Angel, or "Oh yeah, that other vampire."

[Because, you know, we need to counter all the Spike posts with something.]

Angel is not my favourite Buffyverse vampire.

This shouldn't surprise anyone that knows me. Angel is very broody. He's very gloomy. He's a bit of a drama queen. Which would be fine, if he wasn't like that ALL THE FREAKING TIME. He's never funny. Never happy. His "love" with Buffy was something that I found far too Romeo and Juliet to buy. All he ever does is mope around, find Buffy, decide that they can't be together, find Buffy again, kiss a bit, then cry because they shouldn't have done that because they can't be together. It was extremely boring. It was extremely irritating. And it always seemed unnecessary, as well. Whenever a scene between Buffy and Angel came up, I always hoped it would be over quick so that we could get back to the plot, maybe a scene with Xander in it to counter the doom and gloom.

Or at least, that was Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-Angel. After he left that show (because, guess what, he and Buffy can't be together - what a shock, right?) he got his own spin-off, apty titled "Angel", which I expected to be just as boring and dark as the character.

But then.... it wasn't.

In the show's first episode, it was very funny. The first scene has him drunkenly telling someone next to him at the bar about a great girl he had (obviously Buffy), and that they reminded him of her. Because of the hair.

Then it cuts to the person in question, who is a large bald black man. Which made me laugh very hard.

Then along comes Doyle, a character with Whedon's signature brand of humour written all over him. And Cordelia, the Sunnydale biotch/airhead, moved to L.A to become an actress, who somehow teams up with Angel and Doyle. It's very funny.

And then there's Spike's monologue in the third episode of the series, which makes me giggle every single flippin' time I listen to it (just watch the first clip, that's the one I'm talking about. Or watch the others. I find it all pretty damn hilarious):

Anyways.

It was also dark and broody. The difference is, they took it in moderation with this show, which I think is the key. Angel has his broody moments - he destroys the gem of Amarra, which is the only way he can go out in sunlight, because he doesn't think he deserves it. Doyle even references this.

Doyle: You got a real addiction to the brooding part of life. Anyone ever tell you that?

Angel: Once or twice. 

But again, they keep his brooding in moderation. And at first I thought the only reason I could stand Angel's show was because of the supporting characters - first Doyle, who's to date one of the characters closest to my heart, and Cordelia, who never fails as the reality check. As Whedon puts it, they needed someone to tell them that they're stupid and it wasn't going to work, and that's Cordelia's job. Which she does quite well. Then Wesley, who starts out quite dorkish and funny and slowly evolves into this dark badass who's no stranger to the brooding part of life himself. Gunn, a street kid and a kind of freelance vampire hunter who ends up working with/for Angel. Fred, this adorkable little girl - with some badass skills that kept her alive in a hell dimension for five years. Lorne, a demon from said hell dimension, who left his dimension because they had no music. He's ridiculously flambuoyant, and despite the fact that all they do in his home dimension is battle and hunt, he's not exactly a fighter, but oh, if he hits that high note, you're out for the count (believe it or not, that weapon's pulled out of his arsenal more than once).

My point being, the supporting characters are kind of the best part of the show - they're interesting, layered, and they all have their moments of badass as well as moments of funny, so understandably, I thought that they were the reason I liked the show, and that it had nothing to do with Angel. But the fact is, they tweaked Angel's character when they decided to give him his own show. It's subtle, but it's there, and it makes the series a lot more bearable.

What always bugged me on Buffy was that Angel was supposedly alone for almost a hundred years already (I think thereabouts - he was with Darla for the century where he was evil and alone for a century, I think), but then as soon as he meets Buffy he just can't be without her. And since the show(s) were in all other aspects about strength, and standing strong even if that means standing strong by yourself, needless to say, I found the dependency a little irritating. Especially because there was a whole lot of crying and whining and all that stuff and little to no scenes in which it shows the two characters actually enjoying each other's company or giving a real reason to be in love in the first place. I always found it hard to believe. (This is the same problem I have with most "tragic" love stories, namely Romeo and Juliet, as well as Marius and Cosette from Les Mis, and countless others). But I digress.

