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Family fun night
Feb. 6th, 2003 01:39 pmSpoilers for Angel episode 2/5
Soulless -- beware!!
Well, rats. I think I must have been less enamored of Angel last night than most others. I feel even more out of step with my fandoms now. It wasn’t that I disliked it, it’s just that some of it was disappointing — although my expectations may have simply been too high for it to have made me happy completely. But I don’t want to be all grouchy about fandom right now, and don't mean to sound pissy.
What I loved: Most of what Angel said to everyone, especially his sexual remarks and taunts (and was I crazy, or did he keep caressing those bars in a suggestive way when he was talking to Wesley?). Especially how cruel he was to Connor. Whee.
The cool use of the stop-motion visuals. The way things were framed, especially when Wes was sitting in the chair and Angel was framed along the opposite plane. I also love that they break the film plane on this show so much; normally, that’s a no-no in cinematography, but as a device it can be really effective, and they do it well on Angel.
Wes. Just anything with Wes. Damn, I’m hot for him now, especially when he has any kind of a weapon. His effectiveness with a dart gun last night was an extra cool snap. There’s this thing that’s been developing with Wes that I find especially admirable, and last night really emphasized it: he’s incredibly self-aware now, where he didn’t used to be before. His reactions to Angel’s taunts were fairly controlled and subdued — you could see that they affected him, but that he was also already aware of what Angel was saying, himself. And in the beginning when he talked about how much cleverer and craftier Angel was than he could ever be, and about his limitations despite years of study, it was an amazing show of maturity that he often hasn’t shown or doesn’t show elsewhere. Besides his bitterness, what’s made him a fascinating character to me in recent months is that he’s used his bad experiences and walk on the dark side as a way to grow, and he has a level of self-awareness the others don’t. He knew exactly what he was doing when he kissed Fred — even though it seemed impetuous and a childish display of testosterone, I don’t think it was, entirely. I think he was forcing Fred’s hand very carefully and knew what it would lead Gunn to do, thereby breaking the issue apart. I could be totally projecting on that, but it’s what I came away with.
What didn’t work so much: I think what I felt most dissatisfied with was how quiet and subdued Angel was. On Buffy, the thing I loved about him was his... sort of gleeful, intense, happy to be evil joie de.. well, un-vive, and he was so damn quiet that I felt less than satisfied. Like not getting the full meal, or something, and only eating appetizers. Appetizers can be fine if that’s all you want... but if you’re just waiting for more, you won’t be satisfied. I love DB when he delivers lines like he did to Buffy: “And you FALL for it EVery SINgle TIME!” and the cackle and all. It looks like in the teasers next week I may get my wish, but I confess I was just so excited for that kind of bouncing on his feet, tickled at his own evilness line delivery, and got the subdued treatment instead, that it left me a little deflated.
Which leads to the other disappointment. For me, the fact that everyone in the AI group has become so dysfunctional and split apart and embittered makes Angel’s tormenting something anyone could do. It doesn’t take an Angelus to know how to jab the knife in deeper, or make things even worse — it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. It seemed like one of those things that even just a Lilah or a Gavin could do to rip everyone up even further, so what I want from Angel is better, deeper, crueler (I’m sick, yes). The way he was on Buffy. He was nicely sinister, but with this group as they are now, there’s not necessarily much need for that. They could easily take those steps to misery themselves, and have. What I think I’m hoping for from evil Angel is something far graver and deeper.
I feel I missed something vital — was it just me, or was Angel’s connection to the beast kind of lame? Did I actually miss something because I was playing catch-up off the TiVo? It seemed kind of odd, and I meant to go back over it again this morning and see why I felt that way, but didn’t have the chance. Possibly, I just zoned, or was busy being impressed with the camera work.
Anyhow. Like I said, it was more a feeling of being unsatisfied than of not liking it — it was still a great romp and bad Angel is the best Angel, if you ask me. I’m very much looking forward to next week’s, and it looks like I should get my wish. And I’d still rather have subdued Angelus than no Angelus at all. He even made Connor tolerable with his taunting, no mean feat. And hurry! Get Cordy some plants and furniture to stand behind, stat! And get her out of that wretched coat!
