Yah, I did thtink of Patience. But I thought of her, like mama Reynolds and the homesteading Alaskans you mention, as taking advantage of the dearth of men to do the "traditionally male" tasks, and thus circumventing the usual gender division of work. Which, as you point out, is a function of frontier societies. So thanks for poking holes in my theory. It gives me more to ponder.

So thanks for poking holes in my theory. It gives me more to ponder.

Any time! I'm sure I can count on you to do the same in return the future. I try to avoid emoticons here, but :)

Speaking of social norms, it always amused me that when Angel acted anachronistic, he tended to come off like a grumpy 70 year old man, rather than someone closer to 270. Like, if you reach a certain age, even if you look no older, you are automatically granted membership in the crabby golfers' club.

Well, to be fair to Joss, there aren't that many actual 270 year-olds around to pattern Angel's behavior after. If we figure the return of his soul in 1898 as being a fresh start for determining behavior and attitudes, he'd probably bear some resemblance to the most aged of people in nursing homes.

It would have been ace, though. "What! They've Reformed Parliament? And what's this I hear about the Corn Laws? Bloody Whigs!"

I have a hivemind question for you: Did Sahjahn's hate-on for Angel ever get fully explained? He seemed awfully pissed at Angel when he swoops in at the bar where Angel & Lilah were exchanging barbs, but his whole thing was only to prevent Connor from killing him according to that prophecy, right? What did Angel have to do with it? Connor was already alive, and Angel wouldn't have set him on that path (at least at that time) because he didn't even know who Sahjahn was. What am I missing, and what episode(s) was it in?

Boreanaz keeps Angel Alive from the TV Guide Insider.

What did Angel have to do with it?

"Have we met? Cause I don't remember swearing..." As far as I can tell, the hate-on is solely Connor-based: Connor is Sahjhan's bane, and thus he hates his whole family. I certainly don't recall anything else about Angel specifically. Personally, I love Sahjhan, and if his motivations are a little murky, I don't even care.

"It's better," he teases, adding, "'Four' would be the magic number — that's all I'm going to say." (Our guess? It's the in-the-works fourth Indiana Jones pic.)

Wha? This guy obviously isn't in on the Fantastic Four rumors.

""I'm going to be doing some dancing"

Oh dear. I was thinking about who can/should parlay Buffy/Angel into a wider career and who'll be doing conventions in 20 years. With a few exceptions (Seth Green, ASH) Buffy breaks down by gender; SMG, Alyson, Amber B, Emma Caulfield I can see having real careers (the first two alredy do, of course), while Nick Brendon, Boreanez and Marsters I can't see getting out of the shadow of the show. Marsters seems aware of that - it's no coincidence that he's the one most frantically talking up the TVMs - but although he's a far more versatile actor than the other two, I think he's in the Fonzie Trap for life.

With Angel it's harder to call. If Denisof doesn't have a serious Clive Owen career there's no justice (there isn't), and obviously Andy Hallett will never act in the majors again, but I reckon Amy Acker and JAR could go either way. CC, sadly, is that little bit too old to make the jump - although she deserves to.

obviously Andy Hallett will never act in the majors again

Because of his heart problem? (is that what it was? I can't remember) Is he doing any better?

No, because he's a cabaret artist.