areacode212

Yeah...I was arguing with someone on another (non-Buffy fandom) board who kept going on and on and on about how "stupid" the writing on Buffy was because of how they *didn't* explain things like that. Argh, so frustrating.

It does come off that way sometimes (like in S4 when the jar goes missing), but I'd rank the soul higher than a mere mcguffin since it has importance & meaning of its own.

You mean choice, as in whether to be good or evil? Yeah, I think that's precisely what the soul (in the Jossverse) does--it gives you the ability to make that choice. It doesn't necessarily make you "good" or heroic--Angel chose to walk out of the Hyperion in the 1950s, and he chose to let Dru & Darla eat those lawyers--but it gives you that capacity. Here's what Joss has said about the topic:

I don't really have an opinion about Howard either way (I haven't listened to him in years, though I did like him back in the day), but he really isn't front page news around here at all, let alone "a few times a week". I'll occasionally come across some stories (I don't think any of which are big enough to be "front page") about him, such as the Sirius deal, or his Bush-bashing, but he doesn't get the kind of press coverage that he got in the 90s.

Ohhh, I thought you were asking why Harmony isn't so violent, compared to other vampires. Yeah, it definitely is in a vampire's nature (once they're vamped) to be evil and untrustworthy, but a lot of one's identity is still informed by environment/outside influences. I don't think it's necessarily a binary answer; it can be a little of both. Angel/Angelus is a good example. Yes, Angel became a hero after he got a soul, and met Buffy (nurture). But! The part of him that's Angelus (nature) is definitely still there...we've seen him struggle with that over and over. It's a big part of who he is. I'm happy with a mixed message...it doesn't have to be purely one or the other. It really depends on the character though, and what the writers were trying to do with them.

Yeah, "Origin" pretty much answers that question for Connor. Nurture could also explain why Harmony is the way she is. We weren't given a whole lot of info about her human life, but I think we can assume that she had a pretty cushy life, and was too shallow & spoiled for any real anger or resentment to come to the surface once she was vamped. If Harm had a different, more difficult upbringing, it's possible that VampHarmony would have turned out a lot more like a typical vampire.

But what is there for the writers to deal with? The audience knows what Connor did, and we know it was bad. It's a big turning point for his character, where we realize just how far gone he is. Any further moralizing about how "murder is wrong" or whatever isn't necessary. Just because it was never acknowledged again doesn't mean that the writers forgot about it (especially since the end result of said killing was right there in the form of Gina Torres), just that they had more important things to get around to. I think it's a little of both in Angel's case. With Spike, it was more the unreformed vampire thing (at least in S4-6), and yeah, it was a bit hypocritical considering who he was banging at the time.

It's understandable that it was forgotten by the next episode, since everyone had turned shiny & happy then, and by the time Jasmine's spell was broken, they had much bigger things to worry about. Did any of them even know that Connor killed the virgin? If you mean that the show's writers (as opposed to the characters) forgot about it, well...it's natural that they would treat Willow & Connor differently. They had to address it with Willow since she was one of the main characters, we were supposed to love her, blah blah. Connor was never really meant to be redeemed, since this was basically the story of Holtz's revenge, and killing the girl was just one in a whole series of Connor's crappy decisions.

Yeah, I agree with this. 1 & 3 are shirts that I'd be willing to wear, if only they didn't have his name on the back. I get the feeling that I'd have to field a lot of "who the fuck is Carlito?" questions. Maybe if you wore a button-down shirt over it.

Hey, Meltzer responded to me: Me: Dave:

I think a lot of fans hated Dawn, regardless of who played her, because of the way she was this new annoying kid suddenly thrust into the show. That's not what I'm talking about. I agree that Dawn was meant to be annoying...to a point. And yeah, MT was very good at playing a pouty & petulant "heel" Dawn. But...the character had a lot of sympathetic qualities that I never thought MT conveyed convincingly enough. Heh, X-Pac heat is spot-on. I've seen fans bring up Amber Tamblyn as someone who could've done a better job as Dawn...I gotta agree. Compare her to Vincent Kartheiser, who was introduced in similar circumstances (instant teenager, feeling out of place from his family). Connor could've been a disaster if he were played by a lesser actor, but VK had awesome & subtle acting chops, and really made me feel for a character that in some ways, was way more unsympathetic than Dawn. A lot of fans hate Connor anyway, but it's hard to make the claim that it's because of his acting.

