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Not that there's anyone on my correspondence list that will remotely care about this epiphany but I recently re-watched Buffy and Angel (ended my rewatch sometime in March 2026), and upon re-watch, the line that appears early on in Angel, midway through Angel S2, takes on a different meaning after the end of the series. The line is in the episode entitled "Epiphany" after Angel once again gets gobsmacked after being brilliantly played by WRH - the evil law firm.
It didn't occur to me until today - what the writers were doing with that line. One of the reasons I fell in love with those shows was that the writers had a tendency to throw out a moral line or time-worn platitude and then spend about twenty episodes sometimes more deconstructing, satirizing and undercutting it, and well...demonstrating the inherent flaws in the platitude. "Yes, that's lovely, they seemed to state, but..." I doubt I'd have gotten so obsessed with those shows if they didn't keep doing that. On Buffy they liked to play with the line - "with great power comes great responsibility" or "saving lives is her reward" - then undercut. The title of the series - Buffy the Vampire Slayer is in itself an undercut or play on words. Just as Angel the Vampire is an undercut or play on words.
The shows specialized in a kind of a meta narrative or sharp satiric and at times biting commentary on the teen after-school special and those very special episodes that plagued 1980s and 1970s situation comedy series - and the writers who wrote Buffy grew up during the 1970s and 80s.
The line that I'm talking about is one that is repeated as a theme of Angel (when I actually think the theme is something else entirely), and I think some of the meta commentary and satire following that line may have gone unnoticed by the audience? We're talking about comedy writers here - who like to satirize things? And have issues with platitudes? They can't help but undercut it.
" 'If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.' Especially when something seems hopeless, it's important to stand up"
Sounds great right?
Except, there's a counterpoint and this is a noir anti-hero series with more than a little satire interwoven within? Also like most platitudes, there's a flip side. Which is simply this? "The road to hell is paved with the best of intentions." All that matters isn't what we do, it's never that simple - but rather, the how, why, and who we are doing it with and for. It's not enough to just want to help the helpless or to go out there and do it? It's how and why you go about it that matters. Because if you go about it the wrong way, for the selfish reasons, or the wrong reasons, and with the wrong people - it's not going to end well. (Probably not end fighting a bunch of monsters in a dark alley...but close.)
( Read more... )
I don't know why I didn't see it initially - now that I do see it? It seems so blatantly obvious that I feel like an idiot for not seeing it sooner. I think it is because, despite their flaws (which are sizable), the characters are relatable and for the most part likable and very human. We want them to succeed and because the audience identifies with them, they don't necessarily want to see them as anti-heroes.
Buffy and Angel are shows that reward re-watchings, which is why they still have a vibrant fandom.
At any rate, I realized while responding to a comment on someone else's journal on a separate but related topic - that it's not what we do that matters, it's more than that? It's how we do it. Why we do it. Who we do it for. When we do it. And it's never simple. And it often requires thoughtfulness, curiosity, open heart and mind, and kindness.
***
Didn't sleep well last night. Hopefully tonight will be better.
It didn't occur to me until today - what the writers were doing with that line. One of the reasons I fell in love with those shows was that the writers had a tendency to throw out a moral line or time-worn platitude and then spend about twenty episodes sometimes more deconstructing, satirizing and undercutting it, and well...demonstrating the inherent flaws in the platitude. "Yes, that's lovely, they seemed to state, but..." I doubt I'd have gotten so obsessed with those shows if they didn't keep doing that. On Buffy they liked to play with the line - "with great power comes great responsibility" or "saving lives is her reward" - then undercut. The title of the series - Buffy the Vampire Slayer is in itself an undercut or play on words. Just as Angel the Vampire is an undercut or play on words.
The shows specialized in a kind of a meta narrative or sharp satiric and at times biting commentary on the teen after-school special and those very special episodes that plagued 1980s and 1970s situation comedy series - and the writers who wrote Buffy grew up during the 1970s and 80s.
The line that I'm talking about is one that is repeated as a theme of Angel (when I actually think the theme is something else entirely), and I think some of the meta commentary and satire following that line may have gone unnoticed by the audience? We're talking about comedy writers here - who like to satirize things? And have issues with platitudes? They can't help but undercut it.
" 'If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.' Especially when something seems hopeless, it's important to stand up"
Sounds great right?
Except, there's a counterpoint and this is a noir anti-hero series with more than a little satire interwoven within? Also like most platitudes, there's a flip side. Which is simply this? "The road to hell is paved with the best of intentions." All that matters isn't what we do, it's never that simple - but rather, the how, why, and who we are doing it with and for. It's not enough to just want to help the helpless or to go out there and do it? It's how and why you go about it that matters. Because if you go about it the wrong way, for the selfish reasons, or the wrong reasons, and with the wrong people - it's not going to end well. (Probably not end fighting a bunch of monsters in a dark alley...but close.)
( Read more... )
I don't know why I didn't see it initially - now that I do see it? It seems so blatantly obvious that I feel like an idiot for not seeing it sooner. I think it is because, despite their flaws (which are sizable), the characters are relatable and for the most part likable and very human. We want them to succeed and because the audience identifies with them, they don't necessarily want to see them as anti-heroes.
Buffy and Angel are shows that reward re-watchings, which is why they still have a vibrant fandom.
At any rate, I realized while responding to a comment on someone else's journal on a separate but related topic - that it's not what we do that matters, it's more than that? It's how we do it. Why we do it. Who we do it for. When we do it. And it's never simple. And it often requires thoughtfulness, curiosity, open heart and mind, and kindness.
***
Didn't sleep well last night. Hopefully tonight will be better.
