Lindsey in Season 5 is so pointless and completely ruins his perfect exit in "Dead End"

[Joshua]

Lindsey's exit was beautifully written in season 2's Dead End and then they turned him into this cliché monster of the week villain and made him a fighter because Christian Kane hated wearing the suits.

It just felt like they had no idea what to do with Lindsey like they only had plans for him in the 100th episode "You're Welcome" and then he disappears until he's brought back from the hell dimension he was in and then he disappears again until Not Fade Away where he was killed.

 

[Stake fodder]

I tend to agree, though I did like some parts of his S5 arc, mainly the hell dimension. But it did invalidate his original exit motives, of getting away from W&H and all the evil. Also, I thought it was a bit of a retcon that he blamed Angel for his S2 exit, when it was really his own choice.

I assume they mainly wanted Lindsey back because the actor was a friend of David Boreanaz. I suppose also, like Spike, it was easier to stick in someone we were already familiar with, so they didn't have to build up a new character.

 

[thetopher]

Lindsey's return makes sense if you consider his actions in S1 'Blind Date', as in; he's always flip-flopped in regards to evil. He has a crisis of conscience and then does a cost-benefit analysis of being evil, and usually does the evil.

So in S2 he has yet another moral panic and flips and leaves town....but then after a while he sees what Angel is up to in S5- joining W&H- and totally flip-flops again.
Only this time his reasoning is even more valid, in a twisted way. Lindsey reasons that Angel, the moral champion, is now no better than he was, and what's more the Senior Partners have given Angel the job that should be his by right.

Lindsey's return- in that sense- feels completely authentic and in-character.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

They ran out of things to do with Spike and Lindsay coming back as pseudo-Doyle was also gave them a little bad to fight when Buffy came back for the 100th episode?

 

[nightshade]

I mostly agree, but think Lindsey was also showing us how different things are between seasons 1 and 2, and season 5.

 

[buffyversefans]

They could have done better with the story line they gave him but i don't think it was completely pointless although i think killing him in the end was defiantly pointless.

 

[Tome]

I disagree with the notion that his exit in season 2 was great. I enjoyed Lindsey. His dynamic with Angel AND Lilah was great. I never understood the point of removing him from the story for almost three years.

With that said, I agree that his character in S5 of Angel was mostly wasted. His reappearance was neat and unexpected, but it felt like they only used him very sporadically. They never explained how and why he got the amulet, where he got his newfound powers, or what really made him come back. They insinuated that he changed his mind and decided to come back to join the Circle of the Black Thorn, but then why hide from the Senior Partners if you actually wanted to be on their side? So many unanswered questions. It's as if the writers didn't care about the character's motivation making sense.

Also, I always wanted Lindsey to join Angel's team. The actor was friend with DB and had great chemistry with him. Why they didn't use him more, I'll never know.

 

[Taake]

. They insinuated that he changed his mind and decided to come back to join the Circle of the Black Thorn, but then why hide from the Senior Partners if you actually wanted to be on their side? So many unanswered questions.

I thought it was because he wanted leverage, i.e. Without the Circle he is a nobody that the Senior Partners can easily get rid of. So he needs powers to be somebody they’d even care to have on their side. Lindsey was always a very -do things on his own terms - kind of guy.

Him leaving was never satisfying for me. Seemed like W&H would be able to find him wherever he went, whenever they wanted, either way

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

I suspect the original scheme was Lilah would be the Liaison, and Lindsay and Lilah sleeping together while hiding from the SPs and plotting to overthrow Angel makes sense. At least more sense than Eve.

 

[DeepBlueJoy]

I did not hate Lindsay in season 5 but i dont think they should have made Lorne murder him. I enjoyed his original exit, however.

 

[Tome]

I thought it was because he wanted leverage, i.e. Without the Circle he is a nobody that the Senior Partners can easily get rid of. So he needs powers to be somebody they’d even care to have on their side. Lindsey was always a very -do things on his own terms - kind of guy.

Him leaving was never satisfying for me. Seemed like W&H would be able to find him wherever he went, whenever they wanted, either way

They might have mentioned that (I don't remember), but why would he need leverage? When he left town in S2, I don't think the Senior Partners were looking to kill him or get revenge on him. From all that we gathered in the early seasons, Lindsey was liked by the higher ups at W&H. They liked his morally grey character! I just never understood why the Senior Partners would be aiming to get rid of him. THAT IS, until he came back and screwed around with their plans for Angel. Which, again, makes no sense. If he wanted to be on W&H's side, then he would have helped Angel, no?

The only logical explanation I could ever muster on that front is that Lindsey had petty jealousy toward Angel. He hated the fact that such a moralistic, goody two-shoes vampire with a soul had taken over his spot at W&H. So he wanted to screw Angel over, even if it pissed off the Senior Partners, and hopefully find a way to still end up in the SPs' good graces.

Even with that said, though, I needed more information about Lindsey. How did he know about the amulet and did he go to Sunnydale to pick it up underground?! Like, what the hell! Was he tutored by some wizard on how to use glyphs and enhance his physical strength? It just feels like a character they should have explored more if they planned to bring him back. Like, we spent an entire episode on Harmony, which was funny enough, but why not spend more time on characters meaningful to the main plot?

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Re: He cast "Accio Amulet." I mean, he clearly made the thing, I can't imagine there are a lot of amulets that seal the Hellmouth, destroy Uber vampires, and seal their wearer within, returning them as a ghost.