So what I really liked was that, on Angel, it shows that he doesn't always need to be the handsome dark stranger, which is a lot of what he was on Buffy. See, my problem with his character on Buffy was that his character wasn't developed much beyond loving the title character and having a horrifically dark past.

Oh hold on.

I haven't explained Angel's whole thing, have I?

Angel's Whole Thing: Vampires don't have souls. Angel does. But he wasn't always that way. Before he was a vampire, he was kind of a good-for-nothing who would just get drunk and flirt and all that. Then Darla shows up and offers to show him the world, to which he immediately agrees, which prompts Darla (who is a vampire) to turn him vampy. To Darla's surprise, this good-for-nothing of a person turns out to be much more productive as a vampire. And of course by productive I mean he was the worst of the worst. He wouldn't just kill and drink people, he would kill their whole family first, mentally (or maybe physically) torture them a bit, THEN kill them. He actually gave himself the name "Angelus", because when his little sister saw him at their door, apparently returned from the grave, she thought he was an angel. Then he killed her. And the rest of the family. So he and Darla, who kinda became his vampire girlfriend, traveled the world, wreaking havoc - Angelus sired Drusilla (not before stalking her, killing everyone she loved, slaughtering every nun at the convent she was at and driving her totally, unspeakably insane) who then sired Spike, and they were a bit of a gang, and I think it's implied somewhere that they actually caused the Boxer Rebellion in China. Anyways, somewhere along the line Angelus kills a gypsy girl, so the gypsies curse him with a soul. So now he's haunted by all the people he'd ever killed as Angelus, which is a whole freaking lot, which drives him a little cuckoo for a century or so, until eventually he decides that he can't just wallow (though, again, he does a lot of that), he has to actively atone. Except, whoops - this was where phlebotinum kinda overtook logic for a while here, because the gypsy curse doesn't make any sense - if Angel has one moment of true happiness, his soul gets taken away from him, and he becomes Angelus again. So, y'know, not good. But that's a crash course in Angel's history.

Sidebar: Liam was the human name of Angel (who was originally Irish). William was the human name of Spike (who was obviously English, duh). Which, if you're nerdy like me, you would know that Liam is actually the Irish mutation of the name William. I figured out before that Spike and Angel were supposed to contrast each other and be each other's counterparts, but man, the writers were THINKING when they made this show, eh? I just thought that was a really clever thing to drop in there and it makes me very happy.

So anyways, what was I talking about? Oh right - why I actually enjoy the show Angel even though I hated the character on Buffy. The main reason being that they developed the character Angel beyond the tragic love story. Actually, they kinda make fun of themselves on Angel about the Buffy drama - there's a clip where Wesley and Cordelia start mocking it. It's pretty great. And accurate. Lemme see if I can find it... found it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzr7JSUIIQE

But what I find interesting about Angel is that they didn't tweak the character all that much. It's just that being away from Buffy made him that much more interesting. And when he got a love interest on his own show - namely Cordelia, whoops, spoiler, sorry not sorry - it wasn't anything like the Buffy drama. And I like to think this is because Cordelia had a sense of humour, and she was also a lot less traditionally nice (she will not let a thought cross her brain without saying it out loud). Whenever Angel started to get all broody and wallow-y, Cordelia would jump in, all like, "Don't give me that crap, what good are you going to do whining in a shadowy corner ya big baby?" whereas Buffy would sink into that stupor with him which would inevitably make me go UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH -

Anyways.

At the same time, what we've learned about Angel by now is that you cannot leave the guy alone for any length of time. He totally leans on everyone around him, even though he's supposedly the leader, which sounds wimpy, but I find it an interesting character trait, and it's not one he had on Buffy, because on Buffy he was never left alone for any length of time. But when he left Buffy, he was gettin' drunk and ranting to large bald black men about how they reminded him of his little blonde cheerleader girlfriend. When he isolated himself from his friends later in the series - he fired Cordelia and Wesley and Gunn because they rightfully believed him to be acting like a moron who lost the point of their mission in the first place - he went pretty dark, showing that there was a fine line between Angelus and Angel. He locked a group of lawyers in a room with a bunch of vampires who wanted to massacre them all. He not only let the massacre happen, he ensured it, because the lawyers in question were working for a firm owned by demons who insisted on constantly screwing with him. And then he slept with Darla in an attempt to lose his soul. Point being, you cannot leave the guy alone for any length of time without him turning into a reckless idiot.

