Angel

It hit me hard. I know why.

The episode was called “Not Fade Away”. It was the last episode of any show to take place in Joss Whedon’s universe. It made a lot of noise about not fading away. The title yelled at you. This isn’t the end. But it is. It hit me, I think, especially at the end during The WB’s Thank You to the Angel crew. I started whimpering a bit. I didn’t even do that after Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s finale. But this hurt. Because it’s all over. It’s faded away. It’s done with. I offer you, the viewers of these shows, a continuation of my column. The shows deserve to live on in your memories. They deserve to be discussed and pored over. They don’t deserve to fade away. But they have.

As for the episode being discussed, it was pretty incredible. It was also very much an ensemble episode, something we haven’t seen a lot of lately. The hardcore fans are the only ones that have ever believed that Buffy and Angel were ensemble shows (and it hurts me writing in the past tense about Angel for the first time).

Wesley Wyndham-Price: My favorite Angel character. He went through quite a five-season character arc. And now he’s dead. His death really did hurt. It hurt me. But, just like Anya’s death in Buffy’s finale “Chosen”, it made a lot of sense. When he explained to Illyria that he had no perfect day, that he had nothing to live for, that was the first time in the episode I sobbed a bit. Alexis Denisof is a revelatory actor and if he doesn’t continue to work good and regularly, then Hollywood really is a lost cause.

Illyria/Winifred Burkle: Illyria spent most of the episode doing her usual hardcore posing and having her dark, meaningful conversations with Wesley. But she showed grief. Her final two scenes, first with her “lying” to Wesley in his time of need, and then with her fascination at what she was feeling in the rain, made me feel something interesting. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Amy Acker was truly a find. The way she can seamlessly go back and forth from Illyria to Fred is nothing short of astonishing.

Krevlornswath Of The Deathswok Tribe: Lorne went through the greatest character change of the series (other than Wesley perhaps). He really impressed me as a character in this one. And Andy Hallett showed some surprisingly subtle acting, and it was a joy to hear him sing one last time. Lorne’s final scene, killing Lindsey, leaving for good, “Goodnight, folks”, it hurt.

Lindsey McDonald: Even evil Lindsey had some great moments in this one, particularly his surprise at having been killed by a “flunkie”. When the the WB advertisements stated that someone was going to die, and Lindsey got shot, I thought that was it. I was wrong. Christian Kane gave yet another solid performance.

Charles Gunn: I enjoyed Gunn more in this episode than I have in ages, probably since around “Billy” in season three, and that’s high praise. His perfect day was going back to the old neighborhood, and boy was it great seeing Anne again. In his final fight, we finally got to see the bad-ass we first met in season one’s “War Zone”. J. August Richards-I can’t say enough about this man. No matter how little I’ve felt towards the character at times, he always surprised me.

Spike: James Marsters was again wonderful. His perfect day of drinking and fighting seemed certainly fitting. Finally, the scene in which he read his poem for Cecily, so reviled when he was a human, and it was finally appreciated was another thing that tore me up inside. I would have loved to have seen that in an episode of Buffy.

Angel: Angel signed away Shanshu. Thus proving that he deserved it in the first place. I can’t love this character enough. His duet with Conner fighting Hamilton was glorious. There was nothing that wasn’t glorious. David Boreanaz proves himself one of the best actors to ever grace a television set. Once again.

Some fans are going to bitch about the seeming lack of closure in the finale. Four characters still alive, one wounded very badly, with an army coming after them. We don’t get to see the fight. And I guess it’s because the show didn’t want to fade away. But it has.