The article made me sigh sadly a few times. The finale was wonderful, but I'm still in disbelief about that ending. I'm not sure whether I want to hug Joss or smack him.

chichi | May 20, 16:11 CET

hug joss....smack levin maybe with an axe...i'm pretty sure it wouldnt shatter but you never know.

willowzbitch | May 20, 17:31 CET

Angel's declaration that "People who don't care about anything will never understand people who do" and Hamilton shooting back "Yeah, but we don't care" was powerful. Perhaps a comment on the frustration of trying to make art (and I don't think twice about calling Whedon shows art) under the control of the network suits?

I had a teacher in art school who told us to be sensitive enough to create, but not so much that we couldn't survive in the world. Whedon seems to be able to do both. He keeps getting knocked down and still he fights the good fight. It may be overly dramatic to think that he was being punished for trying to make viewers think and feel when all the executives want is "cheap, easy and stupid", but I'm not so sure. Can't you picture a conference call of evil: "Let's make an example of the guy with the imagination!"

I find the open ending a delicious torment. There's something called the "zeigarnik effect' (someone correct me if I'm wrong)where a failure or incomplete task keeps turning over in the brain until it's resolved and can be filed away. It's why you relive those embarrassing "D'oh!" moments over and over. Your brain wants to finish the project. I would LOVE to know the outline of what could have been Season Six, but at least now Angel will always live on a bit in my active memory. Clever, huh?

bloodflowers | May 20, 17:59 CET

Great article. The author really seems to "get it." I'm impressed.

RambleOn623 | May 20, 18:24 CET

Best article I've read on the ending of Angel yet.

fraying | May 20, 19:39 CET

Wonderful article! And yes, lots of hugs for joss. :)

buffyfanatic18 | May 20, 20:20 CET

Fabulous article.

phlebotinin | May 20, 20:54 CET

We've had fabulous, wonderful, best and great....I'll go with beautiful article! But is it just me, or can anyone else not even read a mention of the Wes/Fred scene without bursting into tears?

MindPieces | May 20, 21:07 CET

It is most assuredly not just you, MindPieces...

Chris in Virginia | May 20, 21:28 CET

Spike does a poetry slam (and finally, after all these years, finds a rhyme for "effulgent"),

Did I hear Spike wrong, or wasn't it the same " 'tis grown a bulge in't". Does this person remember Fool For Love?

Otherwise, a great article.

Rogue Slayer | May 20, 21:51 CET

And if you didn't cry when Illyria asked Wesley if he wanted her to lie to him, go stand in a corner.

Yes! Who wouldn't be teared up over that? I was bawling my eyes out, squeezing the stuffing out of my pillow!

electricspacegirl | May 20, 22:06 CET

...still crying...

Coll | May 20, 23:07 CET

Yeah. Me too. And, with all of you, got teary reading the article. I lived it all again, even in that brief description. How powerful is that storytelling? How much I'll miss it...

k8cre8 | May 20, 23:45 CET

Great article. And yeah, if you didn't fight back the tears when Wesley dies looking at Fred's face (and apparently Illyria's genuine grief) you need to check your pulse.

However on a tiny note, yeah, the poem Spike is citing is literally the same one. 'Effulgent' always rhymed with 'a bulge in't'. The word William had trouble rhyming with was 'gleaming'. He wanted a synonym and that became 'effulgent' which rhymed fine with the 'bugle in't'. (Which was also funny, since plenty more rhymes with 'gleaming' than with 'effulgent')

Anyway, I'm a nerd. It's been established before.

But for the rest, yeah finally an aricle from a writer that 'gets' it. Refreshing.

EdDantes | May 21, 02:01 CET

I just watched the finale. Me sad. Me agrees with article. The ending was superb.

One personal highlight was the world weary Lorne, I think that was Andy Hallett's best performance on the show. Kudos to him. Too many other highlights to mention.

Simon | May 21, 02:45 CET

I agree, pretty good article except for not getting the "effulgent" versus "gleaming" thing...my one question...what was it that Spike said when he introduced his next poem and they cut away to the next scene? I watched and rewatched it and can't quite get what he said. (which is my one complaint about this season, I've had to rewatch almost all of eps to catch words and phrases (from ANY of the characters) I didn't catch the first time, maybe it's just our local affiliate but the sound always seemed muffled).

