When Wes says "one last perfect day", I hear Lou Reed.

Damnit! Now I want to see Wes and Illyria drinking sangria in the park!

I saw the Finale re-broadcast tonight. I try to keep a running list in my head of either A) pop culture homages as I see them and B) continuity shout-outs.

So, correct me if I miss anything: 1. Hamilton's speechifying during the fight with Angel reminds me of Agent Smith's taunts to Neo in the Matrix trilogy, especially as it pertains to why Angel keeps fighting if no one cares. 2. When Hamilton says "we are legion, we are everywhere," it reminds me of what the demon possessing Regan told the priests in the Exorcist. 3. That red demon Wes was trying to take out. The sound of his voice reminds me of the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.

Continuity references I caught: 1. Harmony's reference to Graduation. 2. Wesley mentioning his training as a Watcher -- "the first rule." 3. Spike and the poetry -- that was classic stuff. 4. The wrist-deployable stakes! 5. Hamilton's references to Doyle and Cordelia. 6. Naturally, Connor mentioning his restored memories.

I've seen some people say the Angel finale was better than the Buffy finale. I agree in terms of plot execution and the wonderful cinematography and camera work of the Angel finale. I still like the Buffy finale though because I think its circumstances were appropriate for the set of characters. Same applied to Angel's set of protagonists. They get a chance to fight. And that is commendable.

Oh boo WLVI. They showed the "Grr Argh!" this time around. I mean, I'm glad to have it, since I screwed up last week's taping, but I'm sure the rest of the New Englanders just re-watched, if that.

Argh! I watched it, but didn't record it on TiVo, because I recorded it on both TiVo and my VCR last week. And then I switched the channel to watch 24, and didn't even see the Grr Argh guy, never mind record him. What did I catch instead--the frigging American Idol ending, which ran it's typical 2 minutes long. Feh.

eta...

2. When Hamilton says "we are legion, we are everywhere," it reminds me of what the demon possessing Regan told the priests in the Exorcist.

And The Exorcist took "we are legion" from The Bible account in which Jesus heals a possessed man. He first asks the name, and the demons reply, "Legion, for we are many."

I've seen some people say the Angel finale was better than the Buffy finale. I agree in terms of plot execution and the wonderful cinematography and camera work of the Angel finale. I still like the Buffy finale though because I think its circumstances were appropriate for the set of characters. Same applied to Angel's set of protagonists. They get a chance to fight. And that is commendable.

I agree with you. Each show ended as it should. The two shows are so different, and so are their endings.

I was watching Gingerbread last night and in Angel tells Buffy that he's in an endless fight, but it's fought because it has to be.

Can't say they changed the mission statement.

"And The Exorcist took "we are legion" from The Bible account in which Jesus heals a possessed man. He first asks the name, and the demons reply, "Legion, for we are many.""

Indeed. I totally overlooked that.

I struck me on re-watch, and some pondering this morning as I tried to drag my carcass out of bed, just how coldly Angel used and discarded Lindsey. It would have been one thing if Lindsey had come to Angel to get involved, but Angel went out of his way to get Lindsey in on the fight.

What if Lindsey had refused? Would Angel have taken him out right then and there? Later?

Also, was there anything Lindsey could have said or done differently that would have saved him from getting put down like a dog? Was Lorne supposed to pull the trigger if Lindsey survived under any circumstances?

I know he's basically shat on every kindness and second chance that Angel's extended him before, but still. It's Angel going out of his way to get Lindsey involved that really stuck with me.

This isn't a complaint, just an observation. If nothing else, Angel's treatment of Lindsey made more sense than whatever Lindsey was supposed to be up to this season.

Lindsey was part of the problem. To put it another way, Angel gave him what he wanted - to be regarded one of the Circle.

Frank, that's funny, because I actually felt a little better about it, upon rewatch.

Towards the end of Angel's conversation with Lindsey, he has his back turned toward Lindsey, and he asks Lindsey why he's willing to join the fight (this is the whole bit, that includes the "big, brass testes" line). I thought Angel seemed to really be listening for something, some cue, by which he could gauge how sincere Lindsey was. Angel's face grew more and more pained throughout Lindsey's spiel.

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Without watching and noting right now, I seem to recall from last night, that when Lindsey said the thing about it being a circus, I noticed what seemed like an expression of decision on Angel's face.

Towards the end of Angel's conversation with Lindsey, he has his back turned toward Lindsey, and he asks Lindsey why he's willing to join the fight (this is the whole bit, that includes the "big, brass testes" line). I thought Angel seemed to really be listening for something, some cue, by which he could gauge how sincere Lindsey was. Angel's face grew more and more pained throughout Lindsey's spiel.

I'll have to re-watch again (I was only half paying attention last night - it was the sequence of events that caught my interest more than the details), but that would tie into Angel's comment about "You haven't heard a word I've said...for years!" Lindsey was getting involved for all the wrong reasons as far as Angel was concerned.

I'm still curious what Angel would have done if Lindsey had just refused to get involved.

So I'm struck by the liklihood of this being the last time I dig my way up through hundreds of posts to reach the top of the thread. I feel two ways about it. It's pretty hard work, but from an archeological viewpoint, there's gold in them thar holes. That's quite possibly a mixed metaphor, but the fact remains that the days of me spending days thinking about a TV show are gone now, and not likely to come back soon, I'm thinking. On the other hand, it was a damn fine end.

So that's where I'll start my last ramble. Shroedingers Ending caught me by surprise. I couldn't tally what I'd seen and come up with an hour. Confused the hell out of me. Most of what I think about the last scene has been covered, as usual. Alleyway thoughts. The outcome not being shown becsause it's not the important bit. The ep cutting off almost in mid line because the series was jerked up short too. The only thing I can really think to add is that if there'd been any hint of an army of slayers I'd've thrown rocks at my TV. Which would've led to a reckoning, since it's actually my roommate's TV. Which is not to say they're all dead and that's that. When I say Shroedinger's Ending, I mean just that.

Angel and Spike, Gunn and The Fred Thing are all in a box somewhere. At some point, ME will land that nebulous TV movie deal, or won't. At that point the box opens, and we see if they're alive or not. Until then, they exist in both states, fighting and escaping, fighting and dying. For my part I'm fine with that. I'm just thinking if there's going to be any Machina action, I'd prefer Deus Ex Illyria to Deus Ex Buffy et al.

If they all die, I'm perfectly fine with that. It's a good ending. On the other hand, should the opportunity come for more story, all they have to do to is have the collapsing office building break the tachyon mojo vacuum that has Big Blue's juice in it, thereby reversing the polarity.

In the middle of the fight, she clutches her gut and goes down, all the baddies cheer, and press forward. Then a portal appears in front of Gunn as he staggers into one last charge, and he lands in the ER of a not too local hospital, Baddies go flying every which way, and Time Stop. While Time Stop is going on, Angel and Spike and The Thing That is Suddenly Very, Very Powerful Again go on an utter rampage, then She either reins herself in before she explodes, walling off the greater part of her power and leaving a much more doable fight, or she grabs a vamp in each hand and heaves them as far as she can manage (which, for all we know, could be Reno) before going critical and leaving a whole lot barbecued evil and a couple of razed buildings in her wake. They could even use the time bomb factor to save Wes, though I don't think they should, much as it pains me to say. There's my own personal 'If they live...' fanwank.