Please, have mercy on me! One scene? Can I pick one scene for each of my favorite characters?
😱
I've said this so many times already.... but the last scene of Not Fade Away is my favorite scene ever, especially for Angel.
To me, Angel saying "Let's go to work" is the AtS equivalent of Buffy's smile in Chosen. I cry hard when Wesley dies (although I love his death scene), but in spite of the sadness, Angel's very last moments
always make me smile through my tears. I think "Yes! I know him. I know this person. I didn't know him all season, but I know him now.". Everything I wanted for Angel, everything that I hoped he'd be able to find, realistically, was that feeling of knowing who he was, what he was doing, and why he was doing it. And I wanted that feeling to chase away the fears, the doubts, the guilt. I wanted him to feel strong, and to believe in something. Because fighting for something you believe in, honoring yourself like that, is one of the best feelings. It's one of the few things that gives life genuine purpose. And purpose, not happiness, was always what Angel needed most. I heard recently that the opposite of depression isn't happiness, but purpose, and that's true. Angel's battle within himself was always about feeling worthless, and how that pain and guilt made him indifferent to life. Purpose was Angel's antidote to his darkest thoughts and impulses. Saving people, seeing the good in people, was what saved him time and time again. Because that is his purpose. And he was more certain of that than ever in the finale.
