Once More, with Podcast Episode 18: Rubbish People Skills

Athena

Athena

The original one-eyed chicklet
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Moving on from Sunnydale, we end up in Los Angeles with the Angel Investigations crew.

We discuss Faith's journey to redemption (and the intolerance of pea protein!) in Rubbish People Skills, the third of our Faith four-parter. Click the image below to download!

E18-FivebyFive.jpg

You can search for the podcast on your iTunes, Doggcatcher, Pocket Casts, CastBox or whatever app you use to listen to your podcasts and subscribe to us 😀

As always, any feedback or comments, let us know.
 
Good stuff. The faith redemption arc is probably one of my favourites of the whole verse. I need to catch up on these which I will try and do soon🙂
 
After some intense reading, with quite a few breaks, it was nice to sit down with a pair of Britneys and listen to the podcast.

First of all, what is going on? Taake almost matches Athena's mood in this episode. Is it the joy of still being alive?

Do you hear that noise? It is the sound of me gritting my teeth. It happens whenever someone makes the outrageous claim that AtS is better than BtVS. Grumble, grumble...

Faith should have a card in her wallet that said, "If I fall into a coma, please, keep reapplying my signature dark lipstick."

One thing that I love about the Buffyverse is the separation between stylised and "real" violence. After watching Angel or Buffy get knocked around like rag dolls, it is shocking to see someone like Cordelia get hit in the face in a much more real way. It annoyed me that they made Wesley and Gunn into semi-superheroes in the later seasons, as it served to blur that line a little.

I don't think Faith looks all that psychotic when she tortures Wesley, which actually makes the scene all the more frightening. When Willow is dark, the way she speaks and the way she subtly sways when she stands communicate that she is in a somewhat altered mental state. When Faith tortures Wesley, she appears eerily calm and collected, and she is clearly enjoying herself.

Eliza and SMG are very good at radiating a sense of extreme danger, though they do it in quite different ways. It doesn't matter that they're tiny. River Tam can kill you with her mind. SMG can kill you with a frown.

The scene where Faith breaks down in front of Angel is one of the best on the entire show. It reminds me a lot of when Buffy stabs Faith. When I watched Graduation for the first time, I was cheering Buffy on when she went to kill Faith. I was so completely done with her character and all she represents, and I honestly believed it was the end for her. Then Buffy sticks the knife in and Faith gives Buffy that amazing Oh-my-God!-You-killed-me!-face and Buffy responds with her Oh-my-God!-I-killed-you!-face. It breaks my heart each time I see it. I got serious mixed feelings about that girl.

If Faith had become a regular on Angel, it would have become The Faith and Angel Show. Buffy was queen of her castle, but Angel already struggled somewhat to compete with the other characters on his show. S4 is pretty close to being Wesley the Show, already.
 
WillowFromBuffy said:
Taake almost matches Athena's mood in this episode. Is it the joy of still being alive?
Click to expand...

And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that pesky pea protein! 😛

I do see what you mean about Angel becoming the Faith & Angel Show, but is that necessarily a bad thing? I mean, I hear their comic series was great. Surely if your main character is a little on the weak side, you need the side characters to shine. I mean, I enjoy Angel the show, but the other characters make it interesting to me. Cordy, Wes, Lilah, Lindsay.... all very interesting characters you want to know more despite it being Angel's name above the door.
 
Athena said:
I do see what you mean about Angel becoming the Faith & Angel Show, but is that necessarily a bad thing? I mean, I hear their comic series was great. Surely if your main character is a little on the weak side, you need the side characters to shine. I mean, I enjoy Angel the show, but the other characters make it interesting to me. Cordy, Wes, Lilah, Lindsay.... all very interesting characters you want to know more despite it being Angel's name above the door.
Click to expand...
I don't know. Maybe not, but I think it would have become a very different show. Wesley complimented Angel nicely and Cordelia was a good counterweight. Faith might have tipped the scales. Also, between Wesley's knowledge and Faith's fighting skill, Angel would feel almost redundant as a team member. I don't see how he could have remained the narrative centre with such a big character as Faith along. I haven't read the comics, so I can't comment on those. Maybe I am totally wrong 😛

Some people claim that the last two seasons of BtVS turned into a show about Spike. That would be horrible, if it had been true, because Spike's story is not Buffy's, even if they are intertwined. IMO, it made a lot of sense to transport Spike to LA and have him die in the alley along with Angel, rather than let him stand triumphantly with the Scoobies in Chosen.

I think I was happy so see Faith stand alongside the Scoobies at the end of Chosen. I don't know why. She had done some horrible stuff, but she was still young, so maybe things could still work out for her.
 
WillowFromBuffy said:
After some intense reading, with quite a few breaks, it was nice to sit down with a pair of Britneys and listen to the podcast.

First of all, what is going on? Taake almost matches Athena's mood in this episode. Is it the joy of still being alive?
Click to expand...

I feel like I should say an indignant - hey! - here but really, matching Athena's mood makes me as uncomfortable as it made you. *jaded old grumpypants Taake* 😀

Do you hear that noise? It is the sound of me gritting my teeth. It happens whenever someone makes the outrageous claim that AtS is better than BtVS. Grumble, grumble...
Click to expand...

Now you know why I was so happy and in such a good mood. Angel rocks *crowd goes wild* and by crowd I mean @GwenRaiden 😛

Faith should have a card in her wallet that said, "If I fall into a coma, please, keep reapplying my signature dark lipstick."
Click to expand...

Details are everything, dear! Looking good is super important, always.

One thing that I love about the Buffyverse is the separation between stylised and "real" violence. After watching Angel or Buffy get knocked around like rag dolls, it is shocking to see someone like Cordelia get hit in the face in a much more real way. It annoyed me that they made Wesley and Gunn into semi-superheroes in the later seasons, as it served to blur that line a little.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

I don't think Faith looks all that psychotic when she tortures Wesley, which actually makes the scene all the more frightening. When Willow is dark, the way she speaks and the way she subtly sways when she stands communicate that she is in a somewhat altered mental state. When Faith tortures Wesley, she appears eerily calm and collected, and she is clearly enjoying herself.
Click to expand...

That to me is psychotic.
Dark Willow is more cartoonish. (don't hurt me!)

If Faith had become a regular on Angel, it would have become The Faith and Angel Show. Buffy was queen of her castle, but Angel already struggled somewhat to compete with the other characters on his show. S4 is pretty close to being Wesley the Show, already.
Click to expand...

*clears throat*
That'd be The Angel and Faith Show, just FYI.

Disagree that Angel struggles, but that's because I feel about him like you do about Willow... if that's possible... probably isn't come to think about it 😀
 
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