sarea | I want you, Lindsey.

This is all just rambling, because it's really late and I can't be bothered to put this into any semblance of order. May have to edit with further thoughts tomorrow (or something more sophisticated than "OMG WTF WAH").

AtS 'Not Fade Away' Spoilers Ahead

NOOOOOOOOOOOO IT CAN'T BE OVER!!!!

It's like the end of an era!!

It should have been a two-hour series finale. There simply wasn't enough time for a proper goodbye -- not that Joss and Jeff didn't do their best w/ what they were given. I loved it anyway. It wasn't the best ep ever, or even the best episode of the season, but as far as series finales go, considering what little time they had to plan it and how much they were still able to eke out of it, I'm satisfied. Happy, even.

The fact that I feel this way is, to say the least, surprising. I didn't say anything about last week's episode, mainly because I would have been hard pressed to say anything nice. Well, no, that's not true -- I was impressed w/ the way it appeared that Angel was evil, even though I knew full well he wasn't. I didn't catch the opening credits, but at the end of it, the only question in my mind was, "Did David Fury write that episode?" Because even though it wasn't a terrible episode, it was chock full of all the things that I hate about Fury's writing -- the unsubtleties, the contrivances, the easy answers. AND LO AND BEHOLD, it was indeed a Fury episode. Sigh.

This ep, though ... flowed nicely. And it was well directed (can I just say again how glad I am that Jeff Bell and Drew Goddard are both going to be writing for Alias next season? God, that's going to kick so much ass). It kept me on my toes, even though I would have done a couple of things differently. And it did the one thing that no other episode this season has made me do: Feel for Wes/Fred/Illyria. Not that I like the Fred/Wes ship, really -- I always thought that Gunn dropped his feelings for her too quickly, and vice versa, and the Fred/Wes came about too fast and much too clumsily (my head still hurts from the anvil). However, I liked the bond Wes and Illyria had formed, and I was truly touched that she showed up there out of concern, that she playacted Fred, and then kicked that demon guy's ass. Or rather, punched his head and split it open like a watermelon, but you know what I mean.

I liked each character's goodbye -- particularly Spike's, which was a v. nice way to come full circle for his character. And of course, it was so heartrending (and yet not unexpected, of course) when Angel sought out Connor (though I was annoyed w/ how easily Connor is able to fudge his last life and the one that was manufactured for him ... I could go on and on about reality and perception of reality and what the difference is, and why it's important that there is a difference, etc., but that would require an entry on its own). I was disappointed w/ the idea that that was going to be all there was to Connor, but I shouldn't have worried...

Because of course, my absolute favorite part of the ep (and maybe, really, the key to me liking any episode is having Connor present, and Fury has just never gotten the kid) was when Connor showed up to help Angel whoop Hamilton's ass. There was much squeeing from me, first when I saw Vincent's name in guest star credits, and then when we saw him in the coffee house, and then -- okay, let's just say I squeed every time he appeared on screen. ANYWAY, I love that he showed up to help Angel out, and I kinda wished he had refused to leave, at the end. Even though I know all Angel wants is to see Connor safe, I only want to see a Connor who would have to be there, fighting the good fight, right by Angel's side.

What surprised me, in a good way:

1) Lorne shooting Lindsey. I totally thought Lorne was going to eat it, and I was sort of disappointed by the fact that Lindsey was going to double cross them. I mean, I don't think he ought to suddenly turn all good, as that would be lame and go against his character, but it just didn't seem like the right time for him to be planning any coups, especially since Angel was going to give him what he wanted, anyway. (Or was he, because Angel knew all along Lindsey was going to double cross him...? My head hurts.) Anyway -- was v. shocking when Lorne just pulled out that pistol and fired. Wow. Nicely done. And I liked Lindsey's speech of disbelief, too.

2) Wes dying. My God, this was so unexpected to me. IIRC, Jade had put Wes near the top of her list of Likely Candidates to Die, and I really should have bowed down to her superior guessing skills. My money was on Lorne or Gunn or even Illyria. Or even Spike. But I suppose it's only fitting that now both Wes and Fred are dead, since the show was trying to make them out to be this big OTP like Buffy/Angel. And I would say that I guess we won't be seeing Wes in any movie/mini series now ... but this is the Whedonverse. If Buffy can die twice and still be around, surely if they wanted to, they could resurrect Wes in some way.

