| That's My Take | |||||||||
| My thoughts on the subject of Buffy & Angel |
Buffy 5-30-02: I watched these after not sleeping for 24 plus hours after a long flight home from Sapporo, Japan. I felt it wasn't as good as I expected. I did like it. I didn't expect Giles back. I didn't expect it to not be Buffy who saves the world this time. I was afraid but, at the back of my mind, a part of me couldn't be afraid of Willow. Good mind exercise: relate this episode to "Restless". The Spike thing as the ending? Whatever. I guess I'm sorta like whatever about the whole season. It could have been produced better. The higher themes could have been presented better. It had a lot of good messages though. I feel like it's spoken to my life this last year. On a personal note, I was like Willow & Buffy in a lot of ways. I've explained a lot about the Buffy way. The Willow way? I lost the person I now happily formerly love & it made everyone else, those who loved me, not matter. I say I lost but I never had. He never loved me & no matter who else loved me or what else I tried to find, I was broken & lost. The Buffy way was that I really didn't care if I were alive or dead for a good 6 months. I wasn't suicidal; I just didn't care cause I lost him. That's like Willow at the end but Buffy in the middle. Right when Willow & Buffy discuss their lives & Buffy says she doesn't want to die anymore, that was when I was feeling like that for the first time. Now, I just came back from Japan & I look at what I experienced there & I see all the people in my life waiting for me here & I just feel so blessed. I'm not religious but that's the word I feel. So blessed. I'm so greatful for everything I have & everyone I have. & I feel so stupid for having just thrown no care to the ones who do matter & who are actually precious over someone I lost, a love I lost. I feel like Willow there. You shouldn't go to a dark place over that. It's sad but you'll be okay. The way I look at love, it's a dream. & when you lose it it's not just the person you lose but that dream. & whenever a dream dies, something in you has to die. I'm babbling, jetlag. What am I trying to say? I forgot. Anyway, it was well done - the finale - but I think it could have been better done. 5-8-02: "Seeing Red": This episode should be called Red Herring, 'cause that's exactly what Warren, Jonathan, & Andrew (I guess that's his name) were. The real bad guy of the season: Willow. Looking at the season as a whole it makes sense. Starts out with her bringing Buffy back, unwillingly on Buffy's part. Plus, the whole threesome was pretty lame. Everything they did was lame. Even the shooting was a bit lame, but, I think it was intentional. They needed something to wake the sleeping giant in Willow. Now that she's dark, the world has a whole new potential & everything has come together. Face off: Buffy & Willow. Not only the obvious best friends or the possibility Willow's still in there somewhere but Buffy facing the person who brought her out of heaven. You know she's still bitter. Telling Xander about it in this episode at the end reveals that, there's just no one she can talk about it to for us to hear it. She's out with Spike & the Scooby's are the ones who brought her out. & It's not like she's going to her teenage sister; Buffy couldn't lay that on Dawn. It makes sense that a red herring was needed. Without the three geeks we would know Willow was it. But with them & with dealing with her dark side early on & getting us to a place where we think she's fine, the show has done a good job surprising us with this & this could really, really be big. I almost wish I wasn't flying 7000 miles tomorrow. No, I don't. hehe. I'll see how it all turns out when I get back. Damn I wish Japanese VCRs were compatible with US ones! 3-13-02: "Normal Again": The telltale sign that Buffy's Sunnydale world is real is that the doctor went into her fantasy when he was talking about Jonathan, etc. Something like in high school she fought all these bigger things but now it's just these losers from high school. Doctors don't play into the fantasy like that - even as a tactic, a dr in that case, trying to get her out of it, wouldn't participate in that capacity. That was Buffy's mind, her own personal fears. & the whole thing, barring the institution for 2 weeks thing is true, is a product of an inner fear she has cause things aren't going so well & she questions her actions & self - things she doesn't understand - making her feel she might be crazy, bringing her mind back to this supposed time when she was put into an institution. Overall opinion of the episode, it was a concept unrealized. 