Endearing trait? Well, no, not in the traditional sense. As a character, though, it makes him a lot more interesting, and therefore easier to watch. (You may have noticed by my endless character studies of Spike that the more interesting/conflicted/layered a character is, the more I like them. I don't just love Spike 'cause he's hilariously snarky, after all - though it does help).

They also allowed themselves to have a sense of humour with Angel on his own show, which also makes it much more fun to watch. There are times when Angel goes from being dead serious to childishly petty. Which is pretty hilarious. (Seriously, don't call him a eunuch. Sure, he can't have sex without the danger of losing his soul and going nightmarishly evil, but he's not a eunuch! The curse wasn't even that clear!) (Also, he started it. The whole having a soul. Before it the was the cool new thing.) [Pssst - italics means quotes]. Also, they comment on Angel's singing ability multiple times, since he often needs to know his "path", and Lorne can read it in his aura if he sings. Hilarity ensues. Apparently Angel has a soft spot for Barry Manilow.

Can I talk about David Boreanaz (the guy who plays Angel) for a moment? Because he is not by any means the most impressive actor in the Buffyverse, or even on his own show - that can go to Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alexis Denisof, James Marsters - but there is one thing he does extremely well. And that is that he can make the switch from Angel to Angelus, and you CAN NOT them. There is not a hint of the one in the other. And I find that very impressive. Think about it - somber, quiet, broody, and of course the word that apparently no one gets sick of using, a "champion" - to a sadistic, nasty, egotistical, evil, not to mention snarky, supervillain. That can't be an easy switch to pull off, but boy does he. He also makes Angelus very fun to watch.

You don't have to watch all, or any, of this video, but I think it accurately illustrates what I found so great about Angelus, and David Boreanaz's portrayal of the character.

Just sayin', David Boreanaz doesn't usually impress me to the point where I'm really admiring his acting (like the people I mentioned before - can I add Anthony Stewart Head to that list as well? And Amy Acker?), but when he switches to Angelus, you have to give him credit, because wow.

But, in all honesty, Angel doesn't make the show. It's Team Angel that makes the show. This consists of Angel (duh), Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Lorne. Honestly, without the supporting characters, this show would be nothing. As mentioned before, they're everything that stops Angel from turning into a reckless idiot. They're also the heart, the brain, and every other thing you can think of for the show.

Also, their existence supports the whole theme of the show that it started with in the beginning with Doyle. The theme being that Angel needs to stop just saving lives and start saving souls, and he did that for every character, I think. He successfully turned Cordelia from being a shallow airhead into someone who could believably be good enough to be called up to become a power-that-be. Wesley, well, Wesley kinda went to a bad place after he got his throat slit and Angel tried to smother him to death - can you blame him for going to that bad place? - but hello, there's that other theme: atonement. And Angel gave Wesley the oppurtunity to atone - granted, it took him a bit of time, but he got there, and nevermind that, before all that stuff happened, Angel gave Wesley a purpose, a way to make the world better after he got fired from the Watcher's Council. He enlighted Gunn about the shades of grey involved in the good versus evil fight, which Gunn had previously been ignoring, and in doing so, made Gunn a better person for it. (The phrase "shades of grey" is never going to be usable again, is it? Goddamnit.) He saved Fred from a hell dimension and rehabilitated her to this dimension when she was too scared to venture outside and too shy (and incomprehensible) to talk to anyone else. So there's that.

