Angel - Season 2 impressions (episode 5)

[thalia_seawood]

Dear Boy

For a summary click here.


- Darla is taking over more and more of Angel's dreams. It's rather disconcerting when she's even appearing to him while he's having a conversation with Wesley and Cordelia.

- Being under pressure brings out Angel's darker side. He gets impatient and acts without thinking. He also shuts his friends out. Personally, I think it would be a good idea if he talked to them about his dreams, but then these dreams are so personal that I can understand he keeps them secret. These dreams also bring up the past - and while he now tries to distance himself from his former existence as Angelus, the truth is that he both loves and hates his memories.

- Angel's comment I dig convents. is a bit disturbing. Especially after we learn how Drusilla was turned into a vampire.

- Seems that Drusilla in human life was the most innocent of the Fanged Four.
I was thinking that human Drusilla and human Spike would have got along very well. They both strike me as the quiet kind who try to do what's right, e.g. who will try to win their parents love and respect by being good.
Darla and Liam I can also see getting along very well as humans. They are both practical and enjoy going against the rules of society.

- Angel's enhanced sense of smell:
Fandom must have had a field day over Angel first smelling Cordelia's hair and later on telling Wesley:

Angel leans ever so slightly closer to Wes, inhales.
Angel: "You had sex last night, with a bleached blonde."
Wesley: "Good Lord, how'd you…?"

So, who's the "bleached blonde" anyway? :-)

- The interaction between Darla and Lindsey is intense. Then again Darla seems to try seducing anyone she interacts with. She only means it with Angel, though...

This exchange says a lot about what makes Darla tick:
Darla playing with the scales on a statue of Justice: " Everyone betrays you, that's not what eats you in the long winter's night..."
Lindsey: "Yeah? What does?"
Darla: "Missed opportunities.

- Angel meeting Darla in the hotel while she's pretending to be DeEtta Kramer. Love that scene! In fact, I love the entire hotel scene with Angel being so impatient and reckless. (He reminds me a lot of Spike here, though Angel would no doubt hate the comparison.)

As I had already seen some later Angel episodes, I already knew Darla comes back as human. But if I hadn't known about it, I would have thought she's a vampire - until the moment she runs out into the sun.

- Angel singing "Everybody Have Fun Tonight". Really, really painful. I think they should give out earplugs to the other customers...

- Drusilla being turned into a vampire is such a sad scene, especially the way she's laughing and crying in turns.

- Darla is a great actress and manipulator which can be seen when she relishes playing the part of DeEtta Kramer. She may be willing to forgive Angel for staking her, but she also enjoys taking revenge.

- Cordelia and Wesley bicker a lot, but when it comes to standing up for Angel they stick together.

- The scene in the old convent when Darla finally admits her true identity to Angel. What can I say... It's very, very intense.
My favorite moments are probably Darla's delighted There's my boy. and her later on telling him God doesn't want you. But I still do.. And this exchange is great, too. They both know each other so well, they also know which remarks will hurt the most - especially since there's some truth to them.

Angel: "You took me places, showed me things, huh? You blew the top off my head. But you never made me happy."
Darla backs away from him: "But that - that cheerleader did? We were together 150 years! We shared everything. You're saying - never?"
Angel: "You couldn't understand."
Darla: "I understand alright. (Walks away from him) Guy gets taste of something fresh and he thinks he's touching god."
Angel: "It wasn't about..."
Darla: "Oh, you bet your ass it was! There was a time, in the early years, when you would have said I was the definition of bliss! - Buffy wasn't happiness. - She was just new!"
Angel starts to laugh: "You know - you are getting awfully bent over this, Darla. (Slowly walks towards her) I couldn't feel that with you, because I didn't have a soul. - But then I got a second chance - just like you have."
Darla: "What a poster child for soulfulness you are. (Walks up and presses herself against him) This is no life Angel! Before you got neutered you weren't just any vampire, you were a legend! Nobody could keep up with you - not even me. You don't learn that kind of darkness. It's innate. It was in you before we ever met. - You said you can smell me? Well, I can smell you, too. My boy is still in there and he wants out!"
Angel stands immobile, not looking at her.