3-6-02: "Hell's Bells": Just a for-the-record kind of thing, you can't blame Xander. He just doesn't want to end up hurting Anya like he sees his Dad do to his mother. He doesn't know exactly why his father's like that, which means he doesn't entirely know how he can prevent that from happening to him. He's come from a bad family life & - let's just say this - if he were to not want that life for himself that would be selfish but still understandable (thus forgivable) but the fact that the reason he doesn't want it is because he doesn't want to end up making Anya's life like that is just simply heartbreaking. It's noble & sad. & you can't blame him. Now, if Anya & Xander could talk all that out, maybe they could work it out. Or at least she wouldn't be so upset. However, he just walked away without a real explanation - an explanation that would really help her deal with it - & she's left just thinking he coped out - & over nothing - just some demon trying to scare him off. It's just heartbreaking on both ends. Why he decided not to do it & how she's feeling now. & what she might end up doing is understandable too. He was her humanity. But she'd only be doing it because she doesn't understand him. If she could truly know why, she would be hurt, but she'd fight for him to change his mind - & she also wouldn't give in to D'Hoffren. I was thinking, watching the scene at the end, where she's in a black background - you know what's going to happen at that point - that she really hasn't had the chance to go back to that life up to that point. She asked for her job back & she didn't get it. This is the first chance she has to prove she really wants to walk away from that life. But, when you think about, has she ever proven she doesn't want that life? Also, another thought, D'Hoffren really is a jerk because he takes advantage of these people at their lowest. It's just wrong. 2-13-02: "Older and Far Away": I enjoyed this episode. The aura to it. The production. Me liked. The themes. Finally made ME give a crap about Dawn. Many unprepared for shocks. A) DID NOT AT ALL see who that guidance counselor was - that was my very bad. But I liked that I was shocked by it. B) Also a bit pissed at myself I didn't recognize the actress when she first appeared - although, granted, she was in veiny makeup! & WHY WHY WHY did Hellfreck know Spike - as she called - William. SHE'S CESSILY - from "Fool for Love" - the first girl he ever loved who told him he was nothing back when he was human. Two comments - 1) Okay. She rejected him then got so screwed over by love that she became a vengence demon - talk about what you putting out coming back to you three-fold (although this episode eluded that you can become a vengence demon for other kinds of pain besides love). 2) Joss is drawing a parallel between how Buffy's treating Spike & how this girl did - both telling him he's nothing. I just rewatched the scene with her in it in "Fool for Love" just to make sure it was her. & Spike tells he loves her & than says he's a "good man" as a reason she should be with him. I just think it's an interesting note. I liked quite a lot how Hellfreck *AKA Cessily* (I'm a dork) was willing to leave everyone in the house because they deserved it for ignoring Dawn's pain. Another point in the idea that she may not be a vengence demon over love-scorn. 2-1-02: "Double Meat Palace". It was campy - in a bad way - not-intelligently-campy-kinda-bad. This article sums it all up , my friends. 1-14-02: Okay. Now is Joss copying my life or what? 6 months ago I had a little freak out over a desire for somebody I shouldn't have that kind of feelings toward - & all the feeling he brought out in me sort of intensified all the problems I have in my life- anyway, I cut off all my hair. Plus, the whole Spike & Buffy thing is that relationship revisited. -- & for months after, when I got home & tried to get my life together I had a deathwish of sorts - I didn't care if I was alive or dead. & then, recently, I've come to the point where I care. At least I care enough that I don't want to lose whatever life is it that I've built myself these last few months. So, Joss is copying my life. Although, honestly, I think my romantic situation was a little more dramatic & entertaining than Spike & Buffy - it would have made some good TV. But I'm getting over it now, finally. & I want to just move on & live my life, the life I have now & stop thinking about the craziness & passion, the beauty, the evil that that situation was. Anyway, I wish I had my long hair back - but it's still pretty cute. I've dyed it every color from bleach blonde to red, darker red, lighter red, now brown-black - my natural again. & I'm growing it out because I'm comfortable with who I am again & I don't want to "be different", like Buffy said, anymore. Anyway, I guess it's all part of growing up. Cause I'm growing up for the first time. Got a job. Moved out of my parent's house into an apartment. I'm grown. & living. & the whole show is kinda in the same place I am now. It's weird.... I'm weird. But I'm okay. Wow, that was personal. But, Buffy's impressing me with how intense the subject matter is while the bad guys are so not intense, ya know? It's different for Buffy. But I think it's going to be brought together for something big & something we won't expect. 