thedeadlyhook (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thedeadlyhook) wrote2004-03-05 02:12 pm
thedeadlyhook) wrote2004-03-05 02:12 pm
Baby Come Back
Well, that's better now, isn't it? (Note: the lead-in paragraph contains some preliminary griping about "A Hole in the World.")
To be perfectly honest, I was kind last week when talking about "A Hole in the World." (Yes, that was me being kind.) Reason being, in case you're wondering, was because I couldn't think of a way of voicing my disapproval without getting too personal - something to the tune of, "uh-oh, Joss has gone walkabout in the land of crappy comic-book writing, I wonder if he's ever coming back?" So I bit my tongue, held back from airing some of my more acid comments, and waited to see if the following episode would make things better. (As far as snark goes,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
azdak eventually did it better than I ever could anyway, and reading the TV Without Pity writeup was cathartically cleansing as well. They might have let me down last year with a way-too-friendly rundown of "Chosen," but they hit all the sore spots this time, from plot holes - W&H can look up books that aren't even in their library, whathfu-? - to the endless dialogue disasters, such as Spike's ten-second possession by the ghost of Winston Churchill to speak the thuddingly awuful line, "Not this girl. Not this day.") So let's close the book on "A Hole in the World" - the plot's here and we unfortunately have to live with it, but the episode itself? Suck-diddley-ucked, faintly amusing astronauts vs. cavemen arguing aside. Whedon is capable of so much better work than this - somebody make this guy take a real vacation.
But anyway, on to "Shells"...
"Shells," I found entertaining. It fixed a lot of things that "A Hole in the World" left broken. And more to the point, it did what "A Hole in the World" seemed to have been trying to do, but didn't manage to pull off - evoke good comic-book writing. (And I say this lovingly, as a comic book fan.)
For this is comic book stuff, make no mistake. A maroon leatherette bodysuit and blue raver hair is not perhaps the most believable set of costume choices for an Elder God from before recorded history - my initial reaction to pictures of Illyria (on one of my rare spoiler peeks) had been that she was wearing a supervillain costume, a sort of Spawn meets Ben Affleck's costume for the Daredevil movie. And if Illyria ends up joining the Angel gang, as is rather implied as a possibility by her talk with Wes at the end of the ep (she needs a purpose, folks - remember "Why We Fight"?), that puts this group about one step away from turning into a sort of supernaturally flavored X-Men.
And yes, now I'm envisioning the whole gang wearing those leatherette bodysuits. (Well, at least it would get Angel out of those goddamn oversize shirts...)
Stuff To Be Grateful About in Shells
The Characters are Recognizable Again... and They Really Want to Explain
God bless Steven DeKnight. Like a guy armed only with a mop-and-bucket and presented with the task of cleaning up the wreckage of a particularly hyperactive birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese, DeKnight somehow produced a script in which the characters sound like themsleves instead of new people parachuted in to support the plot while still cramming in a ton of exposition. To do this, he has them endlessly talk about stuff that was weird last ep, and turns those reactions into little opportunities for character studies.
For example, Wes goes to examine the lab for clues, accompanied by Harmony. When he looks over the sarcophogus, Harmony mentions maybe he should put on a "moon suit." Wes's reply is to explain to the audience why a trained scientist like Fred wouldn't have done that as well, something I'm sure a lot of us were wondering about. In a simultaneously touching and spooky scene, Wes turns this seemingly stupid action into a comment on Fred's personality, and his as well. "She was just curious... I think I hate her a little for that." You're weird, Wes! And I sorta wanna cry now.... wow, that was well done. (And Alexis Denisof is pretty marvy with the pathos all the way through this ep - actually, the whole cast hands in some nicely nuanced performances.)
