Overheard, during four years of Angel fandom

[selenak]

"They killed Doyle? Wah! The show is ruined!"

"WESLEY? Wesley is going to replace Doyle? How can a dull stuck-up Brit ever replace an adorable Irish half-demon? And that actor, I hate him! The show is ruined!"

"I sure hope they won't use that Gunn fellow to ursurp Wesley's place and screentime. That would ruin the show."

"Darla being back sucks. Julie Benz can't act. And she's taking all the screentime away from Cordy! The show is ruined!"

"Where the hell are Darla and Drusilla? Their story wasn't wrapped up at all. And why are we suddenly in Disneyland? The show is ruined!"

"Lindsey gone? But he must return! Lilah is so dull. She can't be the main W&H person. Lilah without Lindsey, all the time? The show is RUINED."

"Why did we had to add this Fred person? Why couldn't we add Lilah to the credits instead? The show is ruined."

"Darla pregnant? How much more soap-opera like can you get? THE SHOW IS RUINED."

"Darla dead? Sacrificing herself? Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. That's so out of character. And also, the show is ruined."

"Why doesn't anybody kill the baby already? Connor ruins the show, I tell you."

"Now Connor is back as a teenager? Doesn't Joss know we need no whiny teenagers on AtS? This is so selling out to the demographic. He ruins the showwwwwwww!"

"Lilah dead? Joss is a woman-hater in his heart who only likes girls and can't understand the complexity of Lilah. The show is RUINED!"

(Interjection: This is where Angel Fandom rule No.1 comes into place: When in doubt, bash Joss. Never Tim Minear, only rarely the departed David Greenwalt, and never any of the other Angel writers, except for random swipes at David Fury because of his BTVS status, or at Mere Smith, because we can't have OTHER fangirls graduating from writing posts at the Bronze to writing scripts on the show.)
(In BTVS fandom, of course, rule No.1 is: When in doubt, bash Marti. THEN bash Joss.)
(On with the fun:)

"Oh, how we have fallen after Angelus and Faith. This Jasmine character sucks. She's supposed to be the Big Bad? Joss is so working out his Firefly issues and it's ruining the show."

"Oh. Wow. But...this can't be the end of Connor, right? What do you mean, VK will only be back for an episode or so? And CC on a recurring basis instead of a regular? No, this can't be because of her baby. This is clearly Joss' fault. Now I'm seriously wondering about the future of the show..."

"Who? Are you sure? In season 5? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Joss, you bastard, you're ruining the show!!!!"

And that's all I'm going to say about the current hysteria.

Comments

*giggles*

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

All of that does sound pretty familiar. I'm definitely taking a 'wait and see' approach because every time last season that I expected something to crash and burn, it was pulled off wonderfully.

[saava.livejournal.com]

I love you. That is all. :)

Thanks!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Does that mean you are going to make more pretty icons for me?

A wonderfully amusing timeline there

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

(In BTVS fandom, of course, rule No.1 is: When in doubt, bash Marti. THEN bash Joss.)

Damn strait! ::laugh::

Quite. <g>

[selenak.livejournal.com]

For my view on Marti, see here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/selenak/5462.html).

Re: Quite. <g>

[essene.livejournal.com]

Damn. Went there, and now I can't hate Marti so much.

Why'd you have to play the sex card?

On the other hand...woman's got issues--S&M related.

[kernezelda]

I must be a fairly apathetic viewer - I usually just wait to see what actually happens on the show, then decide whether it worked for me or not.

There is so much recrimination against the writers, actors, etc., when fans aren't happy, but if the creators of the program consider it a worthy effort, then shouldn't they stay true to their vision? It is their baby, after all.

You're not apathetic, you're wise.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

That's the drawback of spoilers - they induce a climate of self-feeding frenzy about something nobody has seen play out on screen for weeks or sometimes months.

[greenet.livejournal.com]

*deeply amused*

Yes, that sounds about right.

I think I've thought most of these things, but also "they'll pull it off, somehow. they always do". And, hey, now I even like Fred and her geeky ways, so...

I guess what with being completely incapable of getting the show, I've got used to a very laid back approach.

Really, there's no point stating "Who? Are you sure? In season 5? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Joss, you bastard, you're ruining the show!!!!" until you've seen what they intend to do. I mean, at episode 22 season 5, then that exclaimation might be used, but not before. *grins*

Nitpick

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Actually, I've seen a lot of Greenwalt-bashing.

Re: Nitpick

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I haven't, but that's probably because I try to avoid bashing posts as soon as I realize what they are. Sometimes I can't resist, though. And almost always regret reading them.

Anyway, your point is taken.

[asta77.livejournal.com]

LOL, but, sadly, all true. It amazes me that shows that have been "ruined" as many times as Buffy and Angel have have run for 7 and soon to be 5 seasons respectively.

Actually, ME should be given a lot of credit, turning ideas that should suck and making them brilliant. A vampire in love with a Slayer? HA! Twice?! Killing off beloved characters! Continually bringing back characters we hate until we love them?! It's insanity!

