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.

At the end, after all these years, his guns and knives failed him, but he has finally earned his stripes a watcher.

Okay, crying now.

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.

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.

I agree, in addition to his cowardice (or maybe this was his personal fanwank), I think he saw himself as basically peaceable, and above the fray. And (to me, at least) it seems he had his hopes too pinned on Angel. I think he wanted Angel to be good for him, and was hoping to be one of the good guys, but by association, skipping all the wetwork. Understanding the compromises Angel made, and seeing where and why they were necessary (and sometimes not)—if ugly—really undid him. I think Lorne's whole worldview is askew.

It took me a while to get to this place in my brain. When I first read the spoilers, and even after I first saw the episode, I was puzzled and annoyed by Lorne's decision not to meet everyone back in the alley. But now, it works for me. In fact, I don't think anything else (for Lorne's story) would have worked for me.