![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFinished re-watching Buffy S4 and Angel S1 yesterday, with the iconic episodes "Restless" (Buffy S4) and "To Shanshu in LA" (Angel S1), which were both written and directed by the principle show-runner creator of each series, Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt respectfully.
Both date rather well for the most part, with a few crucial exceptions (the white male writers of Northern European descent have some decidedly judgmental stereotypes about Black and African culture that regrettably end up on screen and are kind of racist) - Gunn and the First Slayer...ugh.
Upon re-watching I picked up on the flaws in the writing, and of the two, I think Greenwalt's is easier to follow and more engrossing, while Whedon's is a bit more on the self-indulgent side (if you doubt Whedon's creativity, sizable ego, or his power on that show - just watch Restless), far more ambitious, and drags a bit. Even if Whedon's is much more memorable and kind of a game-changer in television writing.
Can you skip over Restless and still enjoy the series? Absolutely. It's a stand-alone episode, filled with foreshadowing, but so vaguely and confusingly displayed, that you are almost better off not thinking too much about it? People did at the time (myself included) - and came up with far better plots than the writer did or even imagined, which is never a good thing and alas one of the pitfalls of reading and writing fanfic while a series is airing, and before it's been completed. It's almost better to read it after the fact (which I seldom do) but there you go.
To Shanshu in LA on the other hand is kind of required to understand what is happening in Angel. It's not a skippable episode, and I would state one of the anchors of the series? There's a handful of episodes in Angel S1 that you need to watch to understand what is happening, the arc of the characters, etc. It is not a stand-a-alone, which is why David Greenwalt wrote and directed it. The only problem with it - is I'm not sure Greenwalt knows whether he is writing noir or a classic hero story or both? It's a confusing episode. Because it seems fairly clear from the ending, just as it did from the ending of Blind Date (the episode before it) - that the Senior Partners are gleeful with the result, and busy rewarding both Lindsey and Holland Mathers for executing it. Lilah is just along for the ride.
I think Greenwalt is attempting to do two things here? Hoodwink/mislead the audience and our heroes, while at the same time get across what the villains are doing and how they succeed. Plus, be able to get across to the audience the twist or the mislead upon completion of the series - so if someone were to re-watch it after seeing S5, they'd get it. And that's really hard to pull off well, without a few confusing plot holes. (Especially with the constant turn-over in writers and show-runners. But Whedon was most likely the instigator of the mislead, as was Minear.) It's more coherent than Restless, but then just about anything in either series is? And overall, I'd say Greenwalt was slightly more successful in the mislead than Whedon was in Restless, although it's not real clear Whedon knew what he was doing in Restless. Or if he was, he didn't do a good job of communicating that to anyone else?
Take-aways and Reviews of the two upon re-watching years later, are below:
Restless - written & directed by Joss Whedon (who wrote about four-five episodes per season in the first four-five seasons, and often the first episode and the last episode, this is common with show-runners of broadcast television shows with large team of writers and 22 episodes).
There's a dream sequence episode in Dark Winds S3, where the lead character Joe Leaphorn is wrestling with his own inner demons, and goes through this confusing dream sequence in the desert - while being attacked by someone that he believes is a monster in reality. The dream sequence finally gets across to him, as he figures out who killed a priest in his distant past during it, that there are no monsters, just men. And the thing fighting him the desert isn't a monster, but a man.
Restless is kind of similar set up? The Scooby Gang (Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles) take on Adam, by doing a spiritual connection spell - which summons the spirit of the first slayer. They succeed. The next episode, the none too happy spirit of the first slayer decides to hunt and attack each of them in their sleep. I mean, can you blame her? She was disturbed from her rest again, to save the world through them. The actress playing her is rather attractive actually and charismatic. But the characters comments regarding her - made me cringe and didn't show them in the best of lights, not helped by the fact that outside of Giles's Olivia who shows up once and isn't shown in the best light (she finds his life too scary, and flees), they have no Black friends.
In Restless - the spirit isn't evil. Her rest has been disturbed. And it is clear that much like Angel's crew, the team doesn't quite know enough about her or what they are doing when they summon her. Whedon's angle here - is power, and how callous people can be with their own and other's powers and often aren't cognizant of the risks or consequences. Giles states: there could be dire consequences, but as the Buffy and her friends reiterate - you say that about everything. He's also nonchalant about his own. The plot such as there is in what amounts to four separate highly detailed dream sequences, is that the disturbed spirit of the first slayer is haunting the dreams of the four characters who did the spell, and seeking some sense of retribution and possibly understanding - for so rudely disturbing her rest, however justified their reasons. It's a rather simple plot - but it kind of has to be. And resolved quickly by Buffy, who basically tells the First Slayer to frack off, already, she doesn't define her nor does her abilities, nor do the ancient rules of the verse. The message here - being that Buffy can write her own story and own destiny, and doesn't care to follow a prophecy or an ancient text, even when/if it kills her. Basically Whedon is saying Pffft to his own canon, leaving the door wide open to interpretation, sequels, reboots, etc for himself and anyone else down the road.
There's a lot of foreshadowing here, which is a lot clearer after seeing the entire series. Because Whedon liked to shock his audience, so while attempting to set the stage, he was at the same time trying to mislead the audience - which is again, hard to do well. Very few directors and writers can pull it off, without confusing the audience. Here, Whedon does it by cluttering the dreams with random bits, and a few character defining issues. And there's a lot of meaningless clutter. This is true of most dream sequences in film and television and books, and in reality. For the most part dreams and nightmares are just clutter, which we forget upon awaking.
The important bits? Reiteration of Little Sis coming from both the shared Dream at the end of S3 (they are making up the room and Faith is saying trying to fit into Big Sis's pants), Faith's dream during This Year's Girl
(where she says lots to do before the arrival of Little Sis, with a clicking clock), and finally Restless (where we get the name - "be back before Dawn" and the room in Buffy's house, which is made up and nice in Buffy's dream - Buffy unnerved by the dream visits it - and discovers it isn't made up, and just an extra dumping ground used by her mother, but she wonders - and the episode ends there.) So here's the foreshadowing in the episode:
* Dawn - or the little sister popping up. This was clearly planned as far back as S3.
* Buffy's death and the time of death
* The Slayer's Bag or tool box - which pops up in S7, and the deconstruction of the "final girl" or the "chosen one" story trope, which is done throughout the series, and especially in S7.
* Spike's journey or redemptive arc (we see mentions of it in both Xander and Giles' dreams, oddly. Not Buffy nor Willow's - we don't see Spike at all in either Willow or Buffy's dreams. At this point he's not relevant to them. While Giles is annoyed by his presence and isn't sure what to make of it, and Xander is weirdly challenged by it.)
* Riley only shows up in Willow and Buffy's dreams - and in an insignificant manner, and almost as a joke. Both appear to want to take him seriously but can't bring themselves to, and in Buffy's dream - she realizes there's more dividing them than she wants to admit. He's part of the establishment, and she really isn't.