Though.....

"Why doesn't anybody kill the baby already? Connor ruins the show, I tell you."

He didn't ruin it, but I could have lived without Conner. That and seeing DB in the yellow and white stripped shirt last season. ::shudders::

[thegoyle.livejournal.com]

I really should NOT sneak looks at LJ during office hours. Explosions of laughter and tea sprayed over valuable paperwork really don't go down well.

[lynnb.livejournal.com]

Very funny and very wise observations. My philosophy has always been to wait and see before I say anything. Simple concept, amazing how much it works :)

[girlwithjournal.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're wonderful! ::licks you:: ::licks lanieday for leading me to you::

[elz.livejournal.com]

Amen, amen, amen. And at least with BtVS, Joss got the credit as well as the blame; with AtS, not so much.

Yes.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

For some strange reason, as far as AtS is concerned, there seems to be this assumption that Joss is responsible only for plotlines/characters people don't like, or has nothing to do with AtS at all. Now I've read and heard Tim Minear interviews over the years, and out of my head, he explicitly mentioned Joss being responsible for the following plot twists:
- Darla comes back human
- Darla kills herself, instead of getting killed by Holtz as Minear had originally planned
- Jasmine (once they learned about CC's pregnancy)
- Jasmine's aim an enforced garden of Eden instead of the usual world destruction (for an atheist, Joss loves to deal with theological issues).

[spikewriter]

Well there's the basic generic for any fandom and any show: "They've (insert character departure/plot twist/character addition)! (They/individual writer/actor/creator) is ruining the show!"

Isn't it amazing how fragile shows appear to be?

[jidabug.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right. This is one reason why I'm quite happy to 1)avoid spoilers, 2)avoid hysterical fandom, 3) adopt a wait-and-see attitude. Personally, I trust in Joss and his vision, but that could just mean I'm a glutton for punishment.

[luna-k.livejournal.com]

I heart you.

That is all.

[piedmargaret.livejournal.com]

Perfect mix of cynicism, accuracy, and common sense. Added you, hope that's okay :-).

Oh yes, it is.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I'm a long time lurking admirer due to your "where the girls aren't" post on certain slash clichés which annoy me as well.

Love the icon!

Re: Oh yes, it is.

[piedmargaret.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a cool post, but er, I don't think it was mine. *grin*

Thanks for liking the icon!

Arggh.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

This is embarassing. Hm. Who else could it have been?

Anyway, some of the slash clichés cited were stories in which female canon characters either dissappear altogether, or are transformed into Understanding Yentas, or into the Evil Opposition Of The Boys Getting It On. Which amused me, because those are pet annoyances of mine. And I've read plenty of good slash stories who managed to avoid them.

Re: Arggh.

[piedmargaret.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling I read this post too, although I don't remember who wrote it. I certainly agree with the sentiments and have expressed them myself... just not, I'm fairly sure, in LJ.

Unless senility is closer than I feared, anyway.

:-)

[essene.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous and brilliant.

You bitch.

::kiss:: Excellent observations and witty spin.

Where have I been while you've been out there in the world?

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's pretty funny sometimes, but I think you've missed the psychological point. The Chicken Littling is a great way of dealing with the stress of changes on the show, and potentially bad news.

See, people get all upset over the spoilers, they imagine the worst, get a whole Doomsday Scenario going, work off all their negativity in advance. By the time the spoiled events actually air, they are usually much less bad than people imagined. It's far nicer to go in with low expectations and then be pleasantly surprised than to go in with high expectations and be disappointed.

[lynnb.livejournal.com]

quote:

---

See, people get all upset over the spoilers, they imagine the worst, get a whole Doomsday Scenario going, work off all their negativity in advance. By the time the spoiled events actually air, they are usually much less bad than people imagined. It's far nicer to go in with low expectations and then be pleasantly surprised than to go in with high expectations and be disappointed.

---

I used to subscribe to this theory when I was a rabid Cub Fan (an exercise in futility itself :)) What I found is that I took a wonderful game like baseball and turned it into my own personal torture chamber. Once I stopped, I felt so much better. Same with obsessing about spoilers. I love the show, and the incessant crying and whining about what may happen threatened to take all the joy I had over the show away. Now I'm also much better to myself :) Not to mention the wear and tear on your emotions - no one should to that to themselves.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Very clever. And I have to admit I felt that way on more than a few occasions--the death of Doyle (::sniff::), the ascension of Higher Being Cordy (_she's_ a GODDESS??) and above all, Darla. I hate Darla. Yet despite it all, the show seems to have survived...and it's done better than Buffy has, the past couple of years.

Admittedly...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

...the only time I felt my affection was really tried was, no, not during Cordy's ascension, that was just the final bit, but during the Dork!Angel/Saint!Cordy season 3 sort-of-romance. But even through season 3 there was enough goodness to make me watch.

Love Darla, always have, but there you go. We all have our favourites.

Disagree about BTVS; my love declaration for the later seasons is elsewhere in this journal. Again, it's in the eyes of the beholder.