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In The Dark
Last night we watched ITD, and it is always curious to watch an episode whilst in the middle of writing a fic about the characters in question, because I find that while I’m enjoying watching, another part of my brain is busy taking note of everything that happens and everything they say and do, and seeing how it agrees with my own depictions of them, and wondering if there’s anything I can use...
Anyway, I’ve only seen this ep once before (although the slashy scenes has been used in a million vids), but there was one point where I realised that last time I must have been asleep. I mean, the whole meta-thing is something I think I can’t switch off, but apparently last time I did. ‘Cause it’s even more S/A centric than I thought...
So, it is a truth universally acknowledged that the case (/monster) of the week reflects some part of the hero’s own life, and helps him (/her) to overcome some specific problem. So now I give you IDT’s Rachel:
Rachel: “...it’s just – ah – Half the time, you how this whole thing starts up again, Lenny and me?”
Angel: “*You* call *him*.”
Rachel: “I – I – I just start to jones for him. The way he jones for rock. And I call, or I find him in some dive, and I drag him home, - and it’s *good* for a while.”
Angel shakes his head: “But it doesn’t last. This last time he would have killed you.”
Angel watches with a sigh as she tries not to cry.
Rachel: “I’m scared, Angel, I’m more scared of me right now than I am of him.”
Angel: “You’re at a crossroads, I know. It’s either go for the easy fix and wait for the consequences, or take the hard road and go with faith.”
Rachel: “Oh, god. You’re not from that freaky church on Sunset, are you?” Steps away from him.
Angel: “In yourself. That kind of faith. - What I’m saying is: if you leave Lenny for good, it’ll hurt. But eventually you’ll be stronger for it. And maybe you’ll find your way to the kind of love you deserve.”
Rachel: “You mean the kind of love that comes without 911 calls?”
Angel: “That’s the general idea.”
I watched that, and I went ‘Holy crap!’ The idea of Spike as ‘the abusive boyfriend’, that Angel finds himself drawn to in spite of himself (‘I – I – I just start to jones for him. The way he jones for rock.’), has amused me immensely ever since, and will for a long, long time. (Of course it is more apt when applied to Darla, but still... and Spike *did* come very close to killing Angel!)
And, of course, we even have neat Spuffy foreshadowing:
Spike: “Speaking of little Buff, I ran into her recently. Your name didn’t come up. Although she has been awful busy jumping the bones of the first lunk-head that came along. Good-looking fellow - used her shamelessly. - She is *cute* when she is hurting, isn’t she?”
Oh yes, very cute indeed. And Spike will soon enough find out that he is also helpless when it comes to Buffy. :)
Anyway, I’ve only seen this ep once before (although the slashy scenes has been used in a million vids), but there was one point where I realised that last time I must have been asleep. I mean, the whole meta-thing is something I think I can’t switch off, but apparently last time I did. ‘Cause it’s even more S/A centric than I thought...
So, it is a truth universally acknowledged that the case (/monster) of the week reflects some part of the hero’s own life, and helps him (/her) to overcome some specific problem. So now I give you IDT’s Rachel:
Rachel: “...it’s just – ah – Half the time, you how this whole thing starts up again, Lenny and me?”
Angel: “*You* call *him*.”
Rachel: “I – I – I just start to jones for him. The way he jones for rock. And I call, or I find him in some dive, and I drag him home, - and it’s *good* for a while.”
Angel shakes his head: “But it doesn’t last. This last time he would have killed you.”
Angel watches with a sigh as she tries not to cry.
Rachel: “I’m scared, Angel, I’m more scared of me right now than I am of him.”
Angel: “You’re at a crossroads, I know. It’s either go for the easy fix and wait for the consequences, or take the hard road and go with faith.”
Rachel: “Oh, god. You’re not from that freaky church on Sunset, are you?” Steps away from him.
Angel: “In yourself. That kind of faith. - What I’m saying is: if you leave Lenny for good, it’ll hurt. But eventually you’ll be stronger for it. And maybe you’ll find your way to the kind of love you deserve.”
Rachel: “You mean the kind of love that comes without 911 calls?”
Angel: “That’s the general idea.”
I watched that, and I went ‘Holy crap!’ The idea of Spike as ‘the abusive boyfriend’, that Angel finds himself drawn to in spite of himself (‘I – I – I just start to jones for him. The way he jones for rock.’), has amused me immensely ever since, and will for a long, long time. (Of course it is more apt when applied to Darla, but still... and Spike *did* come very close to killing Angel!)
And, of course, we even have neat Spuffy foreshadowing:
Spike: “Speaking of little Buff, I ran into her recently. Your name didn’t come up. Although she has been awful busy jumping the bones of the first lunk-head that came along. Good-looking fellow - used her shamelessly. - She is *cute* when she is hurting, isn’t she?”
Oh yes, very cute indeed. And Spike will soon enough find out that he is also helpless when it comes to Buffy. :)
no subject
Angel: “You’re at a crossroads, I know. It’s either go for the easy fix and wait for the consequences, or take the hard road and go with faith.”
For me, it's not about the temptation of Spike but about the temptation of the Gem of Amara. He's hidden it in the sewers at this point and is trying to decide what to do with it. In the end he chooses the hard road and destroys it (the ponce).
Personally, I'm thinkin' you've got slash on the brain, hon - but that's the beauty of interpretation I suppose.
In any case, I'm glad you brought this scene to my attention, because as often as I've watched this episode (lots) I can't recall ever connecting Angel's advise to Rachel about choosing the hard road in the beginning of the episode with him destroying the ring at the end. I might have done, but if so, I don't remember. Admittedly, my attention has always been fixated on pre-chip Spike's last hurrah, in all his bad-ass, confident, cheeky, charming, evil, glory, so, I may not have picked up on other stuff going on in the episode.
no subject
You know, that makes an awful lot of sense!
As for the Spangel stuff, then it's just fun. I like being silly - and I don't like poor Spike being all on his little ownsome and uncared about... *pets him*