* Giles wants to leave and feels like he's missing something. (This is the beginning of the writer's attempt to write out Giles, because Head desperately missed England and his family. They should have hired someone who resided in LA with their family, although I most likely wouldn't have watched it. So never mind.) It's part of an overarching them about how Giles and the Watcher Council are ineffectual and an anti-establishment, anti-prophecy/fate them in both series.
* Tara's death and Willow's dependency on magic. (Which is kind of mixed with Willow's relationship with Tara and magic as sex? And that's kind of a dodgy not to mention risky mix of metaphors right there.)
* Xander breaking up with Anya, and her return to playing at being a vengeance demon, but not really doing much with it. Anya is only really in Xander and Willow's dreams.
The cheese man had no meaning, outside of a connector between the dreams, and a creepy random bit. Cheese keeps coming up in the series, which I think is an inside joke among the writers.
The problem with dream sequence television episodes and films? Is they are boring and confusing to watch. Fun to make, but not always much fun to watch? Restless does however tell the viewer a lot about each character and how they view other characters via the writer's perspective.
* Willow has issues with her geeky/nerdy self. She's changed a lot, but fears no one has noticed, and keeps repeating to folks throughout the season that she's changed. She also is romantically confused at this point - is she gay, straight or bi? I'm not sure the writer knew? And there was a bit of a debate no doubt in the writers room determining it. At the time, they ultimately decided upon gay (this was the late 1990s/early 00s - bisexual wasn't acceptable back then at all, actually it was hard enough to show lesbian and gay relationships. The fact Willow went from a romantic relationship with OZ to one with Tara was kind of ground-breaking on its own back then. It was ground-breaking enough that we had an on-screen romance between Tara and Willow on network television.) It's also clear that Willow via her dream - is a little too into magic, and how it makes her feel.
* Xander is afraid of his family or more to the point, of becoming his father. The monster at the top of the stairs is his Dad, not the first slayer. It gets in the way of everything he does.
* Giles is afraid of being stuck. Of having no importance or respect. His dream kind of foreshadows his arc through S7, where he is rendered inconsequential in more ways than one. It's clear by the end of S7 that Buffy has grown past Giles and no longer needs him. And he can't quite wrap his mind around it. The series is not kind to father figures or fathers.
They are either absent, inconsequential, or abusive.
* Buffy feels herself drifting away from her mother, her friends, Riley, Giles, and potentially losing all of it. She feels cut off in her dream and is alone in the desert, with an unwelcome Tara, who is speaking for the slayer who Buffy wants nothing to do with. Also, Buffy's dream is more about Buffy being her own person not defined by those around her, nor her power. She doesn't understand her power or what it is about, nor does she completely trust it. And tends to judge it, and as a result is a tad defensive when other's do as well.
Overall, an okay episode? I kept falling asleep during it yesterday and found it, as I always find dreams shown in art and media - to be mentally exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.
To Shanshu in LA - written and directed by David Greenwalt (who was technically the show-runner of Angel, with oversight by Whedon).
Before Angel the Series, there was another cult noirish vampire detective series known as Nick at Night and later Forever Knight. It was about a Vampire who solved cases, while dealing with his creators. Moonlight reminds me a lot of Forever Knight. Angel the Series is kind of merger of Forever Knight (a Canadian 1980/early 90s series) and Kojack the Night Stalker (which was a cult show in the 1960s). It is at its heart - a noir or dark anti-hero series about a Vampire and his friends attempting to help people, and solve crimes, for a fee. Notably, a big difference between Angel Investigations and the Scooby Gange - is Angel is "paid". Often with big checks by folks who can afford it. Up until To Shanshu in LA? I'd say Angel the Series was very similar to Forever Night, Nick at Knight (earlier version of Forever Knight) and Kojack the Night Stalker. After that it goes in another direction entirely.
The beginning of the episode, two things happen worth noting.
The first is a newspaper article announcing Lindsey's sizable promotion at WRH, along with six figure salary. All the team notices is the money - he sold his soul for six pieces of silver or the six figure salary (which was big deal in 2000, now it's a seven figure salary). They don't seem to notice that Lindsey was "promoted" after allegedly betraying WRH and losing the scroll. Neither does Lindsey. Holland understands why they got promoted, but no one else appears to. The second is the billionaire who hired them in the episode WAR ZONE pops up and wants to hang. He's playing dungeon master and is intrigued with how cool their office space is. Both events focus on money - and clearly none of the characters ask why the billionaire popped up or why Lindsey was promoted.
Wes is attempting with not much luck to decipher the ancient scroll and misreading it - to state it's about Angel's death. Which concerns Cordelia - because it seems Angel isn't engaged in life, and doesn't care about anything. She starts hunting ways to get him engaged, while Wes keeps trying to figure out the scroll. This tells us a lot about all three characters and their relationship with each other, also how devoted Wes and Cordelia are to Angel, and how dependent he is on them. He is engaged to life - through his connection to them, and a lesser degree to Kate, who hates all vampires after they killed her Dad, and Gunn. But unlike other vampires? Angel never cared that much about savoring life. Spike likes to eat and drink, Angel doesn't really care about it. Spike likes to play pool, sing, play music, dance, watch television, root for sporting events - he's actively engaged in life, while Angel isn't really. Although Cordelia remembers that Angel is an artist, from Angelus's drawings that he left as keepsakes. So she goes to get him a lot of art supplies, almost buying out the vendor.
Meanwhile WRH summons a demon to perform a raising of an ancient evil who was dead and must be brought back to life. Except for one little problem - the demon kind of requires the ancient scroll that WRH enabled Angel to take from their vault. (This reminds me of how Spike outsmarted himself by splitting up the Scooby Gange before Willow could get the files to Buffy and get her in the Initiative. I think the writers are making fun of their own plotting.))
Not a problem. That actually works to their favor. And the demon takes care of some of WRH's issues along the way. WRH has tried practically everything to stop, block, get rid of Angel - and having failed masterfully at all of the above - the Senior Partners are now taking over and going with good old fashioned devilish manipulation.
This is a game-changer episode. Not a game-changer of television or ground-breaking episode, Greenwalt isn't quite as ambitious as Whedon or imaginative. He just wants to hit each of the noir notes on the head, and get the world-building, plotting and character arcs nailed.
The entire series changes from "monster of the week" seeking redemption to "a more serialized arc" and necessary episodes to watch week to week. It's no longer a stealth anthology series after this point.
It also dives down into Noir tropes, more so than it did previously. And it changes the characters a bit. All three main characters have revelatory moments. And it changes the set design.
Four notable plot points happen in the episode:
1. Through the demon, WRH kills the oracles, blocking Angel's access to the Powers. Not that it was great to begin with - but it's completely blocked now. And Angel being fairly stubborn, procrastinated asking the oracles about the scroll. So, as a result, Angel has no way of knowing whether anything in that scroll is accurate - or if WRH just created it to manipulate him.
