Spike
Well I just watched the episode (which btw was very good), but since most of the discussion is about Spike's actions and so on, I thought I'd throw in my two cents:
1) The rape scene was put in only because the writers wanted to remind everyone that Spike was Evil (with a capital E). Having watched almost all of Buffy and Angel, my own opinion is that it was out of character, and scene contrived.
2) According to canon, Spike went to get his soul back. The writing was deliberately misleading (and very poorly so). There's an interview with Marsters floating around in which he mentions that he was playing the scene as if he wanted the chip, but the writers always intended for him to want his soul. (Personally, I think it would have been better to have Spike want his chip on the surface, but deep down, way, way deep down, he really wanted to love Buffy - not hurt her - and he couldn't hide that from the demon. It would be in character, and would have lead to interesting conflict between him and Buffy in S7).
The interview is found here:
http://actionadventure.about.com/library/weekly/2002/aa062402.htm
So, back to the episode:
Who does the prophecy apply to?
I have always preferred Spike. Just for interest's sake - the Shanshu prophecy has been around Angel for years, and he's done nothing. He was cursed, he didn't seek it out (and even sought to rid himself of it). It would be interesting to see how his character reacts to that.
However, you know whatever it will be will probably end up as two happy ex-vampires of some sort. Both Spike and Angel will end up either in heaven, or vampires.
I figured give Spike Shanshu, make Angel a Power.
Oh, and wtf -- why do the ensouled vamps suffer in the afterlife for their actions without a soul? I would have thought it was the soul that moved on -- and Angel established that the soul of a person is in the "ether" when they become a vampire. Weird that Angel should pay for the sins of a demon that "sets up camp in his body".
zyzzyr
Well I just watched the episode (which btw was very good), but since most of the discussion is about Spike's actions and so on, I thought I'd throw in my two cents:
1) The rape scene was put in only because the writers wanted to remind everyone that Spike was Evil (with a capital E). Having watched almost all of Buffy and Angel, my own opinion is that it was out of character, and scene contrived.
2) According to canon, Spike went to get his soul back. The writing was deliberately misleading (and very poorly so). There's an interview with Marsters floating around in which he mentions that he was playing the scene as if he wanted the chip, but the writers always intended for him to want his soul. (Personally, I think it would have been better to have Spike want his chip on the surface, but deep down, way, way deep down, he really wanted to love Buffy - not hurt her - and he couldn't hide that from the demon. It would be in character, and would have lead to interesting conflict between him and Buffy in S7).
The interview is found here:
http://actionadventure.about.com/library/weekly/2002/aa062402.htm
So, back to the episode:
Who does the prophecy apply to?
I have always preferred Spike. Just for interest's sake - the Shanshu prophecy has been around Angel for years, and he's done nothing. He was cursed, he didn't seek it out (and even sought to rid himself of it). It would be interesting to see how his character reacts to that.
However, you know whatever it will be will probably end up as two happy ex-vampires of some sort. Both Spike and Angel will end up either in heaven, or vampires.
I figured give Spike Shanshu, make Angel a Power.
Oh, and wtf -- why do the ensouled vamps suffer in the afterlife for their actions without a soul? I would have thought it was the soul that moved on -- and Angel established that the soul of a person is in the "ether" when they become a vampire. Weird that Angel should pay for the sins of a demon that "sets up camp in his body".
zyzzyr