And, okay, Lorne was never specifically saved by Angel, but can I just express my love for Lorne for a moment? He brightens up the show like no one else can. It's also hilarious, because he's a green demon with horns who dresses like Don Cherry, and when people first watch a later episode of the show and they're all taking care of Lorne because people sort of went digging around in his brain (literally)... my Dad literally went "What the hell is this?" and it made me laugh really hard. Also, Lorne makes me laugh. He's a lot like Cordelia, in that he's all about the good and can be pretty stubborn, he's a voice of reason, and has his moments of snark, but he's more flamboyant and a hundred times more... gentle. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Anyways, I just love him. I cheered when I finally saw him in the opening theme, because he so deserved it and it meant he was here to stay (of course then I remembered that this was a Joss Whedon show and that it probably actually meant that he was going to die really quick - I've been wrong so far, though!).

But anyways. Team Angel is fun, and Angel makes a good leader for them, in spite of my previous judgments about him. I guess Angel's just better as a lead character than a supporting character.

Now hold on - why is that, I wonder?

I think it's because Angel needs support. Seriously, like I said, he's nothing when he's alone. He needs people around him to keep him grounded. Which means that he kind of fails as a supporting character, as the purpose of a supporting character is to help round out the lead, which as far as I'm concerned, he didn't really do that for Buffy. A broody, (yet impulsive) character like Angel rounds out no one, because he needs rounding out.

Analysis is fun.

And finally, it has nothing to do with the character itself, but listen to the theme song. Because it's actually very pretty music. I may just be getting more sensitive to music, but in a totally non-fangirly way, like, as I was skeptically watching the first episode, the theme song was a piece of music that touched me.

The actual full, three-minute song is even prettier, but the excerpt they use as the theme song is a good taste of it. It's called Sanctuary by Darling Violetta, if you wanna look it up.

Look, there are not many spin-offs of great TV shows that are remotely worth watching. But Angel is not only a good show, it is, in its own darker way, equally as good as Buffy. Where Buffy is full of themes that are told through metaphors and symbolism, Angel is much darker, and not just because Angel can only go out at night. Angel gets more into the nitty gritty of good and evil, the shades of grey involved (nope, still not usable), and there was even a very thought-provoking arc in the fourth season about the cost of world peace versus free will. Which was, for a geek like me, a real treat. And both shows have incredible character development. I just love them both equally for different reasons. If you watch Buffy, watch Angel as well. Preferably, as soon as you start the fourth season of Buffy, start the first season of Angel. The more in sync it is, the more fun, because cross-overs happen more than once.

So in conclusion, Angel is a quality show, and not a terrible character either. Yeah, I'm just as surprised as you are.

Spike's Character Study: Part 4

I know. I know. Get off my back. Oh yeah, and by the way, major spoileriest kind of spoilers. Also, fair warning: this is really freakin' long.

It's just that THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN SEASON SEVEN I CAN'T EVEN

Spike has made some major leaps since we left off. Where did we leave off? Season 6? Once More With Feeling? I think so. Which means last we saw Spike (on this blog) he was kissing Buffy at the end of the spectacular musical episode.

Well it's not quite that anymore.

Short summary of what's happened since: he and Buffy had a bit of a fling, in which Buffy hated herself so much that she'd sleep with Spike to feel something, which resulted in more self-loathing, and eventually Buffy had to stop it or else who knows what would have happened. But Spike isn't exactly one to passively accept something like that (he once threatened to kill Xander if Willow didn't magic Drusilla into getting back together with him... I kinda miss that version of Spike. It was so much more light-hearted). Anyways, he very nearly hurts Buffy in a way that would have been irreversible, unforgivable - anyways, he seriously crossed a line. Which woke him up to what a monster he was, so he traveled all the way to Africa to "get back to the way he was before". Which makes the audience go "Uh oh, he's getting the chip out of his head! Not the chip! It's the only thing stopping him from killing everyone!" Except nothing, no chip, was extracted. In fact, something was given to him. No undoing it. Guess what was given to him. Just give it a shot.

It was a soul.

He'd sought out a soul so he could be better for Buffy.

What he DIDN'T account for was something that would have been pretty obvious to anyone familiar with Angel's story, and that's that acquiring a soul after murdering countless hundreds of people since the Victorian era can be pure torture.

Basically, in the Buffyverse, a soul constitutes everything that would have made someone feel remorse or guilt about bad things they've done, or the little voice that would have stopped you from doing the thing in the first place. So suddenly getting one after centuries of carelessly doing awful, awful things can and does drive Spike (and before him, Angel) insane.

