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Angel's Wesley Rox Thread

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They shoulda let him live and start a show called Wesley where he's all fucking insane and heartbroken and drunk and unshaven and shooting people and punching people:


wesley64.jpg
 
Wesley changed so much during the end of season 2 and all of season 3 then went badass. He was a better boss than angel, and he had that cool throat got cut scar.
 

calder

Member
Wesley was my favourite character on the show even before he got his throat slit. After that, he became the best part of the whole damn show... except maybe Angelus' brief return.
 
I think Wesley realized being a true man meant emulating james bond as near as possible, and in a lot of ways he did.

He drank more
Slept with women and dumped em
Shot people
 
Wesley was the best part of the show for the last 3 seasons or so.

It was sorta amazing how gradually his character evolved so much that he became more of a badass than Angel himself.
 
Whats great about Wesley... He did what needed to be done, and didnt give a crap about the rules.

From a Clumbsy Watcher to Ultimate Badass.... The standout character of Season 4,5.
 

Suerte

Member
You know Wesley would be better in bed than Angel cause Angel would be all like "Uh, I can't have too much fun or i'll go all evil"
 
I did miss the geeky Wesley though just for the comedic factor. That all went away when he got his throat slit. His whole interest in Cordy when he came into Buffy during Season 3 was great. Especially when he was that Prom talking to Giles about her.

Wesley: Mr. Giles. I'd like your opinion. While the last thing I want to do is muddle bad behavior in front of impressionable youth, I wonder if asking Miss Chase to dance would...

Giles: For God's sake, man, she's eighteen. And you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone. Just have at it, would you, and stop fluttering about. (walks away)

Wesley: Right, then. Thanks for that.

LOL
 
Compliments on the avatar SSX.

The S4 DVD set will be MINE! That season might have been my favorite of any show I've ever watched. Maybe a season of the Simpsons could've been better along the way, but otherwise it was the best.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I miss Angel...and Wesley did indeed become the best part of the show.
 

MASB

Member
MrAngryFace said:
They shoulda let him live and start a show called Wesley where he's all fucking insane and heartbroken and drunk and unshaven and shooting people and punching people:


wesley64.jpg
Best show ever! Maybe have Spike and Fred/Illyria as sidekicks. Too bad Hollywood doesn't listen to MAF's thoughts on this. :p Wesley'll always be my favorite Angel character.
 

fart

Savant
all of the original buffy cast were awesome omg i luv u buffy why did you have 2 end :(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( :(((((((

I HATE YOU WBb
 
fart said:
all of the original buffy cast were awesome omg i luv u buffy why did you have 2 end :(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( :(((((((

I HATE YOU WBb

Then they go and replace Angel with a Jeff Foxworthy show (that's coming on in Angels timeslot follows by a Drew Carey show).
 

SFA_AOK

Member
Yeah Wesley was cool but when I try to explain why he was cool to people (some who do and some who don't watch the show), I always end up sounding I think he was cool because he was a bitter drunk who didn't give a fuck any more.

I don't think this thread does me any favours. But like I give a fuck, +100000 for Wesley.
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
SFA_AOK said:
Yeah Wesley was cool but when I try to explain why he was cool to people (some who do and some who don't watch the show), I always end up sounding I think he was cool because he was a bitter drunk who didn't give a fuck any more.

That is why he's cool!

Season 5 spoilers covered.

Oh man, Wesley got fucked over so many times. He gets fired from the Watcher's Council, caught in an explosion, fired by Angel, shot in the gut, Fred chooses Gunn over him, he has his throat cut, his friends all abandon him, Lilah dies and he can't save her,
Fred starts dating Knox, he has to shoot his "father" who he thought was finally becoming proud of him and finally...finally he had a happy ending when Fred chose him. Oh wait, then 2 days later Fred dies and not only is it partly a lot of his friends' fault, she didn't just die, her soul got destroyed completely so she's not even in heaven somewhere. Then he's killed. Kind of a fitting end I suppose.
 

SFA_AOK

Member
Mama Smurf said:
he has to shoot his "father" who he thought was finally becoming proud of him and finally... <snip> Kind of a fitting end I suppose.

