A is for...

More letters and characters; futuresoon gave me an A.

So, A is for...

Amanda, of Highlander: The Series. I've been raving about how much I adore Amanda before. She was my original Catwoman long before I ever read a Batman comics or saw a film; thief, trickster and occasional heroine, a millennium old, a friend and lover of the guy in whose show she originally showed up but never his love interest (there is a difference), and just plain fun. Recently I found a clip of my favourite Amanda and Duncan sequence on Youtube, which is as good an illustration of why I love her and her relationship with him as any. From the season 3 finale. Back when I first watched this, I assumed it was done in studio, and it wasn't until I saw the outtakes at a convention that I realised they actually filmed this on the Eiffel Tower. Elizabeth Gracen (who plays Amanda) must have been freezing to death in that mini skirt, but it doesn't show at all.

Anakin Skywalker, of Star Wars. As opposed to the period between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin was the most unpopular character in the 'verse other than Jar Jar, I'm not in quite as much a minority opinion as before when declaring my fondness, but at a guess, we're still outnumbered. Anyway, I've written the post and walked the walk, and nothing changed much since then: as Vader, he was the character I was most interested in in the original trilogy (the rest of you can keep your Han Solo; though I loved Leia, the emotional core of the OT to me was the Luke and Vader relationship), as Anakin, I downright loved him, messed up well intentioned boy sliding to hell that he was. Oh, and this reminds me: must write a short review of Clone Wars which I've enjoyed.


Angela Petrelli, of Heroes. I found her fascinating in the first season but tettered on the brink of affection, hoping the second season would give me more character scenes, which it did. Now Angela reigns along Livia in my list of ruthless manipulative matriarchs whom I wouldn't want to go near in real life but whom I loooooove watching on my tv screen. And love writing about, for that matter. (See fanfiction, mine.) Whether she was slapping Kaito, having completely dysfunctional intense scenes with Nathan, or interrogation scenes with Matt Parkman, Angela rocked my life in season 2, and I dearly hope she'll have scenes with Claire again in season 3 because their brief s1 interaction was fab.


Arvin Sloane, of Alias. Oh, Arvin. Back in season 1 of Alias, he started out as a villain I was just interested in, but then he had to mock Quentin Tarantino while the later was torturing him and sacrifice his finger for the lives of the heroine and her father, and be a loving and devoted husband to his cancer-ridden wife, and I couldn't help myself, my affections became engaged. In season 2, he out-manipulated good guys and bad guys alike and then, when he could have walked away and been happy with Emily, doomed himself by continuing to pursue his obsession with Rambaldi, because that's what Sloane does (brilliant when backed in a corner, fantastic in adversity, but let him win and get what he wants for a while, and he'll self-sabotage; see also, season 5) . In season 3, his scenes were my main reason for watching (the third season being less than stellar). Season 4, aka once more, with ambiguity, where Arvin S. was concerned, became my overall favourite Alias season. In season 5 he broke my heart. Still my favourite Alias character and together with Londo Mollari my favourite tv tragedy playing out.

Angel, of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series. As I recall, back when BTVS was first broadcast, during the first three seasons, the reactions to Angel were basically split into the Buffy/Angel'shipping part of fandom who loved him and the rest who wanted more screentime for the other characters and complained about David Boreanaz' acting. Then he got his spin-off, and reactions got far more complicated. As for myself, I never was a shipper, but I had no problem with Angel (or his actor) during the first three seasons, either. I was mildly fond, but there were several characters on BTVS I liked much more. I watched the AtS pilot mainly for Cordelia. However, said pilot already swayed me in Angel's favour, what with scenes like the one where he heroically jumps into the wrong BMW that allowed David Boreanaz to display his comic timing. My fondness for Angel grew, and by time the show finished, I pretty much loved the entire package, from his thing for Barry Manilow through his dysfunctional and intense relationships to Darla and Connor to his friendship with Cordelia pre-awful season 3 love interest phase and with Wesley, ups and downs and fallouts and reconciliations included; the pettiness (take most scenes with Spike, and I'm with Joss there, Angel being petty just cracks me up) as well as the heroism. The fact that he had a vicious streak a mile wide with his soul as well as without and wasn't a hero because but inspite of himself. And lastly? I love Angel for his utter inability to sing. This always makes me empathize.