Angel Commentary, late but well-meaning
Mar. 16th, 2003 05:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vaznettiA few thoughts on "Release."
I was thinking about Faith and Wesley, and Faith and Angelus. I like the fact that Faith has changed and I like the way she's changed. What struck me is how strongly her responses remind me of Buffy's, when faced by Angelus--that same bafflement and hurt. Faith has never had to deal with the real Angelus before and it shows. She's always been the unstable one, the one who wanders into the lives of people who believe she's their friend and devastates them. Now she isn't but she doesn't know who she's supposed to be, so she's become Buffy. Her reaction to Wesley, when he stabs the woman in the vampire bordello (or whatever that was) was also reminiscent of Buffy--and of Faith pretending to be Buffy. It's the same appalled "You can't do that!" that Buffy used when Faith killed the Mayor's assistant and that Faith mocked. Of course, Wesley's philosophy is a little more complex than Faith's "want, have, take" principles, but he shares her careless disregard of other people's wellbeing--Wesley believes that he can and should hurt/betray/kill anyone necessary, so long as it gets the job done. It's just that Wesley's mission has nothing to do with his personal happiness or his grip on sanity. It was interesting to watch the contrast between his embrace of lawlessness and her desperate attempt to keep hold of the rules.
Wesley has given up on trying to be Angel, but Faith is still trying to be Buffy, I suspect.
I'm not spoiled for Faith's future, so all I can say is that now would be a good time for Wesley to get out of whatever he's caught in and distract Angelus with their own special brand of sexual tension.
As for evil Cordy, she needs to be unmasked soon, before the gag (that she's evil but no one knows) gets old. And because I want to see what the knowledge does to Connor. In my ideal scenario, Angelus is the one who figures it out (he has almost enough information to do so) and he takes that knowledge straight to Connor and plays with him for a while.
On a final note... I think my judgment of Fred is impaired by not having seen most of S3. It occurs to me, though, that I may underestimate the amount of damage her time on Pylea did to her. Perhaps her need to be someone's first priority at all times is a reaction to her isolation there--it's her way of protecting herself. I keep looking at the screen and thinking "Fred, try taking care of yourself for a change," but Fred has taken care of herself and she doesn't want to have to do so ever again. And being part of a group isn't secure enough for her. Perhaps reasonably so.
I was thinking about Faith and Wesley, and Faith and Angelus. I like the fact that Faith has changed and I like the way she's changed. What struck me is how strongly her responses remind me of Buffy's, when faced by Angelus--that same bafflement and hurt. Faith has never had to deal with the real Angelus before and it shows. She's always been the unstable one, the one who wanders into the lives of people who believe she's their friend and devastates them. Now she isn't but she doesn't know who she's supposed to be, so she's become Buffy. Her reaction to Wesley, when he stabs the woman in the vampire bordello (or whatever that was) was also reminiscent of Buffy--and of Faith pretending to be Buffy. It's the same appalled "You can't do that!" that Buffy used when Faith killed the Mayor's assistant and that Faith mocked. Of course, Wesley's philosophy is a little more complex than Faith's "want, have, take" principles, but he shares her careless disregard of other people's wellbeing--Wesley believes that he can and should hurt/betray/kill anyone necessary, so long as it gets the job done. It's just that Wesley's mission has nothing to do with his personal happiness or his grip on sanity. It was interesting to watch the contrast between his embrace of lawlessness and her desperate attempt to keep hold of the rules.
Wesley has given up on trying to be Angel, but Faith is still trying to be Buffy, I suspect.
I'm not spoiled for Faith's future, so all I can say is that now would be a good time for Wesley to get out of whatever he's caught in and distract Angelus with their own special brand of sexual tension.
As for evil Cordy, she needs to be unmasked soon, before the gag (that she's evil but no one knows) gets old. And because I want to see what the knowledge does to Connor. In my ideal scenario, Angelus is the one who figures it out (he has almost enough information to do so) and he takes that knowledge straight to Connor and plays with him for a while.
On a final note... I think my judgment of Fred is impaired by not having seen most of S3. It occurs to me, though, that I may underestimate the amount of damage her time on Pylea did to her. Perhaps her need to be someone's first priority at all times is a reaction to her isolation there--it's her way of protecting herself. I keep looking at the screen and thinking "Fred, try taking care of yourself for a change," but Fred has taken care of herself and she doesn't want to have to do so ever again. And being part of a group isn't secure enough for her. Perhaps reasonably so.
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no subject
Date: 2003-03-16 03:26 pm (UTC)Wow. I think you've got it. I haven't been able to write Fred at all because I just didn't *get* her, ever since "Waiting in the Wings." But if you're right, and I think there's a good chance you are, you may have just given me the key into her head that I've been needing. :-)
If so, thanks!
Azar
no subject
Date: 2003-03-16 07:15 pm (UTC)