Season 6 is one of my favorite seasons and the only episode I truly dislike is "As You Were" because of how the episode treats Buffy as trash and Riley is Mr. Perfect, the one that got away. I always thought it made more sense for Cordelia and Angel to visit Sunnydale in that episode instead of Riley and Mrs. Riley Finn.
Would "As You Were" had made more sense if it was Angel & Cordelia who visited Sunnydale instead of Riley?
- Thread starter Joshua
- Start date
I don't know, I think it being Riley was specifically important because he idolized Buffy in a way, like the whole "you've got a lot to learn about women"/ "you're gonna teach me", he looked up to Buffy in a way that made it significant for it to be him to see her "fallen", so to speak.
Angel, and Cordelia by that point, have so much life experiences and so much tragedy behind them that they're not really likely to judge/make Buffy feel judged in a way that makes good narrative sense at this point. They'll understand on some level.
Riley is still the "pure" one in this gang. He and his wife represent "order" whereas Buffy at the time is "chaos". A bit like Buffy and Faith in season 3.
Angel and Cordelia at this point is not a good juxtaposition to Buffy's chaos. So yeah, I think it needs to be Riley, because Buffy associates Riley with order, normalcy, and stability. Everything she doesn't have at this point in time, so seeing him brings back all the memories of what she had, what could have been, and makes her now seem even worse than it is (because she is likely to look back at that time with rose-colored glasses). I think the writers made the right call with bringing in Riley and his wife, because it was a harder blow for Buffy and really forced her to look at her situation with something like past-life clarity.
Angel, and Cordelia by that point, have so much life experiences and so much tragedy behind them that they're not really likely to judge/make Buffy feel judged in a way that makes good narrative sense at this point. They'll understand on some level.
Riley is still the "pure" one in this gang. He and his wife represent "order" whereas Buffy at the time is "chaos". A bit like Buffy and Faith in season 3.
Angel and Cordelia at this point is not a good juxtaposition to Buffy's chaos. So yeah, I think it needs to be Riley, because Buffy associates Riley with order, normalcy, and stability. Everything she doesn't have at this point in time, so seeing him brings back all the memories of what she had, what could have been, and makes her now seem even worse than it is (because she is likely to look back at that time with rose-colored glasses). I think the writers made the right call with bringing in Riley and his wife, because it was a harder blow for Buffy and really forced her to look at her situation with something like past-life clarity.
Cohen
Hellhound
I still believe a true crossover should have happened at some point in the series, and season 6 always felt like the best point for me. I do believe that had Buffy stayed at the WB this would have happened, but because they were on competing networks by the time Angel established itself, we were left without.
However as stated earlier, for this particular purpose, I think we got the right person coming in to make the commentary Buffy needed.
However as stated earlier, for this particular purpose, I think we got the right person coming in to make the commentary Buffy needed.
AlphaFoxtrot
Scooby
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2017
- Messages
- 4,531
- Age
- 45
Angel's life in season 6 was a complete mess. As you were kind of plays on the underlying feeling that everyone else is going to college, getting great jobs, moving to great cities, having a lot more sex than you are, being involved in great relationships, getting married, having kids, etc cetra, while you are stuck in your hometown listening to your idiot boomer parents rant about the difference between benefits and compensation. It doesn't work with Single Ghost Dad.
Kendar
Scooby
- Joined
- May 6, 2021
- Messages
- 977
More importantly, real life considerations make it extremely unlikely we'd get a crossover for something like that. Because of SAG rules, you'd have to pay David at least as much for the episode as he was making on Angel. In addition, with different networks holding the rights to their respective shows crossovers are going to be rare (pretty much the finale).
Stake fodder
What about my me?
Angel maybe, but I don't see Cordelia as a "lift you up when you're down" kind of friend. Even though she changed on AtS, I still see her mocking Buffy relentlessly for dating Spike. And heck, she'd mock Spike, too. Angel would probably just punch him.
AlphaFoxtrot
Scooby
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2017
- Messages
- 4,531
- Age
- 45
Scheduling seems to be the chief reason. That's why Angel only appeared for five minutes in Chosen, five minutes in Forever.
Money never seems to be cited. I'm not saying it wasn't an issue, I just have never read it.
My understanding is that the networks wanted reciprocity. You let us use Willow, and we will let you use Angel. Which is fair, but probably messed up the schedules even further.
The only failed crossover I lament is "Restless." Angel, Cordie and Wesley should have made dream appearances.