Sorry, not relevant to the character himself, but this actor. James Marsters is the man. He's just so convincing as an actor, plays Spike and all his moods brilliantly. He's just awesome. There could be no better Spike. Such a great actor. Also, did I mention that he isn't even actually British? I mean, he didn't achieve the accent without help (from Anthony Stewart Head, who is actually British), but still. Pretty goddamn convincing.

And the way he plays Spike for his moods. So good. So so sooooo good. You should see the look Spike has on his face when he's about to attack Buffy and suddenly remembers all the people he's killed. It's heartwrenching. Which is what makes it so brilliant. Amazing actor. Shame he's not in more stuff.

Anyways. This post is mostly going to be about Spike's soul, and the effects that has on him and his character. So...

Spike has a soul now. Which does a fantastic job of driving him insane. He spends the first, what, five episodes of the next season huddled in the school basement talking to people who aren't there. And then Buffy saves him (a constant message of Buffy is that high schools are just bad news - it is the residence of the Hellmouth. Basically, Joss Whedon is literally saying that high school is hell) from the basement and puts him in Xander's apartment, which doesn't make Xander happy but seems to put Spike in a better state of mind.

This is apparently what Spike's alter ego looks like - y'know, when he's not being Captain Peroxide.  This look didn't last very long ( less than half an episode). I guess it's hard to take care of your hair when you're being driven insane by the ghosts of the people you murdered through a couple centuries. Also when you can't see yourself in the mirror. 

And then the First comes a callin'.

I don't really recall what the First is. It did appear once like five seasons ago or something like that, and I think it's evil. No, like the original, first evil. The ESSENCE of evil. It's the Big Bad of this season, anyways, and it has apparently recruited Spike to, guess what, do some evil for it. It can control him and stuff. I'm mostly mentioning this because a lot of the time, the First appears to Spike as himself, and once again, James Marsters just pulls it off so well.

Look at the evil. And then at the pain. My feelings are feeling many feelings. 

Actually, know what? Let's talk about Spike and the First. Things happen.

Basically the First manages to ...basically hypnotize Spike into killing a lot of people, which he shouldn't be able to do because of his soul and the chip which, by the way, is still functional (except, for some reason, the chip doesn't register Buffy as a person, which was a huge plot point of the last season, but anyways). It's able to do this because, at the moment, Spike is pretty vulnerable to mental manipulation. Y'know, since he's been going insane in the school basement and stuff.

The whole thing with the First is it often appears to people in the form of loved ones (usually dead, but not always) in order to manipulate people into doing its bidding. So it first appears to Spike as Buffy, for obvious reasons. But then, when Spike starts to realize what's going on and tries to warn Buffy, the First appears to Spike as himself. I find this odd, since later it appears to him as either Buffy or Drusilla, since they were the two people he loved, but never again as himself. Also, interestingly enough, the First is most often taking the form of a female, but that's another rant altogether. (I think it has to do with the fact that the ratio of females to males on this show is pretty heavily leaning to one side).

I was thinking about this, and my first thought was that it appears to Spike as himself because that's how self-centered Spike is, where that's the only person he would ever let himself listen to. And maybe in past seasons that would have been true - season 4, and a bit of 5, for instance, but even in season 2 he had Drusilla.

But that's not even the point. It's not a matter of who else he has. The fact is that, at the moment, Spike hates himself. Yet another effect of recieving the soul. How could he not, after reliving over and over all the people he murdered in cold blood? (Haha, cold blood.... because he's dead...) So my question is why does the First appear to him as himself? What does it achieve by that form, when it could easily have picked Drusilla, who was someone Spike loved, and also someone who never failed to bring out a more twisted side of him?

And I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I think it's actually symbolic of Spike's struggle against the monster inside him. Because you see, this version of the First is the only form that Spike actively resists. When it was Buffy goading him to kill people, he did it. And later, when it appears to him as either Drusilla or Buffy, while he never submits to it, he doesn't really fight back that much either. But when it appears to him as himself, he actually manages to snap out of his hypnotic-like trance-thingy long enough to allow Buffy to escape (which provokes the First to convince Spike Buffy will now stake him.... she doesn't, of course, but still, it's heartbreaking, really). I was looking back at the episode - some things are just good enough to look back at it right away - and the way he tells the First "You're not here," with so much desperation in his voice, but quietly so Buffy can't hear him... he's trying to fight it, y'know?

