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The ship that Joss never sank!
I am *so* bored. And tired. I don't want to do housework - instead I'll do a little something to contribute to the Summer of Love:
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shapinglight - this is for you! :) Hopefully this’ll cheer you up whenever you’re down, although I don’t suppose it says anything new. But still - here it is.
Recently I’ve read a couple of interviews with David Fury. (A short one and a long one.) They were very interesting...
First a few tidbits about Spike’s characterisation:
Fury was questioned on how Spike had been written this season [AtS S5]. Fury indicated he was aware of the criticism and he understood that Spike was in a different place at the end of last season with Buffy, but that sweet, sensitive Spike, though very likeable, would quickly become a very boring character to write. He said he loved Spike with attitude, and that the other issue was that Angel and Spike fall back into old patterns when they come together.
Later in the evening, Fury was asked to please stop writing Spike as being stupid in all his episodes. Fury was confused, and said when did he write Spike as stupid. He was told that someone says he's stupid in every episode. He again asked for examples. The puppet ep was mentioned -- he pointed out he didn't write that one. :-) He then added that "Spike isn't stupid. Angel calls him stupid, but that's just because he's jealous of him."
Now the interviews also made me think about ships in the Joss verse. When it comes to relationships Joss is a bastard, and that’s pretty much that. If there’s a couple that is happy and content, we know that they are DOOMED! I’m not even going to bother with examples, except to point out that by the end of BtVS, every single ship was gone (except for Willow/Kennedy which I don’t really count, since it’s more of a rowing boat in a paddling pool that a ship! *g*). Joss builds up only to take away again. And it was even worse on AtS! But this is where the interviews come in. Because there is one ship in the ‘verse which has been there almost from the start, that is canon and can survive forever:
JOZIC: ...Angel, on the other hand, has always been full of struggle and characters are always dying so I thought the end was very much in keeping with that struggle, that keep on fighting sort of…
FURY: The interesting thing is, all the people Angel started out with are all dead now.
JOZIC: Yeah, a friend of mine pointed that out right after that episode.
FURY: Unlike Buffy who ended up with her three friends and were able to end in that way, in Angel's case, everybody that he's ever been close to dies, which is really Angel's story - that he will always outlive the people he cares about. He has gone on and on, he has seen people he loves die, which is another reason that he and Buffy realized they couldn't be together. He being a vampire, he will watch her die.
[This is of course also the main obstacle to Spike/Buffy. Unless he shanshus of course...]
But the fact that he was side-by-side with Spike was kind of a wonderful turnaround in the mythology of the series.
JOZIC: There's Butch and Sundance right there.
FURY: That's absolutely right. That's one thing that I really wanted to do in episode 100 when I was trying to break it. I really wanted to have Spike and Angel fight side-by-side. I was desperate to put that in my episode but it was for a later time.
See? Spike and Angel get to stay together! Which is only confirmed by this line, which is apparently pretty much a direct quote about AtS S5:
Spike and Angel is the true love story of this season.
As if we didn’t know... *g* So there you are - Spangel is the only ship that Joss didn’t sink! Which makes it pretty darn extraordinary. Although this icon says it all, really. :)
shapinglight - this is for you! :) Hopefully this’ll cheer you up whenever you’re down, although I don’t suppose it says anything new. But still - here it is. Recently I’ve read a couple of interviews with David Fury. (A short one and a long one.) They were very interesting...
First a few tidbits about Spike’s characterisation:
Fury was questioned on how Spike had been written this season [AtS S5]. Fury indicated he was aware of the criticism and he understood that Spike was in a different place at the end of last season with Buffy, but that sweet, sensitive Spike, though very likeable, would quickly become a very boring character to write. He said he loved Spike with attitude, and that the other issue was that Angel and Spike fall back into old patterns when they come together.
Later in the evening, Fury was asked to please stop writing Spike as being stupid in all his episodes. Fury was confused, and said when did he write Spike as stupid. He was told that someone says he's stupid in every episode. He again asked for examples. The puppet ep was mentioned -- he pointed out he didn't write that one. :-) He then added that "Spike isn't stupid. Angel calls him stupid, but that's just because he's jealous of him."
Now the interviews also made me think about ships in the Joss verse. When it comes to relationships Joss is a bastard, and that’s pretty much that. If there’s a couple that is happy and content, we know that they are DOOMED! I’m not even going to bother with examples, except to point out that by the end of BtVS, every single ship was gone (except for Willow/Kennedy which I don’t really count, since it’s more of a rowing boat in a paddling pool that a ship! *g*). Joss builds up only to take away again. And it was even worse on AtS! But this is where the interviews come in. Because there is one ship in the ‘verse which has been there almost from the start, that is canon and can survive forever:
JOZIC: ...Angel, on the other hand, has always been full of struggle and characters are always dying so I thought the end was very much in keeping with that struggle, that keep on fighting sort of…
FURY: The interesting thing is, all the people Angel started out with are all dead now.
JOZIC: Yeah, a friend of mine pointed that out right after that episode.
FURY: Unlike Buffy who ended up with her three friends and were able to end in that way, in Angel's case, everybody that he's ever been close to dies, which is really Angel's story - that he will always outlive the people he cares about. He has gone on and on, he has seen people he loves die, which is another reason that he and Buffy realized they couldn't be together. He being a vampire, he will watch her die.
[This is of course also the main obstacle to Spike/Buffy. Unless he shanshus of course...]
But the fact that he was side-by-side with Spike was kind of a wonderful turnaround in the mythology of the series.
JOZIC: There's Butch and Sundance right there.
FURY: That's absolutely right. That's one thing that I really wanted to do in episode 100 when I was trying to break it. I really wanted to have Spike and Angel fight side-by-side. I was desperate to put that in my episode but it was for a later time.
See? Spike and Angel get to stay together! Which is only confirmed by this line, which is apparently pretty much a direct quote about AtS S5:
Spike and Angel is the true love story of this season.
As if we didn’t know... *g* So there you are - Spangel is the only ship that Joss didn’t sink! Which makes it pretty darn extraordinary. Although this icon says it all, really. :)