I won’t over do this for fear of elicting a Corner ban. But here are a few emails from readers:
Hello Jonah,
Yes, the finale did seem rushed but it also conveyed – intentionally, I believe – the idea that “the work” (battling evil) goes on. I hope Angel does land on another network, but I think Joss deliberately set this ending up to illustrate that Angel and the crew’s battle will continue, we just won’t be witness to it. And some day, on some battlefield, Buffy and Angel will once more stand side by side against the forces of darkness and I hope that moment occurs on the silver screen of a multiplex near me.
And…
Yes, you are wrong.
I think Whedon probably ended Angel in that manner for two reasons:
1- Every other show in the history of TV (or at least during the last 5 years) has sought to tie up all the loose ends for their series finale. Whedon didn’t tie up the loose ends; he ended with a cliffhanger, perfectly against the conventional TV wisdom.
2- The moral of the ending was that there will always be a battle of good vs. evil, and while evil may outnumber good, may outgun good, and may out-everything good in every single way, there will always be heroes like Angel, Spike, Gunn, etc…, to fight the good fight. Remember the gist of their final words (from memory, not even close to exact) “what are we going to do?”
“What we always do”
Finally, if you think Whedon isn’t thinking about putting together a Buffy-Angel movie, you’re nuts.
And…
Dear Jonah,
I hope you are right, that Angel does come back. I thought it was a little rushed as well, and set up such that Angel can “jump networks” like Taxi, or more recently, Buffy did. I had heard that Joss has a deal to make a few TV movies/specials/microseries, but you know how things are in Hollywood. Nobody’s word means a damn thing until after the film is distributed at the theaters, or the program is on the air.
Why does everyone have this thing about dragons? That is one spot that really upset me, Angel’s closing line about how he wanted to kill the dragon. Just because you are big, winged, breathe fire, and have a taste for virgins, everybody is on your case. There is way too much anti-dragon bias in television, the movies and fiction in general.
And, lastly:
Jonah:
Unfortunately, the sets have been struck, some even destroyed. Joss is busy
getting the “Firefly” movie into production. However, I was thinking the
same thing last night. I kept waiting for Andrew and Giles and Buffy to show
up with about a hundred Britney Spears clones. Wesley sure could have used
Willow’s help, but I am pretty sure he went there to die so he could be with
Fred.
Man, I am SO glad that I’m not the only male fan of the Whedonverse. Great
minds think alike I guess.
Have a great day.