Thanks much to Kathy Astrom for the wonderful hosting of the Chicagoistas!!

I loved the way it ended. Underscored the theme of the show: keep fighting because the fight is what's important.

Angel totally told Lorne to kill Lindsey. As he was sending them all off on their respective missions, he HANDED Lorne the gun.

Also, when Angel said that he wanted Lindsey, the Chicagoistas all squealed in unison. Quite funny!

But it's an excellent point that, ending where it did, we are each given the battle ourselves. I hope that it is still true that no movie or tv show can produce anything QUITE as spectacular as the possibilies of what our imaginations can produce.

And this is why I half hope there's no commentary for this episode on the DVD.

I'm struck, suddenly, with the fact that not only will there be no new ME on TV for the foreseeable future, but, by this time next year, all ME will be out on DVD (except, possibly, Serenity).

The beauty of the ending to me is that, in my mind, there can be any number possible endings. That army of slayers shows up. Though how they could have mobilized with pretty much *no* warning whatsoever is a mystery.

In one part of my head, the MoG puts up a valient fight, Gunn doesn't last the ten minutes he has left and everybody dies. But the forces of evil are left directionless and easy pickings for any army of slayers that happen to be wandering around the world at the time.

But the forces of evil are left directionless and easy pickings for any army of slayers that happen to be wandering around the world at the time.

That does actually almost get us to Fray.

That does actually almost get us to Fray.

Which I should read sometime soon. Is it good?

It really annoyed the hell out of me, having the sudden cut just at the start of what could be a really great battle scene.

The only way to give closure to Angel, the series, is to give no closure to Angel, the character. He is the biggest mass murderer we've ever seen. Redemption is a continual struggle, not a moment.

t I'm not wearing any amulets, no bracelets, broaches, beads, pendants, pins, or rings

or

t continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling-cakes

Choose your tag for this series. They both work, and neither one closes.

It's not the peak of comics the way MEverse stuff is the peak of television, but it's got some nice storytelling. I like it.

Last weigh in on a just-aired Angel episode, ever:

Loved it. Every time I wonder how Joss is going to pull a fitting end to a series out of his ass he never fails to surprise and impress. For that matter, I've never been let down by an M.E. pilot or season/series ender and a lot of the credit goes to JW for that.

A couple of points. First of all, I have no doubt that Angel knew that Lorne was going to murder Lindsay. When he told Eve that Lindsay wasn't returning, ever, it could only have meant that he was in on the plan. Otherwise, considering he just told Lindsay that he wanted him as the new head of W&H, the line makes no sense.

Secondly, Illyria did not hit on Gunn. She said he was "not unpleasant in her eyes" which in Illyria-speak means, I like him as a friend. It is an indication that she's beginning to accept that she's part of their merry group and she even likes being around them. But any non-platonic feelings she may have had at that moment were about Wesley, not Gunn.

Harmony's betrayal was really no surprise. We've seen her as a sympathetic character, but never one of the good guys. Company's going to hell, then there's no reason to refrain from blood, and heck, loyalty doesn't pay the bills. Or warm the sheets. I'm glad he chose not to spike her even though he would have been totally justified. Because she's a predictable and controllable evil, which makes her, in some twisted way, a sort of ally. Similar to chipped Spike.

The ending - I didn't love it, but I can accept it. Because it wasn't a cop-out. But I can tell you how it ends. The fight gets interrupted. Maybe the SPs realize they can't unleash umpteen thousand bad dudes on the world without killing the underlying project. Otherwise they'd have released their baddies before. So they suck them back into the hole (like the Gift). Maybe the PTB send their minions to protect them (because the SPs are no longer playing "fair"), or maybe Connor shows up again and asspulls them all to safety. The point is, there's no way they win that battle (without a super-dooper amulet), and there's no way they go down in a blaze of glory either. They'll survive.

Maybe the PTB send their minions to protect them

I like this. I like your survival version. What the heck did ever happen to the PTB, anyhoo?