Cordy/Angel meta

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There's a thread on the BSV forum on the Cordy/Angel relationship, and I'll probably get around to posting this there  when I get a chance, but I figured I might as well jot down my thoughts while I was thinking them. Also, I've been trying to post more stuff here besides fic and memes, and for the most part, people seem to like the meta, so here goes.

I was never really into Cordy/Angel. I mean, I get objectively why they'd make a good pairing, but I just wasn't invested in them. (Also, I think the things that would make them a good pairing are the same things that made them a fantastic friendship, so why mess with a good thing?) So, last night, I was watching "Spin the Bottle" (thank you, Scarlet), and I finally figured out what about the ship turns me off.

It's trying to be Bangel.

It's as though the writers felt like the best way to compete with the Buffy/Angel relationship was to make Cordy/Angel just as star-crossed - even though the relationship was completely different. The thing is, Cordy and Angel had this deep friendship Buffy and Angel never had. And it didn't have to be romantic - their chemistry reminds me a lot of early Buffy/Willow, or season 5 Angel/Spike. (In fact, Cordy's relationship with Angel is exactly like Spike's. They both know him better than anyone, they're the ones to always call him on his shit, and they're the best at bringing out both petty!Angel and hero!Angel... and omg, I just realized that Spike was totally brought in to replace Cordy twice.)

Er, yeah. Where was I? Right. Angel and Cordy, totally different foundation from Angel and Buffy. But as soon as Angel recognizes his feelings for Cordy, the writers start throwing up one artificial roadblock after another, trying to come up with ways to keep them apart, when there's really no good reason to. First it's Groo, then Cordy disappears, then she's back but she's lost her memory, then she remembers everything, but she knows too much, then the Connor thing, and then he's evil, and then she's evil, and by the time we get to the coma, instead of thinking how sad it is that they missed their chance and they'll never be together, I'm going ZOMG, thank goodness it's finally OVER! Which I don't think was the intention...

The thing is, Bangel was star-crossed because they really could never be together. Even without the vampire/Slayer obstacle, or Angel's slippery soul, their relationship was teenage and idealistic, and that never, ever works out in real life. But Cordy and Angel were different. They had a solid friendship, and there was no good reason they couldn't turn it into a relationship, if they'd just, y'know, put a little effort into it. But instead we get two years of UST and pining away, and the whole time I'm thinking, "Be together. Don't be together. It doesn't matter. Just stop angsting about it." (Which, incidentally, is what I spent much of the early seasons saying to Buffy and Angel.)

If they wanted to go the relationship route with Cordy and Angel, the model shouldn't have been Bangel, it should have been Spuffy. Sure, Buffy and Spike were messy, and complicated, and occasionally just plain awful, but they were real. The conflict between them was internal, not some external roadblock that keeps them apart (and, IMO, internal conflict is always a better story than external conflict). And that's what I wanted to see from Cordy/Angel (or would have wanted to see, if I'd actually cared about them getting together).

Or maybe I'm just completely anti-pairing on Angel, since this episode also reminded me how annoying the Wes/Fred/Gunn triangle was. I didn't mind Fred and Gunn together, but with Wes pining away... I mean, holy crap, boys, stop fighting over her! She's not worth it!

I can't actually think of any ship I liked on that show (except for the implied Spangel). Cordy/Doyle? Mostly one-sided and he was gone too fast for me to get invested. Angel/Fred? Totally hero worship and icky. Wes/Lilah? I... kinda block that out since it was during the parts of season 4 I dislike. Cordy/Connor? No explanation needed. Lindsey/Eve? I just hate Eve, so anything that gives her more screen time is bad. Wes/Fred? Weirdly obsessive and by the time they got together, I think Wes was more in love with the idealized version of Fred he'd pined for than the actual girl. Angel/Nina? Blah. Nina was practically a non-entity.

It's funny, because although I clearly have my preferences (*cough* Spuffy), I don't have any problem with the other canon pairings on Buffy (except Willow/Kennedy), and I regularly incorporate them into my fics. But Angel, for some reason, is like pairing kryptonite to me.

Comments

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I separate the two things. It was the writers wrongly trying to turn them into Bangel as opposed to the characters organically becoming Bangel-esque. It was like the writers had a Bangel fixation which is why they kept returning to the Bangel story tropes (with a bunch of couples) rather than letting different couples be different, and as a result, they writers had the characters do some very strange contortions to continue in a Bangel vein.

I personally loved Cordy/Angel... in theory. There was a connection between them that was more substantive than any Bangel shared (which was all about fantastical teen angst). But, as soon as the writers decided to actually pursue Cordy/Angel, rather than grow what was there between C/A they set about trying to make them Bangel when it never should have been. The whole kyrumption b.s. (or however it was spelled) was silly and ridiculous and part of some odd tendency in the Whedonverse that requires characters to be 'special' rather than letting characters just be in their own right and that be special enough. The more they tried to make the Cordy/Angel connection fantastical as opposed to their knowing/loving each other -- flaws and all -- the more the story went awry. Add in the problems the writers seemed to have with CC, and C/A, which had such potential, got derailed.

I still consider C/A to be the more true relationship though I also think that Angel maintained a more idealized and romanticized Bangel in his head.

[next_to_normal]

Yeah, I kind of separate them, in that objectively, I can see how they would have worked well as a pairing, and I can understand why people ship them, and I blame all the bad stuff on the writers, not the nature of the relationship. But I still don't have that spark of investment in the couple, and I'm not sure if that's a problem with the writing leaving me cold, or me just not picking up on the romantic chemistry between them that would sell me on the pairing.

[ms-scarletibis.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if that's a problem with the writing leaving me cold, or me just not picking up on the romantic chemistry between them that would sell me on the pairing.

You may have something there. For some reason, David and James oozed chemistry. It was seeping out of their pores, I tell you.

Um...yes.

[next_to_normal]

Hee! The thing is, I think Angel and Cordy had good chemistry, just not romantic chemistry. I was trying to think of good examples of this - deep friendships that can have really intense scenes and the actors play off one another really well, but it's not sexual in any way. But other than Spangel (which is admittedly a little sexy), I can only think of examples on shows you haven't seen, lol. BSG has some good ones, or The West Wing (Bartlet/Leo comes to mind as a really strong friendship with amazing chemistry that was totally unsexy because these are two old men who've known each other 40 years).

[ellan-vannin.livejournal.com]

I personally loved Cordy/Angel... in theory. There was a connection between them that was more substantive
I still consider C/A to be the more true relationship

Yeah! This is what I meant (only shipperx makes better sense) by stunting Angel's "personal growth". I thought both Cordy and Angel's arc from BtVS to Angel (by s2) was enough to carry the characters; their "specialness" didn't have to be inserted so awkwardly.

(see, this is why I joined LJ... I thought I was the only one who had these thoughts!)

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Heh, that's the thing about LJ... you can always find someone who agrees with you, no matter how crazy and out there it is! (Not that this one's all that out there, lol.)

[ellan-vannin.livejournal.com]

*snort* 'S'okay. Believe me, I've got some weird ideas!