This isn't to say that the dialogue in "Shells" is all restrained and dignified. On the contrary - it's liberally laced with some seriously purple prose ("crying and sweating and puking their feelings all over you") and Batman-worthy pronouncements, but it's done in a way that brings the characters back to us, makes them endearing again. When DeKnight writes Angel making a big, bombastic speech, he sounds like the Angel we saw in "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco," not a general in bad war movie. The scene in which Angel works overtime to verbally affirm that yes, he'd fight even for the life of a Benedict Arnold like Knox? That's there both to reaffirm Angel's views on right and wrong (a constant struggle for the poor dear) and to set up the punchline of Wes cutting off his pontificating with a gunshot. This is familiar territory. Welcome back, guys.
There are nice serious moments too - Angel confronting Wes about Gunn ("I don't remember 'stab Gunn' on the agenda!"), confessing that he too, let Fred die; his rant about what happened to Cordy ("violated her... crawled inside... used her up") ...this is good stuff. This is conflicted Angel, angry Angel, frustrated Angel - the guy who really, really tries and despite his best efforts, often fails.
Spike, thankfully, is brought back to us too. I don't know what to make of what we got last week, a gigantic downgrade from rival Champion to a mere cartoon foil for Angel (or fractious homosexual lover - BYO subtext). But this week, Spike got his layers back - we see him processing Fred's death with a sad/funny seesaw between quiet mourning and complaints about not being able to get drunk on airline bottles of mini-booze. Later, he gets a good speech in which he decides to stay in LA rather than accept Angel's offer to go somewhere else, giving a string of reasons beginning with Fred would have wanted it that way, and that it's what he wants himself, despite his dislike for Angel. Fred "gave her life" for this fight, so "the least I can do is give what's left of mine," he sighs. He also claims that something big is coming, bigger than Illyria, that it's gonna get "ugly." "That's where I live," he says.
There's a lot going on here in these economical little comments. Spike's decison to stay because "it's what she would have wanted" is an understated echo of his decision to remain in Sunnydale after Buffy's death in BtVS.... but the "it's what I want" - that's new. There's another holdover from BtVS being referenced here too - in the S7 episode "Beneath You," Spike said something eerily similar to what he tells Angel here: "Something's coming. I don't know what exactly, but something's brewing. And it's so big, ugly and damned it makes you and me look like little bitty puzzle pieces." Is it significant that in both these cases, Spike is portrayed as being able to feel evil coming, like a veteran with a war injury who feels approaching storms in his bones? (Although Spike does say "we can both feel it," I don't see any evidence that Angel senses anything on the way... relevant?) Maybe we're back in the realm of William Butler Yeats's The Second Coming again, with another big apocalypse on the way. What are the odds?
Lovely, Lovely Harmony
I just luuuuvv Harmony, and there is great use of her in this ep. She interjects all the clueless questions the audience might have ("I'm confused... it looks like Fred, but it's not?"), robustly jumps in to help out with smashing and thuggery ala "Harm's Way" and "You're Welcome," livens up expository scenes such as the discovery of Knox's "lady phone" (and comes up with the smart idea of checking missed calls on it). She even provides the guilt-consumed Gunn with a reason to start crying. Harmony is not there to help characters feed their self-pity, which is a welcome sight in my eyes. "The girl of your dreams loved you. That's more than most people ever get," she sagely reminds Wesley (which also gives Wes an opportunity to shine as a freaky obsessive with the seething followup, "I know. And it's not enough.") You go, girl.
