Gwen messed with the mythology?

Cherchezlafemme

Cherchezlafemme

Townie
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
34
Location
California
Don't get me wrong, I loved Gwen, but her powers felt out of place--she belonged on X-Men rather than Angel. It would have been more believable had she been part demon rather than a mutant.
 
Lol, that's why I love Gwen. My favorite X-men character is Rogue. 😀 And you can say the same thing with Bethany from Untouched, she's like Jean Grey.

But seriously, her character and Beth really came outta nowhere. We rarely see mutant on the show. The closest thing was Billy, but he's a demon.
 
I actually liked seeing Gwen with a power that just came from nowhere or was in the Buffy and Angelverse the next step in evolution. I thought it fitted right even more so after seeing Bethany with her telekinesis 2 years prior and that developing due to emotional and mental stress from her dad. I wish they had explored that part of the supernatural side a little more with both of those characters.
 
I agree Gwen felt out of place in the verse. Just like Illyria or Darkwillow. But its to be expected. The producers start getting successful, bit of money, start substituting originality with special effects, hence, you get characters you'd expect in a kids cartoon. Just as well Joss was a genius writer, so i'l happily ignore it.
 
I don't think she felt especially out of place. Stranger things have happened.

She does have an X-Men/Rogue feel about her, and her childhood backstory was very X Files, but I liked that!

I felt they could have done a lot more with her story. Like, did she ever reconcile with her parents for pushing her away? How many people did she injure or kill? Did she ever kill someone she loved, a lover? Did she ever try to find out more about her powers? Did the L.I.S.A chip continue to work?

I'm guessing the comics answer some of these questions, but yeah. I wish the TV show gave us more on Gwen.
 
Well psychics are often human, so having rare humans with other abilities doesn't seem too big a stretch to me. I get what you're saying, I think it could've been cool to explore more, but I didn't mind it.
 
i agree, who is gewn, she came out of nowhere and just like that, went back to nowhere. Her character was one of the weirdest things in Angel. At least Bethany was connected to WH&R.
 
There is such a thing as an electric eel and Gwen did not seem out of place as a mutant with the physiology of an electric eel. BTW the electric eel can put out 600 volts - enough to injure or kill most people. One of the enduring stories from the past is The Island of Doctor Moreau where people are transformed into human-animal hybrids. I would like to have seen her become an associate or contractor with A. I. and show up in a few more episodes.
 
In a universe that has giant mantis women (not demons, Giles never uses that word, just big ol' insects...) animated dummies, Invisible people, telekinetics (that girl from S2 'Untouched'), fish creatures created from Russian science, Ted the 50's robot, Pete the rage monster, etc I'm not sure Gwen is any more outlandish that any of that.

She doesn't throw lightning bolts, she has to touch people for her powers to be effective. Just like that Jheira woman from 'She'.

I would've liked to get a better explanation as to how/why she can survive being struck by lightning - maybe we would've got that if she had been around more. As it is she reminds me of an 'X-Files' case rather than an X-Man.
 
Mutants and metahumans are pretty much a standard go to telefantasy classic, and one showing up in a world where super science exists, is not out of left field. X-Men isn't so much about mutants, as it is a race of oppressed mutants and their interactions with humanity. But really, given the setting, any element of speculative fiction could show up in Buffy or Angel.
 
Yes and no. If she had been on Buffy were the theme was a little more horoor than Scifi than I would have said yes. But since she's on Angel, I feel she makes more sense after Bethany and after all she could have demon in her and we wouldn't know. I feel like Angel had more alienish and scifi theme than Buffy.
 
I have no problem with X-Men type powers showing up in the Buffyverse. I mean Buffy's pretty much a superhero anyway, and these shows are basically a blend between the urban fantasy and comic book genres, so it never seemed weird to me.

What I DON'T think fits in the Buffyverse are robots and freeze rays and all that other ridiculous technology the Trio made (and apparently Ted in the '50s, somehow). My suspension of disbelief has a much harder time with that stuff than a little electrokinesis.
 
I think the most jarring thing about her was not her powers but her look. There are no other midriff baring superhero dominatrixes in the Buffyverse.
 
Cherchezlafemme said:
Don't get me wrong, I loved Gwen, but her powers felt out of place--she belonged on X-Men rather than Angel. It would have been more believable had she been part demon rather than a mutant.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I thought Gwen was a great & a new fit on the show<333 so happy to have her as a character.
I will never forgive Angel writers for not using her more
 
I'm going to go out on a Fanon Limb, and say Gwen was a Never. I mean, it's either that, or keep the character as public domain version of the X-men.
 
I'd see those like Gwen as having a bit of demon blood somewhere, a recessive gene that manifested in her. Presumably the special school she went to were for other kids like her.

'Course they have all the mutagens, magic, artifacts, etc. Maybe even the wish of a vengeance demon "All I wish for is that my daughter could defend herself so she was never assaulted as I was" and suddenly the little girl manifests electrokinetic abilities. (Though that would be lucky, a more creative one might've transformed the girl into a Fyarl demon, the kind Giles was turned into.)
 
What if Gwen had been part of the crew on the Firefly?
Was Joss hoping for a futuristic X-Folk ?
 
My original comments were almost ten years ago, so I want to elaborate; Stan Lee claimed he was tired of creating new hero origin stories, so mysterious genetic related superpowers controlled by the mind that marked the rise of the Homo Superior was his solution to running out of radiation types.

And it was definitely a trope of science fiction at the time. Star Trek's second episode was about a human mutant developing ESP powers. The British made an serial called The Tomorrow People, which was again, teenagers developing superpowers as a metaphor for adolescence. All that can be traced back to evolution, if the process Darwin described is ongoing, then another race of mankind will emerge and replace H. Sapiens the same way we replaced H. Herrgerman.

So, the idea of mutants per se is probably public domain, (I would be careful how you use the term around Disney, to be sure), the question is, what do you do with it? For Gwen, you created a girl who can't touch anyone without hurting them, which is a really top shelf idea, like grade A metaphor. Gwen has to learn to trust people in order to touch them.

As far as the larger mythos, eh. The series has always dodged the question of how much demon genetics exists in humans. Tara is supposed to be demon free. We've only seen half demons, never quarter or eighth, so we don't know how human the Children of a half listner and human would turn out, aside from ugly. So,, while I agree it's a clever and original induction, not enough evidence.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom