Lindsey

[Buffanator]

I love the Lindsey character - & the guy who plays him (Christian Kane).

Do you think Lindsey had the power to be *good*? Why do you think, even after he left W&H in S-2, that he still had such a hard on to kill Angel?

[white avenger]

Well, Angel cut his hand off. Sure, he got another one to replace it, but it wasn't really HIS hand, just a replacement. Plus, it was quite obvious that he had a thing for Darla, and Angel took her away, too, at least in his opinion. Either one of those could explain his less than brotherly affection for Ol' Broody (but then, Cain and Abel were brothers, now, weren't they?)

And let's not rule that hand out. EVIL hand, remember? Lindsey was a fairly decent sort before the hand. Sure, he worked for Evil, Inc., but he still managed to do the right thing once in awhile. He never was supposed to be the hero 24/7, that was Angel's gig. He was fairly decent when he left LA with the "Cops Suck" sign on his tail gate. Maybe between then and the time of his return, that evil hand became more dominant. Even with that, though, he truly helped Angel out at the end, only to be betrayed and murdered by a "flunky." What made Lindsey want to kill Angel? to get the complete answer to that, we might just have to talk to the hand. (You didn't REALLY think I was gonna let that get by, did you?)

[percepto girl]

I love Lindsey in season 1 and 2, and I always vastly preferred him over Lilah, who, to me, only became interesting at the end of season 3. Lindsey had that 'grey area' thing going on that I always find so appealing. During season 1 and 2, he gradually became more layered as a character, which was nice to see. His exit in Dead End was left (purposefully) ambiguous, which I thought was a great move. That said, the Lindsey we saw in season 5 kinda came out of nowhere. With everything that had been done with his character, I was surprised that he would be back with this grand plan to destroy Angel. I was under the impression that he had gone off to do some soul-searching. Maybe it would have made more sense if we knew where he was coming from (literally and figuratively ;)) and why on Earth he became involved with Eve. Still, we don't know what happened to him during his absence of 2,5 years, and I admit that it's possible that I'm giving him too much credit, though to me the s1/s2 Lindsey and the s5 Lindsey somehow don't connect, which is a shame.

[Lindsey McDonald]

Was it only me that thought Lindsey had a thing for Angel? I mean, he was obviously infatuated with Darla, but even she suggested that he might have a boyfriend. I don't know if I'm reading too much into it, but I always thought that was tied up in his Angel hate. Anyone else catch that vibe?

[BepperGirl]

Five by Five, I totally got that slashy vibe, too. In fact, it's why I was so pissed off that they killed Lindsey off in the series finale. "I want you, Lindsey." (beat) "I'm thinking about rephrasing that." Okay, that part was more Angel slashing on Lindsey, but yeah I really got the vibe that it was mutual even though it was mostly deep, under the surface stuff.

Also, Lindsey is my favourite character in the "purely Angel characters" list. I even named my laptop after him :P

[Aethra]

I have to say... never got that vibe! But Lindsey's definitely one of my favorite characters on Angel. He and Cordy are my two faves. I was so ridiculously excited when he came back in season five, and was legit bad, not "hmm, I think mybe I'll be bad today."

I do think he could have been good. He seemed to genuinely want to help Angel, that one time (I've forgotten the circumstances). I don't think season five Lindsey could have been good, but yes to the early Lindsey.

[Lindsey McDonald]

Having just watched Not Fade Away (I was saving it until my After the Fall TPB - which turned out to be a THB to my surpise and delight - arrived) I was appalled at what they did to Lindsey. They seemed to take 5 years of writing and throw it in the bin... I liked it for half the episode, when Lindsey was working with them because there was something in it for him and there was possibly something deep down that knew it to be right, but after that it all fell down. One word: Eve. Just why? What was the point of her being there? Seriously... I liked Eve. I really did, and I argued against all the hate, but she was completely unnecessary to wrap up Lindsey's storyline. Could the guys who wrote Angel really not come up with a more appropriate "last day" for Lindsey than spending it with Eve? He was clearly using her to get at Angel earlier in the Season, so why would he go back to her. It was just lazy.