Things to Be Sad About In Shells
Fred's Dead
Fred's death is the No. 1 subject here, as well it should be. If "A Hole in the World" was essentially one long death scene, "Shells" is all about the devastating aftermath. Yes, there is grief (something we never really got in abundance for the other Jossverse character whose abrupt snuffage Fred's exit most resembles, Tara). Even Harmony is sad. In fact, we see the cast run through about the entire Kubler-Ross scale of grieving emotions (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance). Lorne has plateaued at full-on Depression (poor Andy Hallet with his one scene, as usual, although I'm grateful he got it, and it's handled with intensity and grace, bravo). Spike seems to have reached Acceptance. Angel, having more or less covered Anger and Denial last week with his "hell with the world!" statement, goes for Bargaining, reminding us that death doesn't need to be the end in this universe (and yes, Buffy's resurrection episode was indeed named "Bargaining"). After all, every vampire character is a dead man or woman walking, plus we have Spike, who was burned to cinders and yet came back; and Buffy, who was resurrected by Willow. (Interesting he doesn't mention Darla's resurrection by W&H - too painful a reminder of failure?) In this world, nearly anything is possible. So can Fred be brought back?
No. She's gone. Fred's gone. We're told this so many times in the ep that it begins to feel like a punchline. Her body is gone - liquified organs, unsalvageable, just "a shell." Her soul was "destroyed" when Illyria moved in. There's nothing to retrieve. Fred is as dead as is possible to get for this show. She can't be brought back.
This is devastating info, frankly. Fred's death throes were so protracted and drawn-out, so drenched in the sobbing unfairness of it all that to have it further established that she's been completely erased from the universe just applies a liberal coating of extra salt to the wound. Fred fans can't console themslves by picturing her in heaven. She's... gone. For good.
Which brings up some interesting theological questions, by the way - Fred's complete destruction evokes the dilemma of every unfortunate parent who's ever had to explain to a tearful child that poor Spot's gone on to doggy heaven while internally grappling with the uneasy question of whether run-over pets actually rate a continued celestial existence or not. Are we lying to our little tykes when we say these things? And worse, if dogs don't continue - if they just disappear from continuity at death instead of carrying on, can we really be sure that our own human hearts and brains and souls rate an afterlife? (Sorry... I just think about these things.)
That said, the harsh fact of Fred's fate had to be established, given the canon of this universe. It would be simply implausible as a followup the hair-pulling declarations that every man on the show would do damn near anything to save sweet, ol' Fred to not have them contemplate bringing her back. And they give it the old college try - Angel attempts to contact Willow via Giles (who puts him on hold because of the continuing problem of his running W&H - priceless!), but eventually the realization sinks in. Fred's dead, baby. Fred's dead.
There's way more to say here, about Illyria, and Gunn, and Knox, and DarkWes! - frankly, this entire episode seems to me to be All About Wes... but I think I'll roll those off into a second part. TBC....
To be perfectly honest, I was kind last week when talking about "A Hole in the World." (Yes, that was me being kind.) Reason being, in case you're wondering, was because I couldn't think of a way of voicing my disapproval without getting too personal - something to the tune of, "uh-oh, Joss has gone walkabout in the land of crappy comic-book writing, I wonder if he's ever coming back?" So I bit my tongue, held back from airing some of my more acid comments, and waited to see if the following episode would make things better. (As far as snark goes,
azdak eventually did it better than I ever could anyway, and reading the TV Without Pity writeup was cathartically cleansing as well. They might have let me down last year with a way-too-friendly rundown of "Chosen," but they hit all the sore spots this time, from plot holes - W&H can look up books that aren't even in their library, whathfu-? - to the endless dialogue disasters, such as Spike's ten-second possession by the ghost of Winston Churchill to speak the thuddingly awuful line, "Not this girl. Not this day.") So let's close the book on "A Hole in the World" - the plot's here and we unfortunately have to live with it, but the episode itself? Suck-diddley-ucked, faintly amusing astronauts vs. cavemen arguing aside. Whedon is capable of so much better work than this - somebody make this guy take a real vacation.But anyway, on to "Shells"...
"Shells," I found entertaining. It fixed a lot of things that "A Hole in the World" left broken. And more to the point, it did what "A Hole in the World" seemed to have been trying to do, but didn't manage to pull off - evoke good comic-book writing. (And I say this lovingly, as a comic book fan.)
