Would it have mattered?

[ItMustBeBunnies]

I was just wondering, granted I have only been here a few weeks but I have never heard anyone really express any opinion on Lorne. I looked at some of the old threads concerning him but most haven't been touched in months, some from like 2004!. I personally adore his character and he only comes in second after Cordy for me. So basically what Im wondering is why do people seem to overlook him so much? Yes he didn't really have a monumental arc and was mostly comic relief and there to drop in a famous reference but I think that was much needed at times to break up the serious vibe and get us giggling again kinda the way Xander would on Buffy. Every now and then we got a glimmer of something deeper in him, I think he was just under used. So would it have mattered to you if he was never there at all? or do you think his contribution to the show was an important one?

 

[MSchett]

Course hes important!!! In s5 Lorne was needed for the comic relief of such a serious season combined Harm and Lorne balanced out the season... Also Andy Hallett has an amazing singing voice!!! The reason we don't talk about him much is because all his actions are pretty straightforward not alot is left to question like with most other characters in the Buffyverse

 

[Lou]

It would have mattered to ME if he wasn't there.
I love Lorne.
I think the reason he's under discussed is what is there to discuss? He's there. He's lovable. He's got a fairly decent power, even if it sometimes goes wonky. He got Angel to sing Mandy....that's all I needed.
He had no love life for us to squabble over and didn't ever really make any "bad" decisions. Other than in NFA, when I kind of wish he'd have told Angel where to stick it.
There was the no sleep thing, but as TK can tell you, none of us sleep like we should. :lmao:

We live to (friendly) disagree here. The only thing to discuss on Lorne is whether or not he gets more or less spotty as time goes on.
I'm going with YES on that one, by the way.

Actually, I'm sure Willy has something about Lorne to disagree about. I'll just leave until he arrives.

 

[Washburne]

I think he was just under used.

He could have been used more but the thing I wonder if what had happened to his character if there wasn´t for the Pylea arc. Becasue that wasn´t suppsosed to happen was it? Help me out here, you know how my memory is.

So would it have mattered to you if he was never there at all? or do you think his contribution to the show was an important one?

Since I now know him as a character I would have missed him if he wasn´t in it. But seeing the show from beginning and have it played out without him I´m sure I wouldn´t have cared. But the same could be said about Fred, Wes and Gunn too. If you don´t know about them how can you miss them? But yes, I would have missed him. He´s not my favourite but neither do I dislike him. Many "good"/funny scenes thanks to him.

I think the reason he's under discussed is what is there to discuss? He's there. He's lovable. He's got a fairly decent power, even if it sometimes goes wonky. He got Angel to sing Mandy....that's all I needed.
He had no love life for us to squabble over and didn't ever really make any "bad" decisions.

Things to discuss about Lorne.
* His sexuality. Does it matter? Of course not but my guess is that it´s one of the topics that has been most discussed then it comes to him.
*His (or more specifkly Pylean´s) anatomy. Come on! Can survive decapitation as long as the body is still in shape. How amazing is that? And the location of the heart? Really? What is the point of that? Not the best place to keep it (like they had a choice) if it is as fragile as ours. At least ours are behind the ribs. 😉
*His style of clothes. We discuss the clothes Buffy are wearing, why not Lornes?
* The Lornettes (?). Ok, not Lorne himself but let´s face it. It´s not like we were sad to see Fred painted green. 😀

There was the no sleep thing, but as TK can tell you, none of us sleep like we should. :lmao:

Then I´m the one getting the most sleep, be very very afraid.

 

[Fake Shemp]

he's my fav angel character actually

 

[FeastOnScraps]

I personally never felt like he added much to the show. He did not make me laugh and he was never really that important part of any storylines.

 

[T.I.P]

I thought he was very important, mainly because of him being the only funny one, but if Lorne wasnt in it for s4 and 5 it would have been far too serious and dull.
But Lorne was like Gunn, Cordy and wes in that he was much better at first, in s2 when he wasnt an official AI member and he had his club and he added something extra to the show.

 

[JenniferAlice]

I love Lorne!! I couldn't imagine Angel without him. I just watched 'Life Of The Party' last night, and I think it's one of my favourite Lorne episodes, I'd even say my favourite episode of Season 5 (Smile Time is pretty good too).