What's funny about the father thing is that he calls his dad up and his dad acts like an ass. Fitting end indeed, he had nothing to live for any more. Poor bugger
 

calder

Member
hole184.jpg

Stupid Man: I'm sorry to interrupt. I just need to know if the Holbine Clan history was here. It was supposed to be faxed to my office.


hole185.jpg

Wesley: It can wait.


hole184.jpg

Stupid Man: These guys are really important. I just need— I mean, the whole company can't be working Miss Burkle's case.

hole186.jpg

(reaches into his desk)
Wesley: Of course.
hole187.jpg

*bang*

hole188.jpg

Stupid Man: Ahhhh!!


hole189.jpg

Wesley: Jennifer, please send anyone else who isn't working Miss Burkle's case to me.
 

LakeEarth

Member
Missing the best Wesley scene ever!

Wesley: (lying in bed after sex) Hmm. You know that sinking feeling you sometimes get the morning after? It arrived early.

Lilah: Mmm. It's like a little death. Several in fact.

Wesley: Get out.

Lilah: What, no sweet kisses, no when can I see you again? Watch the dirty looks. It's what got me going in the first place. I'll give you this. You sure know how to channel your rage, frustration, and hate. Always a bigger turn on than love.

Wesley: You still here?

Lilah: (laughs) I'm starting to like you, Wes. But don't go making more of this than it is. I'm not one of the doey-eyed girls of Angel Investigations. Don't be thinking about me when I'm gone.

Wesley: I wasn't thinking about you when you were here.
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
I like how you can tell Wesley's emotional state from how much stubble he has.

I like the scene in Apocalypse Nowish when he's firing two pistols at the beast and they're totally bouncing off him, so he pulls a shotgun out of his jacket and has a go with that. Not that there's any dialogue to share. Just BANG BANG, BANG BANG, BANG BANG BANG....KA-BOOM, KA-BOOM....
 

Scrow

Still Tagged Accordingly
MrAngryFace said:
They shoulda let him live and start a show called Wesley where he's all fucking insane and heartbroken and drunk and unshaven and shooting people and punching people:


wesley64.jpg
Thanks for the spoiler you fucking bastard. I hate you.
 

fart

Savant
you people need to either get caught up or stay out of the spoiler threads (and if it happened like 3 years ago it's not a spoiler to most of us dudes and dudettes
 

calder

Member
Yeah, unless it's a spoiler in the thread title you gotta know to avoid the thread if your country is way far behind airing the show or if you for whatever reason are months behind. Nobody is going to think it's spoilers if all the major territories the show is aired in played it months ago.
 

Anyanka

Member
Wes was the best Angel character from day 1. Both nerdy wes and stubble Wes was great. I can't believe Joss killed my favorite character on each show in their finales.


The way he shots his robot dad is so badass. He doesn't just shoot him, he like guns him down.


Its funny how for a few eps before A Hole In the World he had actually started shaving.
 
THE WATCHER: The Path of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce



"Funny thing about black and white - you mix it together and you get gray. And it doesn't matter how much white you try and put back in, you're never gonna get anything but gray." - Lilah, HABEAS CORPSES

Amidst the recent death of Fred and the appearance of Illyria, there is another event that you'd think might get a little more attention.

In SHELLS, Wesley stabbed Gunn. Calmly. Without remorse.

And yet, nobody was really all that surprised about this, were they? I wasn't. Shocked and saddened, yes, but not truly surprised. But, taking a step back, I have to wonder why that is. Why aren't we surprised? How is it that a character can be that brutal to former friend and comrade-in-arms without a huge outcry from fans? The fact that the wound wasn't fatal doesn't explain this away.

A part of it is certainly our anger at Gunn for making the incredibly poor judgment call when his legal knowledge was reinstalled. Actions have consequences. If they didn't... Well, it wouldn't be a Joss Whedon show, would it? This has always been one of the main tenets of his shows.

But that isn't the whole story. A big chunk of our lack of surprise comes from our watching Wesley's development of the years. Most of the attention might be paid to the undead on ANGEL, but for my money, the most fascinating character on the show is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.

How did Wesley transform from a bumbling rookie Watcher to the composed, ruthless man we see today? Or was there really that much of a change? How much of the current Wes was in the Wes we originally met? I believe that it was all there, and circumstances over the years have brought it to the fore.