For this is comic book stuff, make no mistake. A maroon leatherette bodysuit and blue raver hair is not perhaps the most believable set of costume choices for an Elder God from before recorded history - my initial reaction to pictures of Illyria (on one of my rare spoiler peeks) had been that she was wearing a supervillain costume, a sort of Spawn meets Ben Affleck's costume for the Daredevil movie. And if Illyria ends up joining the Angel gang, as is rather implied as a possibility by her talk with Wes at the end of the ep (she needs a purpose, folks - remember "Why We Fight"?), that puts this group about one step away from turning into a sort of supernaturally flavored X-Men.
And yes, now I'm envisioning the whole gang wearing those leatherette bodysuits. (Well, at least it would get Angel out of those goddamn oversize shirts...)
Stuff To Be Grateful About in Shells
The Characters are Recognizable Again... and They Really Want to Explain
God bless Steven DeKnight. Like a guy armed only with a mop-and-bucket and presented with the task of cleaning up the wreckage of a particularly hyperactive birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese, DeKnight somehow produced a script in which the characters sound like themsleves instead of new people parachuted in to support the plot while still cramming in a ton of exposition. To do this, he has them endlessly talk about stuff that was weird last ep, and turns those reactions into little opportunities for character studies.
For example, Wes goes to examine the lab for clues, accompanied by Harmony. When he looks over the sarcophogus, Harmony mentions maybe he should put on a "moon suit." Wes's reply is to explain to the audience why a trained scientist like Fred wouldn't have done that as well, something I'm sure a lot of us were wondering about. In a simultaneously touching and spooky scene, Wes turns this seemingly stupid action into a comment on Fred's personality, and his as well. "She was just curious... I think I hate her a little for that." You're weird, Wes! And I sorta wanna cry now.... wow, that was well done. (And Alexis Denisof is pretty marvy with the pathos all the way through this ep - actually, the whole cast hands in some nicely nuanced performances.)
This isn't to say that the dialogue in "Shells" is all restrained and dignified. On the contrary - it's liberally laced with some seriously purple prose ("crying and sweating and puking their feelings all over you") and Batman-worthy pronouncements, but it's done in a way that brings the characters back to us, makes them endearing again. When DeKnight writes Angel making a big, bombastic speech, he sounds like the Angel we saw in "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco," not a general in bad war movie. The scene in which Angel works overtime to verbally affirm that yes, he'd fight even for the life of a Benedict Arnold like Knox? That's there both to reaffirm Angel's views on right and wrong (a constant struggle for the poor dear) and to set up the punchline of Wes cutting off his pontificating with a gunshot. This is familiar territory. Welcome back, guys.
There are nice serious moments too - Angel confronting Wes about Gunn ("I don't remember 'stab Gunn' on the agenda!"), confessing that he too, let Fred die; his rant about what happened to Cordy ("violated her... crawled inside... used her up") ...this is good stuff. This is conflicted Angel, angry Angel, frustrated Angel - the guy who really, really tries and despite his best efforts, often fails.
Spike, thankfully, is brought back to us too. I don't know what to make of what we got last week, a gigantic downgrade from rival Champion to a mere cartoon foil for Angel (or fractious homosexual lover - BYO subtext). But this week, Spike got his layers back - we see him processing Fred's death with a sad/funny seesaw between quiet mourning and complaints about not being able to get drunk on airline bottles of mini-booze. Later, he gets a good speech in which he decides to stay in LA rather than accept Angel's offer to go somewhere else, giving a string of reasons beginning with Fred would have wanted it that way, and that it's what he wants himself, despite his dislike for Angel. Fred "gave her life" for this fight, so "the least I can do is give what's left of mine," he sighs. He also claims that something big is coming, bigger than Illyria, that it's gonna get "ugly." "That's where I live," he says.