I just loved the imagery/lighting/his posture as he recited the poem with such emotion, that almost empty drink (beer?) dangling in his hand...then that cocky stance when everyone applauded his bloody awful poetry. finally.

To not only remember the poem after 100 and whatever years but to dedicate it to Cecily...

I also agree Simon, Andy Hallet did an awesome job in his final scenes...world weary describes it well.

[ edited by tkent on 2004-05-21 02:09 ]

Grace | May 21, 04:05 CET

He said "That was for Cecily! This next one's called 'The Wanton Folly of My Mum.'"

weatherby | May 21, 04:31 CET

Spike said his next one was 'The wanton folly of me mum.' obviously a poem regarding the attempted seduction of him after she was turned. I thought it was very interesting that he spent his day recieting the last poem he was trying to write as a human.

Also am I mistaken or did Angel trick the Black Thorn by not signing his name correctly - could it be he saw the legal loophole he could get through for the prophesy if need be. It just struct me compared to the deal he signed with WH where you can read his name legitablly, then he seem to scribble on the prophesy. More over telling Connor he hand nice handwritting. I know 'what about the blood thing' - the question I then put forward is - do vampires really have their own blood or is it borrowed - if that's the case Angel can never sign anything that is written in his own blood - and since all the witnesses are dead can they prove he indeed signed away his rights to the prophesy or was he indeed playing them. That question would have made next season extremely interesting, or perhaps I'm looking to deep.

[ edited by RavenU on 2004-05-21 02:38 ]

RavenU | May 21, 04:38 CET

I've read someone else saying that, RavenU, but I really don't buy it. I suspect the other signatures weren't actually written by Boreanaz, whereas this one was. Plus he had just been stabbed in the hand. I doubt he would have been staring out the window looking gloomy if he hadn't actually signed it over.

weatherby | May 21, 04:40 CET

The song to which the writer refers is Neil Young's "Hey Hey, My My (Out of the Blue)" which I've been contending holds the real message Joss wanted to send -- "it's better to burn out than to fade away" -- rather than the Grateful Dead cover of Buddy Holly's love song "Not Fade Away."

The Neil Young song ends with this verse:
Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.

Anyone for hidden meaning?

Whedonage | May 21, 05:11 CET

Yes but he was not stabbed in the hand he signed with and to me it may been a bit to obvious them having him say he has nice handwritting, not to mention when Spike brought it up instead of telling him not to worry about it he told him basically neither would survive - to me it sounded like maybe he still had some hope and in away by tricking the Circle he did indeed become the canidate to fullfill the prophesy - remember it said the role the vampire would play would be pivitol and I would say what he did was pivitol.

RavenU | May 21, 05:28 CET

I wondered about the same thing, RavenU, particularly in light of the nice handwriting comment (a conversation which was actually longer in the script, but cut down for the broadcast). But, he appeared close to tears when standing in front of the window, suggesting the apparent finality of what he felt he had to do.

palehorse | May 21, 05:39 CET

See, the way I see it, Angel sacrificed his chance to Shanshu and he believes it isn't going to happen. He wasn't going to let Spike know that because if it happened to Spike and he knew Angel threw away any chance it would be upsetting to Spike that he got it by default. I honestly feel that if it is ever resolved it will definitely be Angel it happens to now because he gave it up willingly. He wouldn't be expecting it, therefore everything he does from now on is because he wants redemption whether or not he's rewarded.

Firefly Flanatic | May 21, 05:43 CET

I still doubt your handwriting would be perfect when you'd just been stabbed with a pen, but mostly I just think it was because Boreanaz probably wasn't the one to write the other signatures. I also thought he didn't mention it to Spike because it was entirely possible that by signing the prophecy, he also ruined Spike's chance of it. That is just my speculation, though, because it's not clear. I would be less sceptical of this if there were another season coming, but since there isn't, I really doubt it.

weatherby | May 21, 06:20 CET

BTW - We only saw a hand sign it - we did not see a long shot of Boreanaz signing it. They did a cut from Boreanaz to the signing then back to Boreanaz, which is another reason why I think there was something to that signature on that prophesy.

RavenU | May 21, 09:35 CET