And I do honestly think it's symbolism. What else could it be, really? Spike struggling with his new soul and being good, tempted into evil by someone who appears to him as himself, but is actually a monster. Even though the First is the Big Bad of the season, the writers obviously took the chance to make a point with it. The show is chock-full of things like this, and I love it. The thing is, Spike may have a soul now, but he's still a vampire. He still has that monster inside him. True, it's been subdued because of the chip, but that doesn't mean it isn't there, or that he doesn't have to fight it (this was addressed with much more detail in the Angel series...).

So yeah. Those are my thoughts on that.

Obviously there's more to Spike's character than the people the First manipulates him with, though. Especially considering that, oh yeah, HE GOT A SOUL FOR BUFFY UM WHAT YEAH

SO LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT SHALL WE

Right. So he comes back to Sunnydale with a soul. Driven out of his mind with guilt. And all to be a better man for Buffy. He literally gave up everything that made it enjoyable to be a vampire (although, to be totally fair, this was virtually already accomplished by the chip) in order to maybe be forgiven by Buffy, maybe loved by her. I suppose someone could make the argument that from his perspective, getting a soul would have made it impossible for Buffy not to take him back, but Spike was not that deluded, especially not in affairs of love. I've talked about this before, Spike is incredibly intuitive when it comes to love. He knew that after what he did there was only the microscopic chance that he would ever be allowed in her sight ever again. What he realized was that Buffy was good. And he, a soulless monster, no matter how hard he tried, was not. So he made an attempt to remedy that. Which cost him his happiness, for a while his sanity, and briefly, his free will. But it did give Buffy a chance to believe in him (which, typically heartbreaking as most Spike scenarios are, was the only thing keeping him going as the First tortured him), which frankly, was more than he could have asked for, and he knows it.

Also, while we're (back) on the subject of Spike being love's bitch, this monologue happens:

Spike: I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, and done things I'd prefer you didn't. I don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker; I follow my blood, which does not always rush in the direction of my head. So I've made a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years, only one thing I've ever been sure of. You. Look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I tell you that I love you, it's not because I want you, or 'cause I can't have you -- it has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try... I've seen your strength, and your kindness, I've seen the best and the worst of you and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You are a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy.

I swear, Spike just makes me melt sometimes. Or, y'know, all the time. And, I mean, I'm just generally skeptical about TV "love" (to quote the movie Shakespeare in Love, I generally believe "Playwrights teach us nothing about love. They make it pretty, they make it comical or they make it lust, but they cannot make it true"), but when Spike says things like that you kind of have to say it's real. Even though they're fictional. IT'S REAL TO ME. 

OH OH and we discovered a little more about William (pre-vamp Spike) this season. We already knew he was a complete dork who wrote bad poetry and pined over a girl who never gave him a second glance. Now we find out that he was also a complete mama's boy. It's kind of adorable, actually. His mother was really sick with some kind of disease so William would take care of her and recite his poetry to her and he'd sit with her while she knit and she'd sing to him. It's kind of really cute. Then Drusilla turns him, and y'know what he does? He turns his mother into a vampire. Not for evil or anything, but because he doesn't want her to die, and being a vampire, you live forever. That kinda came back to bite him when she went full demon and started getting all Mommie Dearest on him.... and then to protect himself he staked her. So wow. That's baggage. (Thinking back, the whole mama's boy thing probably explains Spike's oddly affectionate relationship with Buffy's mom... the continuity on this show is just A +, man.)