What I would have done differently:

1) I wouldn't have made Harmony actually double cross Angel. I know, I know, she doesn't have a soul, blah blah. But still, I think it would have been cooler if she had just been keeping Hamilton busy in her own Harmony way (aka, sleeping w/ him), and was actually trying to help out. Because I couldn't help but think that what she said was true -- no one ever showed a bit of faith in her, and they always treated her terribly and kept her in the dark; maybe if they'd tried a little harder w/ her, she would have been more willing to help for real.

2) Even though I liked all the Connor stuff for the most part, I SO WANTED him to have been the one to kill the Evil Dude Who Drinks That Slave's Blood (can't keep track of all their demony names). Like when Hamilton was all, "Did you really think you were going to kill So and So?" And Angel goes, "No..." I fully expected/wanted to see a faceless figure cleanly and expertly take out the dude, and then reveal: Connor and his badass self. That would have been SO COOL.

3) When Connor shows up to help Angel, he knocks Hamilton away. Illyria and Angel prior to that point hadn't been able to make even a dent on the guy, and Connor fucking made him FLY. Now, I have to rationalize it that he took him by surprise, and that's why he was able to do that, but I thought it would have been sweet if Connor had the strength to defeat Hamilton. After all, the Shanshu prophecy does say that a vampire with a soul will have a role in the Apocalypse or whatever -- maybe his role was siring a son w/ the strength to defeat the one that others could not. That would have been cool to me, too. <g>

As for the Shanshu prophecy ... I'm not worried for Angel. I mean, how can you sign away fate? That makes no sense. You can't invalidate fate that way; that would be stupid. I took it to be more of a test -- the council wanted to see if Angel would sign it away w/o hesitation.

Gunn slaying all those vamps on his own -- I wasn't bothered. Okay, I was bothered a little, but after Justine, I was just all for him doing it. It was about time someone else got to show that human strength, if properly applied, can be a match for a vampire. I mean, if fucking Justine can do it, anyone on the A-list team ought to be able to do it, too.

The ending: I have to admit, my reaction was "THAT'S IT???" And yet, I don't think it was a bad ending at all. I hadn't expected them to tie everything up into a neat little bow, but I had expected more of an open ending like 'Chosen,' not like where it's four (injured) people (well, three demons and one person) against a horde. If BtVS didn't exist, and if I hadn't heard rumblings of a TV mini series for next year, I would totally have to assume that they all perished ... and it would be a sad but fitting end. Now, however, I have to assume that they get out of it somehow. Maybe Buffy shows up. : ) That would have been the ultimate surprise/awesome ending.

The thing I hated the MOST was the fucking WB kissing the fans' asses with their insincere "Thank you." Fuck you, WB. You fucking canceled the show, so don't act like you're all sentimental about it. If it weren't for Lex/Lana I would be done w/ your stupid network, and good riddance, too.

But speaking of Lex/Lana...

I love that Jade and I were right all along wrt the direction of the characters. :D Lex is going to visit Lana in Paris, woohoo! Assuming, of course, that he hasn't died from the poison in his brandy or whatever.

Clark? Biggest schmuck on the planet. What, so now he blames Lana for being friends w/ Lex, just because he himself is put out w/ Lex? How lameass is that??? If I were her, I'd be so completely DONE with him. Especially after she's seen more of the world, Clark should barely be a blip on her radar anymore. Could he have been more melodramatic/unreasonable/lame/immature? It'd certainly be difficult.

I know there's no way Chloe's dead -- Pete's moved away so I assume they've finally let Sam Jones go, so they can't be getting rid of both of them ... I don't think ... but it was certainly v. convincing looking when the house blew up. She and her dad had just entered it ... Jade said she thought it was faked, and then we were like, "Now that Chloe Sullivan is 'dead,' she's going to change her name to Lois Lane!!" Which would actually be rather cool, even though I'm not a Clark/Chloe or Clark/Lois shipper (right now, I'm not a Clark/anything shipper, because he is too stupid and I wouldn't wish him on anyone).

Lionel looks even scarier w/ all his hair shaved. Is he like Sampson, and now the source of all his power is gone? Or maybe he's just trying to look like Lex. :))