- The last scene with Angel, Cordelia and Wesley is interesting. Angel doesn't actively push his friends away (yet), but he doesn't allow them close either.

Comments

[spikeylover.livejournal.com]

Of the four of them, Drusilla is the one who absolutely feared becoming an evil thing. She was the most innocent, they called her a saint--a nun, and particularly after this episode, I see her as the most tragic figure in the verse.

As for Darla/Angel, I think they are right up there with Spuffy as far as being deep, complicated and always interesting.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Yes, Drusilla is the one who emphatically does not want to become a vampire. William and Darla agree to it, so I think Darla understands more of what she's getting into. Liam, on the other hand, isn't even asked if he wants to become a vampire or not.

[spikeylover.livejournal.com]

Since you've already seen FFL, and will be reviewing it next, check it out. I think in William's case, he was agreeing to sex, not becoming a vampire. In Liam's case, he probably thought he was going to be having a clandestine meeting with a beautful woman. Of course, it's all a metaphor for Sex anyway, according to ME writers.

We can be certain that Drusilla wasn't agreeing to sex or vampirism. With Darla, I'm not sure what she thought. As a renewed human, in the beginning she definitely wanted Angel to sire her, as you saw in DEAR BOY.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Hmm, interesting question if William just agrees to the sex. I had the impression that he agrees to whatever Drusilla offers him - simply because she appears to be the first and only person who understands him.

Darla: I watched Darla yesterday and she seems to be interested in the offer the Master makes her. I'll have to check the scenes and the notes I took again to make sure.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Might I point out, gang, that Darla as opposed to the other three is actually dying, rather painfully at that, when a vampire shows up and offers to save her? And rather fitting for a medieval morality play after she rejects God.


DARLA: I don't remember. Do you even *know* what I am?

MASTER: A woman of some property. No husband, no inheritance. Yes. I know what you are.

DARLA: I'm a whore.

MASTER: Well, yes, that too. You should have asked for a priest long ago, child. Your life may have been the better for it.

DARLA: And you should have paid me a visit before today, father. Your life may have been more interesting because of it.

MASTER: Are you prepared now to renounce Satan and beg God his forgiveness?

DARLA: God never did anything for me.

MASTER: (to the others) Leave us. You can't save her life. Perhaps I can still save her soul. (they do)

DARLA: My soul is well past saving. Let the devil take me if he'll have me. Either way, I die.

MASTER: No (raises hood) you will not die. You will be reborn.

DARLA: I know you.

MASTER: I came to you last night. I sang to you from that window.

DARLA: Hmm, I remember now. You're death?

MASTER: No.

DARLA: What then?

MASTER: I'm your savior. God never did anything for you. But I will.


Now that doesn't mean I don't think that Darla if healthy - and getting an explanation - wouldn't have considered the offer, but I think the Master (if he cared about agreement) would have had a tougher time to sell the "death" part of the bargain to her. Anyway, "let the devil take me if he'll have me" is Darla's sort of agreement, as Liam's "show me the world" is his, and William just says yes.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Nice to see how the Master's line I'm your savior. God never did anything for you. But I will. is echoed later on by Darla when she tells Angel God doesn't want you, but I do.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Isn't it? And the history buff in me thinks it's fitting Darla and Angel are the one with religious issues whereas Spike and Dru (her vampire self, not the mortal girl) don't really have these. Darla as a child of the Elizabethan/Jacobean age and Angel as a child of the 18th century both come from a period where religion, religious strife and rebellion against religion was very much a part of people's lives. Spike and Dru are from the 19th century, and William might have been a good Victorian who went to Sunday services, but he has no obsession with getting back at God once he's a vampire. Darla and Angel both do.

[spikeylover.livejournal.com]

With William, (FFL) Drusilla puts Spike's hand on her breast and asks "Do you want it". There was much touchy feely beforehand that suggested from William's reactionthat Drusilla wasn't touching him innocently. This is why I think that William thought the something "Effulgent" was going to be a sexual encounter, although his reaction to her facial change wasn't fear but rather puzzlement, similar to Darla. (maybe he was so innocent, he thought that was what happened. bwa ha!)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

One episode I love quite a lot, for obvious reasons.