Wesley has always leaned on a guiding principle: do what is best in the context of the Big Picture. He looks for the "greater good," the best case for everyone who might be concerned, and acts accordingly. This is a logical goal, one that should ensure as little failure as possible. It can't usually be faulted. Knowing this, he has often been ruthless in pursuit of that goal.

Let's look at the earliest example of this viewpoint. The Scooby Gang was faced with a choice in the appropriately named episode, CHOICES: save the captured Willow or destroy the Box of Gavrok, ending the threat of the Mayor's imminent ascension. Wesley alone was willing to sacrifice one person in order to ensure the safety of the entire community. He supported what he saw as the lesser of the two evils.

If you step away from the affection that we have for Willow (because, really, who doesn't adore Willow?) and look at the situation objectively, he was correct. Even though Buffy and her army of fellow students stopped Mayor Wilkins shortly after he became a giant demon-snake, many still died on Graduation Day, including Principal Snyder, Larry, and Harmony. These deaths could have been averted if they had sacrificed Willow. And, had they not succeeded in stopping him post-ascension, the death toll could have been far worse.

Another obvious example: as the newly-appointed leader of the rebels on Pylea, he knew that his guerrilla warfare strategy would be fatal to some of the fighters under his charge. As he told Gunn in THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE PLRTZ GLRB, "You try not to get anybody killed you wind up getting everybody killed." He risked the fighters to save Cordelia, but also to help them win their battle, which he believed would help the greater good.

Keeping Justine prisoner in his closet was not something that resembled a "good" act, but it did have a just purpose: finding Angel, which returned the Champion to the world - the "greater good" - as well as repaying Angel for the theft of his son, easing his own self-loathing for his failure.

After breaking Faith out a prison - also not normally considered a "good" act, but one that was necessary to stop Angelus - Wesley assisted Faith with a plan of using a dangerous drug to bring him down (ORPHEUS). He understood far better than Faith the risks involved. Wesley was willing to sacrifice Faith to stop Angelus, serving the greater good. Of course, he himself was the one who had suggested and arranged for the removal Angel's soul (AWAKENING), which was also in an attempt to serve the greater good.

Hence the problem: this "greater good" thing gets a bit tricky. Instead of being a safe rock that Wesley can cling to, "serving the greater good" has led him astray as often as it has guided him well. Rather than following his heart, Wesley follows his head. This was the way he was raised, but it hasn't always worked out for the best.

When we first met Wesley, he was a Watcher like his father before him. However, he never won his father's respect or approval; there are even references to abuse in his early life. The failure to please his family was only the start of a string a failures - some self-perceived, some not - that have plagued him over the past few years. In his quest to Do Good, something instilled in him from birth, his self-loathing increased with each failure. He doesn't easily forgive himself for any of it.

He failed Faith, his original charge. As the new Watcher in town who first appeared in BAD GIRLS, he over-tried to assert his authority over both Buffy and Faith. He was never accepted by Buffy or the rest of the Scooby Gang. After Faith committed murder, his attempt to capture her and return her the Council was what pushed her over the brink and into the Mayor's camp (CONSEQUENCES). It wasn't until she tortured him a year later that he realized the enormity of this first major failure (FIVE BY FIVE/SANCTUARY).

He failed Connor. His attempt to save Connor's life and protect his "family" - a plan he didn't share due to the extreme bad timing, with Cordelia on vacation, Fred and Gunn's budding relationship, and Angel as the perceived threat - resulted in the child being raised in a demon dimension far from those who loved him (SLEEP TIGHT). His exclusion from what was likely his first ever close social group compounded his self-recrimination and resulting bitterness.

He failed Lilah. Their relationship began as a fulfillment of mutual needs - first physical, and then more. Despite their being on opposite sides of the war, they found common aspects of each other and they grew to care for one another. Lilah was killed in the supposed safety of the Hyperion (CALVARY), but most importantly, he could not save her eternally damned soul (HOME). Some contracts are just too binding for anyone to break.

And, most recently, the proverbial straw: He failed Fred. She was his image of perfection, his dream woman. After years of yearning and watching her become involved with other men (first Gunn, then Knox) he'd finally found love with the girl of his dreams... only to have her die in his arms (A HOLE IN THE WORLD). He was helpless to save her, and is now helpless to bring her back, and he is now left with only the image of her.