2. The demon also hacks into Cordelia's visions with a swipe of his hand and opens her mind to all the problems in the world. This changes Cordelia - in that she no longer sees her gift as a complete curse, and is less about getting rid of monsters and getting paid, and more about helping people who have no one else. It also, may well be when the other side gets a claw into Cordy's head or visions. Notably the spell to free her is about the Beast and getting rid of the Beast, who in the fourth season - she summons or whatever possesses her does. As much as most people hated Cordy's arc in S4? The groundwork for it is laid in S1. We have the episode Expecting, where the baby demons possess Cordy and she is kind of evil, and this episode, where she's manipulated by her visions and incapacitated by them. It's never clear who the source of the visions is, and why they are there. And Angel never quite questions it. It also shows how desperate Angel is to save Cordelia - who is incapacitated by her visions.
3. The demon steals back the scroll and manages to leave behind a bomb, which Wes activates when he attempts to get the scroll out of the safe.
Angel rushes in and manages to save Wes, who is his sole concern.
Angel Investigations is no more - along with all of their information, etc.
Complete set destruction.
4. Lindsey takes over the spell from the summoning demon, while Angel fights it - causing Lindsey to make a choice. It works, he raises whatever they wanted to raise. And, not only that, but he sacrifices a hand (not necessarily willingly) for Angel to get the scroll back. While it appears on the surface that Angel got the scroll without WRH wanting him to - it's pretty clear by how WRH treats Lindsey that they were pleased with the outcome and it worked better than they expected. Lindsey isn't punished, and they even state - "you shall be rewarded for your sacrifice". It's made clear earlier in the episode that if WRH had not wanted Angel to get the scroll back - they'd have punished Lindsey and everyone else.
So, Angel has the scroll back and Wes is able to finally figure out that Shanshu means live and die as a human. A vampire who becomes human, goes through all sorts of horrors, and dies as one. (Which could legitmately be Darla's journey not Angel's or Connor's.) Or no one's. We don't know if the scroll is genuine? We only have Wes's perspective on it, and lots of proof that Wes is less than reliable in this department. To say Wes borders on incompetent is an understatement in this regard. He's the classic noir anti-hero investigator. There's a pattern in both series regarding the incompetence of the mostly male run Watcher's Council, and it's ineffectiveness and misuse of power. It's never shown in a good light - not once. And Buffy fires it or walks away from it repeatedly, as does Faith.
Another pattern in the series - is Angel trusts prophecies. He loves them.
And is devout in his belief of them or desire to believe in them. Unlike Buffy, Spike, Xander, Willow, and to a lesser extent Giles - Angel believes in prophecies, and so does Cordelia and Wes. They are rules followers. In S1 Buffy, Prophecy Girl - Angel believes in the prophecy, The Master kills Buffy, and he becomes the one who saves the world later. Except Xander refuses to buy into it - and performs CPR on the drowned Buffy, reviving her. So much for the Prophecy. Then he sleeps with Buffy, and the Prophecy of him saving the world from Acathla changes to him trying to destroy it under the Prophecy. Angelus sees himself the one worthy, the chosen one.
But he doesn't foresee Spike, who scoffs at the prophecy, and helps Buffy defeat him. Angel can clearly be manipulated by prophecies, and he has help with Wes, who can also be manipulated by prophecies (because that's his training, Wes and Giles were raised to believe in and interpret prophecies).
The writers are making a statement of sorts - and it is a theme in both series - that religious prophecy is hogwash. Or mocking religion.
So, if you want to manipulate Angel and his friends - throw a prophecy at them. Works like a charm, every time. And that's exactly what WRH do at the end of S1. Not only that - they take steps to make sure it appears the prophecy is true and happening. They bring back Angel's sire and first love, Darla, the one person who knows Angel best, how to manipulate him, and is in some respects his Achilles heel, she's the next best thing to Buffy. Darla has been brought back to distract Angel, so WRH can continue to do whatever it is it's doing, without Angel getting in its way. And for the most part, it works.
Darla appearing in the box at the end, as a human, is actually the least notable of the plot points. But the shocker - the writer needed to distract the audience from what was happening on screen - which was how WRH had successfully manipulated Angel Investigations, and distracted them. In this episode, WRH appears to have the upper hand.
There's also, much like Restless, a lot of foreshadowing. Cordelia's arc is heavily foreshadowed, as is Wes. And Angel's for that matter. And the audience is given the lovely McMuffin of the Shanshu Propecy to wrestle with as is Angel. I think he kind of realizes midway through S5, that it isn't real or even if it is, it is irrelevant, and they've been manipulating him with it for four years.
That said? The plotting is a bit clunky in places, and I was admittedly confused about the prophecy at various points and where the writers were trying to go with it. Was it real, was it fabricated, did it matter? I finally realized that what mattered was the characters - Wes, Cordy and Angel thought it was real, and WRH were getting off on that, a bit too much, for it to be real. WRH is far too happy at the end of this episode. And it shouldn't be, if the scroll is actually real.
Overall a good episode, if a bit clunky and confusing in places. I did enjoy it more than Restless, in that I stayed awake during it.
***
Now that I've finished my rewatch of Angel S1 and Buffy S4, I'd say they were both a mixed bag? Buffy's stand-a-alones are better, while Angel's arc episodes are better.
While I did enjoy Buffy S4 more than I enjoyed Buffy S1 and S3, it is the weaker of the three when it comes to the overall seasonal plot arc.
Also, much like S3, the first half of the season is better than the second half. Both are better than S1, which is a bit too formulaic for its own good, and too monster of the week. Also S1 suffers from campy villains.
S4 has campy villains too, but not as bad as S1.
There are skippable episodes in Buffy S4, and the best episodes are at the beginning of the season. Pretty much every episode up to and including the I in Team is pretty good, and worth watching. Once you get past The I in Team things kind of begin to deteriorate. Goodbye Iowa isn't bad exactly? But once we get full on into the Adam arc, the story gets a little on the dodgy side, and a touch silly. I don't think the writer's knew what to do when OZ and Walsh both left, and how to focus all their energy on Adam as the villain. Walsh and Spike actually were better villains, and there's a missed opportunity there with both, particularly with Spike - who is a rather clever villain. Adam isn't that clever. The Faith arc doesn't quite work? And doesn't really date well? There's a lot of dodgy sexual subplots in it that...well kind of grate a bit? Faith sleeping with Riley in Buffy's body is among them - and enough on its own to cause an unbreachable rift in both relationships. Also Faith coming on to Spike (while hot and entertaining in some respects) is also dodgy in its own way. We also have the sexual innuendo with the Mayor. This would be fine in of itself, but the writer's follow it with the cringe-fest of Superstar, which is understanably a satire/parody of similar types of episodes and well fandom. (The Writers were interacting a wee bit too much with the online fandom - this was the early days of the internet fandom discussion sites, and it was actually easier to interact with the fandom back then and more prevalent. And they'd inadvertently get into fights with the fans on line, and being writers - felt the need to ruthlessly write their battles into their dialogue and mock the fans. Superstar, Storyteller, Crush, and The Girl in Question all do it. I see less of it now than I did in the early 00s, mainly because of the plethora of sites, it's harder to interact on any one television serial.)