These dreams also bring up the past - and while he now tries to distance himself from his former existence as Angelus, the truth is that he both loves and hates his memories.

Yes, and I think that's what he finds very hard to admit to his friends. He did tell Cordy "they weren't nightmares" about the Penn dreams, but that wasn't nearly on the same level. The way both Buffy and now the gang in Los Angeles deals with Angelus is to regard him as an entirely separate persona. Another entitity, not related to their friend at all. But now you see the argument I used once before: if Angelus were someone entirely different, then Angel would have no reason to feel anything (other than hatred) for Darla. After all, Angelus was the one who had the relationship with her, for those 150 years.

Drusilla: yes, the most innocent and both the most tragic and in a way the luckiest, because that very madness Angel drove her in to prolong her torment into eternity protects her instead. Dru in her mad insane way is still innocent, with her children's songs, and when for example she sleeps with Angel(us) as well as Spike, there is nothing malicious on her part about it, she doesn't do it to hurt Spike but because it never occurs to her that there is anything wrong with it.

Sidenote: I find it interesting that Darla killed a streetwalker as well as her customer (i.e. something she's very familiar with) before pointing her boy in Drusilla's direction. Angel might not be the only one who has issues with saints.

She may be willing to forgive Angel for staking her, but she also enjoys taking revenge.

Absolutely. Payback first, then reconciliation.*g*

The scene in the old convent when Darla finally admits her true identity to Angel. What can I say... It's very, very intense.
My favorite moments are probably Darla's delighted There's my boy. and her later on telling him God doesn't want you. But I still do.. And this exchange is great, too. They both know each other so well, they also know which remarks will hurt the most - especially since there's some truth to them.

I call this the Edward Albee scene, because it reminds me of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Yes, they both know exactly what hurts, Angel as well as Darla, as only a couple who has been together for a long time can, and yet the bond between them even while they lash out at each other is incredibly intense.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Sidenote: I find it interesting that Darla killed a streetwalker as well as her customer (i.e. something she's very familiar with) before pointing her boy in Drusilla's direction. Angel might not be the only one who has issues with saints.

Yes, you're definitely on to something there.
Funny isn't it: Dru and William could have been friends as humans. Same for Darla and Liam. But Drusilla and Darla would never have connected - Dru would have been shocked by Darla, Darla would have despised Dru. A human William would have been fascinated by Liam, on the other hand. He'd probably have envied him for being so wild - and then would have disapproved.

Yes, they both know exactly what hurts, Angel as well as Darla, as only a couple who has been together for a long time can, and yet the bond between them even while they lash out at each other is incredibly intense.

This scene proves very clearly how thin the line between love and hate is.

[spikeylover.livejournal.com]

yes, the most innocent and both the most tragic and in a way the luckiest, because that very madness Angel drove her in to prolong her torment into eternity protects her instead. Dru in her mad insane way is still innocent, with her children's songs, and when for example she sleeps with Angel(us) as well as Spike, there is nothing malicious on her part about it, she doesn't do it to hurt Spike but because it never occurs to her that there is anything wrong with it.

There's such a sweet innocence about Drusilla, even though she's an unsouled vampire.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Yes, in her madness she reverted back to some childhood state. (The dolls, the nursery rhymes, etc.)

Nice William & Drusilla icon, by the way! From which episode is that picture?

[spikeylover.livejournal.com]

That icon comes from LIES MY PARENTS TOLD ME..

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Absolutely great episode --

I was thinking that human Drusilla and human Spike would have got along very well.

Aww, first you want to bring Lilah cocoa, and now you have me thinking woobie thoughts about Spike and Dru. . .

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

LOL!

Can't you just see a little William playing with a little Drusilla? (Do we ever learn her human name? No way was she called Drusilla.) He would tell her stories and she would listen. And he'd probably wouldn't mind braiding her hair or helping her play with dolls. I guess that's why they get along so well as vampires and feel more like siblings than mother-son.

Lilah: The more I think about her, the more I like her. She's evil, but she also feels like a beaten child to me. Let's see how she develops.