Buffy or Angel? Whenever anyone asks me which of the two I prefer, they're often surprised when I tell them it's the latter. Buffy, after all, is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential shows ever made, and many credit it with helping to kickstart TV's Golden Age, along with the likes of Oz and The Sopranos. A lot of the time when Buffy is discussed, its spin-off is only mentioned in passing, and is generally regarded as a solid companion piece to the main series. Many Buffy fans have never even seen Angel. Now the show has become known as "The Forgotten Whedon Show". People are quick to praise Buffy's ingenuity, or lament the tragic cancellations of Firefly and Dollhouse. Angel, on the other hand, garners far less discussion.
But while Angel may well be the forgotten Whedon show, it also may well be the best Whedon show, a position that this series finale (as well as its final season as a whole) firmly cements in my mind. You can of course point to the series' myriad flaws (*cough* Cordelia season 4 *cough*), but what Whedon show isn't filled with flaws? Firefly, perhaps, but the fact that it only had fourteen episodes puts it at an unfair advantage. But Angel's final season, and in particular this perfect series finale, are the best encapsulation of the themes Whedon has explored throughout all his projects, and serves as the perfect send-off to the Buffyverse (far better than Buffy's own finale "Chosen", which was fine but not much more), as well as one of the all-time great series finales.
Just the idea behind "Not Fade Away" is brilliant. With the apocalypse looming, Angel and the gang decide to raise up arms once more in defence of the world, for what may well be the last time. But before they do, Angel gives the team the day off, to spend it however they wished. And so the middle stretch of the episode is just a series of character vignettes, giving us further insight into each of them as they prepare to die. I'll dive into how each character chooses to spend their day off in a moment, but I think it's important to acknowledge the audacity of this. Even today, most shows wouldn't dare attempt something like this for a series finale. Angel had been building towards the apocalypse for the entirety of its run, and in the finale, we're only given a glimpse of it, in favour of spending more time with the characters.
Each aforementioned vignette is beautiful and tragic, though some more beautiful or tragic than others. Lorne, unsurprisingly, decides to spend his last day singing karaoke, a reminder of what he could have been and his consistent reluctance to fight alongside Angel and co. Angel himself spends his day with Connor, in a lovely scene in which the two bond and connect as father and son, something we didn't see in season 4.
Spike goes to a pub and reads aloud the poem from Buffy's "Fool for Love", and instead of being met with ridicule, he is met with applause. This moment is powerful and, as if his interplay with Angel throughout the fifth season wasn't enough, completely justifies the decision to bring him onto the show, despite the fact that he got a great send-off on Buffy.
But while those others have something to do on their final day, Wesley has nothing now that Fred is dead. As he says in the episode, "There is no perfect day for me", and so he spends the day tending to Illyria's injuries, his attachment to her growing all the more tragic. Illyria suggests that perhaps she could take Fred's form once again, just for him, but he declines her offer, determined to separate "truth from illusion". The tragedy of this scene is amplified by Wesley's inevitable death later in the episode. He had no intention of dying that night, but he had accepted his fate nonetheless, and as Illyria held him in his final moments, she again offered to take Fred's form, and Wesley accepted.
"Would you like me to lie to you now?"What follows is one of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen, and despite watching it more times than I care to admit, it never fails to move me. Mirroring Fred's death in "A Hole in the World", Illyria, appearing as Fred, holds Wesley as he dies, is hands down the best-acted scene of either Buffy or Angel, with both Alexis Denisov and Amy Acker deserving Emmy nominations. Wesley Wyndham-Price is, in my opinion, the single greatest example of character development in television history, his transformation over the course of Angel being so significant and powerful and, ultimately, sad. There was no way Wesley was getting out of this alive.
"Yes. Thank you, yes."
"If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do"This is a quote from season 2's "Epiphany", and I use it here because this line, while corny as hell, is also incredibly poignant, and sums up pretty much everything Whedon has tried to say throughout his filmography (which is ironic, given that he didn't write it). And this finale is ultimately so brilliant because it brings everything full circle, back around to this one line. I've yet to mention Gunn's vignette in this piece because it acts mostly as a reaffirmation of this theme.
Gunn decides to spend his last day by visiting his old neighbourhood, and he goes to the shelter run by Anne, a character who first appeared in Buffy's "Lie to Me" and popped up again and again throughout both shows. She was used in Angel primarily to represent the show's core themes, and so it was fitting to have her in the finale. As Anne and others are packing a truck full of supplies, Gunn asks here this:
"What if I told you it doesn't help? What would you do if you found out that none of it matters? That it's all controlled by forces more powerful and uncaring than we can conceive, and they will never let it get better down here. What would you do?"Throughout season 5 Gunn was lost, struggling to find a purpose, feeling guilty for his role in Fred's death. But Anne's response is just perfect.
"I'd get this truck packed before the new stuff gets here."This line is a wonderfully understated encapsulation of this show's core themes, and is something Angel and co. accept in this episode. Early in the episode, after everyone agrees to take down The Circle of the Black Thorn one member at a time, Angel willingly signs away the potential for him to regain his humanity in order to gain the Circle's trust. Humanity is something Angel had long-wanted, yet he realised in that moment that he would never get it. What really matters is fighting the good fight, and Angel always knew that there would be no reward at the end of it all.
Yet he decides to fight anyway, and with the apocalypse imminent the gang complete their mission. But even the fight against evil is not completely pure, as the tragic conclusion to Lorne's arc demonstrates. Before he and Angel part ways, Angel orders Lorne to kill Lindsay, as he is "not part of the solution". Lorne never wanted to be a part of Angel's mission, but he went along with it out of loyalty. And so the fact that arguably the purest remaining member of the team is tasked with killing someone as his final act before he leaves is truly tragic.
But while the fight against evil is tainted, it's still worth fighting, as the tremendous final scene demonstrates. As the survivor's gather in the alley as planned, Gunn bleeding to death, Illyria tells them that Wesley didn't make it, uttering the iconic line: "I wish to do more violence". As all manner of demons march towards them (as well as the dragon!), Illyria tells Gunn that he likely only has ten minutes left. And he replies, in his best moment of the series, "Then let's make 'em memorable". Spike looks to Angel for some sort of plan, and Angel says he wants to slay the dragon. And he swings his sword, and the screen cuts to black, once he says those words.
"Let's go to work."We don't need to see what comes next.
Grade: A+
