off. From what Lorne’s indicated, it’s going to be very apocalyptic and serious, and this ep, while not a big thrill ride, gave it a good foundation. I wished I could like Connor, but I can’t — the actor annoys me, and I loathe the character, so his desire to have some kind of family isn’t something I can care about right now. I hope that as the larger story arc develops, this will make me get over those issues. Here’s hoping this is a sign of good things to come -- just please with the no Connor and Cordy 'shipping.
