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Well, that was interesting.
It seemed to me that we got theMary Sue Platonic Ideal of Cordelia Chase, and everybody got to experience her exactly how they would have wished to remember her. The Powers that Be gave her a gift.
In the meta-sense, it's exactly as the fan would want to have remembered the character - the PtB at Mutant Enemy giving the fan a gift.
But, of course, it wasn't real. The real Cordelia Chase never left her bed, never awoke from her coma, never talked to the MoG, and died quietly offscreen.
Take her out of every scene, and nothing in the episode changes. Cordelia only voices ideas they're each thinking, but would need to hear from another source. Things we'd want them to acknowledge, but have told to them, rather than hear them say it themselves. But again, it's not Cordelia. It's a fantasy.
But I'm left asking once again - how much, if any of this, is real? Were the "Powers that Be" that benevolent force that Angel, Doyle, Cordy and Wes wanted to believe they were back in S1 - or are they something far murkier - as Jasmine led us to question?
It would have been interesting to see Cordy confront what her life was, rather than everyone else's life. But this episode was never really about Cordy's story. It was all about Angel & the MoG holding on to the fantasy that they can be confident in doing the PtB's mission while running W&H. And getting to remember Cordy exactly the way they (and we) would want to remember her. Except that the PtB is bogus, and W&H isn't really under their control. And that's not really what Cordelia's life was like for the past few years.
And you can't be saved by a lie.
So is "Cordelia" setting Angel on his path, or is this a new manipulation down the primrose path?
It seemed to me that we got the
In the meta-sense, it's exactly as the fan would want to have remembered the character - the PtB at Mutant Enemy giving the fan a gift.
But, of course, it wasn't real. The real Cordelia Chase never left her bed, never awoke from her coma, never talked to the MoG, and died quietly offscreen.
Take her out of every scene, and nothing in the episode changes. Cordelia only voices ideas they're each thinking, but would need to hear from another source. Things we'd want them to acknowledge, but have told to them, rather than hear them say it themselves. But again, it's not Cordelia. It's a fantasy.
But I'm left asking once again - how much, if any of this, is real? Were the "Powers that Be" that benevolent force that Angel, Doyle, Cordy and Wes wanted to believe they were back in S1 - or are they something far murkier - as Jasmine led us to question?
It would have been interesting to see Cordy confront what her life was, rather than everyone else's life. But this episode was never really about Cordy's story. It was all about Angel & the MoG holding on to the fantasy that they can be confident in doing the PtB's mission while running W&H. And getting to remember Cordy exactly the way they (and we) would want to remember her. Except that the PtB is bogus, and W&H isn't really under their control. And that's not really what Cordelia's life was like for the past few years.
And you can't be saved by a lie.
So is "Cordelia" setting Angel on his path, or is this a new manipulation down the primrose path?
no subject
I dunno, I like best to remember her as the Bitca-Queen in Buffy. Wish she'd had just a few moments of that transformation, as long as it was all a whatever-it-was, but guess that didn't fit the story line.
no subject
And the casting of the spell that took away Lindsey's tatoos, is what affected the machine.
Re:
I disagree with you on the machine/tattoo connection. I don't believe the one had an effect on the other. Cordelia was able to stop the Beast from being released by removing the crystal-like item from the controls. The spell that removed Lindsey's tattoos allowed the Senior Partners to locate him.
But I could be wrong.
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Cordy Sue
I have to disagree. If she hadn't pulled out the old tape of Doyle, Angel wouldn't have remembered on his own — he was too lost in despair at that point. If she hadn't drawn the glyphs for Wesley, he wouldn't have known what to look for. If she hadn't been attacked by Spike, he wouldn't have mentioned Lindsey (because, hey, why would Angel bother communicating the only other vampire with a soul?). If she hadn't grabbed a sword from the wall, Angel would have been unarmed. If she hadn't removed the crystal from the machine, the beast would have been freed.
Cordy was corporeal in this episode, even though her body was elsewhere. Unlike Giles in S7, she physically interacted with everyone. And she used her Mary Sue Wand of Sunshine™ to make things right, to remind Angel of the mission, even as she made it clear that yes, he made a deal with the devil when he signed on to W&H.
