What Angel did is justified as being the only way to save Connor but I don't think it did. Not Connor that was. The Connor that he wished for maybe, the one he planned to watch hockey game with and send to college but that Connor never existed. It's the thing with kids, they come with dreams attached. It's so easy to build some perfect future in your head and then be disappointed by the reality.
Well, yes, but it's not like Angel responded in Benediction to the reality of teenage Connor with "argh! Give me the baby back! And/or a mindwipe!" Two very specific situations aside (one at the end of Deep Down, one in Habeas Corpses, details in my reply above), Angel is trying to woo Connor from Benediction to Home. Mind you, I don't think he's particularly good at it. (Except for the part where fighting together usually works as bonding. Which even goes for has-two-memory-sets!Connor. But other than that.) (Oh, and mutually brainwashed karaoke singing.) But he tries.
I think I'll rewatch Home because I'm honestly curious whether the whole new-life-for-Connor part of the life saving was already in Lilah's offered deal or whether the episode gives the impression Angel came up with that one; I might misremember or have forgotten. Either way, as I said above, on the one hand, given there was an immeditely life threatening situation (not hypothetical, but very real, and not just for Connor) at hand, he didn't have time to think long and hard about it, so I would call the original agreement under duress. Whereas Angel upholding it AFTER that situation was over was full and squarely his responsibility. Now the life Connor ends up with between Home and Origin is probably Angel's ideal for him, minus, and that's not insignificant, imo, Angel himself, but, and here we get to personal interpretation which differs from viewer to viewer again, to me this was not out of dissapointment but complete desparation, as in, he really believed that anything less would leave Connor dead.
Moving to a Doylist level: I think what disturbs some viewers, including our host, is that the narrative itself in a way supports Angel's decision because once the spell is broken in Origin, and Connor has both sets of memories available again, he still is better off for what Angel did. (Connor v.3?) He expresses some reservations but he also says he gets why Angel did it. (Wesley, too, after regaining his memories.) And if you as a viewer consider Angel's action wrong and selfishly motivated, then the show should have let either Connor be worse off and/or tell Angel what he did was wrong. If, otoh, like myself you consider what Angel did understandable (and something you might do yourself under identical circumstances), then the narrative validating Angel's decision by letting Connor-with-both-memories be better off for what Angel did is a boon instead of a disturbance.
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Well, yes, but it's not like Angel responded in Benediction to the reality of teenage Connor with "argh! Give me the baby back! And/or a mindwipe!" Two very specific situations aside (one at the end of Deep Down, one in Habeas Corpses, details in my reply above), Angel is trying to woo Connor from Benediction to Home. Mind you, I don't think he's particularly good at it. (Except for the part where fighting together usually works as bonding. Which even goes for has-two-memory-sets!Connor. But other than that.) (Oh, and mutually brainwashed karaoke singing.) But he tries.
I think I'll rewatch Home because I'm honestly curious whether the whole new-life-for-Connor part of the life saving was already in Lilah's offered deal or whether the episode gives the impression Angel came up with that one; I might misremember or have forgotten. Either way, as I said above, on the one hand, given there was an immeditely life threatening situation (not hypothetical, but very real, and not just for Connor) at hand, he didn't have time to think long and hard about it, so I would call the original agreement under duress. Whereas Angel upholding it AFTER that situation was over was full and squarely his responsibility. Now the life Connor ends up with between Home and Origin is probably Angel's ideal for him, minus, and that's not insignificant, imo, Angel himself, but, and here we get to personal interpretation which differs from viewer to viewer again, to me this was not out of dissapointment but complete desparation, as in, he really believed that anything less would leave Connor dead.
Moving to a Doylist level: I think what disturbs some viewers, including our host, is that the narrative itself in a way supports Angel's decision because once the spell is broken in Origin, and Connor has both sets of memories available again, he still is better off for what Angel did. (Connor v.3?) He expresses some reservations but he also says he gets why Angel did it. (Wesley, too, after regaining his memories.) And if you as a viewer consider Angel's action wrong and selfishly motivated, then the show should have let either Connor be worse off and/or tell Angel what he did was wrong. If, otoh, like myself you consider what Angel did understandable (and something you might do yourself under identical circumstances), then the narrative validating Angel's decision by letting Connor-with-both-memories be better off for what Angel did is a boon instead of a disturbance.