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Post by Queen E on Aug 2, 2004 8:50:37 GMT -5
Hi Erin! Excellent analysis! Thanks to you, I enjoyed this episode a *lot* more than I did when it first came out. OK, part of that is because I've grown to appreciate darkness and ambiguity in my TV shows, but part of it is because of all the cool insights you came up with. I liked the way you organized it, too, since it was nice to have the overview of the theme and then the characters while watching the episode. Oh, and *thank you* for mentioning where everyone was coming from before the series started (hee! Doyle was still Mark Healy.) It was a nice reminder of what it was like watching the show for the first time. You know, except for me appreciating it more now. And I just had to mention that "I've got a theory" is perfectly sayable. Just ignore the backup orchestra and the synchronized dancing. In your analysis, you mentioned what Russell Winters' name meant, symbolically. It made me see that he is the antithesis of Buffy Summers. And yet, darkness and coldness are not deadly to Angel, not the way summer's sunlight and fire would be. Russell Winters may be an enemy, but he also represents Angel's natural environment. When Tina was describing what kind of a monster Russell was, it struck me that she could be describing Angelus as well. (Except for her not being dead already.) In fact, what we now know of Angelus makes Russell's cruelty seem kinda minor. And so one of the central struggles of the series is reiterated: Angel is fighting a war against the darkness and coldness within himself. And this war has not yet been won. Stupid network suits. www.soulfulspike.com/membersavatars/smileys/badrazz.gif [/img] Linda, still bitter P.S. I've posted a couple of comments not specifically related to your analysis on the Episodic Elaborations thread for this episode. That's why this post is not as long as it could've been. [/quote] Wow, I feel dumb. I got the "coldness" part, but I never even thought "Winters" vs. "Summers." And it's intriguing when you look at Season 4 of Buffy; since she is no longer involved with a vampire, most episodes are flooded with light as compared to the first 3 seasons. We won't see anything comparable on Angel until Season 5, and at what cost did that light come at?
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Post by Lindanotloggedin on Aug 2, 2004 14:54:23 GMT -5
Wow, I feel dumb. I got the "coldness" part, but I never even thought "Winters" vs. "Summers." And it's intriguing when you look at Season 4 of Buffy; since she is no longer involved with a vampire, most episodes are flooded with light as compared to the first 3 seasons. We won't see anything comparable on Angel until Season 5, and at what cost did that light come at? You are NOT dumb. You are BRILLIANT. I was just letting you know one of the tangents that your analysis sent me off to. And then you go and take my tangent and raise it to a consideration of the whole series. See: brilliant. (The only reason I don't start off all my posts by saying "BRILLIANT!" is that I don't want Lola to think that I'm trying to supplant her as your minion. Maybe she'll let me be a sub-minion...) Linda, you are a silly, though, for even thinking you are dumb...
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Post by Queen E on Aug 2, 2004 15:29:50 GMT -5
You are NOT dumb. You are BRILLIANT. I was just letting you know one of the tangents that your analysis sent me off to. And then you go and take my tangent and raise it to a consideration of the whole series. See: brilliant. (The only reason I don't start off all my posts by saying "BRILLIANT!" is that I don't want Lola to think that I'm trying to supplant her as your minion. Maybe she'll let me be a sub-minion...) Linda, you are a silly, though, for even thinking you are dumb... D'oh. Sorry. It was only 'cause I had that whole section on names, and didn't even think of the most important name to Angel at the time: Buffy. Another thing I noticed last night, when they were showing "City Of" on Fox, was the big pride flag in the bar Angel's drinking at in the teaser. And you can totally be my minion. What kind of evil superpower would I be if I didn't have plural minions?
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Post by Linda on Aug 3, 2004 15:23:00 GMT -5
D'oh. Sorry. It was only 'cause I had that whole section on names, and didn't even think of the most important name to Angel at the time: Buffy. Another thing I noticed last night, when they were showing "City Of" on Fox, was the big pride flag in the bar Angel's drinking at in the teaser. And you can totally be my minion. What kind of evil superpower would I be if I didn't have plural minions? Thanks Erin! (Eleanor?) Hey everybody! I’m a minion! I’m a minion! Yay! I am not worthy to grovel in the presence of your magnanimosity oh … thou. Linda, posting from work (bad! bad!) and having blown all creative braincells coming up with the word magnanimosity. P.S. So do you offer dental? ;D
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Post by Queen E on Aug 3, 2004 15:37:49 GMT -5
Thanks Erin! (Eleanor?) Hey everybody! I’m a minion! I’m a minion! Yay! I am not worthy to grovel in the presence of your magnanimosity oh … thou. Linda, posting from work (bad! bad!) and having blown all creative braincells coming up with the word magnanimosity. P.S. So do you offer dental? ;D Of course! Unlike Glory, I like my minions unscabby with good teeth. And that was a beautiful word. Definitely worth the brain cells.
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Post by jeff on Jul 10, 2007 17:19:35 GMT -5
Nice start to your reviews. It is hard to find deeper meaning in the first episode; when it is just basically introducing people to the characters.
I loved the way they show Angel in the beginning. He is all brood all the time, and all that should be considering what he went through with Buffy. And they do a nice job later showing that relationship in IWRY. Gives the fan more of a prespective on why he is all broody (moreso than normally)
Cordy- is just well. Cordy. Got to love her
Doyle- I liked Doyle. I have wanted to do a Doyle vid for a long time. Just never got around to it. Don't get me wrong I like Wesley much more than I did Doyle, but he was still a good character that never got to be fully explored
Actually I love the character developement on Angel more than ANY other show I have ever watched. Including BtVS. All the characters grow and develope and change so much over the course of 5 years.
It really makes looking back over the first season fun. Because I know I am going to sit and watch and try to pinpoint the episode that the you really see character change and developement stand out the most.
Some episodes it is really noticable, others not so much. But as I sit here doing my re-watch I love where they took the characters to over the course of this series. It really is amazing to watch.
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