I suspect the moment at which she died was right before she was going to get on the elevator at the end of the episode. She had a look that seemed to indicate that something had happened. And in her final talk with Angel, she said what he needed to hear — that he was worth saving as well.
Personally, I thought it was a nice send-off of Cordy, including the glimpses of Queen C we were given.
no subject
Think you hit the nail on the head, there.
no subject
And you can't be saved by a lie.
So is "Cordelia" setting Angel on his path, or is this a new manipulation down the primrose path?
Total manipulation by the
VorlonsPTB.no subject
Good point! No wonder it felt off.
And you can't be saved by a lie.
Brrrrr. ::shivers::
Mer
My Crazy Conspiracy Theory
It's quite possible that something was there after all - I just don't happent to believe it was Cordelia Chase.
Bringing up S7 Giles is a great point, and a neat juxtaposition.
With Giles, nobody touched him and he acted "off" - so they thought it wasn't the real Giles. Except that it was. This time, everybody touches her and she acts exactly like the Cordy they'd want to remember. Except, I don't think this is her at all. Physically, or in spirit. It's somebody else taking her form.
Because the PtB are morally ambiguous and not all that trustworthy - and let's remember that Cordelia got into this Jasmine and Coma situation because she made a deal with the devil herself. And if this were the real Cordelia Chase, she would have pointed that out. She would have been angry about how much she'd been manipulated into this position by the PtB. And about how much her life had collapsed because she bought into what Skip offered her, without asking questions either before she took his deal, or after she took his deal.
The PtB wouldn't want Angel to think about how much they'd all been duped - not for the good of humanity - but for the furtherence of the PtB's ends. (Which none of these folks have questioned). And Angel & the MoG don't want to think about that either. It's no mistake that they reference Doyle, and Lindsey's rather ambiguous purposes for Spike. Angel & Crew want to feel like they're in control - like they're doing the right thing.
But maybe they aren't in control, and maybe they aren't doing the right thing.
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no subject
In short, I pretty much agree, though I'm not sure if it's TPTB or the SP... though I am beginning to think that perhaps those two are one in the same? They'd have to have a balance of good and evil, right?
I don't think that was Cordelia, but more than that, I also don't believe that the real Cordy is dead. Could be denial on my part, but it's just a little too convenient to the plot at this point, and a little to perfect with its timing in the episode for me to believe it was real.
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Which, fits in just fine with the comments I made about last week's episode (http://www.livejournal.com/users/dlgood/17112.html#cutid1).
no subject
Thanks for always providing a different viewpoint! I often need someone to point out that one flower hiding in the garden of weeds!
no subject
no subject
It's a cool theory and would provide, IMO, a really interesting storyline, but I'm having a hard time believing that Cordelia's big send-off would turn out to be a lie. The last we see of Cordelia Chase and she's screwing Angel over again. I could be wrong, and would love to be, but I'm not sure that's what the writers were doing.
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Except that it's okay because it wasn't really Cordelia. It was something that just looked and acted like her. The real Cordelia never left her hospital room.
Or if it makes you feel comfortable, the real Cordelia is off traveling the globe with Xander.
no subject
I don't have any trust in it being a conspiracy theory because i don't have any trust in the show anymore, but it would be one of the few acceptable ways to justify this episode.
Deepa D.
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And if that's true, this really is a Catholic sort of universe. An in which case, she's essentially lived the life of the "victim soul / Catholic saint". A fundamentally fulfilled and meaningful existence. And while it would thus be sad that she suffered and died, that is in now way anything other than a glorious fate for her character.
Re: My Crazy Conspiracy Theory
I dunno why, but watching it just now all I kept thinking was "This is so not really Cordy." And, yes, the hugging immediately brought to mind the thing with Giles on BTVS, like it was entirely there to say "No, she's not evil!" And then we get it spelled out when Spike goes for her neck.
'Course, maybe I just don't like Cordelia enough to want to believe it all.