First impression...

[sharelle]

...of the Angel series finale. Good. But flawed.

In general, I felt awfully rushed throughout - like there was so much that needed to happen, but not nearly enough time to fit it all in. I'll say the same thing that I said following the BtVS finale: 2. Hour. Episode.
Series finales really should be twice as long if the writing/production team wants to include that many details. (Especially to give closure to fans who, let's face it, need it. Most especially at the end of the line.)

A few random observances:



* The action was good, but, as I said, really rushed, since they tried to fit it all in during the last 20 minutes.

* I liked Spike's poetry session. Nice to see some people appreciate it for once! (Not "bloody awful," just ahead of his time. *G*)

* Angel's "champion" status - really iffy. And I don't just mean because he supposedly signed away the Shanshu. He actually killed Drogyn - who was admittedly an innocent, a pure being. (I had thought it might have been part of the setup.) Sorry, but you just don't get brownie points for brutally plotting the death of and then killing someone who trusted you like a brother, even for the greater good. And speaking of that pesky Shanshu, which has been a story arc since Season 1, . . . .

* What? They just ignored it? Wow. If that's not the ultimate McGuffin, I don't know what is.

* Lorne was absolutely heartbreaking. I have no words.

* Both of the Wes/Illyria interactions reduced me to tears. The first in Spike's apartment just tore out my little heart, and his death scene then proceeded to stomp on it. I thought it was handled beautifully, but since Wesley's been with this universe the longest (spanning both series, next to Angel and Cordelia) his demise was so purely sad. *tearing up again*

* Harmony's exit seemed very forced. Sure, she's shallow, but I guess I expected more, especially after they added her to the opening credits a few weeks ago. (And after how sympathetic she was with Gunn during "Shells.") It was almost like the writers forgot she didn't have a soul, and then suddenly remembered. ("Oh, yeah! She's supposed to be all eeeevil and selfish! Done!") True, it was all an act, but still . . . struck me as kinda hollow.

* Part of me wants to think that Fred had a hand in killing Vale. (Pun intended.) When she told Wesley they could be together now, I couldn't help but think of a line from after Fred's death referring to her soul being destroyed when Illyria entered her body. They made such a point of it, but I can only look back now and hope that's not the case. Otherwise Wes will still be alone. *tearing up again*

* I was glad to see Connor make one more appearance. (And something tells me he didn't leave when he was told to. You just know he's heading down to that alley.)

* The episode was supposed to be about the fight against the Circle of the Black Thorn. Was I the only one who was disappointed to really only see the details of Wes' and Angel's? (And Hamilton the Big Bad fight? Um, okay.)

* Since Angel bit Hamilton, does that mean he's got the power of W&H in him now? Are we supposed to believe that's going to help him, or are we just ignoring that now, too?

* I felt bad for Lindsey. Like Drogyn, he's another person whose fate Angel seals for no real reason. He followed through on his part of the bargain, and look what he got. (Unless, of course, you don't believe his assurances that he's happy to have been fighting the good fight.) No wonder Lorne was crushed. The gentle soul that he is, Angel did him a great injustice by asking him to go through with that. I don't blame him for his "don't look for me" sendoff.

* Spike: "Can I deny you three times?" Priceless. (Although if he's supposed to be Peter to Angel's Christ, how far should we take that parallel? Second in command? Closest friend? The "rock" who takes over after the leader's ultimate sacrifice?)

* So that's the Apocalypse with the capital "A"? Personally, I think it's a fantastic way to end a season, though I believe there should be much more closure when signing off an entire series. (Especially since the TV movie route is shaping up to be another road not taken.)

* Your friends at the WB? Shyeah, uh-huh.

* "Let's go to work." -- I like the last line. It shows promise.

Comments

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

1. The Harmony thing: I think that she was on the up and up, She was "assisting" Angel by getting Hamilton to believe that Angel's plan was to take on the demon in person. Hence, the recommendation letter.

2. The Illyria thing. She was lying. She said as much, and he asked her to. Fred's soul is gone... but why not grant a dying man the illusion of comfort in his last moments.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

The Harmony thing: I think that she was on the up and up, She was "assisting" Angel by getting Hamilton to believe that Angel's plan was to take on the demon in person. Hence, the recommendation letter.

Oh, I certainly see that. I still thought it was a bit forced, though. After all her declarations (in this episode and others) about how she wants to help, I thought her flowery "may the best man win" exit seemed a throwback to how shallow she'd been when, really, she'd grown as a character.

They did put on a good show in the lobby, though, didn't they? :)

[silentbob037.livejournal.com]

From the way that I read it, this was part of the whole plan to begin with. He knew that, even though she's shown flashes of emotions here and there, her lack of a soul would tend to make her lean more towards giving up the ghost as the metaphor goes. Part of the whole plan was to have Harmony tell Hamilton so that Angel could take him out. Which, if you look at it in a certain way, means that she was part of the team like she was complaining about in the show opening.

