Cheesiest scene in Angel?

MarieVampSlayer

MarieVampSlayer

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Sineya
Hi all,

So I just re-watch Tomorrow and saw the scene where Cordelia is talking to herself as an illuminated figure in a mirroir and oh that was so cheesy. The light, her white outfit, her '' I'm in love'', I just thought that was such a cheesy scene that could have been done so much better. But maybe they're is some cheesier scene in Angel that I forgot about.

What is yours cheesiest scene on Angel?
 
EarthLogic said:
Oh God I hated the glowy-apparition-Cordy thing. It was like something from Charmed.

Her luminous insta-heal of Connor was pretty cheesy, I'd say.
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Hahaha so true, so Charmed like! I think we can agree that Cordelia + lightpower is pretty cheesy!
 
PaulParmar1
PaulParmar1
I so disagree. I loved it
My impression (whether intended by the writers or not) is that it was a glamor of Jasmine. In order to "complete the tests" (and thus the prophecy, the prophecies being epic spells of sorts which is why many people looked to fulfill them rather than merely watch for signs) Cordelia had to willingly give up her love for Angel in favor of becoming a Higher Being. Jasmine was getting impatient (and perhaps knew how much trouble Angel was in) so she took a more direct hand, and pretended to be "Cordelia in light" to speed Cordelia along to the last test:

Cordy: "No, of course not. Why would the Powers give me time to have the most important conversation of my life? I'm on my way to... (Skip just looks at her) I'm in love! With Angel."
Skip: "What you're being called to do - transcends love."
Cordy: "How is that fair? I can't leave without telling him! I won't. - He has to know how I feel! Why does this have to be now?"
Skip: "There is work to be done in the higher realms."
Cordy: "Can you at least tell Angel for me?"
Skip: "Sorry. Not allowed."
Cordy: "Then I'm not going. - How can they possibly do this to me now? - This is the last test, isn't it?"

Fact is, I think Cordelia's love for Angel was implanted from the start by Jasmine messing with her mind, though maybe I'm just doing "damage control" for the writers (but if I'm right then it helps explain why Cordelia became a Buffy knock off rather than herself for Angel, because Jasmine figured that would work best).
 
thrasherpix said:
My impression (whether intended by the writers or not) is that it was a glamor of Jasmine. In order to "complete the tests" (and thus the prophecy, the prophecies being epic spells of sorts which is why many people looked to fulfill them rather than merely watch for signs) Cordelia had to willingly give up her love for Angel in favor of becoming a Higher Being. Jasmine was getting impatient (and perhaps knew how much trouble Angel was in) so she took a more direct hand, and pretended to be "Cordelia in light" to speed Cordelia along to the last test:

Cordy: "No, of course not. Why would the Powers give me time to have the most important conversation of my life? I'm on my way to... (Skip just looks at her) I'm in love! With Angel."
Skip: "What you're being called to do - transcends love."
Cordy: "How is that fair? I can't leave without telling him! I won't. - He has to know how I feel! Why does this have to be now?"
Skip: "There is work to be done in the higher realms."
Cordy: "Can you at least tell Angel for me?"
Skip: "Sorry. Not allowed."
Cordy: "Then I'm not going. - How can they possibly do this to me now? - This is the last test, isn't it?"

Fact is, I think Cordelia's love for Angel was implanted from the start by Jasmine messing with her mind, though maybe I'm just doing "damage control" for the writers (but if I'm right then it helps explain why Cordelia became a Buffy knock off rather than herself for Angel, because Jasmine figured that would work best).
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You have to head canon this to work. It’s the only way for me to make any sense of this Cordy stuff.
 
All of the Pylea arc- although I still love it, it's wicked cheesy. At least we know a lot of the buffyverse is made with the cheesy factor in mind, but there were a few times it didn't seem so intentional like the Nahdrah demons in 'Provider'(my least favorite Angel episode) or the Morah demon in 'I will remember you' looked horrible.
 
I can't think of any specific lines, but I often eye roll when Angel gets "philosophical". I interpret him as a doer and not really a thinker.

The Girl In Question is on the whole cheesy to me too. The idea that two grown ass men behaving as immaturely as they do over Buffy like that makes me feel embarassed for them.
 
Not sure if it’s cheesy, but the effect where Connor is riding on top of the bus when he first comes back through the portal and they’re all trying to chase him is pretty bad. It’s so clearly his image pasted onto the background, I kinda cringed when I saw it recently lol maybe a case of no so intentional cheesiness like @fauxindigo said!
 
EarthLogic said:
The worst line has got to be 'I'm Angel. I beat the bad guys.' from 'You're Welcome'.

AHHHHHHHHHH!! So cringey! I can't think of anything right now that tops that. David Fury should have been smacked for that one.
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Are you serious? Defining moment. Not cheesy at all. He's supposed to sound silly; for the first time in a while he knows exactly who he is and is proud of it. He's like, "I'm gonna say something that you could make fun of me for, except you can't, because you're bleeding on the ground and I kicked your ass."
 
Fool for Buffy said:
Are you serious? Defining moment. Not cheesy at all. He's supposed to sound silly; for the first time in a while he knows exactly who he is and is proud of it. He's like, "I'm gonna say something that you could make fun of me for, except you can't, because you're bleeding on the ground and I kicked your ass."
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No, I agree with @EarthLogic - its the worst line of the show. I hate it. Even if he would have said "Because, that's what I do, I beat the bad guys." maybe I could forgive it. But it was just as bad as that cheesy commercial Cordy wanted him to do - "I'm the dark avenger." It was no bueno.
 
