In Angel Season 5, did it become the Angel/Spike Show?

POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Saturday, November 18, 2006 17:03
VIEWED: 4561
PAGE 1 of 2

1 2 NEXT PAGE

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 2:43 PM

...and if you feel it did, did you mind?

S5 fan Chrisisall

PURPLEBELLY

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 2:45 PM

Well, an action show needs an action hero and Boreanaz was hors de combat for a large part of the run. Mind you, there have been folks who blamed Carpenter for Season 4.

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 3:13 PM

I don't think it did, but I think Spike's arrival changed the group dynamic a lot quicker than the introduction of other characters. Characters like Gunn and Fred were pretty much regulars from their first appearance but they were worked in naturally and over a period of time. They grew into the group dynamic, Lorne even more so, taking well over a season to join Angel's crew. Spike however had a good six years of backstory and was one of the Buffyverse's most important players. It wouldn't have worked to slowly bring him in, especially considering his end on Buffy, so they had to revolve some of the early plotlines around him to have it makes sense. By the middle of the season Wes and Fred had equally important (and by Illyria more important) plotlines than Spike, Gunn and Lorne were underused but Angel was always right there at the top, Spike's arrival was seen through his eyes not the other way around. I don't think it ever stopped being his show.

However, Buffy season 7 was a very different matter. I think that became the Buffy/Spike show, though I think that's a discussion for another thread.

-------------------------------------------------

I do not kill with my hand.
He who kills with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 3:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chronicthehedgehog:

However, Buffy season 7 was a very different matter. I think that became the Buffy/Spike show, though I think that's a discussion for another thread.

We can do it here, it's all sort of the same topic...
I don't think it did, REALLY, it was (like you said about Angel) always through Buffy's eyes, and I feel it remained solidly her show.

But you obviously don't. Why?

Hijacking Chrisisall

DEEPGIRL187

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 6:53 PM

You say that like it's a bad thing.

I'm just starting season five (and once Netflix sends me the right frickin' disc, I can finish it ). I don't know everything that goes down yet, but so far, I'm really enjoying it. Though I have to say, I really miss the family atmosphere that was present in the earlier seasons. Team Angel is still a team, but not quite a family.

I'll also have to say that season seven of Buffy wasn't the Buffy/Spike show so much as season six. That season did have some great episodes, but the dark theme was hard for me to watch. You can only see Spike get screwed so much (figuratively speaking, don't seem to mind literally ).

*************************************************

"So long and goodnight."

GROOSALUGG

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 8:08 PM

If S7 of Buffy seemed like the Buffy & Spike Show, it was only because they're the only two characters who got anything approaching a decent arc. Spike didn't get any more screentime that year than he had in previous--it's just that Willow, Xander, Anya, etc., got so much less...

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 8:56 PM

So G, what about AtS S5, did Spike's addition turn it into the Angel and Spike Hour for you?

I thought he fit in pretty bloody seamlessly myself...

But then- SPIKE FAN Chrisisall

GROOSALUGG

Thursday, October 26, 2006 6:39 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
So G, what about AtS S5, did Spike's addition turn it into the Angel and Spike Hour for you?

You noticed I avoided that in my last answer then, huh?

Mostly because, I don't really have a definitive opinion on it. At times, yeah, maybe it did become that, but if so, never in a bad way. I agree with you that for the most part, he blended in seamlessly with the rest of the cast, but still, he probably got a little more to work with than Alexis, Amy, J., or Andy did that year.

The one thing that certainly didn't happen was Spike completely taking over the show and outshining its star, which is what a lot of the pro-Angel/anti-Spike folks were doom-'n-glooming during the summer before S5. He was a great foil to Angel, but he never overshadowed him.

CHRISISALL

Thursday, October 26, 2006 1:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Groosalugg:

The one thing that certainly didn't happen was Spike completely taking over the show and outshining its star, which is what a lot of the pro-Angel/anti-Spike folks were doom-'n-glooming during the summer before S5. He was a great foil to Angel, but he never overshadowed him.

Agree absolutly. And I expected it to happen, frankly.
Good on ME for treading that fine line, and giving us near Firefly quality greatness on Angel's finest hours.
Pound for pound, I can't say which is better, Buffy 3 or Angel 5...

Yes I can, Angel 5

Chrisisall

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG

Sunday, October 29, 2006 11:18 PM

Sorry it took me too long to reply, been out of town seeing Lordi.

I think Buffy because the Buffy/Spike show because Spike got a season long character arc as he dealt with his soul and learned to deal with it and Buffy never really did. I thought that Spike defined much of the season and dominated it's plotlines in a much greater way than Buffy's coming to terms with being a leader and in a much greater way than he did in Angel. His trigger, his past, his relationship with Buffy were all centre stage causing him to grow and change, Buffy however was stuck in a leadership rutt. She didn't change, she made speeches, she became one of the least interesting characters on the show. It also seemed to become about how people viewed Buffy, how she was elevated above the others and much of that was how Spike perceived her to the detriment of long-running characters like Xander and Anya.

-------------------------------------------------

I do not kill with my hand.
He who kills with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

1 2 NEXT PAGE