On the surface we have an episode on the infatuation between Buffy and Angel, while dealing with Angel’s more than complicated past and current situation. The story in itself does not do much for me, but the slices of backstory and vampire mythology we are handed in-between the kissing and emotional turmoil of a forbidden love, are very nice.
The episode starts off with Buffy moping around with Willow at the Bronze, expressing a wish for finding a guy, and more specifically to find someone to share a stable relationship with. Automatically their discussion ends up on her crush, Angel.
While being chased down by the Three, an especially vicious gang of vampires, Buffy also will have to deal with her first kiss with Angel, and subsequently finding out her loverboy is actually a vampire. To top it all off Joyce ends up at the hospital after having been bitten by Darla in an attempt at discrediting and seducing Angel.
Darla
For this episode she plays a very similar role to that of Ares in the previous XWP one. She is the temptress from the past who works to lure Angel back to his family and to fully embrace his dark side, the demon within.
The first time around I despised the character. I had problems with her throughout her appearance in Whedonverse. And even though I still have some problems with her as the temptress, the whore, I somewhere along the way managed to look past the message she sends and grew to love the actual character. However the message is very troublesome, especially in this episode and the contrast she offers to Buffy. By having Buffy and Darla as two opposites for Angel to be torn between, the good and the bad, the virgin and the whore, we are presented with a very old portrayal of the perceived dual nature of woman. Whedon et al do make their own take on it and thereby questioning, yet its foundation prevents it from being truly original or even thought-provoking.
La Familia
What fascinates me about this episode, and then later on Angel the Series, is the incredible complexity of the vampires. They might be ruthless and (literally) bloody-thirsty beasts, but they are also based on human emotions. They in many ways resemble the Gods of XWP, a physically superior being with rudimentary and super-charged emotions. They might not fully comprehend or feel empathy, but passion runs through them as blood runs through us mortals.
At the same time they cannot connect with the human world in which they are forced to live, so they have to and do create their own families. The closest bond is between the Sire (the vampire who transform a human) and their victim and later on apprentice. As we later will see in the series, they are everything from parent/god/lover/sibling/brother in arms/confessor/saviour/judge/executioner to the person they infect with their demon. They are everything to each other, and there are real emotions involved in this bond. As we see when Angel kills Darla, there are true feelings on his face as he does so, emotions I don‘t want to simply accredit to his soul. Same with the Master, he sincerely mourns the loss of Darla, his favourite, his child. He also feels regret and grief over not having Angelus at his side.
Vampires do feel, and what’s even more refreshing, but at the same time sets them further apart from both humanity and other demons, they are not afraid to show those feelings. I’m a little bit in love with Whedon’s vampire mythology and the stark contrast they offer to what we have decided is accepted behaviour for human beings. They are pushing all kinds of boundaries, social/physical/cultural/religious. Vampires do not simply exist to go poof as Buffy stakes them. Rather they are a carnival mirror of humanity, twisting and turning and re-shaping the familiar, making it more, making it less, making it different while never restructuring or truly changing.
Conclusion
In the same way I have been twisted and turned and reshaped since I first watched this show, and though I’ve never truly understood the greatness of Buffy and Angel’s love story I find that I have even less interest in it today. Their love affair is worth looking into, it probably even holds entertainment, but I simply cannot find the entertainment value in Buffy and Willow’s raving about the effects of love. Same goes for Xander’s petty jealousy, which is horribly human and gives the character a very relatable weakness, still I find it simply…annoying.
It is interesting that I can have an emotional distance from XWP, while completely succumbing to my own weaknesses and emotions when watching BtVS. Surely I would have thought it would be the other way around, especially seeing how much time I’ve spent away from BtVS while still being a very active part of the XWP fandom.
I know I might sound very critical, and I am, but at the same time I do love it. I am not as enamoured by the same elements (read characters) as I was when I watched it for the first time, but my passion for it has changed. I find new parts that flow more smoothly along the stream of my current ideology and I am more impressed by the consistency and intelligence of the storyline. And even though I know the story of both Angel(us) and Darla, this episode still makes me burn to find out, and despite the general themes not being fully compatible with my view of the world, that is a sign of pure and solid storytelling.
This was an episode that in itself is rather weak, but brims with potential, just like the current versions of Buffy and Angel.
Randomness & Memorable
- The look on Angel’s face as he kills Darla.
- Joyce and Giles interactions at the hospital.
Next Up:
The Titans (XWP)
The Titans (XWP)