That said? You can't really skip the Faith arc, it's kind of crucial to the series. But you can skip over Where the Wild Things Are and Superstar. (You can also skip Beer Bad, although I found it amusing. Xander is hilarious in that episode). The arc episodes are unfortunately needed and referenced later.
There's a handful of good episodes later after The I in Team, which are Yoko Factor (unbeatable for how well Spike understands Buffy and her friends, and knows exactly how to manipulate them and break them apart, it also gets across Spike's lack of respect for Giles. A big difference between Spike and Angel right there. Part of it may be that Spike was there when Angelus was torturing Giles, and figured out that manipulating Giles with Jenny would be easier and more effective.) Spike is more into mother figures than father figures, much like Riley is. Both Spike and Riley are more respectful to Joyce than Giles, polar opposite of Angel. Yoko Factor also gets across the familiarity between Spike and Riley. And how both are struggling with the Initiative's vices against them. It comes up again in S5, S6, and S7. Primeval is necessary because it shows the connection between the four main characters and Restless doesn't make any sense without it.
While you could skip New Moon Rising - I wouldn't recommend it? It's OZ's last episode. And explains why Oz leaves permanently. Also explains why Willow chooses Tara. (It's no real choice, to be honest, since OZ proves himself not to be reliable or dependable. She'd be a fool to trust him.)
Also it gets across how bad the military is at doing this sort of thing, and how complicated the Buffyverse is in regards to rules. And why Buffy works better than the establishment, in that she looks at on a case by case basis not a one size fits all basis like the Watcher's Council or for that matter the Military. It also gets across why the gang relies on Spike for information, and continuously goes to him for information. Without Spike's help - they'd never have found the back way or gotten down there.
S4 like it or not, lays the groundwork for seasons 5-7, if a bit unevenly in places. Also, you kind of have to see Five by Five and Sancturary on Angel, along with I will Remember You, to understand why Buffy never visits Angel in LA, and where Faith ended up, and why Buffy never visits Faith. Those episodes are kind of necessary to understand what's happening in S5-7, and Buffy's relationships with both Angel and Faith post S4.
If you really dislike S4, and preferred S1-3, and love those seasons and their narrative framework, setting, etc, then, you probably are better off sticking with the first three seasons and not continuing with the series. If however, you were like me, and loved aspects of S4, then yes, it gets better as we go. And is a very different series post-S4.
Takeaways?
* Xander is likable in S4, and definitely not a jerk. Actually if you skip over 1-3, you are more likely to like and even identify with Xander.
* Anya is a more interesting character than Cordelia in Buffy, and has more depth, and is less cliche in Buffy. (Cordelia is more interesting in Angel, mainly because different writers).
* Giles becomes less and less necessary to the show, and it's clear that the writer is trying to find a way of writing out the character or reducing him to recurring like Joyce for later seasons.
* Willow like Xander, is more relatable and likable in S4. She's tougher, and no longer a damsel. Instead, Tara is. Getting rid of Oz actually lifted Willow from damsel status - her last damsel episode is Wild at Heart, when Oz leaves. After that - Tara takes on Willow's old role of socially awkward damsel. Which is a good thing, Willow had gotten old. Also Tara inherits Willow's bad wardrobe choices, and Willow gets cool clothes.
Xander, alas, still dresses like a guy who thinks he lives in 1970s Hawaii. That boy has one too many Hawaiian Shirts and Pants. His clothing reminds me a little of my sister-in-laws fashion line.
* Of Buffy's boyfriends, Riley is probably the calmest? The steadiest? And most normal? And by far, the dumbest.
He's also duller than dirt. And none too bright. And damn, her quips fly over his head. Blucas makes the character likable, and relatable, not the writing. I give the actor a lot of credit for that. But they have horrible banter, he clearly doesn't understand her or her calling as the slayer, nor her relationship to the vampires. And while he can get Xander to a degree and they are close friends, he doesn't quite understand Willow/Tara or Giles or Buffy's relationship to Giles. Spike understands Buffy better, as does Angel. And that's a problem going forward.
The difficulty with Buffy/Riley is not the characters per se, or the actors, but the writers. You are not going to get a happy romance on Buffy. We have horror/soap/comic book writers who have lousy marriages and screwed up relationships themselves, and do not know how to write happy relationships. I'm listening to a series of urban fantasy novels written by a married couple who does know how to write a happy marital relationship and romance, and I can see the difference. These writers will find some horrific thing to break Buffy up with her SO, no matter who it is, they'll do the same thing with Willow and Xander, and Giles. They don't want to write a happy relationship - it bores them.
Also, the writers didn't know how to write Riley, without turning him into a walking cliche. And a bit of an idiot? The man is really stupid. Spike plays him with little to no effort. I find it difficult to imagine him running a squad let alone figuring out a blaster.
The romances that do work are Willow/Tara and Xander/Anya. Giles and Olivia is obviously a one-shot sort of deal, and motivation for Giles to leave.
He can't have a life in Sunnydale, and without the Council there's little reason for him to stay.
Buffy clearly has more chemistry with Spike and Angel than Riley, so it's pretty clear by Restless that Riley will be gone in S5. Like I said, the writers didn't know what to do with the character. And the actor wasn't quite charismatic or interesting enough to grab them, his acting partner, or the audience for that matter to stay.
Angel S1 overview.
Better than I remembered. Less skippable episodes than I recalled, although they are there. It is more noirish than I thought. And dives deep into many noir tropes. Every single episode has a dark twist, some better than others.
Also the characters are well developed, and more likable and relatable here than they were on Buffy. Angel, Wes, and Cordelia are far more developed and more three dimensional. We get inside each's point of view. And they are given room to breath and develop that they never had on the other show, too busy competing for screen time.
The writers clearly aren't good at the stealth anthology or case of the week format, and by the end of the season give into serial for the most part. A recurring theme with this series.
WRH may be among the best villains in television. They work on multiple levels, the evil law firm on speed. It's a trope that has been done repeatedly of course, but the Angel writers kind of run with it and take it to new lows. And they keep with the noir themes and landscape - Angel is the classic Noir anti-hero, along with Wes and Cordelia.
I'm looking forward to rewatching S2, which I've mostly forgotten.
Both date rather well for the most part, with a few crucial exceptions (the white male writers of Northern European descent have some decidedly judgmental stereotypes about Black and African culture that regrettably end up on screen and are kind of racist) - Gunn and the First Slayer...ugh.
