We few...we band of buggered

[shadowkat]

I'm speaking of the five people on my friends list who didn't think Ats 5.18 was the cat's pajamas and were just a little disturbed by the message at the end. I think it's five, may be less. Not sure.

Sigh. Bad day. Very bad day. Getting worse. It's past one and I should sleep, instead I keep writing and deleting posts.

Got some bad news tonight about my sister-in-law who just had the baby. She's in dreadful pain. Slipped disc and severe back contusion from her labor, which have made it impossible for her to care for her new baby. I'm terribly worried about her.
She's such a sweet person and so does not deserve this. And there's nothing I can do to help. My brother is keeping everyone but close friends away at this point - due to her fragile emotional state. (Her mother is not helping her, they had to throw her out). The whole situation makes me cry.
All my other problems, of which there are many, seem silly in comparison. There is nothing worse than wanting to help and being unable to.

Comments

Re: Ah what bugged me about Origin

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

As much as I love Connor, I utterly agree with you about the wrongness of Angel's choice in Home. I don't think he realized what effects that choice might have on his friends, and now that he does, he keeps right on making choices at their expense. It's got to catch up with him. I just hope to god Angel doesn't pay the price he MUST pay by losing the boy he wanted to save once and for all. But it would be poetic.

Re: Ah what bugged me about Origin

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agree. This is what I find most disturbing about Origin - the fact that it looks so wonderful on the surface. Connor has the life that we wish for him. But, I can't forget the blond boy in the fabricated life Lindsey was living. A fabricated life that the writer keeps referring back to - we have the three people in the van driving back home to their demon free existence (only to have demons crash into them) which echoes the three people in the car (in Underneath) driving into the pristine suburbs. Then, Gunn refusing Hamilton's deal in the fabricated life, while Angel accepts Vail's?

Also earlier in the season we have the contrast of Dana, who like Connor in Home appears monsterous and beyond hope. But Andrew and the slayers show up with a viable alternative to WR&H. Not to mention Lawson who shows up in Why We Fight - asking for help, for a reason.
Angel's solution? Death.

I also can't help but remember the caveman/astronaut debate:
Angel: why can't you see the big picture
Spike: why can't you unleash it, see the passion

Angel keeps repressing things, burying them - the mindwipe is just one example. He also keeps following prophecies or seeking them out - what happens with Vail is another example. He's so busy trying to control everything and everyone, that I think somewhere along the way he forgot what's important. In a way that's what both Jasmine and WR&H do, control everything. Repressing emotion.

I hope we don't see Connor again. Because if we do...I agree killing him in front of Angel is almost poetic justice and far too tempting for a writer to resist. This can't end well. Origin left me with a deep sense of foreboding. (Unspoiled - so have no clue if I'm right.)

Re: Ah what bugged me about Origin

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Don't you think Angel got some of his come-uppance in this episode? The things he tried to undo were redone. Connor got his old past back (presumably) and you can't tell me there's not going to be psychological reprecussions from that the boy will have to deal with. He's only smiling on the surface.

And Wesley got his memories back, as will Gunn, as "did" Illyria, and Lorne as well. And as Illyria said, the lack of these memories changed who they were. The return of the memories, no matter how much Wesley says it won't effect him, WILL effect him.

This was sort of the cornerstone of the whole season, these missing memories and their significance. ME isn't going to just let this drop.

Re: Ah what bugged me about Origin

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh, he got some of it. But it still ended far too happily, sort of like You're Welcome does...with Angel under the false impression that things are okay. While that bothers me...the fact that it is 5.18 and not 5.22, gives me hope that these things will be addressed. I agree it is the cornerstone of the season - the turning point. There's been four turning pts so far: Destiny, Your Welcome, Hole in The World, and Origin.

I'm not clear on who remembers - do Lorne and Gunn? Or just the people in the room with Angel - ie. Connor, Illyria/Fred and Wes?
Illyria is the one I'm most interested in - because before Wes smashed the glass she only had fragments of Fred's memories, there was still more Illyria than Fred in there, now...whoa! She has a whole five years worth of memories, a duplicate set. The question is how will she process these memories?

If Lorne and Gunn both get them back - how will this affect Gunn's decision to stay in the penalty box? And how will it affect Lorne?

Like you, I'm also curious about Connor. But I'm not sure ME has time left this season to address those issues. Yes, he can forget the past, push it aside, but he has all this power - how do you deal with that? Not to mention the fact that he knows this life isn't the real one.

Re: Ah what bugged me about Origin

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Well, Connor's life from this point on will probably be left as a fanfic exercise for the fans. Or maybe ME will get a chance in the future to address it a little, I don't know.

I am of the opinion now that when the box was smashed, it undid the whole memory wipe. Connor got his memories back, as did his new parents (who will have to deal with the situation as Joyce and Buffy did). So did Wesley, Illyria, and Lorne, although we only got to see Wesley and Illyria's reaction because Lorne wasn't around at the end of the episode, and Gunn had no memories at all at the time the box smashed.

Which means reprecussions are to come.