Soulless -- beware!!
Well, rats. I think I must have been less enamored of Angel last night than most others. I feel even more out of step with my fandoms now. It wasn’t that I disliked it, it’s just that some of it was disappointing — although my expectations may have simply been too high for it to have made me happy completely. But I don’t want to be all grouchy about fandom right now, and don't mean to sound pissy.
What I loved: Most of what Angel said to everyone, especially his sexual remarks and taunts (and was I crazy, or did he keep caressing those bars in a suggestive way when he was talking to Wesley?). Especially how cruel he was to Connor. Whee.
The cool use of the stop-motion visuals. The way things were framed, especially when Wes was sitting in the chair and Angel was framed along the opposite plane. I also love that they break the film plane on this show so much; normally, that’s a no-no in cinematography, but as a device it can be really effective, and they do it well on Angel.
Wes. Just anything with Wes. Damn, I’m hot for him now, especially when he has any kind of a weapon. His effectiveness with a dart gun last night was an extra cool snap. There’s this thing that’s been developing with Wes that I find especially admirable, and last night really emphasized it: he’s incredibly self-aware now, where he didn’t used to be before. His reactions to Angel’s taunts were fairly controlled and subdued — you could see that they affected him, but that he was also already aware of what Angel was saying, himself. And in the beginning when he talked about how much cleverer and craftier Angel was than he could ever be, and about his limitations despite years of study, it was an amazing show of maturity that he often hasn’t shown or doesn’t show elsewhere. Besides his bitterness, what’s made him a fascinating character to me in recent months is that he’s used his bad experiences and walk on the dark side as a way to grow, and he has a level of self-awareness the others don’t. He knew exactly what he was doing when he kissed Fred — even though it seemed impetuous and a childish display of testosterone, I don’t think it was, entirely. I think he was forcing Fred’s hand very carefully and knew what it would lead Gunn to do, thereby breaking the issue apart. I could be totally projecting on that, but it’s what I came away with.
What didn’t work so much: I think what I felt most dissatisfied with was how quiet and subdued Angel was. On Buffy, the thing I loved about him was his... sort of gleeful, intense, happy to be evil joie de.. well, un-vive, and he was so damn quiet that I felt less than satisfied. Like not getting the full meal, or something, and only eating appetizers. Appetizers can be fine if that’s all you want... but if you’re just waiting for more, you won’t be satisfied. I love DB when he delivers lines like he did to Buffy: “And you FALL for it EVery SINgle TIME!” and the cackle and all. It looks like in the teasers next week I may get my wish, but I confess I was just so excited for that kind of bouncing on his feet, tickled at his own evilness line delivery, and got the subdued treatment instead, that it left me a little deflated.
Which leads to the other disappointment. For me, the fact that everyone in the AI group has become so dysfunctional and split apart and embittered makes Angel’s tormenting something anyone could do. It doesn’t take an Angelus to know how to jab the knife in deeper, or make things even worse — it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. It seemed like one of those things that even just a Lilah or a Gavin could do to rip everyone up even further, so what I want from Angel is better, deeper, crueler (I’m sick, yes). The way he was on Buffy. He was nicely sinister, but with this group as they are now, there’s not necessarily much need for that. They could easily take those steps to misery themselves, and have. What I think I’m hoping for from evil Angel is something far graver and deeper.
I feel I missed something vital — was it just me, or was Angel’s connection to the beast kind of lame? Did I actually miss something because I was playing catch-up off the TiVo? It seemed kind of odd, and I meant to go back over it again this morning and see why I felt that way, but didn’t have the chance. Possibly, I just zoned, or was busy being impressed with the camera work.
Anyhow. Like I said, it was more a feeling of being unsatisfied than of not liking it — it was still a great romp and bad Angel is the best Angel, if you ask me. I’m very much looking forward to next week’s, and it looks like I should get my wish. And I’d still rather have subdued Angelus than no Angelus at all. He even made Connor tolerable with his taunting, no mean feat. And hurry! Get Cordy some plants and furniture to stand behind, stat! And get her out of that wretched coat!
