Hi, I just came across your essay. It's very insightful and I really like your take on season 5.
The rules had changed, and nobody had told the audience yet.
I agree with this because the jump from season 4 ( and even from the previous seasons) was jarring. To a certain extent, it was the fact that there were more stand-alone episodes but it was also the Wolfram & Hart, Angel loses his heart arc. The more I think about it, the more I realize that seasons 5 was meant to be that way.
I agree with Spike taking over the show to a certain extent until about..."A Hole in the World" probably. Yes, I do agree that he sort of replaces Angel as the hero figure even to the point where they put Spike in nearly the same scene as Angel in 'City Of' where he saves the girl in the alley, up to the exact same music used in 'City of.' I do agree that he pushed Angel into doubting himself as a champion.
I like what you said about Fred being nothing more than an image. I think it is very sad considering that I really loved her character in season 4. I don't like it when characterisation is sacrificed to get a point across.
So yeah, I see how this fits together now. S5 is about losing hope, about suicidal gestures and futile stabs in the face of destiny. And even more weirdly, it's a comedy.
Thank you, this is season 5 in a nutshell. You've just completely captured season 5. I think season 5 is the darkest of all the seasons and I didn’t like the humour.
I whole-heartedly agree with what you've said about Angel. Yes, S5 was about Angel losing his reasons to fight because Cordelia was gone, Wesley was descending into madness and no one attempted to help him. No one was there to say "Angel, do something" like Lorne did in "Happy Anniversary" in Angel's beige period.
Something changed, and to me, it seemed like it was him.
So to me, that last battle felt like a desperation move. I think Angel had stopped feeling he had anything to lose... which kind of freed him, in a way.
You said this in a comment to someone else and I agree with this. I did not like the end because I felt like they were fighting because there was nothing left for them to do. I felt like Angel had lost his original intentions for fighting i.e genuinely wanting to help people because they shouldn’t suffer like they do. I felt that he was just doing it. It’s a bit hard to explain and I might not be doing it right.
I think one of the themes of the season is about corruption. You cannot fight from within the belly of the beast, you cannot compromise, you will end up being corrupted. Throughout it all, there were signs that W & H was a trap. To me, Angel biting Hamilton and drinking his blood is sort of a metaphor for this arc, that you have to be corrupted in order to win and I don’t like that. I felt like this was against everything the show had once stood for and gone was the theme of helping people, of the small acts of kindness. So to me, the fight at the end, heroic or not, felt sort of empty, hollow because essentially the heart was gone.
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The rules had changed, and nobody had told the audience yet.
I agree with this because the jump from season 4 ( and even from the previous seasons) was jarring. To a certain extent, it was the fact that there were more stand-alone episodes but it was also the Wolfram & Hart, Angel loses his heart arc. The more I think about it, the more I realize that seasons 5 was meant to be that way.
I agree with Spike taking over the show to a certain extent until about..."A Hole in the World" probably. Yes, I do agree that he sort of replaces Angel as the hero figure even to the point where they put Spike in nearly the same scene as Angel in 'City Of' where he saves the girl in the alley, up to the exact same music used in 'City of.' I do agree that he pushed Angel into doubting himself as a champion.
I like what you said about Fred being nothing more than an image. I think it is very sad considering that I really loved her character in season 4. I don't like it when characterisation is sacrificed to get a point across.
So yeah, I see how this fits together now. S5 is about losing hope, about suicidal gestures and futile stabs in the face of destiny. And even more weirdly, it's a comedy.
Thank you, this is season 5 in a nutshell. You've just completely captured season 5. I think season 5 is the darkest of all the seasons and I didn’t like the humour.
I whole-heartedly agree with what you've said about Angel. Yes, S5 was about Angel losing his reasons to fight because Cordelia was gone, Wesley was descending into madness and no one attempted to help him. No one was there to say "Angel, do something" like Lorne did in "Happy Anniversary" in Angel's beige period.
Something changed, and to me, it seemed like it was him.
So to me, that last battle felt like a desperation move. I think Angel had stopped feeling he had anything to lose... which kind of freed him, in a way.
You said this in a comment to someone else and I agree with this. I did not like the end because I felt like they were fighting because there was nothing left for them to do. I felt like Angel had lost his original intentions for fighting i.e genuinely wanting to help people because they shouldn’t suffer like they do. I felt that he was just doing it. It’s a bit hard to explain and I might not be doing it right.
I think one of the themes of the season is about corruption. You cannot fight from within the belly of the beast, you cannot compromise, you will end up being corrupted. Throughout it all, there were signs that W & H was a trap. To me, Angel biting Hamilton and drinking his blood is sort of a metaphor for this arc, that you have to be corrupted in order to win and I don’t like that. I felt like this was against everything the show had once stood for and gone was the theme of helping people, of the small acts of kindness. So to me, the fight at the end, heroic or not, felt sort of empty, hollow because essentially the heart was gone.
Great essay and sorry about my huge rant.