Then they go and kill him. I didn't mind that it was Lorne. I didn't mind that it was undignified and messy. I minded that it was pointless. There was no reason to do so. Angel didn't kill him for years, yet when he helps out he's part of the problem? Wesley's death had a point at least...

But anyway, on to more important matters, I think I realised why I get the Lindsey loves Angel vibe. It's all in the body language. He's so overly eager to present himself to Angel. (Get your mind out of the gutter...) Of course, this also suggests the more prominent idea that he is jealous of Angel's goodness, and is constantly desperate to prove himself. I definately agree with that. But it all adds up. Body language, the intensity of the obsession (which is only ever seen elswhere in Angelus, who hurts those he loves, and Darla when she returned from the dead) certain throwaway lines of dialogue... Take for instance, now that we are talking about Not Fade Away, a line from the conversation where Angel convinces Lindsey to join the team:

Lindsey: This is not about coveting your neighbor's ass, your buddy's job, the last Mallomar in the box.

Obviously a riff on one of the 10 commandments. But it doesn't go quite like that, does it?

God: You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

The most famous part being, of course, "You shall not covet your neigbour's wife". Freudian slip, or just a quirk in the writing? It's impossible to determine, but I think the subtext is definately there. Plus, his last word [/I]is[/I] "Angel".

One moment I lol'd at was when Lindsey is kissing Eve on the sofa, and he asks her what she's thinking about. She says "Angel" and I totally expected him to be all "O.O Me too!"

But, hey, it's all subtext, so if you don't like it you don't have to see it. That's what I like about Joss' work so much, especially on Angel.

Edit:

When I said I'm not alone...I didn't mean I named my laptop after Lindsey! XD

Also, something I just noticed: is Lindsey the only character besides Angel who made it from City of... to Not Fade Away? Cause that's quite cool if he is.

[BepperGirl]

When I said I'm not alone...I didn't mean I named my laptop after Lindsey! XDLol, I think one can know what you meant since I mentioned you in my post about the whole Lindsey/Angel mancrushing vibe. There was also Eve's "It all comes back to Angel, doesn't it? He's still the center of your universe" in "You're Welcome." When I got that line, I was like "See, even Eve sees the mancrush Lindsey's got!" And you know, everyone you sleep with, you sleep with their partners, too. So yeah, by that analogy, Angel and Lindsey totally had sex. (She says in the way Captain Hammer said "Yeah, we totally had sex.")is Lindsey the only character besides Angel who made it from City of... to Not Fade Away? Cause that's quite cool if he is.He is. Actually, I got spoiled that Lindsey would be in the finale sometime in my watching season 3, I think, because I was looking at the trivia for Boreanaz on IMDb and the fact that Kane and Boreanaz were the only two actors to be in the first episode of Angel and the last. (They're also the only two actors to be in the first, the last, and the 100th, as well.) It might have been season 2, don't recall. I just remember knowing for a while before I got there that Lindsey would be in the finale. Was still surprised when he showed up in "Destiny," though! 'Cause I thought it was just the finale, I didn't know he would have this whole arc in season 5. In which the end result was to kill him off. Grr.

[Lindsey McDonald]

'Cause I thought it was just the finale, I didn't know he would have this whole arc in season 5. In which the end result was to kill him off. Grr.

Argh. Exactly. It just seemed so anti-climactic for his storyline. It would have been so cool if for his last day he had gone back into W&H and spoken to not-so-dead Lilah and Holland. Then he could have avoided Eve altogether, and if he did die it might have meant something.

Another thing, surely Lindsey found out about Angel and Eve at that Halloween party. He says to Eve that she's the one thing he has that Angel didn't "get his mitts on". Pfft. I don't buy it for one second!

[BepperGirl]

Can sort of see it (why Lindsey had to die), Lindsey could never be trusted, but not really. I'm mostly bummed that my favourite characters from Angel either died or just went up and left with no real reason given. Lindsey, Fred, and Kate were my top 3. In fact until "Destiny," I said that Fred and Lindsey were equals. Hee.

[IdiotJed]

I loved this character. For some reason he appears to me as tragic, teetering on the cusp of good or evil. At the end of the day, he was just a man and a damaged man at that. I've not seen passed season one recently, but that's the vibe I get from him. He chose greed over goodness which in today's age resonates not so strange.