Another thing I find interesting is that Spike spent, like, a few weeks in the school basement mourning the people he killed, where in contrast, Angel spent like, a hundred years doing the same thing. And I was thinking about this, and at first (forgive me oh God Whedon) I thought that this was just bad continuity, and y'know, it's hard to keep a story moving when the fan's favourite character (not to mention the most interesting and well-written one) is stuck in a basement whining. But like I just said, the continuity of the Buffyverse is A+, and I don't think the writers would make such an obvious mistake - not the same writers who foretold the day that Buffy died a season and a half in advance, not the same writers who foretold the group splitting up before anyone even knew who the villain was, and DEFINITELY not the same writers who played out a character's entire arc where she is rescued from an abusive mother addicted to power and soon becomes just like her, in only eight episodes across seven seasons. Not those writers.

So, I started thinking about why Spike's recovery took so much shorter than Angel's, and I think that there are a few differences between the cases, but I evaluate the most important one to be that Spike chose his soul. Angelus was cursed. He didn't ask for it. Spike wanted it. He nearly died trying to get it. He knew what he was signing up for. And maybe it was a little more than what he expected, but he did kind of know what was coming. So I think that because he knew what it meant to have a soul and sought it out anyways, he recovered faster. He had his soul for a purpose, so he had to eventually try to go through with that purpose.

But the other thing is that Spike and Angel are different people. I mean, duh. But the thing is, Spike doesn't dwell on the past very much. I mean, it's not like he never does, but it's not in his nature. So, yeah, he'll regret the things he did, and that whole "atonement" thing is something that I think will play pretty heavily as he continues on Angel (he shows up on Angel after season 7 of Buffy.... I foresee at least one blog post about that relationship in the not-too-distant-future). But for him, acknowledging regret for it doesn't necessarily mean he spends all his time hating himself for it. He even tells Principal Wood (an ally of the Scoobies) that he's not particularly sorry for killing his mother because he was a soulless vampire at the time, and Wood's Slayer mother knew how to play the game (though to be perfectly fair, he was kind of in a bad mood when he told Wood that due to Wood having just beaten him to a bloody pulp before the big staking). See, even after he gets his soul, he refers to the Slayer/vampire thing as a game, or a dance - and, y'know, it kinda is.

But this kinda makes me wonder if Spike just understands better than Angel the difference between having a soul and not having a soul. Because Angelus and Angel are clearly totally different characters,  but Angel still blames himself for the atrocities that Angelus committed. Spike doesn't let himself off the hook or anything - far from it - but I feel like he kinda gets the difference? His whole purpose for getting the soul was to become a better man, and Spike's a live-in-the-moment kinda guy, so I think knowing that he can be and strives to be a better man now is sorta comfort as well as a kind of mission. If that makes sense.

The other thing is that Spike didn't get all sad and boring like Angel was when he got his soul, which was kind of my other worry. Like, there's the do-nothing-feel-sorry-for-yourself phase, which as I've mentioned, was much shorter for Spike, but then there's also the fact that Angel will not let himself enjoy anything even now, as a functioning, socially productive person. And then there's Spike, who apparently hasn't lost a whole lot of his snark or attitude when he got the soul. Which is great, entertainment wise, and also very interesting, because why didn't he? And the only explanation I can come up with is that Spike already had some humanity to begin with. Not enough to, y'know, stop killing people or anything, but even way back in season 2 it was established that he had a hint of humanity when they raised the Judge and it was all "You stink of humanity" and Spike basically went "Yeah, so?" HAVE I MENTIONED THAT THE CONTINUITY ON THIS SHOW IS ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT.

But I think the fact that he still had that humanity in him means that not all of his attitude was exclusive to the vampire, and so it was more easily retained when he got ensouled. Actually, that may also explain the quick recovery from the do-nothing-feel-sorry-for-yourself-phase..... So yeah. That's that.

Let's see, am I missing any major character things? I don't think so. In which case, let's get to the big finish:

Spike dies at the end of the series. 

I am still in mourning, and I watched the last episode about two weeks ago.

Angel shows up and gives Buffy this amulet thingy, saying that it had to be worn by someone more than human, and someone who was a champion, evidently expecting himself to be said champion. Long story short, Buffy kinda goes, "Great, thanks. See ya later," and gives the amulet to Spike instead. More than human - vampire, check. Champion - Buffy believes it. And it's really touching and all that stuff and I may or may not have teared up a little as Spike looks at Buffy giving him the amulet and says, "Been called a lot of things in my time..."