11-22-01: I'm just watching the ending this week like "this is so wrong". It's just wrong, Buffy & Spike. & it reminds me way too much of my personal life & it's disturbing. I don't like watching that "romance" week after week. (My life sucks). But I like the concept of Buffy coming back less human - my crazy theory might hold some water after all. We'll see. (BTW, Joss, my idea's cool). Anyway, I like the geeky 3-some -- they're cool, in a completely non-cool kinda way. In the way that they remind me of my personal life too. In fact, since I'm pretty much a grown up this year for the first time ever, "Buffy" really kinda reminds me of my life in general. If I could just go back to high school when everything was simple -- & at the time, everything so did not feel simple. Why's life got to be so hard? --- Anyway, that's Lark's rant on adulthood. But, I do like "Buffy". I do see where we're going here. The finale's gonna be about Buffy standing alone. & Willow, eventually, I think is gonna team up with Jonathan & the like (although something in me doubts that, I see her teaming up in this sort of revolt against adulthood {yes, that's a little Lark-like too). Prediction: Spike, although traditionally a Buffy turneroner- meaning he turns on Buffy, not that he turns Buffy on - but that too - will not team up with Jonathan & friends. Amy will prove to be the worst influence on poor little dangling Willow. I gotta say, I don't get Buffy. How she still would want to turn to Willow for friendship. I think I pretty much would just be pissed & bitter, unable to let go. I think the problem is, Buffy can't really accept the truth that Willow did what she did more about proving her power than helping her friend, & that was wrong. It's like Tara said, "maybe it started out that way" (about magic being about helping people). & it's Willow, so Buffy can't get that. & I think that's what the finale will be about - Buffy will have to accept that & stand on her own. & like Buffy told Willow last finale: "you're the strongest one here, you know that right." It'll be quite a fight. One Buffy probably isn't really for, without embracing her own darkness - which has been coming on as well. 11-6-01: Okay, that just changed everything. I never thought Joss would have Buffy go for another vampire. But he's deserving. He loves her so much. The musical kicked ass. & everyone held their own. The bad guys were a little... different looking. But it worked. Gave it a sort of fairytale quality not unlike "Hush". I see Willow being the season bad guy with Jonathan, etc. I like how Joss & Marti are using the threesome as the opposite of what the Scooby Gang are -- they're childhood where the Scoobies are reaching adulthood. What I think is happening to Willow is that she opened herself up to forces she wasn't ready for & now they've taken control of her. I see her growing darker & darker &, again, possibly joining forces with Jonathan and everyone. Every episode has really been strong this season. The premiere was a bit of a disappointment mostly because my primal slayer idea was cool, but, for the season plot & everything that's being laid out... this whole thing just kicks ass. I'm throughly impressed. & something fresh & good is being put out there & Lark is enjoying the ride. 10-16-01: I was not happy with the premiere, but "After Life" was very good. I highly enjoyed. I think some of the things being said are that Willow is turning dark. That bringing Buffy back, for anyone, was not about Buffy, but about their own selfish need for Buffy -- not out of love. The one's who have real love for Buffy are Dawn, Spike, & Giles -- that's why Willow didn't let them in on the spell. Spike actually said that, but it was said indirectly by Dawn when she said that Willow can't just get rid of the Tomogenesis -- can't just dangle Buffy back & then take her away. I think Buffy is going to start to be drawn to Spike & Dawn because they weren't involved in the spell. I think she might end up hating Willow. Willow with the black eyes -- remember her getting "possessed" in "Becoming"?? ?? ? ? ? ?? It was just a foreshadowing of how Willow is messing with things bigger than her, they just might overtake her -- but realize all that is her choice. I see a contrast with what Willow is seeming to become & what Buffy proved she is in the finale. Giles is bitter because Buffy was like a daughter to him. He left because he felt guilty -- being more her watcher than her father because she's dead now -- like all slayers are for their watchers, like no father's, at least, wish their daughter's are before the fathers. Lark is ranting. I'm sick & incoherent. It seems I'm always tired & sick. I also have the thought that Tara knew they might have to kill Buffy -- but she didn't know about the deer or fawn or whatever that Willow killed. I also want to say a little bit about bringing Buffy back -- we know it was wrong, but, I knew that without saying she was all happy dead. It's like obvious. If Buffy went to hell for that then I think we're all going to hell. I knew it was her rest, her human rest -- something she wanted & needed. I also want to say that my idea for bringing Buffy back would have been way interesting -- to bring back a primal Buffy for the last 2 seasons. Po Po Joss. I already said I was incoherent. Angel 5-30-02 Maybe, again, it's the jetlag but it just didn't do it for me. I was confused at the end. It's very much like the Powers wanted Angel's fate to happen. I watched the last 3 eps for the first time yesterday. You got the vision to save that redheaded chick (sorry, I'm not as into it this season I don't know