An essay about Angel (the series)
Feb. 1st, 2004 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_ladylarkI don’t usually post my comments on Angel or Buffy, but this last episode really got me thinking, and I wanted to see if anyone agreed with my observations and thoughts. It sort of got a bit long and turned into an essay.
Spoilers to the end of Buffy in the first bit, I assume most people who'd be interested in reading this have seen that much. Spoilers for Angel season 5 behind the cut, though the spoilers for the current episode are more thematic than plot details. Actually, i've just realised that part of it spoils some tension in the episode, so probably best not to touch it. Don't read it at all if you haven't seen any of the new season though.
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I’ve never really bought the whole ‘a vampire is a demon that inhabits the body of the person it killed and gets their memories’ line. It doesn’t fit with anything that we’ve been shown in either Buffy or Angel. I think it’s a nice story that the watchers made up to make it easier for the slayers to kill their prey, don’t worry about it, they’re just inhuman monsters. Well, monsters they may well be, but there are real human monsters too, and they can be worse than the vampires because they have souls.
Angel has always denied any connection to the doings of Angelus; he talks about him as if he were a whole separate person. Spike has never suffered from this delusion, he accepts full well that the deeds he did were done by the same person who wrote bad poetry when he was alive, who fell in love with Buffy, and who got his soul again. This also ties in to Angel’s denial of a vampire’s ability to love. Spike and Drusilla may have been sick, twisted and evil, but they did truly love each other. Darla did love Angel, in her own way, though her experience of love in any form up until that time had been slight, so she may not have recognised it as such. She also claimed that she was not capable of love when she did not have a soul, but again I think she is deluding herself, denying that her feelings were real because that would mean also accepting everything that went along with them. Spike’s love for Buffy was the motivation for him to regain his soul (though I still don’t like the way that episode was written – there is no way Spike would have said ‘she’ll get what’s coming to her’ had he wanted his soul back).
At the end of this episode, we get a very important conversation between Angel and Spike, confirmation of a lot of things I’ve thought for a while. Angelus was a monster, but not because he was a vampire, its part of his very nature. Angel himself is capable of horrors because its in his make up – he is not a nice person, he is not a noble person, the only reason he has got himself into the situation he is in now is because he was made to feel guilty for all the things he did when he was lacking a soul. I see the soul as a form of conscience, a barrier of morality that stops people doing all the things they think about doing. Everyone has thought ‘I wish something bad would happen to that person’ at some point in their lives, the soul is what prevents you making that bad thing happen. The difference between Angel and Spike is, as Spike points out, that Spike never really took pleasure in the destruction of human life, only in the violence itself. Violence was an outlet for the anger that William the Bloody felt against a society that never really understood him. Angel on the other hand took pleasure from the sufferings of others, something that fits well with the selfish, cowardly man that we see both in Liam (note his decision at the end of Spin the Bottle – he has a soul, but he doesn’t remember his need for penitence, so he decides the world owes him) and in Angel himself. If something annoys him or doesn’t suit his needs, all his fine words and heroic ways go out the window.
This also helps explain an annoying inconsistency (I thought) in series one of Angel. In the episode Eternal, Angel is fed a drug that makes him ‘happy’. He is told this, and then reverts to ‘Angelus’. Now, my problem with this is that perfect happiness should not be reversible. If the drug made him lose his soul, then a soul restoration would have been necessary to restore him, like we see later in season four. The effect should not have ‘worn off’. The only plausible explanation I can come up with, is that Angel thinks he should be acting like Angelus, and thus he does so. Its all purely within his own mind, his soul is still there and fully functioning. This shows the nature of the man that Angel is. And come on… he’s one of the most immature characters in the show! “its my lead, its my lead!!” Buffy hits the nail on the head when she asks him if he’s twelve, because he certainly acts like it.
