What If: There was no Connor?

[nightshade]

What if there was no pregnancy and no Connor?

 

[NotASlayer]

Well, Darla would not have been affected by Connor's soul, so would probably have remained evil. She certainly would not have needed to sacrifice herself. That could have had a lot of knock-on effects.

Also, no Connor means no Wesley trying to abduct Connor and hand him over to Holtz, so no falling out there. Angel would probably not have spent his summer vacation at the bottom of the ocean and Jasmine would have needed a different plan.

 

[thetopher]

No Cangel! Huzzah!
Well...maybe not given Fred and Lorne blathering on about bloody Kyrumption, but I think Angel would've had less illusions about it and how it fitted into the way he saw his future; so I still don't think it wouldn't have happened at his end.
No Dork!Angel but then no stubbly Wes but that means that Gunn/Fred would've lasted longer.

In an alt-S3 we still would've had Holtz but he probably would've come at Angel(us) straight on....oh, actually no because he was only there to kill pregnant!Darla.

*sigh* well shoot, I think the season would've worse off without Connor but I wish they would've done something different with him later in S4.

 

[Stake fodder]

Angel wouldn't have needed to make a deal with Wolfram & Hart to work for them in exchange for giving Connor a normal life and erasing everyone's memory of him. So Angel S5 would have been completely different.

 

[BibliophileAnn]

A lot of things would have been different if if there had been no Connor in season three and 4. For instance, Holtz would not have kidnapped Connor as there was no Connor to kidnap. So, Wesley would not have almost died by angel trying to smother him with a pillow because he enabled Holtz to kidnap Connor. They still could’ve had Holtz go after Angel for what he did to his family while Angel was soulless. Season three finale would have played out differently instead of the way it did. In all likelihood there would not have been an episode called Deep Down at the start of a lot of Season 4 unless they had Holtz do that to Angel. The sick stuff in season 4 between Connor and Cordelia would not have happened. They still could have Cordelia possessed by and giving birth to Jasmine If that is what they wanted to do in that season. They did that part because Charisma Carpenter was pregnant IRL. Last of all Angel wouldn’t have been distracted by Connor and he would focused on other things like helping the helpless if there had been no Connor. Angel didn’t need Connor to give him a purpose since that could have come from other things that Angel was engaged in.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Arguably, Connor is the reason why Heinrich Joseph Nest saw his last sunset, assuming he's not referred to in the Bible. Connor is a big deal, I don't think he can't not happen.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Darla may well have had to forgo the, stretch marks, lucky Darla.
We would have had to forgo the terrible two's of the twenty something year old Connor.
Joss would have lost his greatest plot twist, mind you, not allowing Connor to have been borne by Darla cost him so much fame, remember the word around Renesmee's birth and early years?

 

[Karin Schill]

I remember being super annoyed about Connor when I first watched the show.
I mean one of the reasons why Angel left Buffy was because he couldn't give her children (according to their break up talk in the Prom) then he goes ahead and has a baby with another vampire?

I also didn't like how they aged Connor from baby to annoying teenager and then had him sleep with Cordy.

The sick stuff in season 4 between Connor and Cordelia would not have happened. They still could have Cordelia possessed by and giving birth to Jasmine If that is what they wanted to do in that season. They did that part because Charisma Carpenter was pregnant IRL.

I read an interview with Charisma a while ago where she said that Joss had not been supportive of her pregnancy at all and it was implied he had wanted her to abort her baby!
It was also implied that she was fired from Angel because her pregnancy ruined the plots he had originally planned for Cordy on the show. 😡

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Story wise, Connor was an excellent chance to say something about Parenthood. "Something" ended up being a mind wiped Cordie getting pregnant by her quasi son, but there we go.

Also;

 

[Cohen]

Without Connor and the pregnancy, I think Darla could have been used for something more. I think it would have been more interesting to see Darla and Angel team up against Holtz throughout the season. Maybe have Team Angel splintered (again) because of Angel's continued support of Darla, and the unresolved issues of Angel's firing of them in season 2. This would have been a lot more interesting than Cordy being angry that Angel slept with Darla, because it would have affected more of the team. Maybe Wesley would still defect to Holtz' team because of his unresolved trust issues with Angel. I think Groo coming in mid-season could still have happened, and he could have been used more effectively and possibly even longer-term.

Of course, this would have negated the entire plotline of season 4, but maybe a Groo/Cordelia relationship could kept the Jasmine storyline going in season 4, without the weird incestuous feel (since we know Charisma got pregnant regardless). Then, we wouldn't have had two pregnancy storylines back-to-back. Honestly, I like this idea better. Let's flesh it out more, and pretend like Connor didn't exist.

 

[burrunjor]

Honestly it would have been so much better for the show. To start with no breaking up the fang gang for a year with Wesley going off. Wesley could still have become a badass in other ways, or hell his betrayal could have been less stupid. Maybe he killed several people at Wolfram and Hart when they did something to Fred, rather than stealing a baby from his friend and thinking Holtz of all people could be trusted over Fred and Gunn or The Host?

Also no Cangel as others have pointed out, thank god. Darla could have stuck around for a bit longer as a femme fatale which might have been cool. I guess if they'd wanted they could have explored Angel being a father in flashbacks, maybe show how he'd raised that baby that Darla wanted him to kill that he ran off with (what happened to that infant anyway?)