There's a lot going on here in these economical little comments. Spike's decison to stay because "it's what she would have wanted" is an understated echo of his decision to remain in Sunnydale after Buffy's death in BtVS.... but the "it's what I want" - that's new. There's another holdover from BtVS being referenced here too - in the S7 episode "Beneath You," Spike said something eerily similar to what he tells Angel here: "Something's coming. I don't know what exactly, but something's brewing. And it's so big, ugly and damned it makes you and me look like little bitty puzzle pieces." Is it significant that in both these cases, Spike is portrayed as being able to feel evil coming, like a veteran with a war injury who feels approaching storms in his bones? (Although Spike does say "we can both feel it," I don't see any evidence that Angel senses anything on the way... relevant?) Maybe we're back in the realm of William Butler Yeats's The Second Coming again, with another big apocalypse on the way. What are the odds?
Lovely, Lovely Harmony
I just luuuuvv Harmony, and there is great use of her in this ep. She interjects all the clueless questions the audience might have ("I'm confused... it looks like Fred, but it's not?"), robustly jumps in to help out with smashing and thuggery ala "Harm's Way" and "You're Welcome," livens up expository scenes such as the discovery of Knox's "lady phone" (and comes up with the smart idea of checking missed calls on it). She even provides the guilt-consumed Gunn with a reason to start crying. Harmony is not there to help characters feed their self-pity, which is a welcome sight in my eyes. "The girl of your dreams loved you. That's more than most people ever get," she sagely reminds Wesley (which also gives Wes an opportunity to shine as a freaky obsessive with the seething followup, "I know. And it's not enough.") You go, girl.
Things to Be Sad About In Shells
Fred's Dead
Fred's death is the No. 1 subject here, as well it should be. If "A Hole in the World" was essentially one long death scene, "Shells" is all about the devastating aftermath. Yes, there is grief (something we never really got in abundance for the other Jossverse character whose abrupt snuffage Fred's exit most resembles, Tara). Even Harmony is sad. In fact, we see the cast run through about the entire Kubler-Ross scale of grieving emotions (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance). Lorne has plateaued at full-on Depression (poor Andy Hallet with his one scene, as usual, although I'm grateful he got it, and it's handled with intensity and grace, bravo). Spike seems to have reached Acceptance. Angel, having more or less covered Anger and Denial last week with his "hell with the world!" statement, goes for Bargaining, reminding us that death doesn't need to be the end in this universe (and yes, Buffy's resurrection episode was indeed named "Bargaining"). After all, every vampire character is a dead man or woman walking, plus we have Spike, who was burned to cinders and yet came back; and Buffy, who was resurrected by Willow. (Interesting he doesn't mention Darla's resurrection by W&H - too painful a reminder of failure?) In this world, nearly anything is possible. So can Fred be brought back?
No. She's gone. Fred's gone. We're told this so many times in the ep that it begins to feel like a punchline. Her body is gone - liquified organs, unsalvageable, just "a shell." Her soul was "destroyed" when Illyria moved in. There's nothing to retrieve. Fred is as dead as is possible to get for this show. She can't be brought back.
This is devastating info, frankly. Fred's death throes were so protracted and drawn-out, so drenched in the sobbing unfairness of it all that to have it further established that she's been completely erased from the universe just applies a liberal coating of extra salt to the wound. Fred fans can't console themslves by picturing her in heaven. She's... gone. For good.
Which brings up some interesting theological questions, by the way - Fred's complete destruction evokes the dilemma of every unfortunate parent who's ever had to explain to a tearful child that poor Spot's gone on to doggy heaven while internally grappling with the uneasy question of whether run-over pets actually rate a continued celestial existence or not. Are we lying to our little tykes when we say these things? And worse, if dogs don't continue - if they just disappear from continuity at death instead of carrying on, can we really be sure that our own human hearts and brains and souls rate an afterlife? (Sorry... I just think about these things.)
