My take on the ending is that it was appropriate--the way it was always supposed to go down. Angel and the survivors were finally free to get to the business of getting rid of the bad guys. This is what they know -- not board rooms and paperwork, but freakin' dragons and armies of doom. In a certain vein, In my mind they win because they choose to fight.
Last season Angel told Faith about never completely atoning, and that it went on every day. The Shanshu Prophecy was at best, misplaced hope, and at worst, an outright lie. The neatness the prophecy embodied seemed inconsistent with what I think is one of the paramount iron rules of the Jossverse -- NOTHING is gained by the protagonists that easy. There is a price for everything, and it gets higher depending on that that everything happens to be at a given time.
And so the finale dealt with "the Price." Buffy's finale did much of the same thing.
Maria, can I tag this?
Absolutely, Stephanie. My first tag. Squee! And congrats on selling the house...
Hm. How about a "Faith/Spike/Illyria on motorcycles, fighting crime/stuff/whatever" show? I would so watch that.
How about Faith, Willow and Angel in a new series: "The Slayer, the Witch and the Hairloaf"?
Wolfram, I love this premise. I'm not ready to let these people go, and this seems reasonable, for lack of a better word. It's all based on the show's lore. Now if someone could figure out a way to wank Wesley back to life, I'd be happy.
Thanks Maria. I also liked someone else's wank (DCJ?) with the slayers/cavalry arriving just in time. But Wesley's dead, and I think it's where he really wants to be.
Pain is my friend, and Joss knows how to dish it up in the exact quantities guaranteed to hurt the worst.
He really is the master torturer. Too little pain and you can laugh it off. Too much and it numbs you. Joss gives you just enough to leave you in delicious agony.
how about a Fredyllia/Spike spinoff
Blue Thunder and White Lightning. It could be a thing.
Wesley's dead, and I think it's where he really wants to be.
But that's not where
I
want him to be. That should be all that matters. Wes wasn't in his right mind for a while, so how would he know what he really wanted? Grief is a mind-altering substance.
Blue Thunder and White Lightning. It could be a thing.
Blue Thunder was a thing. About a helicopter. Only lasted half a season and featured James Farentino and Dana Carvey. White Lightning--also a thing. The 1973 movie starred Burt Reynolds. Both dealt with crime fighting.
I like your version better.
Thanks Maria. I also liked someone else's wank (DCJ?)
Thanks.
I put it on my LJ now. that way I can edit it...
[link]
Blue Thunder was first a movie. A fairly cool one, as I recall.
Throughout the day, I felt like breaking out into fits of weeping at the slightest provocations. I can't really bring myself to mourn the show yet, since I can't even get past mourning Wes to dwell too long on the rest of the gang. Despite the multidues of deaths and carnage in Jossverse, I haven't felt this crushed by the death of a character... ever--not Joyce, not Tara, not Anya, not Cordy, not even Buffy.
My poor Wes. My poor darling broken Wes. He suffered so much and had so few moments of happiness, you know? The fact that he allowed himself the comfort of Illyria's illusion in his last moments, knowing full well it went against all that he believed to be true and right... God, it killed me. He was so tired, but he had such a beatific smile on his face--and with his surrender, the lie turned into a gift in a way I found almost unbearably moving. I'm watching it again on my TiVo, and what do you know? I'm bawling again.
I've read a bunch of smart people saying lovely and insightful things about the episode here and elsewhere so it's all a bit of a jumble in my head, but one thing that struck me in particular was the parallel between Illyria and Faith mentioned by someone a while back (Micole?). There is certain evocative symmetry about how the beginning of his career was marked by his spectacular failure as the watcher of a dangerously unstable young woman in possession of a powerful, primitive force, and at the end of his road, Wes was finally able to successfully guide/mentor/humanize an equally dangerous and unpredictable power wearing the body of a young woman. At the end, after all these years, his guns and knives failed him, but he has finally earned his stripes as a watcher.
I love the way Wes' story ended--it felt right. But any prospect of a movie/mini-series/spin-off feels... dimmed and incomplete to me due to Wes' absence, you know? Sigh.