Angel’s quest for redemption is in a way purely selfish – he wants to feel better about the things that he did, because in his heart he knows its his fault and he deserves to suffer. He can use his soulessness as an excuse, and by ‘making amends’ can feel good about himself. He’s the hero, the good guy. Except, hang on, someone else has come along and is doing it better than him, and probably for better reasons. Spike has no need to repent for what he has done – he accepts that he did it, and its part of who he is. He does not deny his former love of the violence and the killing, and although he does say that he is sorry for it and needs to make up for what he has done he is under no illusion that anything he does now will make any difference. Yes, he might as well have killed Dana’s family, and thus deserved whatever he got. But he isn’t actively seeking redemption. I think his main reason for wanting the Shanshu prophecy to apply to him is so that he can deny Angel of his long awaited prize. Never let it be said that Spike can’t be petty too… and it appears he’s never forgiven Angel for ‘stealing’ Dru away from him.
The point of all this, if there is a point, is that Spike is a good man, and always has been. His intentions are true, and even when he was a soulless demon he kept to his own set of principles even if he did enjoy maiming and killing. Remember, this is the vampire that sired his mother so she could be with him forever, that stopped Angelus destroying the world because he liked it here. Spike with a soul is not so very different from Spike without a soul, except that he draws the line at killing people for no reason. He still would kill if it was needed, he almost killed Wood. He has learnt how to be strong, how to hold his ground, the softness that was William has developed a hard shell to show the world that he means business. But the softness is still there.
In comparison, Angel is in serious denial about his own nature. By separating Angelus from Angel he is denying his baser wants, and the rottenness that is at his heart. Spike was bad; Angelus was evil. If anyone has more claim to shanshu, it is Spike, and Angel knows this. This is at the heart of his current insecurity, compounded by the fact that it seems he has been lured over to evil’s side. Everyone is deserting him, even Buffy.
I’m very interested to see what Lindsey is planning. With his replaying of Angel’s path to where he is now, we can only assume that he is grooming Spike to replace Angel. The question is, is he on the side of evil, or does he just want revenge on Angel? Certainly he wants to stay out of sight of the senior partners and they are possibly the definition of evil. We’ll see.
Anyway, I think that’s quite enough about that. The other aspects of this episode were good too, it was nice to hear an update of what is happening to the Scoobies, and to see an acknowledgment of Willow’s spell. Though you have to wonder how this fits in with Fray. Is it possible that by adjusting the balance of power that fuels the slayer line, they have inadvertently ‘used up’ all the power available? Is this why there will be a 200 year period with no slayers? I wonder if we will ever find out the answers to these questions.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled waffling about boring stuff that I’m doing. Comments appreciated, since I spent a while composing this.
Spoilers to the end of Buffy in the first bit, I assume most people who'd be interested in reading this have seen that much. Spoilers for Angel season 5 behind the cut, though the spoilers for the current episode are more thematic than plot details. Actually, i've just realised that part of it spoils some tension in the episode, so probably best not to touch it. Don't read it at all if you haven't seen any of the new season though.
------
I’ve never really bought the whole ‘a vampire is a demon that inhabits the body of the person it killed and gets their memories’ line. It doesn’t fit with anything that we’ve been shown in either Buffy or Angel. I think it’s a nice story that the watchers made up to make it easier for the slayers to kill their prey, don’t worry about it, they’re just inhuman monsters. Well, monsters they may well be, but there are real human monsters too, and they can be worse than the vampires because they have souls.
Angel has always denied any connection to the doings of Angelus; he talks about him as if he were a whole separate person. Spike has never suffered from this delusion, he accepts full well that the deeds he did were done by the same person who wrote bad poetry when he was alive, who fell in love with Buffy, and who got his soul again. This also ties in to Angel’s denial of a vampire’s ability to love. Spike and Drusilla may have been sick, twisted and evil, but they did truly love each other. Darla did love Angel, in her own way, though her experience of love in any form up until that time had been slight, so she may not have recognised it as such. She also claimed that she was not capable of love when she did not have a soul, but again I think she is deluding herself, denying that her feelings were real because that would mean also accepting everything that went along with them. Spike’s love for Buffy was the motivation for him to regain his soul (though I still don’t like the way that episode was written – there is no way Spike would have said ‘she’ll get what’s coming to her’ had he wanted his soul back).
