I don't understand what's going on in Season Eight!!!

[sosa lola]

"It doesn't make sense!!" "This is NOT Angel!!" "What the hell is going on?" "I lost faith in Joss!"

I see comments like this in this forum a lot -and in LJ- and while I have issues with Angel's arc in S8, I don't actually think it doesn't make sense. I figured maybe reading some meta/fics on S8 would help fans understand and enjoy it much better. I've recently read a fic about #34 using the same script and I've enjoyed it a lot, because I'm not a comic book reader, and perhaps if S8 is written as a novel I would have enjoyed it better -I'm saying that as a huge S8 fan.

The True History of the Universe

This post is in the nature of an experiment, and I'd be interested to hear people's views of it. One of the (many) complaints I've often heard about Season 8 is that people don't like the comics format: they can't get into it, they don't understand it or they just don't like it. It can be a handicap to discussing the stories, their plots and characterisations. So what I thought about trying was writing up of one of the comic issues in the form of a fanfic.

I'm not talking about a transcript here, but an actual fic. A story, from the point of view of one of the participants, which faithfully uses the canonical dialogue and action, but adds description and narrative around it. In some ways it would be more limited - by sticking to a tight POV, I wouldn't be able to flash across to other scenes or images as flexibly as a comic (or a TV show) can do; on the other hand, by adding the protagonist's inner voice I can perhaps give more structure and depth to the story. It would be an experiment - and perhaps a presumptious one - but I thought it might be fun to try.

As to which issue to write up, there was one obvious candidate: 8.34. Yes, *that* one, the spacefrakking episode. The reason is obvious enough: it was an important issue of the season, with a lot of revelations and plot developments crucial to the main season arc. However, because of its content, a lot of people - or so I gather - can't bear to re-read it because they don't want to have to look at those pictures again. ;-) By making Andrew my POV character - an obvious choice since he sees himself as the narrator of these adventures - I can keep all the Buffy/Angel sex shenanigans off-camera and concentrate on Giles's exposition instead. 🙂

And this is a meta on Angel: Meta: Who is Angel? This is an essay about Angel in S8:

I read Jamie's recent meta about Angel in Season 8 and I was inspired to write a long meta in response to explain how Angel in Season 8 makes sense to me as a follow-up to Angel's narrative. To explain how I see Angel fitting in Season 8, first I must explain how I see Angel's character and arc in AtS. Spoilers for all of AtS and Season 8.

I hope you guys enjoy both of these links as much as I did.

 

[ladydorotea]

Just a little warning to go with your links here. Both of the authors are very subjective and while I always enjoy stormwreath's reviews I found this particular piece of his a bit bland - especially when compared to the actual issue 34.

As for the 'meta' link, with all due respect - it is written by Emmie. Certainly , her opinions are of interest to many, and certainly she has a reputation in the fandom, but it should be mentioned right before posting link to her lj that she is a sort of unofficial leader of the Spuffy ship. Once again - it does not mean her opinion should be disregarded - only that it should be taken with consideration to her considerable bias. And no, neither of this links clarifies much about Angel's role in S8, LOL! Rather they provide an interesting insight on the fandom fractured state.

I suggest maybe reading these materials after reading your links.

comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=26143
io9.com/5529953/what-inspired-brad-meltzers-superpowered-sex-in-buffy-season-8

as a counterpart to your first link

and this interview with Scott Allie

buffyfest.blogspot.com/2010/03/scott-allie-talks-about-man-under.html

as a counterpart to Emmie's 'meta'.


Since I am not allowed to post links here - readers would have to improvise to get to these links. 🙂

 

[Moscow Watcher]

Sosa Lola - I hope you don't mind me adding another link to your thread (because I don't want to start a separate thread for another meta rec.

'BtVS Season 8: Please Mind the Gaps' by Elisi
http://elisi.livejournal.com/574578.html?style=mine#cutid1
A reflection on the Good the Bad and the Ugly of season 8.

An excerpt:

New readers, many of whom were on unfamiliar ground, were doubly at a disadvantage thanks to all these gaps since the one thing they thought they knew - Buffy's world - had changed too. This proved deeply upsetting for large swathes of fandom. Of course Joss fans are used to being upset but the gaps did something worse: It made many fans feel profoundly disconnected.
Now I could easily fill a book complaining about the gaps, and although grumbling would be very satisfying, it wouldn't be very productive. So the question is - why do we have gaps? What do they accomplish? The best way of looking at it, I think, is to see Season 8 as 'based on' the show, the same way the show was based on the movie. Joss wanted to tell a new story, and retconned (or 'jossed', as the term is so appropriately called in fannish circles) the parts of the Buffyverse that didn't fit. As I'm sure everyone knows, Buffy the TV show was about growing up:
"It [Buffy] is about adolescence, which is the most important thing people go through in their development, becoming an adult. And it mythologizes it in such a way, such a romantic way - it basically says, 'Everybody who made it through adolescence is a hero.'"
Contrast this with Buffy's first words of 'Season 8': "Everybody calls me Ma'am these days." Buffy's a big girl now, and adolescence is far behind her. In Season 8 the whole concept of the 'verse has been refigured, which means a new vision, new world, new aims, and, to a certain extent, new characters.