Upon re-watching I picked up on the flaws in the writing, and of the two, I think Greenwalt's is easier to follow and more engrossing, while Whedon's is a bit more on the self-indulgent side (if you doubt Whedon's creativity, sizable ego, or his power on that show - just watch Restless), far more ambitious, and drags a bit. Even if Whedon's is much more memorable and kind of a game-changer in television writing.
Can you skip over Restless and still enjoy the series? Absolutely. It's a stand-alone episode, filled with foreshadowing, but so vaguely and confusingly displayed, that you are almost better off not thinking too much about it? People did at the time (myself included) - and came up with far better plots than the writer did or even imagined, which is never a good thing and alas one of the pitfalls of reading and writing fanfic while a series is airing, and before it's been completed. It's almost better to read it after the fact (which I seldom do) but there you go.
To Shanshu in LA on the other hand is kind of required to understand what is happening in Angel. It's not a skippable episode, and I would state one of the anchors of the series? There's a handful of episodes in Angel S1 that you need to watch to understand what is happening, the arc of the characters, etc. It is not a stand-a-alone, which is why David Greenwalt wrote and directed it. The only problem with it - is I'm not sure Greenwalt knows whether he is writing noir or a classic hero story or both? It's a confusing episode. Because it seems fairly clear from the ending, just as it did from the ending of Blind Date (the episode before it) - that the Senior Partners are gleeful with the result, and busy rewarding both Lindsey and Holland Mathers for executing it. Lilah is just along for the ride.
I think Greenwalt is attempting to do two things here? Hoodwink/mislead the audience and our heroes, while at the same time get across what the villains are doing and how they succeed. Plus, be able to get across to the audience the twist or the mislead upon completion of the series - so if someone were to re-watch it after seeing S5, they'd get it. And that's really hard to pull off well, without a few confusing plot holes. (Especially with the constant turn-over in writers and show-runners. But Whedon was most likely the instigator of the mislead, as was Minear.) It's more coherent than Restless, but then just about anything in either series is? And overall, I'd say Greenwalt was slightly more successful in the mislead than Whedon was in Restless, although it's not real clear Whedon knew what he was doing in Restless. Or if he was, he didn't do a good job of communicating that to anyone else?
Take-aways and Reviews of the two upon re-watching years later, are below:
Restless - written & directed by Joss Whedon (who wrote about four-five episodes per season in the first four-five seasons, and often the first episode and the last episode, this is common with show-runners of broadcast television shows with large team of writers and 22 episodes).
There's a dream sequence episode in Dark Winds S3, where the lead character Joe Leaphorn is wrestling with his own inner demons, and goes through this confusing dream sequence in the desert - while being attacked by someone that he believes is a monster in reality. The dream sequence finally gets across to him, as he figures out who killed a priest in his distant past during it, that there are no monsters, just men. And the thing fighting him the desert isn't a monster, but a man.
Restless is kind of similar set up? The Scooby Gang (Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles) take on Adam, by doing a spiritual connection spell - which summons the spirit of the first slayer. They succeed. The next episode, the none too happy spirit of the first slayer decides to hunt and attack each of them in their sleep. I mean, can you blame her? She was disturbed from her rest again, to save the world through them. The actress playing her is rather attractive actually and charismatic. But the characters comments regarding her - made me cringe and didn't show them in the best of lights, not helped by the fact that outside of Giles's Olivia who shows up once and isn't shown in the best light (she finds his life too scary, and flees), they have no Black friends.
In Restless - the spirit isn't evil. Her rest has been disturbed. And it is clear that much like Angel's crew, the team doesn't quite know enough about her or what they are doing when they summon her. Whedon's angle here - is power, and how callous people can be with their own and other's powers and often aren't cognizant of the risks or consequences. Giles states: there could be dire consequences, but as the Buffy and her friends reiterate - you say that about everything. He's also nonchalant about his own. The plot such as there is in what amounts to four separate highly detailed dream sequences, is that the disturbed spirit of the first slayer is haunting the dreams of the four characters who did the spell, and seeking some sense of retribution and possibly understanding - for so rudely disturbing her rest, however justified their reasons. It's a rather simple plot - but it kind of has to be. And resolved quickly by Buffy, who basically tells the First Slayer to frack off, already, she doesn't define her nor does her abilities, nor do the ancient rules of the verse. The message here - being that Buffy can write her own story and own destiny, and doesn't care to follow a prophecy or an ancient text, even when/if it kills her. Basically Whedon is saying Pffft to his own canon, leaving the door wide open to interpretation, sequels, reboots, etc for himself and anyone else down the road.
There's a lot of foreshadowing here, which is a lot clearer after seeing the entire series. Because Whedon liked to shock his audience, so while attempting to set the stage, he was at the same time trying to mislead the audience - which is again, hard to do well. Very few directors and writers can pull it off, without confusing the audience. Here, Whedon does it by cluttering the dreams with random bits, and a few character defining issues. And there's a lot of meaningless clutter. This is true of most dream sequences in film and television and books, and in reality. For the most part dreams and nightmares are just clutter, which we forget upon awaking.
The important bits? Reiteration of Little Sis coming from both the shared Dream at the end of S3 (they are making up the room and Faith is saying trying to fit into Big Sis's pants), Faith's dream during This Year's Girl
(where she says lots to do before the arrival of Little Sis, with a clicking clock), and finally Restless (where we get the name - "be back before Dawn" and the room in Buffy's house, which is made up and nice in Buffy's dream - Buffy unnerved by the dream visits it - and discovers it isn't made up, and just an extra dumping ground used by her mother, but she wonders - and the episode ends there.) So here's the foreshadowing in the episode:
* Dawn - or the little sister popping up. This was clearly planned as far back as S3.
* Buffy's death and the time of death
* The Slayer's Bag or tool box - which pops up in S7, and the deconstruction of the "final girl" or the "chosen one" story trope, which is done throughout the series, and especially in S7.
* Spike's journey or redemptive arc (we see mentions of it in both Xander and Giles' dreams, oddly. Not Buffy nor Willow's - we don't see Spike at all in either Willow or Buffy's dreams. At this point he's not relevant to them. While Giles is annoyed by his presence and isn't sure what to make of it, and Xander is weirdly challenged by it.)
* Riley only shows up in Willow and Buffy's dreams - and in an insignificant manner, and almost as a joke. Both appear to want to take him seriously but can't bring themselves to, and in Buffy's dream - she realizes there's more dividing them than she wants to admit. He's part of the establishment, and she really isn't.
* Giles wants to leave and feels like he's missing something. (This is the beginning of the writer's attempt to write out Giles, because Head desperately missed England and his family. They should have hired someone who resided in LA with their family, although I most likely wouldn't have watched it. So never mind.) It's part of an overarching them about how Giles and the Watcher Council are ineffectual and an anti-establishment, anti-prophecy/fate them in both series.
