Angel meta.

[elisi]

This was written ages ago, and came about after reading various posts about Angel and people’s dissatisfaction with S5 (and Angel’s arc) etc. Not sure why I’m posting it now, but hey ho, no one bothered to comment on my fic and I’m bored and trying to tidy (and I'm IMPATIENT and want it to be tomorrow) and I need people talking to me.

ETA: Don't mention the comics. None of them. They're irrelevant to this post.

Basically, when it comes to Angel, then I've come to the conclusion that (IMO) Angel isn't a hero. He looks the part of a hero, and he can play the part, plus he quite likes the part... But it's not really him. Spike is effortlessly heroic - he follows his blood (heart) and he does the right thing more by instinct than design. (Ditto Buffy. And the Doctor etc.) But Angel... He started out as a bit of a lad, and when he became a vampire this slotted in beautifully with his former world view. Plus, he'd finally found something he was really good at. And then came the soul, and everything he ever was or had been was pulled out from underneath him, and all he could see was guilt. And he doesn't know what to do with that. The powers come along and dangle redemption and purpose and destiny and other shiny things in front of his nose and he feels that Yes, he can do this. He can be someone again. To quote Anna, because she always said it best:

He only sees the soul, the soul that is all that keeps him on the side of the good. It's a terrible paradox. If he accepts the guilt of his past, he makes a mockery of guilt, of repentance, because he feels it only because he is crippled with a soul. If he denies it, he denies the truth.

So he won't look within. He'll look without. He'll focus on destiny, on redemption, on the eternal balance between good and evil. And yes, there’s a Shanshu in his vocabulary. If he gets it right often enough, if he gets it right when it counts, there's a reward in this. Is it a reward? That's one I've talked about before. But is it really a reward for *him*? Or the just the reward that is owed the Champion he feels it's his duty to be? Really, what does Angel want? Does he even know that?

In my own post-NFA scenarios, Spike is always the more straightforward hero, and Angel the one who does what needs doing, the one getting his hands dirty, because he's given up on 'redemption', and just wants to do what he can to fix things - fighting against the dark side with their own weapons. I guess that's why I find some people's complaints about S5 and the show generally (he forgot about helping people! He never learns!) so difficult to get my head around, because in my mind he's exactly where he should be [at the end of NFA]. It's not pretty, but it's a place where he can just be himself. I started off by comparing him to Spike, because William - and by extension Spike - is a good man. Angel isn’t:

“It’s not the demon in me that needs killing, it’s the man.”

And now I’m just going to quote a huge chunk of this post by shadowkat67, because she says it beautifully:

Angel the Series had the same set-up. Angel himself never really changes or evolves, but those around him do - except being a noir series, they don't get redeemed, instead they become corrupted by their association with Angel. Much as those surrounding Dexter and House slowly become corrupted. In Dexter, his sister's moral code is slowly eroding. And in House, all of his assistant's moral codes are eroding. The two who leave, do so, in part, because they can't handle it. This is the anti-hero set-up, where the audience is deluded into thinking that the writers intend to redeem the lead character, when actually they don't plan to do that at all - instead they plan on showing how the lead character's actions and outlook affects everyone around him. Everyone falls into the abyss - which is literally what did happen on Angel - everyone fell into hell, including the city they resided.

The lead never really changes in these shows. He never addresses his flaws. Or shows true remorse for his actions, if anything he continues to feel justified, and the moment he questions what he is doing - someone either close to him or another character will pat him on the head and say, no it is justified. He is surrounded by enablers.

I think what I’m trying to say is that is that I think Angel is a subversion of the hero trope. Possibly done in too straight a manner, but still... The writers readily admit that they didn't have a clue what to do with him, and just took him any- and everywhere. And I think that... letting him not worry about his redemption is the key. He gets it now and again, but with his W&H deal and then the final battle he's burnt his bridges. Presuming he survives, then he's signed away the shanshu - there's nothing in it for him. No pretty girl, no reward, no matter what he does. And I think that's good. I like that story.

There are echoes of it in Jack's story in Children of Earth - making a terrible choice (a choice which makes you a monster), in order to try to right a wrong/save the day/use the power you have. Generally because the character was the one to screw up in the first place/because people are often monsters. It's a very, very bleak world view, but I admire that it's carried through to the bitter end and not flinched away from. There are no magic fix-its, no way of going back, and 'sorry' would be an insult. (By the way, the Quor-Toth vids are some of my favourite vids EVER (esp I’m Not Driving Anymore and Cleansed by Fire), and show that gorgeous downwards spiral perfectly. You can blame them for me posting this, since they reminded me just how much I love S5...) To quote Anna again:

I've always loved Angel differently to the way I loved Buffy. Once upon a time I said that Buffy was character-driven where Angel is theme-driven, that sometimes in Angel it felt like the characters were subservient to the story. And now I start to see that that was the point of Angel; that it was about characters trying to be bigger than the story they were in. It was a battle, character versus story, and the answer was always that you could only fight your story so far. That in the end you'd have to seize your story, whichever point of that story you'd find yourself at, and make it yours. I think that's what Angel leaves with me. It's your story. Tell it.

Or, to quote the show, from the first and last episode of S5:

MATT
Did you get to the store?

BOY
They didn't have a lot. I got Punisher.

MATT
My dad won't let me read that.

BOY
Oh, man! It's so good. He kills everyone. You can borrow mine.

~~~

ANGEL
Give me the hell on Earth speech, Lindsey. I know how bad things are, how much sway the demons hold. I happen to be the greatest mass murderer you've ever met.

LINDSEY
Never given you props for that, have I?
[...]
Everybody goes on about your soul. Vampire with a soul. Nobody ever mentions the fact that you're really a vampire with big brass testes. This is gonna be a circus. I mean, win or lose, you're about to pick the nastiest fight since mankind drop-kicked the last demon out of this dimension.

That’s Angel. Redemption, helping people, all that jazz? Not his story. Because Angel?



(For the flipside to this, go read girlpire's How Angel Saved My Life, which I love to tiny pieces - I adore Angel, he's one of my favourite characters ever. But I take him as he is.)