At the end of this episode, we get a very important conversation between Angel and Spike, confirmation of a lot of things I’ve thought for a while. Angelus was a monster, but not because he was a vampire, its part of his very nature. Angel himself is capable of horrors because its in his make up – he is not a nice person, he is not a noble person, the only reason he has got himself into the situation he is in now is because he was made to feel guilty for all the things he did when he was lacking a soul. I see the soul as a form of conscience, a barrier of morality that stops people doing all the things they think about doing. Everyone has thought ‘I wish something bad would happen to that person’ at some point in their lives, the soul is what prevents you making that bad thing happen. The difference between Angel and Spike is, as Spike points out, that Spike never really took pleasure in the destruction of human life, only in the violence itself. Violence was an outlet for the anger that William the Bloody felt against a society that never really understood him. Angel on the other hand took pleasure from the sufferings of others, something that fits well with the selfish, cowardly man that we see both in Liam (note his decision at the end of Spin the Bottle – he has a soul, but he doesn’t remember his need for penitence, so he decides the world owes him) and in Angel himself. If something annoys him or doesn’t suit his needs, all his fine words and heroic ways go out the window.
This also helps explain an annoying inconsistency (I thought) in series one of Angel. In the episode Eternal, Angel is fed a drug that makes him ‘happy’. He is told this, and then reverts to ‘Angelus’. Now, my problem with this is that perfect happiness should not be reversible. If the drug made him lose his soul, then a soul restoration would have been necessary to restore him, like we see later in season four. The effect should not have ‘worn off’. The only plausible explanation I can come up with, is that Angel thinks he should be acting like Angelus, and thus he does so. Its all purely within his own mind, his soul is still there and fully functioning. This shows the nature of the man that Angel is. And come on… he’s one of the most immature characters in the show! “its my lead, its my lead!!” Buffy hits the nail on the head when she asks him if he’s twelve, because he certainly acts like it.
Angel’s quest for redemption is in a way purely selfish – he wants to feel better about the things that he did, because in his heart he knows its his fault and he deserves to suffer. He can use his soulessness as an excuse, and by ‘making amends’ can feel good about himself. He’s the hero, the good guy. Except, hang on, someone else has come along and is doing it better than him, and probably for better reasons. Spike has no need to repent for what he has done – he accepts that he did it, and its part of who he is. He does not deny his former love of the violence and the killing, and although he does say that he is sorry for it and needs to make up for what he has done he is under no illusion that anything he does now will make any difference. Yes, he might as well have killed Dana’s family, and thus deserved whatever he got. But he isn’t actively seeking redemption. I think his main reason for wanting the Shanshu prophecy to apply to him is so that he can deny Angel of his long awaited prize. Never let it be said that Spike can’t be petty too… and it appears he’s never forgiven Angel for ‘stealing’ Dru away from him.
The point of all this, if there is a point, is that Spike is a good man, and always has been. His intentions are true, and even when he was a soulless demon he kept to his own set of principles even if he did enjoy maiming and killing. Remember, this is the vampire that sired his mother so she could be with him forever, that stopped Angelus destroying the world because he liked it here. Spike with a soul is not so very different from Spike without a soul, except that he draws the line at killing people for no reason. He still would kill if it was needed, he almost killed Wood. He has learnt how to be strong, how to hold his ground, the softness that was William has developed a hard shell to show the world that he means business. But the softness is still there.