* Tara's death and Willow's dependency on magic. (Which is kind of mixed with Willow's relationship with Tara and magic as sex? And that's kind of a dodgy not to mention risky mix of metaphors right there.)
* Xander breaking up with Anya, and her return to playing at being a vengeance demon, but not really doing much with it. Anya is only really in Xander and Willow's dreams.
The cheese man had no meaning, outside of a connector between the dreams, and a creepy random bit. Cheese keeps coming up in the series, which I think is an inside joke among the writers.
The problem with dream sequence television episodes and films? Is they are boring and confusing to watch. Fun to make, but not always much fun to watch? Restless does however tell the viewer a lot about each character and how they view other characters via the writer's perspective.
* Willow has issues with her geeky/nerdy self. She's changed a lot, but fears no one has noticed, and keeps repeating to folks throughout the season that she's changed. She also is romantically confused at this point - is she gay, straight or bi? I'm not sure the writer knew? And there was a bit of a debate no doubt in the writers room determining it. At the time, they ultimately decided upon gay (this was the late 1990s/early 00s - bisexual wasn't acceptable back then at all, actually it was hard enough to show lesbian and gay relationships. The fact Willow went from a romantic relationship with OZ to one with Tara was kind of ground-breaking on its own back then. It was ground-breaking enough that we had an on-screen romance between Tara and Willow on network television.) It's also clear that Willow via her dream - is a little too into magic, and how it makes her feel.
* Xander is afraid of his family or more to the point, of becoming his father. The monster at the top of the stairs is his Dad, not the first slayer. It gets in the way of everything he does.
* Giles is afraid of being stuck. Of having no importance or respect. His dream kind of foreshadows his arc through S7, where he is rendered inconsequential in more ways than one. It's clear by the end of S7 that Buffy has grown past Giles and no longer needs him. And he can't quite wrap his mind around it. The series is not kind to father figures or fathers.
They are either absent, inconsequential, or abusive.
* Buffy feels herself drifting away from her mother, her friends, Riley, Giles, and potentially losing all of it. She feels cut off in her dream and is alone in the desert, with an unwelcome Tara, who is speaking for the slayer who Buffy wants nothing to do with. Also, Buffy's dream is more about Buffy being her own person not defined by those around her, nor her power. She doesn't understand her power or what it is about, nor does she completely trust it. And tends to judge it, and as a result is a tad defensive when other's do as well.
Overall, an okay episode? I kept falling asleep during it yesterday and found it, as I always find dreams shown in art and media - to be mentally exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.
To Shanshu in LA - written and directed by David Greenwalt (who was technically the show-runner of Angel, with oversight by Whedon).
Before Angel the Series, there was another cult noirish vampire detective series known as Nick at Night and later Forever Knight. It was about a Vampire who solved cases, while dealing with his creators. Moonlight reminds me a lot of Forever Knight. Angel the Series is kind of merger of Forever Knight (a Canadian 1980/early 90s series) and Kojack the Night Stalker (which was a cult show in the 1960s). It is at its heart - a noir or dark anti-hero series about a Vampire and his friends attempting to help people, and solve crimes, for a fee. Notably, a big difference between Angel Investigations and the Scooby Gange - is Angel is "paid". Often with big checks by folks who can afford it. Up until To Shanshu in LA? I'd say Angel the Series was very similar to Forever Night, Nick at Knight (earlier version of Forever Knight) and Kojack the Night Stalker. After that it goes in another direction entirely.
The beginning of the episode, two things happen worth noting.
The first is a newspaper article announcing Lindsey's sizable promotion at WRH, along with six figure salary. All the team notices is the money - he sold his soul for six pieces of silver or the six figure salary (which was big deal in 2000, now it's a seven figure salary). They don't seem to notice that Lindsey was "promoted" after allegedly betraying WRH and losing the scroll. Neither does Lindsey. Holland understands why they got promoted, but no one else appears to. The second is the billionaire who hired them in the episode WAR ZONE pops up and wants to hang. He's playing dungeon master and is intrigued with how cool their office space is. Both events focus on money - and clearly none of the characters ask why the billionaire popped up or why Lindsey was promoted.
Wes is attempting with not much luck to decipher the ancient scroll and misreading it - to state it's about Angel's death. Which concerns Cordelia - because it seems Angel isn't engaged in life, and doesn't care about anything. She starts hunting ways to get him engaged, while Wes keeps trying to figure out the scroll. This tells us a lot about all three characters and their relationship with each other, also how devoted Wes and Cordelia are to Angel, and how dependent he is on them. He is engaged to life - through his connection to them, and a lesser degree to Kate, who hates all vampires after they killed her Dad, and Gunn. But unlike other vampires? Angel never cared that much about savoring life. Spike likes to eat and drink, Angel doesn't really care about it. Spike likes to play pool, sing, play music, dance, watch television, root for sporting events - he's actively engaged in life, while Angel isn't really. Although Cordelia remembers that Angel is an artist, from Angelus's drawings that he left as keepsakes. So she goes to get him a lot of art supplies, almost buying out the vendor.
Meanwhile WRH summons a demon to perform a raising of an ancient evil who was dead and must be brought back to life. Except for one little problem - the demon kind of requires the ancient scroll that WRH enabled Angel to take from their vault. (This reminds me of how Spike outsmarted himself by splitting up the Scooby Gange before Willow could get the files to Buffy and get her in the Initiative. I think the writers are making fun of their own plotting.))
Not a problem. That actually works to their favor. And the demon takes care of some of WRH's issues along the way. WRH has tried practically everything to stop, block, get rid of Angel - and having failed masterfully at all of the above - the Senior Partners are now taking over and going with good old fashioned devilish manipulation.
This is a game-changer episode. Not a game-changer of television or ground-breaking episode, Greenwalt isn't quite as ambitious as Whedon or imaginative. He just wants to hit each of the noir notes on the head, and get the world-building, plotting and character arcs nailed.
The entire series changes from "monster of the week" seeking redemption to "a more serialized arc" and necessary episodes to watch week to week. It's no longer a stealth anthology series after this point.
It also dives down into Noir tropes, more so than it did previously. And it changes the characters a bit. All three main characters have revelatory moments. And it changes the set design.
Four notable plot points happen in the episode:
1. Through the demon, WRH kills the oracles, blocking Angel's access to the Powers. Not that it was great to begin with - but it's completely blocked now. And Angel being fairly stubborn, procrastinated asking the oracles about the scroll. So, as a result, Angel has no way of knowing whether anything in that scroll is accurate - or if WRH just created it to manipulate him.
