WATCH ALONG: Angel S1 E15
Added 2025-04-23 21:48:24 +0000 UTC
Comments
Ashleigh, a pity you didn't like this episode very much. It's one of my favorites in season 1. Yes, the info-dumps help (we do get to see what Liam was like as a person before he became Angel, and his daddy issues). But I also see it as a little discussion on the effects of dads, by Whedon himself, who doesn't like parents, and especially dads (where's Buffy's dad again?). Young Liam was always trying his hardest to satisfy his father's expectation and, like all children, adolescents, and young adults, all those "you're worthless!" he kept hearing from daddy dearest certainly left a mark on his sense of self. Similarly, Kate's dad wasn't very open about his feelings for her (to the point she had to apply logical deduction, as she did with his presence in the crime scene, just to conclude that he cared about her). That's better than "you're worthless!", but as children might put it, not exactly by a long shot. Kate is also full of self-doubts, and just like the newborn Angel is full of doubts (it really makes my eyes watery to see him in full sincerity looking at Darla and asking, 'could this be a work of love?'). Both of them know, and at the same time don't know, how much they're worth. They're also quick to judge themselves, and others. That makes their relationships difficult. Perhaps because I'm a father myself, I've always been curious about the effects and extent of 'parental influence' on people and their self images. I really felt sorry for these two for having to fight for, and almost (always?) losing, any chance of validation or approval from their respective fathers. And I can feel for the fathers, too. Kate's father looking at Angel and saying, 'don't think you can understand how a father feels about his daughter, and why he does the things he does' -- that's a man with a plethora of feelings inside that he never allowed himself to show. (By the way -- we never find out why he was involved in illegal activity. The retirement pension wasn't good enough?) And Liam/Angel's father going 'I never stood in your way'... Despite all the bad words, all the screaming judgmental words, I do think that his father loved him (the 'beloved son' in Liam's tombstone wasn't merely tradition speaking, I think), but, like Kate's father, he could only judge the bad things his son did (without realizing the cry for help hidden behind them, or the possibility he might be part of the reason why his son does these things); and, perhaps as it usually was in the 18th century, he let his love remain unexpressed. I wonder how life would have turned out for Liam and for Kate if their fathers hadn't been so secretive about their love for their children. In that sense, I always found that scene where Angel screams 'invite me in! INVITE ME IN!' and Kate's father tells him to go away, to be symbolic. These are fathers who never really let anyone in (= into their hearts), who only loved from a distance, avoiding direct words and direct support. He didn't invite Kate into his heart, just as he didn't invite Angel into his apartment. And, in both cases, the consequences were evil.
Sergio Meira
2025-08-05 18:19:33 +0000 UTCAshleigh, it was early 2000s, I'd say at least 50% of early 20s girls (and guys) had a tramp stamp.
Ian A
2025-04-25 04:29:40 +0000 UTCI've probably seen this episode four times, but I've never done the math before. "Eleven and a half months of punching it in, and you won't have an excuse." So Cordy's birthday was two weeks ago! Which suggests it was her birthday party in She!
Heather Cotter
2025-04-24 18:17:34 +0000 UTC