Still putting a child in the modern setting dragged the show into a hole. It's funny the whole Angel story arc was a repeat, beat for beat of the AWFUL Xena/Livia arc right down to the creepy love triangle where the heroes love interest knows who kisses better the parent or their offspring LOL. (Reminds me of that line in Married with Children Al's dad said to Peggy on their wedding day "if you like my son I'm twice as fun.")

Thing is though not only was that story arc a disaster that more or less killed Xena, BUT it only happened because Lucy Lawless was preggers and they had to throw out an entire season's worth of stories and come up with something at the last minute. Everyone involved with Xena thought it was bollocks by the way and Rob Tapert said if he could do one series again it would be that one to fix it.

Yet for some reason Joss and David Greenwalt looked at that and thought "yeah let's do a series like that." Baffling.

 

[Cohen]

Honestly it would have been so much better for the show. To start with no breaking up the fang gang for a year with Wesley going off. Wesley could still have become a badass in other ways, or hell his betrayal could have been less stupid. Maybe he killed several people at Wolfram and Hart when they did something to Fred, rather than stealing a baby from his friend and thinking Holtz of all people could be trusted over Fred and Gunn or The Host?

I like the idea of Wesley going rogue because of the actions of Wolfram & Hart. This would make a lot more sense. And since we know there was clear chemistry between Stephanie and Alexis (in hindsight), there could have been developments on the Lilah/Wesley dynamic, where they go toe-to-toe before the weird angsty relationship that occurred in seasons 3/4. I enjoyed Dark Wesley, but the catalyst of that--him betraying Angel because of the prophecy of Angel killing Connor, just didn't make sense.

Darla could have stuck around for a bit longer as a femme fatale which might have been cool.

Yes, having Darla around definitely elevated the show. She adds a layer of intrigue and wicked fun whenever she's around (on Angel). I think it also would play into those hanging threads from season 2, as I stated previously. I don't think there was really enough follow-through on the fact that Angel betrayed Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn in season 2 when he fired them. Cordelia spent one episode mad at him in season 2, and then they quickly returned to their normal dynamic. In season 3 proper, we got an annoyed Cordelia about the sex, but we didn't get to the underlying issues.

I think it's often overlooked that Whedon did a better job of developing the characters and story of Buffy than he did Angel. Even when Wesley betrayed Angel towards the end of season 3, there was no cross talk about Angel doing literally that to him a year prior. And that betrayal and the ramifications of it actually carried over into season 4. But the main character being the betrayer in season 2 was just pushed under the rug.

This would have been much more interesting to see play out. Darla coming back to stir up the pot, but also having Angel and Darla reteam out of necessity to take down Holtz, and maybe having Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn have some reservations about going against Holtz because he is actually doing the work of going after evil vampires (i.e. Darla), and having Holtz team with Gunn's gang, playing to the dynamics that Gunn was struggling with at the beginning of the season in That Old Gang of Mine would have been much more compelling than the baby prophecy storyline.

What is enjoyable about Angel is that it's a much more gritty show, and had the opportunity to explore more adult themes than Buffy did, because it's not a coming-of-age show. It's a show about adults making difficult decisions, and exploring the ramifications of those decisions. With a demonic backdrop.

I guess if they'd wanted they could have explored Angel being a father in flashbacks, maybe show how he'd raised that baby that Darla wanted him to kill that he ran off with (what happened to that infant anyway?)

This idea had already been explored with the Angelus/Penn story from season 1. Though, it might have been interesting to see. I do like the Angelus/Darla vs Holtz flashbacks, and I do think that the Holtz storyline elevated the show during the middle of season 3. The problem was the stealing of Connor and coming back as a comical older version of himself, and Connor coming back as a weird angsty kid. Having the son turn on the father was kind of interesting(?) but it wasn't well executed.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

I liked Season 4, but with the payoff being an out of work Firefly actress being punched through the face, I'm willing to entertain other outcomes.

Having Angel work with other vampires in some kind of Mafia storyline could work. It was basically the storyline of Blade The Series. Vamps may have no redeeming qualities, but they have control of criminal empires, and would not be adverse to working with Angel, if it buys them protection or lets them eliminate a rival. Darla, who is basically a gangster Moll, and seduce her way to an position of influence. It's probably more interesting than breaking into W&H, again.

 

[Kendar]

Well, Darla would not have been affected by Connor's soul, so would probably have remained evil. She certainly would not have needed to sacrifice herself. That could have had a lot of knock-on effects.

Also, no Connor means no Wesley trying to abduct Connor and hand him over to Holtz, so no falling out there. Angel would probably not have spent his summer vacation at the bottom of the ocean and Jasmine would have needed a different plan.

No pregnancy means no Holtz, because you have no Sahjhan. Sahjhan brought Holtz forward because of the prophecy. No pregnancy no prophecy.

Honestly, it's such a significant change that season 3 would be entirely different.

 

[Cohen]

No pregnancy means no Holtz, because you have no Sahjhan. Sahjhan brought Holtz forward because of the prophecy. No pregnancy no prophecy.

Honestly, it's such a significant change that season 3 would be entirely different.

They could have worked Sahjan/Holtz into it still. Holtz was a great adversary in season 3. The idea of bringing back a former antagonist (from Angel’s perspective), was good. The execution of the baby arc was not so good.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

For me no Connor would be a very different season 4, and that would have been great. I think beyond a plot point in season 3, the writers had no idea what to do with Connor as a character.