Harm's Way

[shipperx]

Sigh. More of my ambivalence with Mutant Enemy. Overall, I found the episode enjoyable. Angel as "manwhore!" was hilarious. Harm looking into the empty mirror was cute. The opening recruiting video was damn funny. And -- damnit-- I like Harm. I liked her throughout the ep. She had my sympathy. And I didn't blame her a bit for not going to tell Angel the truth from the beginning. He probably WOULD have chopped off her head. I don't blame her for thinking it. And the final scene (in regards to how it played just betwee Spike/Harm and not the SUBSTANCE of the scene) came off fine in the sense that he was sort of kinda comforting her without giving any signals that he was in any way personally (read shippy) concerned with her. And her teary love for him evaporated pretty quickly at the end. Spike DID note the connection of what she was saying and the "using." It didn't come off as especially shippy (although, honestly, if it wasn't for the shitload of history and Mutant Enemy's asinine hypocrisy over the years about the whole soul issue and the fact that they had to "make their point" about not being "good" without a soul. . .I wouldn't even be totally against Sparm. They actually have some cuteness. But there IS baggage and that "making their point" thing STILL makes me choke so no way in fucking HELL will I ever support Sparm even though I like Harm and MM. ME cannot call me a serial killer lover for supporting a ship with unsouled Spike and then try to SELL me a ship with unsouled Harm. Nuh-uh). I also liked the Spike/Fred scene.

That said as a Spike fan, I'm also offended by the afforementioned soul stuff. I'm also offended by the patently SHALLOW way that Spuffy is pawned off. It's not just that Spike's explanation is insanely STUPID (which it is) it's also the way JM played it. It may have hit the right note for the Sparm stuff, but no WAY is this the guy who was willing to die to get a soul "for the girl." This Spike... doesn't love Buffy. It doesn't compute. It's off. Way off. Offensively off. The writing is HORRID for that "explanation" (It makes no damn sense) and JM just... he didn't infuse it with any of the emotion that would have undercut it. It was all just too damn blase. Yeah, the fanwank is it's from Harms POV. Fanwank, Spike is covering his fear, yadda, yadda, yadda. Well, used to, what Spike was really feeling was communicated even if he was saying something different. Now? Not so much. It's a combination of BAD writing, of JM/Spike only being in a long shot in the scene. It's not close enough to read his eyes really. . .and JM taking WAY too many pages out of SMG's book and Spike is just damn near impossible to read these days. We have no CLUE as to Spike's inner life. Does he have one any more?

Yeah, both the two Spike scenes didn't come across as harsh as they read. . .but they are completely opaque where Spike is concerned. I fear Fury really HAS won. He said for years that Spike fans were only concerned with his looks, that he was cool, and he's wearing the coat! And that's EXACTLY how Spike is written and (worse) how JM is playing him these days. It's not my Spike full to brimming with emotion. Where's the emotion? We're just getting Fury's empty "cool guy" which Spike fans were accused of wanting. . . and I want glimpses of the inner William!

Where's Spike's heart? I haven't got a damn CLUE any more. JM isn't showing it to me and the writing doesn't show it at all. It's missing. Cute scene with Fred, but it's hardly a motivating thing. Have they even bothered to think of where Spike is emotionally other than "stick it to Angel?" It sure as hell doesn't feel like it.

So, overall, I liked the episode and thought it was funny. But the Spike fan in me remains pissed off and dissatisfied. Spike's love for Buffy which was the character's raison d'etre for years is reduced to being virtually nothing. Not even an afterthought. He really doesn't appear to care any longer... and that just DOES NOT TRACK! This is PodSpike.

And I didn't like the "poor Angel, Spike is trying to steal everything" promo for Soul Purpose. Blech!

I did say I sort of liked this week's ep. I did. It's just... I'm tired of ME crapping all over Spike's fan. I want MY Spike back, and I don't want him portrayed as nothing but the guy trying to take everything from Angel.

Comments

[artemis-child.livejournal.com]

You know, I could take every sentence of what you just said and point out exactly why I agree with it, but instead I'll just say amen.
I don't know who this Spike is. He has feelings in there somewhere, but I'm starting to doubt that they're for Buffy too - and I never EVER thought I'd be saying that. I mean he can go to Africa for a soul and come back after the AR, but he can't face letting her know he's undead again against all odds? WTF? I'll continue wanking it as "he was talking to Harm, keeping it simple and trying not to overshare and rub her nose in his love of Buffy" and "he's hiding how afraid he is Buffy will reject him because she might still prefer Angel" and hope to God that that is the case, but there's only so much wanking a girl can do before she goes blind ;) JM needs to quit buying into Fury's view of Spike and bring back the intensity, vivacity and emotion of the Spike of old.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

Where's Spike's heart? I haven't got a damn CLUE any more. JM isn't showing it to me and the writing doesn't show it at all. It's missing. Cute scene with Fred, but it's hardly a motivating thing. Have they even bothered to think of where Spike is emotionally other than "stick it to Angel?" It sure as hell doesn't feel like it.


ME can try to sell me that Spike's afraid to face Buffy, but I don't buy it. Let's just turn to S7 for just one example of how Spike *really* behaves. After Buffy finds him in the basement, he snaps himself out of his FE-manipulated craziness and presents himself to her, wanting to help -- and that was after the damned AR!

I'm sorry, but *my* Spike is not an emotional coward. Deciding to leave Buffy to the light while he stays in the dark (so to speak) is at least an explanation I could believe. But he still owes it to her to let her have the news he's alive and face her. This way, he's a bigger emotional coward than Angel. Which I guess was the point.

I think ME is trying to make Spike's emotional life all about Angel. And again, I don't buy it. Despite the 'you were my Yoda' comment in early S2, the Spike/Angel relationship has never been portrayed as one where these two have any positive feelings for each other. On Spike's part, it's been strictly about competing with Angel for Dru. And on Angel's part, it's been about despising Spike and wanting to destroy the goodness of William. There's nothing there to build on and trying to make them suddenly 'brothers' and casting Spike in the role of wanting to have Angel's affection just doesn't fit the prior seven years IMO.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I'm far more willing to buy into the brothers concept than you. I tend to think there is a lot of shared history and then there's the fact that there's really no one in the world who understands each other's circumstances the way that they do. They are "brothers" in the sense that they are the only one who share that particular heritage. They are in fact the only two souled vampires to exist. . .and they are from the same bloodline, share a past, and crossover one another far, far too much than can be coincidence or aquaintance.

It's not the "brother" thing I quibble with... it's the way it's WRITTEN. They don't show any sense of family connection or affection. All we get is *nasty* *churlish* snarking from both sides. Actual brothers have affection involved and ME isn't writing that. We are just getting snarky, competetive pissing contests. I would buy into it more if they would put SOME emphasis on what holds them together then just why they hate each other. It's lopsided...as is everything ME writes. They're too busy protecting Angel to bother to develop a relationship that would be compelling. Then again ME knows jack shit about relationships.