2. The demon also hacks into Cordelia's visions with a swipe of his hand and opens her mind to all the problems in the world. This changes Cordelia - in that she no longer sees her gift as a complete curse, and is less about getting rid of monsters and getting paid, and more about helping people who have no one else. It also, may well be when the other side gets a claw into Cordy's head or visions. Notably the spell to free her is about the Beast and getting rid of the Beast, who in the fourth season - she summons or whatever possesses her does. As much as most people hated Cordy's arc in S4? The groundwork for it is laid in S1. We have the episode Expecting, where the baby demons possess Cordy and she is kind of evil, and this episode, where she's manipulated by her visions and incapacitated by them. It's never clear who the source of the visions is, and why they are there. And Angel never quite questions it. It also shows how desperate Angel is to save Cordelia - who is incapacitated by her visions.
3. The demon steals back the scroll and manages to leave behind a bomb, which Wes activates when he attempts to get the scroll out of the safe.
Angel rushes in and manages to save Wes, who is his sole concern.
Angel Investigations is no more - along with all of their information, etc.
Complete set destruction.
4. Lindsey takes over the spell from the summoning demon, while Angel fights it - causing Lindsey to make a choice. It works, he raises whatever they wanted to raise. And, not only that, but he sacrifices a hand (not necessarily willingly) for Angel to get the scroll back. While it appears on the surface that Angel got the scroll without WRH wanting him to - it's pretty clear by how WRH treats Lindsey that they were pleased with the outcome and it worked better than they expected. Lindsey isn't punished, and they even state - "you shall be rewarded for your sacrifice". It's made clear earlier in the episode that if WRH had not wanted Angel to get the scroll back - they'd have punished Lindsey and everyone else.
So, Angel has the scroll back and Wes is able to finally figure out that Shanshu means live and die as a human. A vampire who becomes human, goes through all sorts of horrors, and dies as one. (Which could legitmately be Darla's journey not Angel's or Connor's.) Or no one's. We don't know if the scroll is genuine? We only have Wes's perspective on it, and lots of proof that Wes is less than reliable in this department. To say Wes borders on incompetent is an understatement in this regard. He's the classic noir anti-hero investigator. There's a pattern in both series regarding the incompetence of the mostly male run Watcher's Council, and it's ineffectiveness and misuse of power. It's never shown in a good light - not once. And Buffy fires it or walks away from it repeatedly, as does Faith.
Another pattern in the series - is Angel trusts prophecies. He loves them.
And is devout in his belief of them or desire to believe in them. Unlike Buffy, Spike, Xander, Willow, and to a lesser extent Giles - Angel believes in prophecies, and so does Cordelia and Wes. They are rules followers. In S1 Buffy, Prophecy Girl - Angel believes in the prophecy, The Master kills Buffy, and he becomes the one who saves the world later. Except Xander refuses to buy into it - and performs CPR on the drowned Buffy, reviving her. So much for the Prophecy. Then he sleeps with Buffy, and the Prophecy of him saving the world from Acathla changes to him trying to destroy it under the Prophecy. Angelus sees himself the one worthy, the chosen one.
But he doesn't foresee Spike, who scoffs at the prophecy, and helps Buffy defeat him. Angel can clearly be manipulated by prophecies, and he has help with Wes, who can also be manipulated by prophecies (because that's his training, Wes and Giles were raised to believe in and interpret prophecies).
The writers are making a statement of sorts - and it is a theme in both series - that religious prophecy is hogwash. Or mocking religion.
So, if you want to manipulate Angel and his friends - throw a prophecy at them. Works like a charm, every time. And that's exactly what WRH do at the end of S1. Not only that - they take steps to make sure it appears the prophecy is true and happening. They bring back Angel's sire and first love, Darla, the one person who knows Angel best, how to manipulate him, and is in some respects his Achilles heel, she's the next best thing to Buffy. Darla has been brought back to distract Angel, so WRH can continue to do whatever it is it's doing, without Angel getting in its way. And for the most part, it works.
Darla appearing in the box at the end, as a human, is actually the least notable of the plot points. But the shocker - the writer needed to distract the audience from what was happening on screen - which was how WRH had successfully manipulated Angel Investigations, and distracted them. In this episode, WRH appears to have the upper hand.
There's also, much like Restless, a lot of foreshadowing. Cordelia's arc is heavily foreshadowed, as is Wes. And Angel's for that matter. And the audience is given the lovely McMuffin of the Shanshu Propecy to wrestle with as is Angel. I think he kind of realizes midway through S5, that it isn't real or even if it is, it is irrelevant, and they've been manipulating him with it for four years.
That said? The plotting is a bit clunky in places, and I was admittedly confused about the prophecy at various points and where the writers were trying to go with it. Was it real, was it fabricated, did it matter? I finally realized that what mattered was the characters - Wes, Cordy and Angel thought it was real, and WRH were getting off on that, a bit too much, for it to be real. WRH is far too happy at the end of this episode. And it shouldn't be, if the scroll is actually real.
Overall a good episode, if a bit clunky and confusing in places. I did enjoy it more than Restless, in that I stayed awake during it.
***
Now that I've finished my rewatch of Angel S1 and Buffy S4, I'd say they were both a mixed bag? Buffy's stand-a-alones are better, while Angel's arc episodes are better.
While I did enjoy Buffy S4 more than I enjoyed Buffy S1 and S3, it is the weaker of the three when it comes to the overall seasonal plot arc.
Also, much like S3, the first half of the season is better than the second half. Both are better than S1, which is a bit too formulaic for its own good, and too monster of the week. Also S1 suffers from campy villains.
S4 has campy villains too, but not as bad as S1.
There are skippable episodes in Buffy S4, and the best episodes are at the beginning of the season. Pretty much every episode up to and including the I in Team is pretty good, and worth watching. Once you get past The I in Team things kind of begin to deteriorate. Goodbye Iowa isn't bad exactly? But once we get full on into the Adam arc, the story gets a little on the dodgy side, and a touch silly. I don't think the writer's knew what to do when OZ and Walsh both left, and how to focus all their energy on Adam as the villain. Walsh and Spike actually were better villains, and there's a missed opportunity there with both, particularly with Spike - who is a rather clever villain. Adam isn't that clever. The Faith arc doesn't quite work? And doesn't really date well? There's a lot of dodgy sexual subplots in it that...well kind of grate a bit? Faith sleeping with Riley in Buffy's body is among them - and enough on its own to cause an unbreachable rift in both relationships. Also Faith coming on to Spike (while hot and entertaining in some respects) is also dodgy in its own way. We also have the sexual innuendo with the Mayor. This would be fine in of itself, but the writer's follow it with the cringe-fest of Superstar, which is understanably a satire/parody of similar types of episodes and well fandom. (The Writers were interacting a wee bit too much with the online fandom - this was the early days of the internet fandom discussion sites, and it was actually easier to interact with the fandom back then and more prevalent. And they'd inadvertently get into fights with the fans on line, and being writers - felt the need to ruthlessly write their battles into their dialogue and mock the fans. Superstar, Storyteller, Crush, and The Girl in Question all do it. I see less of it now than I did in the early 00s, mainly because of the plethora of sites, it's harder to interact on any one television serial.)
