"Ride! Ride for wrath, for ruin, and a red dawn!"

Ahem.

Oh, so much to love about this episode. William the Bloody Awful Poet! And Gunn talking with Anne, and the Angel/Lindsey subtext, and holyfuckingfuck Lorne shooting Lindsey!, and Angel wanting to be the dragonslayer, and Illyria lying to Wes as he died, and then not knowing how to control her grief, and Angel feeding off Hamilton, and of course, that last shot. Beautiful. I feel pretty certain that none of them survived, but of course, of course they would go out fighting.

I hated Eve staying behind in the crumbling building because she doesn't know how to go on now that Lindsey's dead. Then again, it's perfectly in character.

I had half convinced myself that Wesley wouldn't be the one to die. That definitely made me cry.

As soon as the last scene with Lorne and Lindsey began, I knew Lorne was going to kill him. Don't know why; maybe the room looked familiar from the previews. One of the friends I was watching with had the thought that Lorne has probably known for a long time that he would have to kill Lindsey, which would explain why he was so standoffish tonight and for the past few episodes. Probably as far back as when Eve sang for him, since her world is all wrapped up in Lindsey, and possibly even as far back as when Lindsey sang for him. So when he told Angel not to come looking for him afterwards, it was because he knew that that was the last thing he had to do, and once he'd done it, he couldn't go back. That was the first and only person--human, at least--that Lorne ever killed, right?

Was killing Lindsey Lorne's task or was that part freelancing? Did "I've heard you sing" mean "You may think you've changed, and Angel may believe you've changed, but I've seen your future - and I can't let that happen"? Maybe he didn't want to go back not because of what Angel asked him to do but because of what he'd become in his time with the MoG. Not sure I buy my own argument, but I do think it was ambiguous.

Huh. That also makes sense, though I like the first theory better. I'm pretty sure that Angel had told Lorne to shoot Lindsey. It makes a lot of sense. He never trusted Lindsey, at least not since he returned this season.

What no one mentioned was the moment Angel said, "Can you figure out the one word in there you shouldn't have said?"

And my brain quickly went through the sentence, and then I shouted, "OH MY FUCKING GOD!"

Heh. Me too.

And how fucking creepy is it that Fred and Wesley got to die in each other's arms?

Ooh, good point. Theirloveissofuckedupyetpure!

I want closure. This wasn't closure.

Really? This was a lot more closure than I expected.

I don't know how I can sleep, but I've got to try.

Thanks for sticking it out with me. Good night, my friends.

Night LC!

21 minutes to west coast?

Oh! And Angel signing away his shanshu!

Oh, I am not sure I have ever loved him more than that moment.

I hated Eve staying behind in the crumbling building because she doesn't know how to go on now that Lindsey's dead.

YES. Well, not so much that as the shot of her pacing nervously while everyone else was off fighting. There were four more lines at the end of the Connor/Angel coffeeshop scene that could have aired in the time it took to show us Eve pacing. Or two more in the Wes/Illyria scene where he's not having a perfect day. Either of which would have been a more worthwhile use of screentime than Eve.

Yeah, I kind of love how the shanshu has been a driving force for him all these years, and now he signs it away with barely a moment's pause, in order to keep fighting.

Loved it and cried like a little girl. Everything about this ending *fit* for me.

However - all this talk about Lorne reading people has me wondering: Since Lorne has read Angel, why would Lorne need to tell Angel not to look for him if Angel is supposedly going to die during the Big Battle? Does Lorne saying that mean that Angel survives?

OK, time to be in the minority. I'm incredibly disappointed in this ending. I despise the Butch and Sundance ending of them roaring off into hopeless battle. Dudes, it's not hopeless until you show me their dead and dusty bodies. I'm a big girl, I can deal with Angel getting dusted.

I don't buy Harmony's sudden betrayal. "But you don't have a soul." Um, so? I kept waiting for it to be a double-double cross, with Harmony misleading Hamilton. The whole "You're betraying me now!" bit just felt very artificial, as if they were putting on a show to lure Hamilton into something stupid.

Wes had an OK death. Not a good death. Once again, his grand gesture is wasted. I knew Illyria would morph to Fred--and it was still a lie.

Connor, for once, was very cool. I was very pleased to see him. "You drop by for coffe and the world's not ending? Please."

I was not expecting Lorne to shoot Lindsay. I think it was Angel's order and the final straw. Lorne's reading of Lindsay may have been the impetus to for Lorne to agree with it, but I don't think Lorne would commit murder as his own idea. Why else would Angel be so insisting on Lorne being there? For the high note of MacArthur Park? Though Lindsay's death is pleasantly nihilistic, if you like that sort of thing. Which I don't.

Spike at the poetry slam, finally getting some respect. That was nice, and completely took me by surprise.

They deserved better. Fuck you, WB. At least now I no longer have to watch your stupid commercials.

Wow I am simply amazed. That was a good episode. I was crying like a baby during Wes death. I am struck that this as a final episode was better (at least for me) then it was with Buffy's last year. Perhaps thats because its the FINAL.

I still feel sad though but it was a good end.

(I am bummed though Boston WB did not show the grr at the end not even a visual)

I despise the Butch and Sundance ending of them roaring off into hopeless battle. Dudes, it's not hopeless until you show me their dead and dusty bodies.

Exactly. In my world, Angel kills the dragon, and it falls and smashes all the demons and they win.