Full of Fear- Fool for Love

[Varr]

Hey, I'm currently re-watching all the seasons, letting my friends experience Buffy for the first time, and we just came across the episode 'fool for love'. Having already seen the ep. i watch for the tiny things in the show.
As i was watching spike's flashbacks with angel, particullarly the one with the chinesse slayer from the boxer rebellion. i noticed that angelus, reacted quite odd when druisilla told of spike's victory, i tied that with how he was acting about spike's actions in some town (don't remember) and how they barely escaped.

Well i didn't pay much attention to it until drusilla said, something along the lines of.. "ooo smells like fear. It's intoxicating?"

Then angelus says, "This whole place reeks of it."

My question is, does anyone else think that the fear was maybe coming from angelus and that he was using the fear around as cover? I mean, he did brush off spike's victory as it were nothing.

Maybe i'm just thinking too much into these things.

Anyways, let me know what you guys think.

Peace

 

[definition of insane]

The only thing I can think of Angelus would have been fearful of was that Spike could have challenged his status as the leader of the troup. Killing a slayer would have been a huge thing and seeing as Spike seems to be the first out of them to bag one, it threatens his power.

But I don't think that's so much fear as it would be aggravation in the belief that you might no longer be top dog.

 

[Tranquillity]

I love this episode!
my reading of 'the look' is this:

Angelus has just returned to the 'family' after wandering about by himself since he got cursed with the soul (that hapened in 1898 and the China scenes are set in 1900). So in that intervening time, perhaps as much as two years, it looks like Darla has been the matriarch and the three of them (Spike, Darla and Dru) have stuck together in Angelus' absence. Angelus returns, wanting to take his place with the group again, be a badass, topdog vampire even though he HAS A SOUL. He is deeply torn between what he was and what he is. In the Angel episode Darla (a companion to Fool for Love) we see Darla give Angelus the ultimatum that he must get into the killing again, properly, not just rats and evil doers, or she will send him away again. she is disgusted by the soul.
So that look on Angel(us)' face is disgust that Spike has killed a girl nevermind that she's a slayer. It makes him sick that Spike has killed an innocent girl. He may talk the talk of wanting to be a fully fledged vampire again but that look exposes the fact that he can no longer walk the walk.

I do think there are also all sorts of vampire hierarchy issues here too. That Spike would challenge the status quo, make a grab for the position of dominant male really does irk Angel, even with the soul. Even when Spike goes to Angel in season five we see the vampire hierarchy still firmly in play, especially early in the season, despite the presence of two souls.

 

[Brightside of a Dark Mind]

If I recall correctly this was touched on briefly in the commentary. Something about how Angel having a soul influenced his disgust for all the brutality. I don't know that he was fearful per se, probably just apprehensive for his own morality and status as a vamp/immortal being/creature with a soul. He absolutely may have been conflicted as a result of hanging around soulless killers, as he no longer was one.

Something was defnitely making him rather uneasy.

 

[Blondie Bear]

The fear Drusilla smells is explained in Angel, during one of his flashbacks (I don't remember exactly which ep). Angel came across a missionary family and left them alone. He had just come out of the alley where they were hiding when he ran into Darla, then Spike and Drusilla. It's their fear she smells, and he says "This whole place reeks of it" to keep her from investigating and finding the family.

Hope that helps.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

I really liked the whole "Fool for Love" and "Darla" companion idea. It was like a crossover, without actually compramising either show with an actual crossover. If you watch them back to back, all the little wierd things make sense.

 

[Edmund Blackadder]

I really liked the whole "Fool for Love" and "Darla" companion idea. It was like a crossover, without actually compramising either show with an actual crossover. If you watch them back to back, all the little wierd things make sense.

Spike was in Angel, Angel was in Buffy.
They were shown in Flashback but it still constitutes an actual crossover as both characters were main characters on the other shows.

 

[MLLamble]

I think you might have a point. Spike is a pretty formidable foe, especially to someone like Angelus. Let me explain. Spike likes to kill for fun/ thrill of the hunt, while Angelus likes to kill slowly and sadistically. I think that this clash in their styles gives Spike the upper hand, as he actively seeks out tough fights, and Angelus fights out of necessity. On the other hand, Angel and Angelus both kick some serious @$$ over the course of the series, so he might have been able to come out on top, but any fight would be risky.