Where we are not on the same page: I think you are not reading "internal" and "external" the way I mean. When I say that I see Angel as internally driven, I mean that his tragedies are all a product of his actions and his character. Bad things don't just happen to him. They don't even just happen to him because that's part of the package of being the PtB's boy toy. Bad things happen to him because he's wrestling with Angelus, and because he wants to maintain an image of himself as a champion that isn't really reflective of where he is. Angel's obsession with Darla had a lot to do with this, and consequently Angel's feelings about Connor have a lot to do with this. Angel's relationship with Lindsey is also a big reflection of Angel's internal character issues. The tragedy with Connor has a sort of karmic aspect to it since Connor was begotten in a shockingly irresponsible act of despair. Angel's own reaction to his tragedy with Connor served to remind us just how far Angel is from his own ideals. That gap was very large at the start of season 5, which was a totally fascinating story of how he deals with that gap -- with very, very large questions at the end about whether he was actually closing the gap, or cementing it as some sort of huge chasm, or maybe even closing the gap by giving up on the possibility of redemption. Many fans see Angel as a champion who has a lot of very bad luck. My fear going into AtF was that Angel would be written as someone who has very bad luck. The following things made me think that my fears were going to be realized: Lynch's front page introduction to the first hardcover collection, where he talks about being riveted by the stream of bad things that happen TO Angel; Lorne got his groove back; the argument between Spike and Angel is about unforeseen consequences of NFA, not about the dark side if the things that happened in NFA (and what they meant about where Angel is internally). Admittedly, I really did disengage after First Night, reading the following issues, but not all that carefully. So I might have missed some moves that were reassuring on this point. If so, it would help a lot to learn what they are.
And maybe that crops up in the next four posts! On to number two.
Re: I'll try but with the following caveat. (pt. II)
Where we are not on the same page: I think you are not reading "internal" and "external" the way I mean. When I say that I see Angel as internally driven, I mean that his tragedies are all a product of his actions and his character. Bad things don't just happen to him. They don't even just happen to him because that's part of the package of being the PtB's boy toy. Bad things happen to him because he's wrestling with Angelus, and because he wants to maintain an image of himself as a champion that isn't really reflective of where he is. Angel's obsession with Darla had a lot to do with this, and consequently Angel's feelings about Connor have a lot to do with this. Angel's relationship with Lindsey is also a big reflection of Angel's internal character issues. The tragedy with Connor has a sort of karmic aspect to it since Connor was begotten in a shockingly irresponsible act of despair. Angel's own reaction to his tragedy with Connor served to remind us just how far Angel is from his own ideals. That gap was very large at the start of season 5, which was a totally fascinating story of how he deals with that gap -- with very, very large questions at the end about whether he was actually closing the gap, or cementing it as some sort of huge chasm, or maybe even closing the gap by giving up on the possibility of redemption. Many fans see Angel as a champion who has a lot of very bad luck. My fear going into AtF was that Angel would be written as someone who has very bad luck. The following things made me think that my fears were going to be realized: Lynch's front page introduction to the first hardcover collection, where he talks about being riveted by the stream of bad things that happen TO Angel; Lorne got his groove back; the argument between Spike and Angel is about unforeseen consequences of NFA, not about the dark side if the things that happened in NFA (and what they meant about where Angel is internally). Admittedly, I really did disengage after First Night, reading the following issues, but not all that carefully. So I might have missed some moves that were reassuring on this point. If so, it would help a lot to learn what they are.
And maybe that crops up in the next four posts! On to number two.