LadyLavinia said:
You know, I was watching last night's episode, enjoying Cordelia's reunion with the Fang Gang and her subsequent apprehension over their new positions with Wolfram & Hart . . . when I found myself coming upon the scene with Cordelia and Wes. And that is when my enjoyment of the episode stopped.
Why? Because for some reason I cannot fathom, Wes remembers his affair with Lilah Morgan. Despite the fact that he has no memories of Connor - whose presence led him into Lilah's arms in the first place.
Now, I had brought up this fact when Wes mentioned chopping up Lilah in "Lineage", some five episodes ago. And I was told that Mutant Enemy would eventually explain this. Well, you know what? They haven't. I also suspect that they never will. I suspect that this is simply a ploy for the writers not to have Wes and Lilah's affair hanging over their heads, while they emesh themselves in the "glory" of Wes' love for Fred in upcoming episodes.
Something similar has happened before - namely Spike's friendship with Dawn. Although I never openly complained about it, I was among those who were frustrated by ME's handling of the pair's friendship. They ignored it throughtout most of Season 6 and only brought it back as a plot device for the attempted rape scene between Buffy and Spike in "Seeing Red". After that, they had an excuse to end Spike and Dawn's friendship for good.
And now I see the same thing happening over the whole Wes/Lilah/Connor/Fred thing. Despite all logic, ME has decided to allow Wes to remember his affair with Lilah without explaining HOW he remembered . . . all so they can prepare us for his upcoming romance with Fred.
This is just the latest incident of frustration that has greeted me, while watching some of my favorite TV shows. A similar frustration had already led me to abandon CHARMED back in Season 5. I've been ignoring FRIENDS nearly all season long. And I'm growing frustrated with "24" and their handling of the David Palmer character, this season. But after the Cordelia/Wes scene in last night's ANGEL and reading further spoilers, I don't think I want to bother with the rest of the season. At least not now.
I'm sorry LadyLavinia but I agree with Javen.
You need to look past the contradictions. Angel had Connor erased from everybodies memories, but not everything else that happened the last year. There will always be things that can't fit together, but it would be more stupid to have all of the characters remembering wierd alternate dimensions. I think that if Angel eventually asks any of the characters about season 3 & 4 events, they are going to remember them in pretty much the same way. Wesley probably thinks that his relationship with Lilah was the thing that split him from the gang in the first place, as opposed to the other way around.
However, I sort of understood what you were on about until you came to the bit about Dawn. Here you are complaining about how the writers never fully account for the altered universes they created, when Dawn and Spikes friendship is proof that they do. We don't ever see the beginning of their relationship (due to Dawns non-existance) and so the writers have made one up. You can't have it both ways. They have to fill in the story somehow. So...
1) The writers spend a whole episode worth of time explaining what the entire cast remembers of the last year.
2) They leave the memories completely silent and never mention the season 3-4 arc at all.
or 3) They just remove all of the very specific Connor memories, and leave us to fill in the tiny plot gaps.
I honestly prefer the 3rd way. I can choose to believe that Jasmine was an immaculate conception and that Angel killed her. After all, I devoted hours of time watching the characters develop over the last few years. I would be annoyed if they suddenly changed back to their season 2 selves.
ATS and BTVS are really, really good at not making continuity errors, I barely know of any in the entire Whedonverse - in fact the only one that I can remember off the top of my head is that first Angel/Spike scene, where Angel says that he sired Spike. I don't see the Connor erase thing as a problem at all, and actually think it has been dealt with really well.
On a lighter note...
I loved the episode, especially the last scene. I hope Lindsey is back at some point. Also I think that Spike and Angel will still have to fight over the Shanshu later - its just that now Spike is upset because he was convinced it was about him, because of 'Doyle' and his visions.
Much as I love Cordy - her exit was beautiful, and I don't think she should return because it will spoil it. She got the heroes exit that she deserved. It was almost as moving as Doyles. Sadly, I thought Spike deserved to rest in peace last year. Few other characters have gone out as well as that. I hope that the big Angel finale gives everyone some good closure. I just hope it isn't this season...
