Thoughts on a throwaway line

[shadowscast]

Fanwank ahead!

I'm gonna mention specific things about Angel 5.7: Lineage. I guess that might still be spoilery to some folks, so I shall cut.

Nan Dibble, in her insightful commentary on Lineage, mentions something that had bothered me, too, when I watched that episode:

Angel’s creepily similar account of murdering own disapproving, demanding father, and Spike’s revelation about turning, then staking, his mother (something very emotional and private to him, so it’s really surprising he’d offer this flip, condensed version to Wes, a comparative stranger) do nothing to reconcile Wesley to what he’s done.

So, yeah, the Spike thing. That definitely was a jarring note for me when I watched that ep. It seemed almost like it was being played for laughs—cringingly dark laughs, but laughs nonetheless.

Now, in my world, the only thing more fun than finding moments that don't make sense in my favourite TV show is coming up with ways to make those moments make sense! (Actually, please don't worry, there's plenty of other more fun things in my life—sex and chocolate and all that—but fanwanking is pretty darn fun, I've got to say!)

So. Why did Spike say it, like that, to Wesley?

I'm going to assume that first of all he really was trying to make Wesley feel better. It wasn't a very well thought-out attempt, and the sheer ineptitude of it may have to do with Wesley being a near-stranger to him (since isn't Spike usually the insightful one?), but I think he really was trying to help.

Now, why was he flippant about it? We're talking about a memory so painful that he apparently repressed it for over a century, so powerful that the First Evil was able to tie it to some kind of post-hypnotic suggestion and use it to control him, so uncomfortable that when he got close to it during Giles's attempt to cure him, he freaked out and refused to continue the procedure (even knowing this made him a danger to everyone around him). I think the flippancy is an indication that the memory does still bother him a lot, but he's in the process of coming to terms with it.

I assume Spike did talk to Buffy about what happened with his mother. As far as I can recall, this wasn't made 100% explicit in the episode, but I think it makes sense that he would have. This is important here because that means that Spike blurting it out to Wesley is not the first time he's told anyone; but it's possibly just the second time. That's exactly the right time for the bravado to kick in. The flippancy is Spike saying to the world (but mostly to himself): "Look, this memory doesn't have a hold on me anymore, I've accepted it and moved on." And it's sort of a lie, in the way that all of Spike's bravado is, but it's also part of his process of really assimilating the memory and accepting what he can't change.

I think he wrote the poem "The Wanton Folly Of Me Mum" sometime after this.



***

And now, a quiz! TVtome's guide to Angel claims:
Counting Spike, Angel, and Wes, a total of 17 characters have crossed over from Buffy onto Angel.

So, can you think of the whole list of 17? I shall try.


1. Angel (duh)
2. Buffy (clearly the number 17 includes those who cross over only as guests)
3. Cordelia
4. Wesley
5. Anne
6. Willow
7. Spike

OK, um, I'm starting to struggle here...

Oh! How could I forget?
8. Faith
9. Harmony

Hm. Oh yeah, and the first time Spike showed up there was also:
10. Oz

Seven more, really? I'm running out of steam. This is embarrassing.

Darn. Totally stuck.

Oh! The vampire family!

11. Darla
12. Drusilla
13. The Master

OK. Only four more. Hmmmm.

I don't suppose we can count the extras in that Boxer Rebellion scene, with the Fanged Four walking down the street against a backdrop of fire and chaos, which appeared in both series?

Gah. Utterly stuck. Can anyone help?

EDIT: Flash of insight as I was washing dishes:

15: Andrew!

How could I forget Andrew? Silly me.

Missing only two now...back to the dishes.

Comments

[inlovewithnight.livejournal.com]

I like that fanwank for "Lineage." I think it's very Spike to joke about painful stuff, once it's moved past the so-painful-it-must-be-repressed stage. Or very my!Spike, anyway.
And isn't "The Wanton Folly Of Me Mum" the best title EVER?
I can't think of any more characters either...but it's gonna bug me all night...Hmm.

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

I like that fanwank for "Lineage."

*g* Thanks!

it's gonna bug me all night...Hmm.

Yeah, me too.

Hmmm... I suppose it's just possible they were counting Holden and Knox, which would be a mistake since the two characters were played by the same actor, but had no other connection.

[dodyskin.livejournal.com]

Um, Anne? She was in Buffy. Oh, you have Anne. Ack. It's definitely characters and not actors? Because there are probably regular extras on both.

The retrieval squad! The Council blokes.

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

There were three of them in the retrieval squad.
So we do better than the guide!

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

Oh, did any of the same Council blokes show up on Angel as on Buffy? I totally can't remember.

[dodyskin.livejournal.com]

They did, but that's still 17, because you don't have a 14 there.

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

Oh, heh. I can't count. Fun.

So, thanks for finding them! Now I can rest in peace. :)