With each failure, with each loss, his anger at himself grows, but Wesley is not a man who lashes out in words. He becomes quiet and composed, with only his actions and his intensity revealing what is below the surface.

In BILLY, Wesley was infected with magic that brought out a primal anger in men that targeted women. Wes, unlike the other victims of Billy's magic, was frighteningly calm and methodical as he stalked and threatened Fred. He recognized that this anger came from a well within himself, and it was his extreme guilt at what the magic had caused that hamstringed his efforts at a romance with Fred early-on.

Since then, his anger has manifested in similar ways without being magically induced. In LINEAGE, Wesley received a visit from a cyborg masquerading as the elder Mr. Wyndam-Price. Wes, however, didn't realize that the visitor was not his father. When this non-father threatened Fred, Wes didn't balk or hesitate. Calmly, and truly believing that he was killing his own father, he emptied the gun in the creature's chest to save Fred. It was as if he poured every ounce of stored-up anger and resentment into him with every shot of the gun.

Illyria's destruction of Fred has made his anger and pain reach a comparable level to what Billy's powers did to him, and the Wesley we saw in SHELLS was able to shoot an underling for poor prioritizing skills, kill the unarmed yet incredibly culpable Knox, and stab Gunn while staring him straight in the eyes.

However, with Knox dead, non-fatal vengeance enacted on Gunn, and the Fred-like demon Illyria asking for his guidance, Wes is at a crossroads. The good and just path to take now is unclear - he doesn't even believe that he can teach Illyria about "what's right." (SHELLS) Plus, as is always the danger, his future interpretations of "greater good" might not be the same as that of his colleagues, and this is a fact that Angel knows only too well. As Eve asks Angel in LINEAGE, "Are you worried about the next time Wesley betrays you trying to do the right thing?"

However, even after all that has transpired, Wesley is still a good man who, deep down, wants to do what's right. We've watched him develop, break, and re-form bonds with the other characters. We've grieved with him. We've witnessed him repeatedly continue the good fight when he could have walked away. We've watched him be just and we've watched him be good, including when the two did not coincide. We've watched him strive for the light, even when he does so from a dark place.

And so, when he stabs a man that he once thought of as family, there's a part of us that understands how he got there.
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
It was beautiful how Wesley was brought full circle in his overall stoyline, once again a Watcher, if not in name. He screwed up Faith and had no control over Buffy, but with Illyria he was actually getting somewhere.

Damn, I love it when characters/stories are brought full circle! Though you do know the end is pretty much nigh when it happens.
 

Anyanka

Member
I thought it was cool his death seems to have finally put her on the path of understanding and respecting humans.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
>>>In SHELLS, Wesley stabbed Gunn. Calmly. Without remorse.

And yet, nobody was really all that surprised about this, were they? I wasn't. <<<

Actually, I thought somone should have put Gunn down in "That Old Gang Of Mine". In fact, I was so pissed off at how everyone glossed over the events of that episode that I stopped watching the show one or two episodes later. (and haven't watched another episode since)
 
TAJ said:
>>>In SHELLS, Wesley stabbed Gunn. Calmly. Without remorse.

And yet, nobody was really all that surprised about this, were they? I wasn't. <<<

Actually, I thought somone should have put Gunn down in "That Old Gang Of Mine". In fact, I was so pissed off at how everyone glossed over the events of that episode that I stopped watching the show one or two episodes later. (and haven't watched another episode since)

Nah, Angel himself summed it up correctly at the end of "That Old Gang of Mine" when Gunn asked if Angel would ever find him trustworthy again. Angel responded by telling him "I'll trust you when the time comes and you need to kill me, and you do" or something like that.

I did like the character arc they started to pursue with Gunn in that episode. Hopefully more will happen with him in Season 3.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
>>>I did like the character arc they started to pursue with Gunn in that episode. Hopefully more will happen with him in Season 3.<<<

So what did happen with Gunn, between then and when he got stabbed I mean? Seriously, I stopped watching. And I had a Nielsen box at the time... Oops, I killed Angel. And oops, I've said too much...
 
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