Have I mentioned my adoration for James Marsters? Because there were so many emotions in that one sentence that anything else about it after that would have been redundant.

Thing is, none of them are really all that sure what the amulet actually does. So they go into the final battle with Spike wearing it, but he doesn't really know what to expect. Then the battle happens, and Spike's fighting, but the amulet doesn't appear to be doing anything. Until suddenly: PAIN. Because apparently we can't go a single friggin' episode without Spike getting beat up, or going insane, or having massive, spontaneous pain - or, sometimes, all three. Anyways, pain. And then he starts glowing. Everyone starts sensing that this is almost the end of it, so they all rush outta there, except Buffy, who stays with him as the walls are literally crumbling around them. So first this happens:

which is a wonderful, touching image in and of itself, and then this happens:

Spike: Gotta move, lamb. I think it's fair to say school's out for the bloody summer. 

Buffy: Spike!

Spike: I mean it! I gotta do this.

Buffy: I love you.

Spike: No you don't. But thanks for saying it. Now go! I wanna see how it ends.

And then he disintegrates, whilst smirking and laughing, as the amulet closes the Hellmouth in on itself.

And I was really sad and teary and mourny and all that, but at the same time... Spike was that champion, y'know? The champion that Buffy believed him to be. He was a hero. So he earned that heroic ending. And as far as character arcs, and concluding them, go, Spike was the best one. By far. He earned everything that came his way. Who knew that a character like him could be so bloody valiant?

Oh wait, he's always been a pretty valiant character. I mean, I could bring up the time that he climbed up the tower to rescue Dawn because Buffy told him to protect her - of course, he ended up getting thrown off it, whoops, but still. Or I could bring up that time that, oh yeah, he got a soul for Buffy, have I mentioned that? 'Cause it's kind of a big deal.

Of course he's mostly only valiant like this because he's in love with Buffy, right? Hmm, well.....

Fact is, Spike is valiant when he wants to be. Like, he always has it in him. It comes out a lot more in later seasons because of his thing for Buffy. But even after Buffy died, he stayed alongside the Scoobies and fought vamps in Sunnydale with no ulterior motives whatsoever, so there's that. One could argue both sides of that one, I think.

Which, again, layers, contradiction, rich and believable characters, is any of this ringing a bell?

ORIGINAL POINT BEING that Spike was a valiant character who sacrificed himself in fighting the good fight, and for that, he deserved the heroic ending he got, heartbreaking as it was.

So, since this appears to be the end for now, I feel it is my duty to spam this post with pictures and quotes.

Pre-vamp Spike, nee William Pratt (which is pretty funny if you're in with Brit-speak). Ain't he just adorkable?

According to Whedon, he is "giving the peace sign to someone behind him". It's kinda great how they managed to get so much stuff past the radar because he's British. This is kind of an iconic moment, especially since it comes from such an iconic episode. 

He's teasing Angel here, because he was invited in and Angel wasn't. Oh Spike, you trouble-maker. It's especially funny because he never once actually considers hurting Joyce, even though there was that one time Joyce hit him in the head with an ax.

Spike being incredulous. "Is everyone here very stoned?" Cracks me up every single time.

This one's a rerun, but look at it. He has a very nice smile. 

This one's a rerun as well, but seriously, 70s Spike. It just never gets old. Also, apparently Billy Idol stole his look from him. 

 Think I'll leave this here as well because iconic-ness and hilarity (though this might be a rerun as well?):

Okay I'm done. Promise. Kinda. I'll just go back to mourning. 

Favourite Thing of the Week #8

Recovery, by Frank Turner.

It's usually not just one tiny thing like this, but it's actually beautiful.

It's a nice, upbeat kinda song with a major key and all that stuff, but when you start listening to the words... I legitimately teared up near the end. That probably has a lot to do with watching my friend recover from a very dark period of her life, so it's kind of important to me. This song may not quite be Hallelujah as written by Leonard Cohen, but I do find this song has its own kind of beauty - that is to stay, I honestly think it is beautiful, period. And I hope I'm not the only who sees that.