Spike me

[gwyn]

I was surprised to realize, when I heard there wouldn't be a new Angel ep until January, that I was really, really disappointed at not being able to see new Spike until then. Or new Angel, or new Wes... or even new Knox. Because, really, I didn't want Spike to go on Angel.

I'd wanted Spike's sacrifice to be more significant, not something easily rectified. Wanted his ending to be more heroically conventional, I suppose, even for a guy who was never conventional, heroic or evil. Mostly, I wanted the ending to my Spike-and-Buffy-together love to... well, end, rather than continue on in a way that made me miserable, where they were not together and Spike was forgotten or discarded. Especially because of ME's tendency to make a mockery of everything that Buffy and Spike were, so that we'd be reminded their relationship was never good enough. When I heard he was going to be on Angel, I cringed. I mean, I was happy to be able to see him, but... it wasn't what I'd wanted.

Even this whole first part of the season, while I've loved the show and the development of the new Angel and crew, I've wondered if this was any better, if it was necessary. I'd liked Angel as a show enough before that I didn't need Spike for comic relief, really. The character of Spike has changed a lot from what I loved initially. Sometimes I don't mind that, sometimes it hasn't sat too well. And I've had a hard time with JM's aging (because I'm so hung up on that vampires are immortal thing), so I kept thinking that seeing him on the show week in and out would be a bad thing -- not only was there a great deal more potential for ongoing character destruction, but I'd have to worry about the age thing as well.

Yet I'm enjoying having my weekly Spike fix. And the fact that it comes with a fix of Angel and Wes is icing on a really wonderful cake (and cake is always, always good). Suddenly I'm without a weekly new Spike fix, and I'm all "hey, wait a minute! This is boring!" Color me surprised at my own surprise. I can't say I'll always like what they do with him, and I know this won't go in a direction I probably will be happy with ultimately, but his continuing presence means I not only get to ogle the cheekbones of heaven, but find new stories for fanfic, get new background to develop, and even get more footage for vids. Yay for that. And I've been in fandom long enough to know that continuing series and characters have much more fan involvement than once they're gone, so... there's more likelihood of vids to watch and stories to read.

I especially liked Spike's confidence during this last new go-round, his assumption that he will see Buffy again and that they'll be together. This is the hopelessly romantic pragmatist that I fell in love with, this guy who has a melodramatic streak a mile wide while still having a kind of... almost vatic understanding of his purpose and who he is, for good or bad. He's still the model of conflicting personality traits within one character, and god love him for that.

So December's going to be a long month. Thank goodness for the season 5 Buffy discs, the Firefly discs, and the two new Hornblower movies (not to mention repeated viewings of The Two Towers and at last, Return of the King!). Now that I've grown accustomed to Spike's face again, I don't want it missing from my weekly TV viewing.

Comments

[chrismm.livejournal.com]

I'm not picking here, I'm genuinely curious--does David's aging not bother you as much as James', with the character as a vampire thing, I mean? Because he's changed at least as much as James has, from the first episodes, but I hardly ever hear people talk about that, whereas I do hear people talk about James' being different. So I'm just curious what the difference is...

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of it has to do with levels -- DB's still so young that most of his aging is more in how his body and face have become slightly fuller (not fat! I hate it when people say he's fat!). He hasn't developed the lines that JM has. I think also that I fear the bleaching is going to accentuate the very slightly higher hairline on JM, too. ;-) But it was a weird thing -- JM's one of those people who seem to be very young looking until one day, bam! They suddenly look their age. When you go back and look at how creamy dreamy he was in S 2 and even in 4, and then compare to S7, the difference is really dramatic, and I think it's most visible when you see him in the period costumes of Fool for Love, and then Lies and now Destiny. The bad wigs of the latter two especially seem to accentuate his older look.

DB just mostly seems to have rounded out, gotten a bit older, but not so much *old*, and I think that's simply the fact that he's quite a bit younger still than JM. Which is okay, I mean... I've been able to fanwank the aging of both of them, and I can rationalize anything, but sometimes I worry about what's going to happen with them if the show continues, especially JM. Not a *huge* deal, but something I think about too much -- partly because JM and I are of an age, and right now, I look younger than I am.

This is odd

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I have the exact opposite view. DB to me seems to look like he's aging horribly. Getting jowly and pitted in the face, lines around the eyes. While JM still looks fairly young. His lines seem to accentuate his features.
Look back to early episodes of BTVS and DB looks completely different. His face is so lean.

Also take into consideration DB is 32 years old. That's young. JM is 41 and in my humble opinion looks younger than DB. Again this all may just be a manner of opinion and what we consider attractive. I like lean faces on men. It's the artist in me I suspect, I enjoy harsh lines to a face and well-defined features. I've tried to draw both men and just find myself more fascinated with JM's features.

Re: This is odd

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I definitely think DB looks older, just not necessarily old -- but the way he's filled out and rounded out doesn't remind me as much of myself aging as JM's lines do! ;-) JM and I are of an age, so, of course, I notice those things more -- I fear them!

I think I don't usually prefer a face type as much as it sounds like you do -- so that may also be a factor. Although a friend once remarked to me that I have a thing for guys with ravaged faces and visionary eyes, and she's definitely right about that.

But I'm mostly scared that JM's going to lose his hair too early because of all the bleaching! Aiieeee! ;-)

[klia.livejournal.com]

JM's one of those people who seem to be very young looking until one day, bam! They suddenly look their age.

I always attributed his wrinkles to his smoking having finally caught up with him, but now that I think about it, I don't even know if the man smokes in RL. D'oh.

aging

[(Anonymous)]

My theory is that people hold up pretty well until age 38. Then suddenly it all starts falling apart. I fell apart years ago.JM looked pretty good until 40.

I think the cinematographers on Angel could be more creative with their lighting to make him appear younger and continue our fictive dream of immortality.

The lighting from above in the last scenes of Chosen emphasized his forehead wrinkles. I think that could have been minimized with better lighting.

Diane

[eurydice72.livejournal.com]

You're definitely not one of the only ones who cringed at the idea of Spike being on Angel. As much as I wanted my Spike fix, I just never saw how they could do it without belittling what happened on BtVS, and though I've enjoyed watching this season of Angel, I'm still not completely convinced that it was the best thing to do. JM's aging when they insist on keeping him a vampire is a delicate issue, and the lighting design on Angel certainly isn't helping matters. Don't get me wrong; I still think that JM is one of the most attractive men I've ever seen, but seeing the added lines only serves to further the destroy the illusion ME and JW are striving to create.

All that being said, I'm missing not seeing Angel, too (even if it has meant watching the episodes on DL because they won't start the new series until January here in the UK). Although I started out watching the show strictly because Spike was going over (I was never able to get into the series when it first started as DB and CC were my two least favorite characters from the BtVS world; that changed when they introduced Wesley---a fact I only discovered after sitting and watching all 4 seasons this past summer in preparation for S5), I'm an ensemble fan, now. Well, OK, I'm a Wes fan, and a Lorne fan, and an enthusiastic supporter of the rest. :) It still means I miss them terribly. :)

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Word! Yes, to everything! I wish they'd work a little on the sound editing and the lighting -- I loved Angel's noir look in early days, but it seems as if they haven't quite figured out how to make it look in W&H now, and it's not doing our favorite aging vampires any good. ;-)