And hell, she got a great exit line too...

They did put on a good show in the lobby, though, didn't they? :)

They did say that all the sets have been knocked down...

[corn-child013.livejournal.com]

"And something tells me he didn't leave when he was told to. You just know he's heading down to that alley."

Aaah. I love that. I agree with 98% of your thoughts on this.

"I liked Spike's poetry session"
I really liked the Spike poetry thing too... I think it let his character go all full circle-y. I think it was the closest thing to Spike's character growth we've had all season.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

I think it was the closest thing to Spike's character growth we've had all season.

I agree. With a few definite exceptions, I was a bit disappointed with how Spike's character was handled at times during this season. Granted, the writers don't want to make too many references to what happened on Buffy, since that show is over and they'd want to work with the series at hand, but it often struck me odd the way much of Spike's previous development was swept under the rug. It was wonderful to see this bit of growth here.

[ex-kaboom883.livejournal.com]

very interesting point there about why Lorne was so upset over his part of the fight.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

My heart probably broke for him most of all. I'm not sure I ever appreciated his character as much as I did tonight. (And it speaks volumes about Andy Hallett's acting ability, to portray just how broken Lorne was over this - especially under all that makeup he has to wear.)

It just goes to show how far Lorne is willing to go for his friends: He was already shattered after Fred's death, yet he still did anything that was asked of him. Then, he's prepared to willingly damage himself further because of something Angel wants. Finally, to walk away from those people who were such a big part of his life afterward . . . so sad, on so many levels.

Poor, jaded Lorne.

[silentbob037.livejournal.com]

To me, Lorne's leaving was all linked into his feeling that he'd done his good deed for the universe by helping Angel for all this time and, with this final act, his part in all of it was complete. He'd done his time saving the world and he didn't like the person that it was asking him to be. His feelings were shredded by what happened to Fred and they haven't really had any time to heal. Being asked to kill someone, even Lindsey, probably just made his decision to leave more final.

[silentbob037.livejournal.com]

Angel's "champion" status - really iffy. And I don't just mean because he supposedly signed away the Shanshu.

To me, I think that Angel probably figured that, to fulfill his plan, he was going to need to give up on his hopes for the phropecy. With the kind of people that he was going to have to go up against, they wouldn't let him just get in on his good looks alone. He knew that he'd be called on to do things that would seriously hinder the whole Shanshu thing forever.

Both of the Wes/Illyria interactions reduced me to tears. The first in Spike's apartment just tore out my little heart, and his death scene then proceeded to stomp on it.

To me, this was one of the parts of the episode that rang the most true. Both scenes felt so real and emotional that it made the second one just that more emotional.

I felt bad for Lindsey.

This was the bit that I didn't quite get. To me, it didn't really seem to add up right. I guess it comes down to the fact that Angel thought that he knew that Lindsey wouldn't be on the side of good for very long following what went down. But it just didn't seem to feel right when it happened. Maybe it's just me.

So that's the Apocalypse with the capital "A"?

The "Apocolypse" is everything going on in the world now. The evil that is creeping into the every day world and threatening to take over everything. That's the apocolypse that Lindsey was talking about. This isn't a "Big Bad" battle like they normally have. This is an evil that is being weaved into the very fabric of our reality. The scene with Gunn at the shelter points toward this. He's questioning the reason to keep trying even if it seems like there is no way to win. The fact that the woman that he talks to (I feel like an idiot for forgetting her name) has no problem with continuing to try and work to make her little part of the world a better place shows that there is a reason to keep fighting and that, no matter what, we can't give up or that means that the "Apocolypse" has finally won.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

To me, it didn't really seem to add up right. I guess it comes down to the fact that Angel thought that he knew that Lindsey wouldn't be on the side of good for very long following what went down.

Me neither. I had a few thoughts, but am still not sure which one I'm going to settle on. First off, in the grand scheme of things, Lindsey is just a little fish - even if he were to go for the double-cross later - and Angel knows this. Why waste the time (not to mention a trusted friend's already fragile emotions) to dispose of him once he'd done his part? It seemed very cold of Angel to plan, and really not all that necessary in my eyes. (At least not now, when there are other things to worry about.)

Then again, Lindsey's last words insisted that Angel was supposed to be the one who finally kills him (rather than Lorne, the supposed "flunky"). With those words (a dying man's Freudian slip?), perhaps he was revealing his own plan to turn on Angel later. Otherwise, why would he see (or admit to) Angel needing to kill him?

*sigh* So many theories! *VBG*

[silentbob037.livejournal.com]

I thought that the whole "Angel/flunky" thing was that Lindsey saw himself as Angel's arch rival and that, after all the stuff that went down, it was beneath him to die at the hands of someone like Lorne, a person that he could only see as a flunkie. It is possible that Angel thought that Lindsey wouldn't be expecting what Lorne did which would make it easier to kill him than if Angel had done it himself. Then again, it seems slightly unfair to have had Lindsey help and then to kill him.