With one of the major themes of the season being the nature of corporate culture perhaps it’s only appropriate that by the end of the season the only ‘women’ who survive are Harmony as the archetypal blonde secretary and Illyria as every company man’s nightmare of the ball breaking, effortlessly superior, corporate bitch.
Oh, yes, definitely. Contrast with the slayers who arrived en masse to protect Dana at the end of Damage: I definitely believe this is deliberate.
There’s a definite impression that while the men have made this bright and hollow world they’re not really at home in it. To quote Spike: "There's a hole in the world. Feels like we ought to have known.”
Very prettily put. ;)
Coupled with Shells and I am very dense but it’s only just hit me that A Hole in the World and Shells are both synonyms for hollow thing(s). Hollow, empty, a nothingness bounded and framed.
What is the essence of Fred? Innocence, hope, curiosity, pancakes? For this story perhaps it’s womanliness. She does seem to run a gamut of female types as the story progresses.
From A5.05 Life of the Party:
Lorne: Fred! Fred, sweetie, you're sorta like a woman... Fred: Oh, that's... not a compliment. [...] And I'm a lot like a woman. Lorne: Oh, you're all woman. You're every woman. You're Wonder Woman! Fred: Damn straight!
And later she turns into Illyria, who is sort of a walking anime character, a female superhero-ish sort.
Gunn signed up for corporate culture, he perpetuated it, he let it define him and now he can’t go back. He does go back, eventually, but only after he goes through hell upon realizing the very personal consequences of his actions. Even though he tried to convince Angel back in A5.06 The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco that the work they do from the upper floors is just as important and helpful as the classic "helping the helpless" gig--moreso, even--it seems that he fell into the trap Angel feared back in A1.03 In the Dark:
Angel:(regarding "daytime people" and why he shouldn't become one of them) They have help. The whole world is designed for them, so much that they have no idea what goes on around them after dark. They don’t see the weak ones lost in the night, or the things that prey on them. And if I join them, maybe I’d stop seeing, too.
Gunn doesn't see them anymore, which is why he was willing to sign that piece of paper for selfish gain. And why in the end he goes back to Anne, for his last day, because she is still fighting the fight at street level.
Outside the necrotempered glass walls there’s still another world where men and women can work together and form families. Where curiosity is a virtue and it’s still possible to set out on a journey with a heart full of hope.
Also beautifully put.
Thanks for this: I've missed reading thoughtful thoughts on episodes!
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Oh, yes, definitely. Contrast with the slayers who arrived en masse to protect Dana at the end of Damage: I definitely believe this is deliberate.
There’s a definite impression that while the men have made this bright and hollow world they’re not really at home in it. To quote Spike: "There's a hole in the world. Feels like we ought to have known.”
Very prettily put. ;)
Coupled with Shells and I am very dense but it’s only just hit me that A Hole in the World and Shells are both synonyms for hollow thing(s). Hollow, empty, a nothingness bounded and framed.
I highly recommend macha's exegesis of Shells, as well as her piece on AHitW, and Sylvia's undefinable work on the two episodes.
What is the essence of Fred? Innocence, hope, curiosity, pancakes? For this story perhaps it’s womanliness. She does seem to run a gamut of female types as the story progresses.
From A5.05 Life of the Party:
And later she turns into Illyria, who is sort of a walking anime character, a female superhero-ish sort.
Gunn signed up for corporate culture, he perpetuated it, he let it define him and now he can’t go back.
He does go back, eventually, but only after he goes through hell upon realizing the very personal consequences of his actions. Even though he tried to convince Angel back in A5.06 The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco that the work they do from the upper floors is just as important and helpful as the classic "helping the helpless" gig--moreso, even--it seems that he fell into the trap Angel feared back in A1.03 In the Dark:
Gunn doesn't see them anymore, which is why he was willing to sign that piece of paper for selfish gain. And why in the end he goes back to Anne, for his last day, because she is still fighting the fight at street level.
Outside the necrotempered glass walls there’s still another world where men and women can work together and form families. Where curiosity is a virtue and it’s still possible to set out on a journey with a heart full of hope.
Also beautifully put.
Thanks for this: I've missed reading thoughtful thoughts on episodes!