That said? You can't really skip the Faith arc, it's kind of crucial to the series. But you can skip over Where the Wild Things Are and Superstar. (You can also skip Beer Bad, although I found it amusing. Xander is hilarious in that episode). The arc episodes are unfortunately needed and referenced later.
There's a handful of good episodes later after The I in Team, which are Yoko Factor (unbeatable for how well Spike understands Buffy and her friends, and knows exactly how to manipulate them and break them apart, it also gets across Spike's lack of respect for Giles. A big difference between Spike and Angel right there. Part of it may be that Spike was there when Angelus was torturing Giles, and figured out that manipulating Giles with Jenny would be easier and more effective.) Spike is more into mother figures than father figures, much like Riley is. Both Spike and Riley are more respectful to Joyce than Giles, polar opposite of Angel. Yoko Factor also gets across the familiarity between Spike and Riley. And how both are struggling with the Initiative's vices against them. It comes up again in S5, S6, and S7. Primeval is necessary because it shows the connection between the four main characters and Restless doesn't make any sense without it.
While you could skip New Moon Rising - I wouldn't recommend it? It's OZ's last episode. And explains why Oz leaves permanently. Also explains why Willow chooses Tara. (It's no real choice, to be honest, since OZ proves himself not to be reliable or dependable. She'd be a fool to trust him.)
Also it gets across how bad the military is at doing this sort of thing, and how complicated the Buffyverse is in regards to rules. And why Buffy works better than the establishment, in that she looks at on a case by case basis not a one size fits all basis like the Watcher's Council or for that matter the Military. It also gets across why the gang relies on Spike for information, and continuously goes to him for information. Without Spike's help - they'd never have found the back way or gotten down there.
S4 like it or not, lays the groundwork for seasons 5-7, if a bit unevenly in places. Also, you kind of have to see Five by Five and Sancturary on Angel, along with I will Remember You, to understand why Buffy never visits Angel in LA, and where Faith ended up, and why Buffy never visits Faith. Those episodes are kind of necessary to understand what's happening in S5-7, and Buffy's relationships with both Angel and Faith post S4.
If you really dislike S4, and preferred S1-3, and love those seasons and their narrative framework, setting, etc, then, you probably are better off sticking with the first three seasons and not continuing with the series. If however, you were like me, and loved aspects of S4, then yes, it gets better as we go. And is a very different series post-S4.
Takeaways?
* Xander is likable in S4, and definitely not a jerk. Actually if you skip over 1-3, you are more likely to like and even identify with Xander.
* Anya is a more interesting character than Cordelia in Buffy, and has more depth, and is less cliche in Buffy. (Cordelia is more interesting in Angel, mainly because different writers).
* Giles becomes less and less necessary to the show, and it's clear that the writer is trying to find a way of writing out the character or reducing him to recurring like Joyce for later seasons.
* Willow like Xander, is more relatable and likable in S4. She's tougher, and no longer a damsel. Instead, Tara is. Getting rid of Oz actually lifted Willow from damsel status - her last damsel episode is Wild at Heart, when Oz leaves. After that - Tara takes on Willow's old role of socially awkward damsel. Which is a good thing, Willow had gotten old. Also Tara inherits Willow's bad wardrobe choices, and Willow gets cool clothes.
Xander, alas, still dresses like a guy who thinks he lives in 1970s Hawaii. That boy has one too many Hawaiian Shirts and Pants. His clothing reminds me a little of my sister-in-laws fashion line.
* Of Buffy's boyfriends, Riley is probably the calmest? The steadiest? And most normal? And by far, the dumbest.
He's also duller than dirt. And none too bright. And damn, her quips fly over his head. Blucas makes the character likable, and relatable, not the writing. I give the actor a lot of credit for that. But they have horrible banter, he clearly doesn't understand her or her calling as the slayer, nor her relationship to the vampires. And while he can get Xander to a degree and they are close friends, he doesn't quite understand Willow/Tara or Giles or Buffy's relationship to Giles. Spike understands Buffy better, as does Angel. And that's a problem going forward.
The difficulty with Buffy/Riley is not the characters per se, or the actors, but the writers. You are not going to get a happy romance on Buffy. We have horror/soap/comic book writers who have lousy marriages and screwed up relationships themselves, and do not know how to write happy relationships. I'm listening to a series of urban fantasy novels written by a married couple who does know how to write a happy marital relationship and romance, and I can see the difference. These writers will find some horrific thing to break Buffy up with her SO, no matter who it is, they'll do the same thing with Willow and Xander, and Giles. They don't want to write a happy relationship - it bores them.
Also, the writers didn't know how to write Riley, without turning him into a walking cliche. And a bit of an idiot? The man is really stupid. Spike plays him with little to no effort. I find it difficult to imagine him running a squad let alone figuring out a blaster.
The romances that do work are Willow/Tara and Xander/Anya. Giles and Olivia is obviously a one-shot sort of deal, and motivation for Giles to leave.
He can't have a life in Sunnydale, and without the Council there's little reason for him to stay.
Buffy clearly has more chemistry with Spike and Angel than Riley, so it's pretty clear by Restless that Riley will be gone in S5. Like I said, the writers didn't know what to do with the character. And the actor wasn't quite charismatic or interesting enough to grab them, his acting partner, or the audience for that matter to stay.
Angel S1 overview.
Better than I remembered. Less skippable episodes than I recalled, although they are there. It is more noirish than I thought. And dives deep into many noir tropes. Every single episode has a dark twist, some better than others.
Also the characters are well developed, and more likable and relatable here than they were on Buffy. Angel, Wes, and Cordelia are far more developed and more three dimensional. We get inside each's point of view. And they are given room to breath and develop that they never had on the other show, too busy competing for screen time.
The writers clearly aren't good at the stealth anthology or case of the week format, and by the end of the season give into serial for the most part. A recurring theme with this series.
WRH may be among the best villains in television. They work on multiple levels, the evil law firm on speed. It's a trope that has been done repeatedly of course, but the Angel writers kind of run with it and take it to new lows. And they keep with the noir themes and landscape - Angel is the classic Noir anti-hero, along with Wes and Cordelia.
I'm looking forward to rewatching S2, which I've mostly forgotten.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-24 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-24 06:15 pm (UTC)I doubt it holds up well? But I loved it at the time. And Angel is very similar to it in places. The character certainly is.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-28 01:14 am (UTC)The clothes certainly don't hold up, neither do most of the effects, but the stories and the characters do. The flashbacks to history do, too. The only character who seriously pissed me off and I hated was Natalie, the coroner.
I watched most of Angel, and enjoyed it, mum absolutely loved it. I think she had a bit of a crush on David Boreanaz!
no subject
Date: 2025-11-28 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-04 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-06 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-11 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-12-12 01:50 am (UTC)