the name). They take Cordelia at the same time. They wanted that to happen to Angel. So I started thinking that maybe it was a punishment for his straying off the path when he slept with Darla. Even Conner - Steven, I'm sorry - was a punishment. Holtz is a punishment for a past crime the brooding vamp didn't need. Or did he? He was getting happy in his life. One thing is clear, it appears the Powers are done with Angel. What's disturbing is how they reward their heros. Or is it that they have found him unworthy. Still unkind to make him save the person responsible for the misunderstanding. I think Holtz was honest in his intentions. I could be wrong but that was my impression. There were falacies in the plot in that capacity. Why have Justine, okay that's her name, kill him so close to the hotel? Wesley. It's just wrong, pups. This isn't him. Even with the Conner thing, as proven in "Santuary", is not him. He'd trust Angel over a big Burger any day. This isn't him. What are they planning here? I think Lilah likes him she's just being cold about it. I think he's pretty far gone. What the hell about the Cordelia thing. Didn't see it coming. & I'm confused like the show's not going to be around anymore. Lorne gone? Bite me. Grue gone? Poo. I'm just confused. It could be the jetlag. Overall, as I have to say all the time, unrealized vision of a season. But interesting. I think it had potential to be really great. 3-6-02 "Sleep Tight" - Anybody else feel this whole set of storylines should be a bigger thing? I don't know. It's just not the same for me, I guess. All I really have to say is Wesley's stupid & the whole thing was kinda predictable & I don't feel it went off as well as planned by the producers. Also, I was wondering what they were going to do about this baby thing - how they were going to get to the point of the kid & all that with him being a child &, well, he won't be a child when he comes back - he'll have aged from the dimension he was in. I think they've got some potential there. Also, a note is that the producers may decide to have that story angle close a good time from now - ya know, let Angel suffer with it a bit, & go on to new things. Last note about it: what more kinda pain can you put Angel through? To me, it's just plain wrong. He goes through enough, damn nabbit! 2-5-02 Well. "Waiting in the Wings" was the first impressive Angel in a long while. It was just very well produced. It wasn't so much the concepts - or the slight soap-opera developing - but more the production and writing, the romantic story that drew in the audience, by that I mean me. I guess after the season finale last year I didn't really take the time to look at what the actions of those episodes meant for Wesley. The turn in the character is being further shown in things like the episode "Billy" & now with this episode. How he can relate, tap into, the Count (btw, can we say Moulin Rouge?) - it's something in him. Where Angel is the champion (ALSO, btw, getting sick of how they slip in that word every single goddarn episode - & it's got to be Cordelia that does it too - annoying), Wesley is the opposite - he's got potential to be, well, them. Wolfram & Hart. There comes in this concept of becoming like the enemy to beat the enemy - that was dealt with a lot in season two - Wesley, in the season finale, was like that. He was willing to sacrifice a few men to win the war. & where that does win the war, (god, killing myself here for using the WORD) a champion will refuse to do that because he or she knows it's wrong. It's a matter of character, what's underneath. I can't say I'm a champion. I win the war but at what price? My soul? Myself? Faceless fighter - it's like, being a lawyer, you want to do it because you want to help people but sooner or later, along the way, you have to compromise yourself - & you win the battle but who do you become - who are you, really, when you've lost yourself? I'm not a lawyer, I'm just relating. Sorry, deep thoughts girl, here. I'll shut up now. 11-22-01 I had this profound thought on my way home from work today. A year ago, Darla lost her chance at redemption - her chance to die, like she wanted. She lost the chance to save her soul & we thought it was gone forever. But, she sacrificed her life for her child's - something with a soul & a chance. There's no way I believe she didn't save that soul of hers- cause as a vampire, she didn't have a chance. With that little bit of a conscience & human feeling, still without a soul, she made that sacrifice & that's beautiful. She should be saved. & thinking about that in the context of the last year & a half of "Angel", that's pretty damn profound. 11-6-01 Cordelia & Angel? Bite me. That would so never happen in the real world. They're like brother & sister. & Angel's treatment of Darla makes me want to call every powerful Women's Organization to kick both Greenwalt's & Joss' asses. "Billy" was, so far, the only strong turnout of the season. 10-16-01 So far, all I have to say is that Angel is not Buffy by any means. It's like, forgive my pun, it's like it has no soul, no substance. Let's see what Darla can do for it... | ||||||||
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