That said, the harsh fact of Fred's fate had to be established, given the canon of this universe. It would be simply implausible as a followup the hair-pulling declarations that every man on the show would do damn near anything to save sweet, ol' Fred to not have them contemplate bringing her back. And they give it the old college try - Angel attempts to contact Willow via Giles (who puts him on hold because of the continuing problem of his running W&H - priceless!), but eventually the realization sinks in. Fred's dead, baby. Fred's dead.
There's way more to say here, about Illyria, and Gunn, and Knox, and DarkWes! - frankly, this entire episode seems to me to be All About Wes... but I think I'll roll those off into a second part. TBC....
I love you...
Okay, so more coherent thoughts later, when I actually can manage them after reading this. And have time. Just thought you should know.
Re: I love you...
Re: I love you...
The comedy amidst tragedy is so like the breakout of independent films of the 60s vs. the Hollywood formula machine. They dared make life into art, rather than simply provide glossy fantasy. It's what I love best about Whedon's shows, because our lives are just like that. Okay, minus the Old Ones, souled vampires, dimension-straddling evil law firms and all. Well, maybe not the latter...
I love the way that in the middle of a tragic or even horrific moment, there are things that can just make you burst out laughing. Anyone who's ever laughed at a funeral knows exactly what I'm talking about. That's real life. And then how it makes us look at ourselves in shock, at the complexities of emotions we're capable of sustaining simultaneously.
I loved your characterization of Spike as the war-weary veteran. It's so true. To him it's a battle, a sometimes intensely personal one that he's fought on both sides. To Angel, evil's an abstract art form at times, I think.
I found Harmony to be out of character. Sure, someone had to say those lines, to get characters to open up - but since when has any vampire other than Spike (or maybe Holden, ironically) been able to empathize that way? She's managing something beyond even what Angel, our titular character, could have done. Felt funny. Mind you, I love her too - just think she was the wrong choice there.
Serious kudos to DeKnight, though, for picking up all the fan nitpicks and giving us satisfying explanations ever time. As for Fred touching the sarcophagus without protective gear - she looked almost mesmerized. By her curiosity? By some malign influence? I definitely think she wasn't operating on all cylinders at that point.
Oh, the lengths they had to go to in order to convince us, the experienced viewers, that nothing could be done for Fred. Organs liquified, soul consumed... yet Darla was dust, and Spike ashes, and they came back. It's that soul bit that's getting us. To be told that there's not a bit of Fred that goes on anywhere, that's devastating. There's nothing of her left to go on to a better place, to a reward for trying so hard. She's just gone. But without that, how do we get to real desperation? Frohickey and I always joke that no one's ever free of Joss's shows... it's becoming cliche.
Okay, you and me both, we'll smack anyone who dares use 'comic book' as a derogatory adjective. Speaking of another underappreciated genre. When it's done well (Watchmen well), like Angel can be, it's breathtaking. The greatest artists in any medium are the ones that kick you in the ass and force you to think about yourself and to ask questions - all the while entertaining you with a great ride.
Re: I love you...
That's pretty much my take on the difference between the two characters - I'm not always certain the writers on are the same page with me on it, but that's what I've brought away.
I found Harmony to be out of character... since when has any vampire other than Spike (or maybe Holden, ironically) been able to empathize that way?
That one didn't bother me because I'm one of those people who never bought into the whole soul/soulless thing. Based on what we've seen, I don't think there's evidence for "soulless" equaling "can't empathize" ... maybe something more to the tune of "has no reason to care" would be appropriate. In Harmony's case, she's only slightly less empathetic as a vampire as she was as a human, so I don't really see a big diff there. Angel is, I think, a very special case - nearly every vamp we've ever seen has more recognizable human emotions than he does when running on Angelus mode.
I'm going to have more to say about the comic booky aspects in Part 2 - I'm currently a little skeptical we're going to get something Watchmen level here (I held out hope for a sort of huge, Allan Moore-style good-vs.-evil struggle BtVS Season 7, and boy was I let down), but at least I can recognize familiar ground.