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.
Rewatched tonight. How much do I love the Wes/Illyria interaction? The shift in her voice for "Would you like me to lie to you?" and his resigned/relieved "Yes. Please. " Gah. I have no words.
I've been earwormed all day with "I'm all right, I'm all right. It only hurts when I breathe," which I am somehow conflating with much of Wes' storyline.
Someday when I rewatch the season, I'm gonna pay closer attention to Lorne. I almost think that in the end he was the most broken of all. We've been talking about him being the morally ambiguous one and I'm starting to think that's way off base. While he's never been the jump-into-the-fray, save-the-damsel type hero I do think he had high standards for himself in terms of what he would not do. I'll have to think on this more before I can come up with a clear way to express the vague ideas rolling around in my brain. I do think there may not be enough seabreezes in the world for him to fully recover.
Tell her Lorne was doing the ultimate Queer Eye makeover on Lindsey, which he earned due to his haircut.
Except that Queer Eye makeovers are for straight guys.
And then I really missed Tim. I don't think anyone understood Wesley, Angel, or Lindsey better.
I'd say Greenwalt had the best handle on Lindsey, but it's close.
Why do you think Illyria loved Wes more than Fred did? I think she made an attachment, but I wouldn't put a capital L on it.
I'm in ita's corner on this. I read Illyria's affection for Wesley as akin to what a person might feel for a pet—he was like a spirited puppy that snarled and yipped at it in an endearing manner. Now the snot-nosed kids Illyria remembers from back when have grown into teenagers in a gang, knocked it down, and stomped on its puppy. I wouldn't want to be in the Senior Partners' shoes after that.
For the record, I loved, loved, LOVED it. It's in my top 3 of the season alongside "You're Welcome" and "Smile Time." The only thing I think I would have changed to improve it (aside from following Showtime's more relaxed attitudes about male nudity for Angel & Lindsey's final talk) is giving Vail just a half-second reaction shot where he realized exactly what the "Little Girl" he was mocking really was.
Even so, that punch was probably my most satisfying moment in a whole hour chock-full of such moments.
Can someone confirm what Dan wrote in press about Angel being re-broadcast next Tuesday. Is that WB-wide, or a localized thing?
Signed,
Hates my VCR timer.
From the WB site, it looks like its happenin, Frankenbuddha. BTW- Did I see you say that you came to Maine last weekend?
Did they rerun it last night, too? I thought I saw something about that, but wasn't home to check.
I don't think of Lorne as morally ambiguous. I think of Lindsey that way. Lorne just isn't motivated by the polarities, and is lazy and kinda cowardly.
Lindsey has what I'd chalk up to ambiguity -- he has bigger motives (himself, and his Angel obsession), so his behaviour is all over the map. Doing good, doing evil, trying to help Angel, trying to kill him. Lorne doesn't have sufficient git-up-and-go.
BTW- Did I see you say that you came to Maine last weekend?
Yeah, I was up there the weekend of the 15th visiting family.
At the end, after all these years, his guns and knives failed him, but he has finally earned his stripes as a watcher.
This reminds me just how much my reaction to Wes was so subtly shifted by the writers. I really did not relish his appearance on the show; he, by s.3, became the most compelling character.
