8.36: The Preview Pages

[maggie2]

So with four days left to go before #36 finally comes out, I figure I'd waste some time pondering the preview pages.  They came out on a pretty crummy day, so I was grumpy when I first read them.  Random thoughts below the cut.

1.  So this is Angel from the future, or at least from 'a' future -- one where 'we' lost the war.  The war in question was in LA, but that may or may not be a purely local deal.  At the end of the preview we find out that future!Angel has some issues with the cheerleader.

The time travel angle has been in play all season long -- at least since #10 when Buffy talked about changing things if she was in a time loop.  Time travel gives me a headache, and I can only hope this is written in a way that doesn't boil down to some "the characters get an infinite number of chances to make things right so nothing really matters" sort of a deal.  The drama of life is that we only get one shot at it (says the woman who wishes she could have a do-over on a daily basis).  

2.  I love that Angel gets smashed by the O.  More call backs to season 2.

3.  DOG shows up.  His first line is "I know I'm a dog.  What a world, right?".  Reminds me of Spike in School Hard talking to Angel about what a world it is where people buy all that Anne Rice stuff.   There are a few other places where DOG sounds Spike-ish.  Fortunately there are places where DOG sounds not at all like Spike.

4. So the world's back the way it was supposed to be.  Fortunatley this is DOG speaking which means we don't necessarily have to assume that we really are playing the "reset and redo as many times as it takes to get it right" game.  The whole idea reminds me of fanfic, much of which is about resetting the game and getting it right.  Which is a perfectly fine and enjoyable game to play -- in fanfic.

5.  Angel pushes the O back into place.  Superpowers already in place then. 

6.  Another joke about balls!  Probably just the usual joke about why dogs lick themselves.  But it'd be cool if DOG turns out to be channeling Saga Vasuki -- a female type would probably be very entertained by the situation.

7.  Mention of Wesley.  Along with Angel's reaction to mention of Buffy makes me think that future!Angel isn't from so very far in (his) future.  The loss of the war rankles, and doesn't seem to be a dim memory.

8.  Angel is twitchy about "chosen".  Immediate reference is that he's twitchy about Buffy, which raises the possiblity that she had something to do with the war that was lost.   DOG asks what they're going to do about that, which Angel takes to be a threatening remark about Buffy.  I'd love it if the subtext here is that Angel is twitchy about who Buffy chose in Chosen, and that's what he ought to do something about.  Probably wishful thinking, since honestly having the first pages be about Angel was disappointing to my Spike-centric self.

9.  DOG is waiting for Angel to feel it.   Could mean Angel's superpowers -- maybe Angel didn't notice he had them when he pushed the O back up.  But this line resonates with FDW waiting for Buffy to feel it -- the weight of her failure.  In this case, Angel could be asked to feel something of how this world has changed.  Dunno.  It's pretty open ended.

There are two possible shoutouts to LOST: DOG looks like Vicent; there's an airplane about to crash.  Certainly the preview reminded me of the un-joy of watching LOST where questions piled up faster than answers were granted.  It's the last arc!  But we knew there had to be some big back story on Angel.  A war weary Angel who has lost everything makes some of Twangel easier to understand.  The cynicism about the inevitable deaths of mortals.  The lack of concern about seeing a world lost (since he's in a world that just got reconstituted after having already been lost).  

My big wish is that DOG be related to Saga Vasuki and/or Willow.  That's a plot line that needs to be joined.  Angel listening to chaos means that the story isn't necessarily selling Angel as the poor hero who just had to become Twilgiht to save the world.  And who knows, maybe they plucked the version of Angel who'd been through the crushing defeat because they knew that was the version that would most easily be their patsy?  Could work.  But time travel and alternative universes need to be employed with care.  Makes me nervous, in a grumpy sort of a way. 

Comments

[elisi]

I have no problem with the idea of the glow making them feel happy, even euphoric; it's the idea that it's somehow overriding their decision-making power that I disagree with.
To quote Giles:
“However much Buffy and Angel might love or miss each other— What Buffy’s experiencing right now—is the pull of something far more ancient—something far more powerful—and far more destructive than anyone on this omniverse has ever felt before.”

And again:

Xander: "I wanna know why Angel dressed like a fetish bad guy and became a killer!"
Giles: "I'm not sure 'killer' is the right word. The power that Twilight has on it's subjects-"

Both these lines more than suggest that both Buffy and Angel are under the 'influence' of Twilight, and that the extends beyond the glow.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

The thing is, those lines are part of a scene where the Scoobies are standing around confused trying to work out what the heck is going on. Giles certainly doesn't know everything about the prophecy; he apparently was unaware that Angel would have a role in it at all. So my reading is, he's speculating.

I actually think it's more like 'Where The Wild Things Are'. Riley and Buffy chose willingly to have sex in that episode, but supernatural forces started feeding off the mystical energy they were giving off and wouldn't let them stop. Afterwards, the two of them were embarrassed about what happened because of the side-effects, but didn't feel any angst over the fact that they had sex. Substitute "the universe" for "restless ghosts" and "Angel" for "Riley" and it seems like the same deal here, only on a larger scale.

[elisi]

Except Riley hadn't just killed(/been heavily involved in the organisation that killed) a whole bunch of Slayers.

Actually, Buffy was pretty unsure about *Riley* when she found out what The Initiative was actually up to, going so far as to protecting Spike - who was helpless, but still unrepentantly evil - against them. And they killed *demons*, not Slayers.

Sorry, I'm blaming the glow, because otherwise... well, let's just say she'd make Bella Swan look like a sensible, self-aware feminist.

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

So are you stating that because some of what Giles says is suspect, all of what Giles says is suspect? It feels like you're picking and choosing to cancel out the parts of Giles' exposition that challenges your interpretation.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

mte

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

I'm saying everything is suspect if it's said in-character by someone who doesn't have perfect information about the situation: yes.

As for picking and choosing evidence: from the angle I'm seeing things, people have already held the trial in absentia, decided Buffy and Angel are guilty and are queuing up to deliver sentence.

I'm trying to argue that things aren't that cut and dried. When 8.36 comes out in a week or so we'll know more, and if Spike gives Willow a counterspell to "undo the effects of the glow" and Buffy and Angel both start acting outraged when they realise they were under its effects, then I'll accept my interpretation was wrong. But if he doesn't, the storyline still makes sense to me without that.

[2maggie2.livejournal.com]

But then, Twangel himself doesn't have a clue either, as Buffy points out in #35.

I think the perception of people queuing up to deliver sentence is in response to posts by people who think that others are queuing up to give them big medals for heroism (and epic true love greatness). (In other words, the conversation is suffering from over-polarization on both sides.)

It's hard to say what is going on just reading the text. I don't think it makes sense as written. I hope we'll get more explanation. But as of now we've got unreliable narrators all over the place, and pieces that don't add up. (Most notably, Angel going off to save the world in the Riley one-shot, when we've already seen him trying to distract Buffy from the fact that the world was being destroyed in #35). The confusion about what the facts are no doubt plays into all the polarized declarations on all sides.