#Fandom has become so soulless it's hard for me to even interact anymore and that HURTS

[theclacks]

Angel Thoughts - (S4 E9-E11)

AKA ugh, oh my god I am so bored and all I want to do is watch episodes of Buffy but I can’t because I’m still behind.

(Other BtVS & AtS Thoughts located here @ my master post)

Episode 9 (Long Day's Journey)

AKA the episode where the gang fails to protect the newest best character and LA gets swallowed into darkness

So let me start off by saying there were two things about this episode that I liked. The problem is that those two things were the return of Electro-girl and the badass normal who got slaughtered far, far too soon.

And yeah... if the best parts of an episode are the guest characters, you’ve got a problem with your main cast. Just once again everyone is sad and depressed and even though everyone was sad and depressed during Buffy S6, I was able to handle Buffy because the whole color palette of the show was at least bright still, and there was a general levity, like...

Once More With Feeling - actually a hard hitting episode about Buffy’s depression with a bonus suicide attempt but it’s balanced by everyone singing

Tabula Rasa - Tara’s ready to breakup with Willow, and Giles is about to go back to England, and Buffy’s in denial about her kiss with Spike and-- HEY LOOK! MEMORY LOSS HIJINKS

Gone - a social worker threatens to take Dawn away + more Buffy depression that’s balanced out by hilarious and memorable invisible!Buffy

Dead Things - okay, this one was fucking depressing, but that’s fine because it was immediately followed by...

Older and Far Away - DAWN IS DEPRESSED! VENGEANCE DEMON SHENANIGANS! EVERYONE GETS TRAPPED INSIDE A HOUSE! CLEM IS A GUEST! EVERYONE IS INTERACTING AND PLAYING CARDS TOGETHER! TARA IS A BRO!

no really, she’s a bro

the best bro

So yeah.

Basically I am getting run down on angst and AtS is not letting up and the guest stars are my one bright spot right now and they either get murdered or skedaddle by the start of the next episode.

Episode 10 (Awakening)

AKA the one I was actually starting to really enjoy despite the rushed pace and the anti-climatic dismissal of the “let’s summon angelus” plot because omg there was teamwork and cheesy Indiana Jones-type quests and characters resolving their fucking issues and-- oh wait, nevermind. it was just a dream

Which, okay, I’ll take it being a dream because the pacing was something that did slightly bug me and L.A. being cast in darkness and potentially summoning Angelus were ideas I thought should be explored more than what the show had me believing, so yeah.

BUT IT WAS FUN. And reminding me how fun the show used to be before shoving me straight back into un-fun-land is not a cool thing to do.

Like, yes, angst is deep and there’s character growth or something that comes out of it, but it’s like... with the exception of Wesley, I’m not even recognizing them as the same characters anymore. Cordelia’s by far gotten the worst of it; I get it she’s sort of half pseudo-traumatized, half-enlightened from the other plain of existence like Buffy was coming back from the dead, but she says her lines and it’s like I’m listening to a deflated loaf of bread and her personality’s just completely gone and it’s like...

She doesn’t have to be vapid to be Cordelia, but she does have to be bossy. She has to get excited about the little things in life because it’s the little things in life that bring it all together. She has to be inquisitive to a fault, getting her nose in business that’s not even entirely her own. She has to get that mom look in her eye, that judging stare when she disapproves of what another character is doing...

And I could handle one character trait suddenly going away, or fracturing as a result of her ascension, but all of them? At the same time? Leaving her this... shell that murmurs and vacantly stares and frowns and is NOT CORDELIA.

Yeah.

I didn’t realize how many pent up feelings I had about the treatment of Cordelia this season until I began to type this.

And if all of my complaints above were intentional decisions made by the writers... well...

Episode 11 (Soulless)

AKA the episode where halfway through, when Gunn and Wesley started fighting, it was so predictable that I thought it was all a ruse like in BtVS S3E17 (Enemies) but then it wasn’t because everyone’s teamwork is just that shitty this season

The highlight of this episode was Angelus himself because David Boreanaz kills it as Angelus like always.

Second highlight of this episode was Wesley being a boss and being super damn prepared.

Third highlight was...

...yeah...

I don’t have a third highlight.

Everyone is awful. The end.

Oh, one thing I can talk about is the “mysterious betrayer.” I’m assuming it’s someone getting mind controlled or something because if one of the gang intentionally let cool ra-tet dude get murdered and stashed Angel’s soul, well... I’m calling shenanigans. Since I’m not leaning strong in any one direction, lets go through the suspects

Cordy - we still don’t know how she came back from the higher plane and how her apocalypse visions might’ve affected her; if it’s her there will be much angst, could possibly lead into an evil!Cordy arc that will end with her death; I don’t know how fond I’d be of that direction, but I’d accept it

Connor - he’s been whining for the last several episodes about how everyone thinks he’s connected with the beast but he’s not; if he’s the sleeper agent I’m marking it down as “lazy foreshadowing” rather than “dramatic irony” and I will be even more bored than I am right now because I just do not care about Connor

Gunn - he’s going down a darker arc this season; perhaps something happened when he killed Fred’s professor that opened up his heart to the power of darkness; if it’s him, I’m predicting a refocusing of the group to save him; Fred and Wesley might grow closer together as they support one another, causing more love triangle tension when Gunn is finally released from evil’s hold; overall, I’m kind of hoping it’s him but also kind of doubting it’s him; IDK, if it is him, I will pleasantly surprised

Fred - I don’t know why it’d be Fred... I’m not seeing how it would link into her character arc in any sort of meaningful way... okay, maybe it would cause Gunn and Wesley to put aside their animosity to save her but that’s personally veering too close into Damsel in Distress territory for my tastes; if it’s her, it would definitely be the most shocking of the group, but not necessary in a good way

Wesley - it would be a waste if it was Wesley, the entire gang is just finally accepting him back into the group and moving past the whole “stealing Connor” thing; if he’s the sleeper agent, it’s a retread of last season and I will throw something across my room if it’s him

Lorne - he also got a vision of the demon and then had that vision knowledge sucked out of his head, so yeah, that couldn’t have been good for his brain re: possible sleeper status; on the other hand, he is comic relief and if the writers take away my one remaining bright spot in this show, well... I won’t cry, but I’ll definitely struggle even harder through the remaining episodes

Lilah and/or some other peeping Wolfram & Hart employee - they could’ve bugged the hotel or put nano-microphones into someone’s clothes (into Wesley’s clothes? IDK); they’re making the gang think it’s one of them when really Wolfram & Hart is just going behind their backs; personally think it’s unlikely, but I am just covering all my bases here

zombie!Daniel Dae Kim - because we as viewers should never underestimate the powers of Daniel Dae Kim 

So... yeah? Which suspect will it be? If it’s Cordy, Gunn, or Fred, will my subsequent predictions come true? I have no idea but I will hopefully find out later tonight when I put on the next episode as I’m watching dishes (because I don’t have the energy to watch AtS anymore unless I’m bundling it with chores). (Please become fun again, AtS... I miss the fun...)

(But before that, I’m going to put the last finishing touches onto my first piece of BtVS fanfic because, yay, I still love this whole universe so much and I’m excited to be finally giving back to the fandom! It’s Dawn & Spike centric which should surprise ABSOLUTELY NO ONE who’s been reading all these review/meta/thoughts/reaction/whatever things.)