I think regret is supposed to be more about mourning or missing something. As I stated above to 2maggie2 it really does need to be read within the overall context of the story. But 2maggie2 is correct, it could have been written in a far clearer and less confusing manner. If you compare this issue to the writing of Harmonic Divergence and Predators & Prey, the difference is explicit. Krueger is clearly not as accomplished a writer as either Drew Greenberg or Jane Espenson.
I think, in regards to Vampires and the issues that define their existence - Tim Minear wrote the defining episode on that one - Dear Boy - which explains why Angel and Angelus do what they do what they do. In that episode, we meet young Liam who has rebelled against his overbearing and authoritative father that he can never please. He falls under the spell of Darla who turns him into a vampire. The first thing he does is return home and kill his family, leaving his father last. He takes his name, Angelus or Angel from his little sister who calls him that. When Darla finds him and he reveals what he has done, she tells him that now he will never resolve his problems with his father, they will define him for eternity, he is doomed to forever repeat them. That which defined us when we were living, defines us when we are dead.
Later, they echo the same tale, with Spike in Lies my Parents Told Me and Fool for Love - where it is clear that what defined Spike was his unrequited love for both Cecily and his mother. Except, once ensouled, he realizes that his mother did love him, it was the demon who did not or rather twisted the concept. Angel comes close to getting similar closure with Connor, but not quite - he has in many ways become his father's son - attempting to mold the boy into his own image, manipulate him, and obtain the boy's approval via it. Then again, we can't really say Spike's reached true closure either, he's still a ladies man, he will still fall over backwards to help a woman or go nuts when she spurns him. Just as Buffy continues in her own way to struggle with her parental issues - she echoes Spike with the mother, and Angel with the father...which is why those two relationships continue in some respects to define her, they reflect her own regrets.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-04-08 01:45 am (UTC)I think, in regards to Vampires and the issues that define their existence - Tim Minear wrote the defining episode on that one - Dear Boy - which explains why Angel and Angelus do what they do what they do. In that episode, we meet young Liam who has rebelled against his overbearing and authoritative father that he can never please. He falls under the spell of Darla who turns him into a vampire. The first thing he does is return home and kill his family, leaving his father last.
He takes his name, Angelus or Angel from his little sister who calls him that. When Darla finds him and he reveals what he has done, she tells him that now he will never resolve his problems with his father, they will define him for eternity, he is doomed to forever repeat them. That which defined us when we were living, defines us when we are dead.
Later, they echo the same tale, with Spike in Lies my Parents Told Me and Fool for Love - where it is clear that what defined Spike was his unrequited love for both Cecily and his mother. Except, once ensouled, he realizes that his mother did love him, it was the demon who did not or rather twisted the concept. Angel comes close to getting similar closure with Connor, but not quite - he has in many ways become his father's son - attempting to mold the boy into his own image, manipulate him, and obtain the boy's approval via it. Then again, we can't really say Spike's reached true closure either, he's still a ladies man, he will still fall over backwards to help a woman or go nuts when she spurns him. Just as Buffy continues in her own way to struggle with her parental issues - she echoes Spike with the mother, and Angel with the father...which is why those two relationships continue in some respects to define her, they reflect her own regrets.