30 Days of Angel - Day Four
Aug. 4th, 2010 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
samsomI got wordy with this one, lol. And...I'm a shipper, guys. This is my portal of entry into this show. So it informs a lot of my opinions. Just sayin':
I have so many, it really would be impossible to name just one. So I’ll give the standard answer and then another, not-so-obvious one. Just to be a rebel.
Standard: You’re Welcome. If you put aside Cordelia’s death, it’s the perfect Cordelia Chase –centric episode. It spotlights what was missing from S5, it restores the glory of Cordelia’s snark and sparkle, and it shows to even those that never saw it before the form and function of the C/A ship. The revelation of Cordelia’s death was the most heartbreaking shipper moment of either BtVS or AtS. Charisma and David brought their A-game and showed their chemistry to maximum advantage. The events of episodes yet to come really did bring truth to Angel’s declaration to Cordelia that he was lost without her. He’d never be the same.
Non-Standard: Heartthrob. Oh, you guys, if only I could describe to you the pure, uncut hit of joyous anticipation that overcame me with the airing of this episode. I didn’t go into AtS expecting C/A to become anything more than a fond wish of mine, but by the time Epiphany rolled around in s2, it was clear that something was on the horizon. Angel was just too frantic to get back into Cordelia’s good graces and when she told him they weren’t friends, he reacted like she just drove a stake into his heart – same as in Epiphany when she told him he’d hurt her feelings. So when I first saw the promos for Heartthrob, my own heart jumped clear into my throat. The way they greeted each other when he comes through the basement door! The way she just knows not all is right with him! Their talk, all the running together and touching they did! The surreptitious way Angel moves Cordelia behind him when James focuses on her and James’ misunderstanding about who exactly Cordelia was to Angel (or maybe James just understood the signs more than Angel the Afflicted)….it was like manna to my shipper soul, a gentle rain after a long, hard drought.
Most importantly, BtVS had just moved to UPN and it seemed like AtS was closing the door to the past (of being the BtVS spinoff) while opening another door to the future (finally being their own show). I felt like the braces had come off, or the training wheels, or whatever supportive devices I can throw in to emphasize how much I adored that my baby, my vampire show, was launching into the stratosphere.
Never mind the shit storm that happened in s4, when I watch Heartthrob, I get that same tingly “the sky is the limit” feeling I had the first time I watched it. No other episode will ever fill me with the same kind of giddy squeeing.
Honorable mentions: Parting Gifts: Because this episode was when Cordelia’s story, long simmering, began to cook. Waiting in the Wings: Sex. C/A sex. NGL. I’m shallow as shit when it comes to C/A love. Their chemistry sizzled like bacon on a grill. Untouched: I just like it. Cordelia is running the office, warning off Bethany, fighting with Wesley, and telling Angel “been there, done that” when he whines about getting rebarred. And she looked exceptionally HOT doing all of it. Fuck, I love that woman.
My apologies for being slow to reply to comments but I promise to catch up soon. Er. Promise.
I have so many, it really would be impossible to name just one. So I’ll give the standard answer and then another, not-so-obvious one. Just to be a rebel.
Standard: You’re Welcome. If you put aside Cordelia’s death, it’s the perfect Cordelia Chase –centric episode. It spotlights what was missing from S5, it restores the glory of Cordelia’s snark and sparkle, and it shows to even those that never saw it before the form and function of the C/A ship. The revelation of Cordelia’s death was the most heartbreaking shipper moment of either BtVS or AtS. Charisma and David brought their A-game and showed their chemistry to maximum advantage. The events of episodes yet to come really did bring truth to Angel’s declaration to Cordelia that he was lost without her. He’d never be the same.
Non-Standard: Heartthrob. Oh, you guys, if only I could describe to you the pure, uncut hit of joyous anticipation that overcame me with the airing of this episode. I didn’t go into AtS expecting C/A to become anything more than a fond wish of mine, but by the time Epiphany rolled around in s2, it was clear that something was on the horizon. Angel was just too frantic to get back into Cordelia’s good graces and when she told him they weren’t friends, he reacted like she just drove a stake into his heart – same as in Epiphany when she told him he’d hurt her feelings. So when I first saw the promos for Heartthrob, my own heart jumped clear into my throat. The way they greeted each other when he comes through the basement door! The way she just knows not all is right with him! Their talk, all the running together and touching they did! The surreptitious way Angel moves Cordelia behind him when James focuses on her and James’ misunderstanding about who exactly Cordelia was to Angel (or maybe James just understood the signs more than Angel the Afflicted)….it was like manna to my shipper soul, a gentle rain after a long, hard drought.
Most importantly, BtVS had just moved to UPN and it seemed like AtS was closing the door to the past (of being the BtVS spinoff) while opening another door to the future (finally being their own show). I felt like the braces had come off, or the training wheels, or whatever supportive devices I can throw in to emphasize how much I adored that my baby, my vampire show, was launching into the stratosphere.
Never mind the shit storm that happened in s4, when I watch Heartthrob, I get that same tingly “the sky is the limit” feeling I had the first time I watched it. No other episode will ever fill me with the same kind of giddy squeeing.
Honorable mentions: Parting Gifts: Because this episode was when Cordelia’s story, long simmering, began to cook. Waiting in the Wings: Sex. C/A sex. NGL. I’m shallow as shit when it comes to C/A love. Their chemistry sizzled like bacon on a grill. Untouched: I just like it. Cordelia is running the office, warning off Bethany, fighting with Wesley, and telling Angel “been there, done that” when he whines about getting rebarred. And she looked exceptionally HOT doing all of it. Fuck, I love that woman.
My apologies for being slow to reply to comments but I promise to catch up soon. Er. Promise.