In comparison, Angel is in serious denial about his own nature. By separating Angelus from Angel he is denying his baser wants, and the rottenness that is at his heart. Spike was bad; Angelus was evil. If anyone has more claim to shanshu, it is Spike, and Angel knows this. This is at the heart of his current insecurity, compounded by the fact that it seems he has been lured over to evil’s side. Everyone is deserting him, even Buffy.
I’m very interested to see what Lindsey is planning. With his replaying of Angel’s path to where he is now, we can only assume that he is grooming Spike to replace Angel. The question is, is he on the side of evil, or does he just want revenge on Angel? Certainly he wants to stay out of sight of the senior partners and they are possibly the definition of evil. We’ll see.
Anyway, I think that’s quite enough about that. The other aspects of this episode were good too, it was nice to hear an update of what is happening to the Scoobies, and to see an acknowledgment of Willow’s spell. Though you have to wonder how this fits in with Fray. Is it possible that by adjusting the balance of power that fuels the slayer line, they have inadvertently ‘used up’ all the power available? Is this why there will be a 200 year period with no slayers? I wonder if we will ever find out the answers to these questions.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled waffling about boring stuff that I’m doing. Comments appreciated, since I spent a while composing this.
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no subject
Date: 2004-02-01 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-01 11:59 pm (UTC)we were innocent victims too, once upona time
Date: 2004-02-26 09:48 am (UTC)Except a lot of my bias towards him is precisely because he is a character who accepts that William/Spike are the same person, whilst Angel had that whole denial thing going on. I'm sure you could argue some of it comes from Spike naming himself after he is turned (at least, that's the implication of Fool for Love), whilst Angelus was given his name by Darla. Angel can see Angelus as somehow a creation of the woman who killed/birthed him, whilst Spike created himself after his killer/mother went back to her own daddy. I don't think it's coicindence that Spike mentions Dru in Damage - Dru is Angel's Dana, just as Spike suggests one reason Angel hates him is because he's a reminder of just what Angelus was capable of creating - a monster.
I do think that overall, Spike is on a redemptionist journey whilst Angel is on a journey to...I don't know...self-acceptance? I suspect ME of putting all the Spike Shanshu scenes into Soul Purpose not only to suggest Angel's insecurity but to give Spike fans a bone. "We showed you him transforming a few times, what do you mean you want him to do it for real?". Although I'm not sure I do. And I love the subtext of Soul Purpose (can it be coincidence that David Boreanez directed an episode in which Angel is usurped by Spike? not insucure about James stealing the show, I hope..?). Oddly, I was against Spike's resurrection at first as I thought his story had been perfectly created within Buffy. I'm now just trying to work out how ME can bring both Spike and Angel's stories to a satisfying ending. Without shanshuing both of them...I can't remember who suggested it, but I saw one theory that said that Angel can't shanshu - that it has to be Spike - because the Gypsy Curse is all about causing Angel to suffer. The dream sequence with Spike and Buffy in Angel's bed suggests that he already suffers - how much worse to offer the apparent prize of human life only to give it to the other guy?
I still think the episode with the submarine is rubbish though.
Mags (http://moosiferjonesgrouch.blogspot.com)
no subject
Date: 2016-01-09 12:32 am (UTC)So I took the vampires are demons that moved into a body to be a piece of Watcher propaganda. Something that was maybe about 50% true, but simplified, reduced, for their own benefit.
A demon vampires were: but a demon that was born of a human personality, that had thoughts, dreams, desires, and hunger, but like any kind of apex predator, didn't care that they had to kill humans to get what they wanted.
But the Watchers were never really ones for truth, and as the series stretched on, the Watchers were shown to be another patriarchal institution that Buffy had to dismantle, or at least overcome, on her path to understanding her place in the world.
Very well done, I'm glad to have read your thoughts on this twelve years after the fact Naomi! 8D
no subject
Date: 2016-01-09 12:48 am (UTC)And thus, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is summed up in a sentence...
Isn't the future weird? Those flying cars everywhere!