Oh thank you. I've been enjoying it as well. Was aching for a good discussion on this stuff. Finally found it. So thanks to maggie for the encouragement and for the back and forth. She and Emmie clarified some of my own difficulties with the comics.
In a recent interview Joss said that s9 will be very different. After reading your analysis I think that s9 could feature the society similar to the Alliance in Serenity - the society that tries to achieve peace by neutralizing all aggressive impulses in people.
I hadn't read that interview. But that is very interesting. And yes, I think you are correct - I think that is where Whedon may be going. He's a been a bit obsessed with this theme lately - I see it in what I've been reading about Dollhouse as well.
And I certainly saw it referred to in Fray, although it was more subtly done - how the walling up of the bad bits - only caused them to be repressed and leak out, until Fray had to be called.
I think he is already paving the way for S9 - with Harm's Way and issue 16 of Angel. I also think both Harm's Way and issue 16's ending may be Whedon and his writer's reaction to the popularity of Twilight and True Blood or a snarky swipe at that fandom, as well as at reality shows. But I'm not sure how much attention he pays to those things - I'm guessing quite a bit, because of all of the pop culture references that already appear in his work. But I could be wrong. So what happened in HArm's Way and the reaction people in the comic had to Angel in issue 16 - hit two points, one tongue in cheek and one a serious plot point.
Buffy is in a weird place - is she fighting for the "peace" by neutralizing all aggressive impulsives or is she fighting for what the Serenity team is fighting for? Which is side is she on, and for that matter, which side is Angel and his team on? Angel and his team are clearly on the aggressive side of the fence - they tried the peace and harmony bit with Jasmine and that did not end well, and they tried order with WRH - also did not end well. Not sure about Buffy.
Whedon's stories seem to be focused on the balance between order and chaos, not necessarily good and evil per se. And he seems to feel that you have achieve a balance between the two - go to far one way with order and you get the Alliance (a fascist organization) or everyone dead from boredom. Go too far the other way - and you end up with the world in Hell-LA or the chaos before Buffy sealed the hole in the fabrics of reality in The Gift. It's a recurring theme in his work - I see it as far back as Toy Story and Alien Resurrection (which he wrote but despised the direction of). I find Whedon fascinating, even when he drives me crazy.
Re: Angel...-and Spike
In a recent interview Joss said that s9 will be very different. After reading your analysis I think that s9 could feature the society similar to the Alliance in Serenity - the society that tries to achieve peace by neutralizing all aggressive impulses in people.
I hadn't read that interview. But that is very interesting. And yes, I think you are correct - I think that is where Whedon may be going. He's a been a bit obsessed with this theme lately - I see it in what I've been reading about Dollhouse as well.
And I certainly saw it referred to in Fray, although it was more subtly done - how the walling up of the bad bits - only caused them to be repressed and leak out, until Fray had to be called.
I think he is already paving the way for S9 - with Harm's Way and issue 16 of Angel. I also think both Harm's Way and issue 16's ending may be Whedon and his writer's reaction to the popularity of Twilight and True Blood or a snarky swipe at that fandom, as well as at reality shows. But I'm not sure how much attention he pays to those things - I'm guessing quite a bit, because of all of the pop culture references that already appear in his work. But I could be wrong. So what happened in HArm's Way and the reaction people in the comic had to Angel in issue 16 - hit two points, one tongue in cheek and one a serious plot point.
Buffy is in a weird place - is she fighting for the "peace" by neutralizing all aggressive impulsives or is she fighting for what the Serenity team is fighting for? Which is side is she on, and for that matter, which side is Angel and his team on? Angel and his team are clearly on the aggressive side of the fence - they tried the peace and harmony bit with Jasmine and that did not end well, and they tried order with WRH - also did not end well. Not sure about Buffy.
Whedon's stories seem to be focused on the balance between order and chaos, not necessarily good and evil per se. And he seems to feel that you have achieve a balance between the two - go to far one way with order and you get the Alliance (a fascist organization) or everyone dead from boredom. Go too far the other way - and you end up with the world in Hell-LA or the chaos before Buffy sealed the hole in the fabrics of reality in The Gift. It's a recurring theme in his work - I see it as far back as Toy Story and Alien Resurrection (which he wrote but despised the direction of). I find Whedon fascinating, even when he drives me crazy.