Fool for Buffy
Fool for Buffy
Boooooo. I disagree but don't have anything to say back. Not fair
Grace
Grace
If he would have said he was the dark avenger in that scene I would have loved it! Would have been a hilarious callback.
I'm with @Fool for Buffy Cordelia came back from the dead to take things back to basics. That means beating the bad guys and helping the helpless, not trying to control the beast from within.
 
Fool for Buffy said:
Are you serious? Defining moment. Not cheesy at all. He's supposed to sound silly; for the first time in a while he knows exactly who he is and is proud of it. He's like, "I'm gonna say something that you could make fun of me for, except you can't, because you're bleeding on the ground and I kicked your ass."
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WillowFromBuffy said:
I'm with @Fool for Buffy Cordelia came back from the dead to take things back to basics. That means beating the bad guys and helping the helpless, not trying to control the beast from within.
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I argee that's the intention with that scene, but the way the line is written just makes me cringe. If it had just been a little different like @dcai0830 suggested, it wouldn't have been so bad.

Admittedly I haven't watched the episode in a long time so maybe I'm remembering it as worse than it actually is. But from going through the transcript just now, I'm not so sure it is meant to sound silly. It looks like it's played quite straight.
 
Fool for Buffy
Fool for Buffy
I think it's quite satisfying, you should give it a rewatch ;)
Fool for Buffy said:
Are you serious? Defining moment. Not cheesy at all. He's supposed to sound silly; for the first time in a while he knows exactly who he is and is proud of it. He's like, "I'm gonna say something that you could make fun of me for, except you can't, because you're bleeding on the ground and I kicked your ass."
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Perhaps "cheesy" is the wrong word. Perhaps these moments are "camp" in the sense that Susan Sontag uses the word? "Camp taste is a kind of love, love for human nature. It relishes, rather than judges, the little triumphs and awkward intensities of "character." . . . Camp taste identifies with what it is enjoying. People who share this sensibility are not laughing at the thing they label as "a camp," they're enjoying it. Camp is a tender feeling."
 
TriBel said:
Perhaps "cheesy" is the wrong word. Perhaps these moments are "camp" in the sense that Susan Sontag uses the word? "Camp taste is a kind of love, love for human nature. It relishes, rather than judges, the little triumphs and awkward intensities of "character." . . . Camp taste identifies with what it is enjoying. People who share this sensibility are not laughing at the thing they label as "a camp," they're enjoying it. Camp is a tender feeling."
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But according to Sontag, true camp is not self aware, and AtS and BtVS are probably the most self-aware shows on television.

Sontag Rocks! My old teacher hated her, so I quoted her just to spite him 😛
 
Carrie Hopewell said:
Can I say all of Birthday and A Hole in the World, a lot of Provider, the aforementioned You're Welcome scene, plus plenty of Fred's scenes, some of the Beast's scenes and all of Jasdelia?
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Wow, that's a lot! 'A Hole in the World' and Fred's scenes...😱😱 How?

I agree with you on Jasdelia and 'Provider'. The Beast's scenes I can't remember too well in terms of cheese-factor.
 
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EarthLogic said:
Wow, that's a lot! 'A Hole in the World' and Fred's scenes...😱😱 How?
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A Hole in the World is such a cheese fest!

"My boys, I walk with heroes." "You are one."
"No, not this girl. Not this day."
"Winifred Burkle."

The whole episode is about men teaming up to save the damsel, who pretends not to be a damsel ("This is my power to not let them take me.") when the whole point of the episode was to take away her power and agency. It's also a dragged out sob fest. The whole team acts like losing precious Fred is the worst thing to have ever happened. They weren't as upset about Fred, or Connor being kidnapped or the world nearly ending some times.

As to Fred's scenes... not all of them are cheesy, but a lot of them are. Fred is often child-like and coddled.
 
Carrie Hopewell said:
A Hole in the World is such a cheese fest!

"My boys, I walk with heroes." "You are one."
"No, not this girl. Not this day."
"Winifred Burkle."

The whole episode is about men teaming up to save the damsel, who pretends not to be a damsel ("This is my power to not let them take me.") when the whole point of the episode was to take away her power and agency. It's also a dragged out sob fest. The whole team acts like losing precious Fred is the worst thing to have ever happened. They weren't as upset about Fred, or Connor being kidnapped or the world nearly ending some times.

As to Fred's scenes... not all of them are cheesy, but a lot of them are. Fred is often child-like and coddled.
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Yes!! Finally someone who agrees! I had trouble sitting through that episode in my rewatch and was honestly baffled at how acclaimed it is. The writing is weak, the lines and most of the delivery is so cheesy and the whole thing feels so obviously manipulative. It's like I'm watching a Hallmark movie.

The only redeeming quality it has is the last scene between Wesley and Fred, because Alexis and Amy are top-notch. Other than that, it's one of my least favorite episodes of the show. And yes the whole damsel in distress thing while all her men are trying to save her really doesn't do it for me. It was the final nail in the coffin of "AtS hates female characters" for me.
 
WillowFromBuffy said:
But according to Sontag, true camp is not self aware, and AtS and BtVS are probably the most self-aware shows on television.

Sontag Rocks! My old teacher hated her, so I quoted her just to spite him 😛
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True but BtVS was 30 years after Sontag's essay so I'm allowing for some refinement in technique. 🙂 I suppose there are different levels of "playfulness", ludic irony etc. but I always found BTVS/Angel absorbed their own self awareness - wore it lightly as it were. TBH, if they hadn't I think I'd have given up with them. I think what I'm trying to say is, or at least BtVS, rarely feels like an "experiment" in theory.
 
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