 

[T.I.P]

How can you not love ''i will survive, i will survive... hey heeey''

 

[Bluebird]

I love Lorne. I think he was a wonderful personality on the show but I too sometimes felt like was underused. Although I think that has to do with the character of Lorne himself. Being from the dimension of Pylea made him what he is - the most non-judgemental character in the Whedonverse. Therefore there's not a lot of conflict with others.

 

[palabravampiress]

I liked Lorne, but I'm gonna go with all the others and say there's really not too much to discuss with him until the surprise in the last episode of Angel.

You know, now that I mention it, I'm not sure that I liked Lorne. He had this annoying way of acting sugary and sweet while he was really being sort of nasty. He never really felt sincere to me. I felt like he was hiding his true thoughts and feelings underneath his eternal good cheer. I mean, would he really have been tolerant of man and demon alike if man and demon alike hadn't shelled out the bucks at his club? Would he really have befriended Angel and co. if they hadn't had a room for him in that hotel of theirs? And would he have been nice to Fred, Cordy, Angel, and all the rest if they hadn't just happened to be a formidable fighting force that were also easy on the eyes (something that seemed rather important to Lorne)? Eventually, his actions and his long-time support of the group led me to believe he was more sweet and kind than nasty, but there was a superficiality to him that bothered me throughout the series. Add that to his lack of any compelling personal arc and/or growth and the limited backstory that we have on him and, well, what else is there to say about him? In the end, we never got to know him very well. He always seemed to be putting on a front.

I felt shocked and disappointed at the end of Angel. I hadn't expected that of Lorne. I had believed that, no matter what, he was at least non-violent. The more I thought about it, though, the more I wondered if that was really true. He had, after all, for several years used his mind reading abilities to assist Angel and co. in weeding out the bad guys. All of that had worked to his considerable advantage, as he had landed a sweet PR gig for a giant L.A. corporation. Sure, he'd never gotten his hands dirty, but he was certainly complicit. Lorne was a performer and a people pleaser. What of he'd had us all fooled -- all of us but Angel, a "good" demon himself, who knew that Lorne really did have enough of the demon left in him not only to kill, but even to fool the intended victim into trusting him up until the very last moment?

There's something fishy about Lorne. The trouble is that the show never really goes into it in much detail, and so I think that's why most BBers take him at face value and don't discuss him very much.

 

[MSchett]

He only killed Lindsey as a final favor to Angel thats why he left he couldnt deal with the violence... As for the character arc there wasnt that much explaining/growth that needed to be done. He was a straightforward character as for backstory we know more about him then Gunn/Fred and maybe even Wesley...

I don't know how he couldn't make you laugh
Undercover Lorne following Illyria makes me laugh everytime
"Bluebird has left the coup"

 

[wickedtiger86]

Yeah I definitely love Lorne. There's just something about him that makes me care. That one ep where the Demon hunters crash his bar and there's all the stress and the destruction. I was totally upset! I actually got really angry at these people just waltzing into Caritas and being all "You're green . . . you must be evil!" I hope I spelled Caritas right. Don't want to lose any street cred. lol.

 

[Buffanator]

I loved Lorne, too. I think Angel got better partially because of the addition of Lorne as a character. I didn't see him as merely comic relief...I saw him as a proof that not all demons are "evil" and as a friend to Angel & the AI team. I liked his character in that he was from another dimension & liked LA much better because of the music and brightly colored clothing, etc. I enjoyed seeing the end arc of season 2, going back to Pylea.

Also, I think Lorne grew stronger as a main character throughout the series. I LOVED seeing him be the one to kill Lindsey (altho I didn't want Lindsey to die! - I always hoped Lindsey would become a major asset to Angel...oh well) - and the fact that he left after that because he really DIDN'T LIKE all the violence.

Yes, I believe ANGEL would have been much less without the character of Lorne, and without Andy Hallett to play him.

 

[Maphon]

I remember that Angel season 5 was when I started watching, and Lorne was a main reason. Little did I know that the end of Season 2 was like a Lorne Bonanza. I was so happy at that time. He is a great character.