"Buffy Season 9" and "Angel & Faith"

[LyteHouse]

I think Scott Allie was the bigger problem than Joss.

Have to agree with that. It didn't help that Joss found himself distracted towards the end of Season 8's run with landing a Director's role in the Avengers movie.

Of course thats not to say that the entire plot of Season 8 wasn't ridiculous from the get-go. 😉

 

[white avenger]

I've had this discussion with WA before so I won't get into it again, but suffice it to say that I understand some of his points, and do see some of those character defects rooted in his behavior in ATS, but it was taken to such a grand extent that it reads unbelievable (mass killings of slayers? wholesale, world-wide deception? all to be with Buffy, when many other times he sacrificed being with Buffy for the greater good?).

In Buffy season 8, Angel is alone. He doesn't do well alone. I've said it before, I'll say it again: Angel is a character that absolutely needs his friends, his family. Alone he's eating rats. That is the big problem with Angel in season 8, and something that I hope gets rectified in season 9. Having him with Faith is a start, but he really needs some other ATS/AI members to ground him. I'm cautiously optimistic about what they do with him in season 9.

Granted, Angel's actions as Twilight in Season are on a far grander scale than anything that he's ever done before, but considering the fact that he put the entire population of Los Angeles, and what could possibly have been the entire world, by forcing a confrontation with the Senior Partners that he himself described as little more than a suicidal gesture. Putting the universe at risk seeme, when looked at in that light, simply in the logical line of progression.

And I totally agree, Angel simply can not function very well for very long without his team. He's like the Spartan war chief. Awesome when engaged in what he does best, the fighting, but just one step short of useless as the ultimate administrator. He has to have someone to dandle the day to day details while he fights the war.