Yeah, I figured she had to be making more. Maybe I'll ask Meltzer. I mean, even I make (slightly) more than that, and I found it disconcerting that a WWE wrestler was making less money than me. Made me feel old.

I was reading a report of the latest Torch that someone posted on another site, and apparently, Molly was also upset about her pay, which, according to Keller, was only around $50,000/year after expenses. Wow. If that's the most she could pull in after several years of working for the country's biggest wrestling company, how much is she ever likely to make in this business?

I agree about the writers, especially since they kept writing Dawn as if she was younger than she was (even after the initial batch of S5 eps), but I think MT should shoulder at least some of the blame. I was never impressed with her. There are better actresses out there, I can easily see one of them playing Dawn so that she wasn't so grating & irritating, when she was meant to be sympathetic. I've never heard this. I mean, there are times when I wonder what would've happened between Angel & Darla if Lindsey & Dru hadn't burst into the motel room. And supposedly, the Pylea arc replaced ME's original plan which I think was supposed to involve more Darla, but as far as I know, JB wasn't ever meant to be more than a guest star. I'm glad that she managed to appear in all 5 seasons, even though I thought she was wasted in TGiQ.

Somewhere, Lanny Poffo is crying. I haven't watched a full Smackdown in months, so this was my first time seeing a Cena promo in quite a while. This guy is the champion? What, there no other over babyfaces on this show?

I remember once reading a story about how Molly would sometimes help out the guys who set up the ring, and would help them carry equipment, etc. If the state of women's wrestling both here and in Japan is really that bad, I wonder if this means that she's retiring from wrestling altogether. I hope she manages to find something--I always liked her.

What were the nice things Goldberg said about Molly?

Hey, could you put these up again? Use rapidshare.de, so you don't have to put up with a time limit.

Where the hell were all you people in the early 90s when I would get mocked for lusting after Sherri? I thought I was the only one. I mean, how could you not love this mega-cleavage? Anyway, I've had that WM5 Coliseum Video for years, and had no idea that there was an interview missing. Thanks for pointing that out...I just d/l'd it with WMR.

Don't be too embarrassed: I admit that it was nice seeing Sherri's cleavage again. And yeah, nice to see that she still sells pretty well.

Heh, I know, but I'm hoping this is the show that reverses the Paula Marshall curse.

Freaks and Geeks, now and forever. I'll also throw in Grosse Pointe, Max Headroom, and...Andy Richter Controls the Universe. OK, that last one technically lasted for two seasons, but S1 only consisted of 6 episodes and half of the second season went unaired. I've had the Firefly DVDs since the day they came out, but I still haven't gotten around to watching them...maybe one of these days. Yeah, Cupid was good. If you liked it, you should check out Veronica Mars, at least so that you can help it stave off Cupid's fate. It's produced by the same guy (Rob Thomas) and pretty damn good. Also, Paula Marshall is a recurring character if you're a fan.

I've lost interest steadily over the years, so it's hard to pinpoint when exactly I stopped. I think it may have been sometime in 2002 or 2003. I remember making a point to watch the Angle/Lesnar Iron Man Match on SD, but I was like, why do I have to subject myself to watching the same angles & matches & boring commentary over and over?

Here's the link to the original message at Daivari's board: DAVARI AND HASSAN = SAND NIGGERS WHO'S TIME IS GOING TO BE SHORT LIVED IN THE WWE

I'm not sure how many of you watch Veronica Mars (you should be, though--the show is good. It's on at Tuesdays at 9 on UPN), but it may interest you to know that Alyson Hannigan will be showing up in an upcoming episode as Logan's sister.