The line "There's a hole in the world. You'd think we would have noticed" always makes me shiver. And then Angel actually looking to Spike for help on a moral decision . . .

Angel having to confront Spike and all that history was wonderful, to me. Oh, yeah, there were lots of bits that were unnecessary, but a lot of good bits too.

Did anyone else find themselves wondering if Spike really had been responsible for what happened to the poor crazy Slayer?

Oh, yeah, there were lots of bits that were unnecessary, but a lot of good bits too.

This is true. And honestly, Angel in the last season was so far from the show we knew that I find it hard to get het up about the effect on the show overall.

I think Spike is like salt. Or bacon. Some people love it, and want it on eggs, salads, sammiches, in dip with crudites, you know, just everywhere, yum.

And other people like it fine, but when there's too much of it you can't taste anything else. I loved Spike as a condiment, occasional and there as a dash of different. When he became a regular, he was much less interesting to me, and he robbed the rest of the ensemble, in whose storylines I was more interested, of screen time and resolution. It was a tossup when he was added to Angel. It necessitated a change in mytharc. Spike fans approved. People who were more interested in other characters and their interactions, not so much. Personally, I don't think Spike enhanced the relationships or the characters on Angel, except for potentially higher ratings, and more Spike. But that's just one opinion.

Spike fans approved.

Not necessarily true. I was a really big Spike fan-- I wanted them to deal more with the issue of Spike's morality/how he is changed by loving someone/and how beings with souls can be bad and beings without souls could be good. THey did not go there, but I was reasonably happy with how his story ended in sacrifice.

I did not want him on Angel, because to me, that negated his sacrifice.

I saw the whole burn up in the Hellmouth thing as "Damn, he's going to be some inconvenient baggage after we save the day and have lives to look forward to. I know!"

Still, I quite enjoyed "No, you don't, but thanks for saying so."

I got this message via email newsletter from the theater in the Bay Area that has Buffy nights:

Fox Studios has abruptly decided to cancel ALL theatrical bookings of their popular TV shows, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and FIREFLY. No reason was given. This includes the upcoming October 18 show at Parkway and October 25 show at Cerrito.

We apologize but the fans have to complain directly to Fox. Yes, we got screwed too, since Joss Whedon Night is one of our most popular regular events, but you as patrons can say things we as a business cannot.

Fill in THAT blank.

Cheers, Speakeasy Theaters

They were officially licensed through Criterion, according to an e-mail I got from the woman who organizes the outings. It looks like Serenity is still okay because it's Universal, not Fox.

Does that include the sing alongs?

The one on my birthday in St. Louis is still selling tickets.

Oh man I am so bummed. The Rialto says due to circumstances beyond their control all future performances have been cancelled. Where do we send our angry letters?