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Week 11 - Redemption, Part 2
"It's All About Choices"

Background

This week's episodes follow soon after last week's episodes. Faith goes to Los Angeles, where Angel has established a detective agency. (These episodes are from the spin-off series, Angel.)

Opening

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.

-Confuscius

Atonement's a bitch.

-Angel

Episode (Angel) 1.18: Five by Five

Continuity

  • Follows shortly after Faith has returned to her own body and escaped Sunnydale
  • Angel has left Sunnydale for Los Angeles, and is now a private investigator
  • Flashbacks to Angel's curse, which was the start of his own redemption
  • Wolfram and Hart, a law firm in Los Angeles, represents powerful demons, and uses black arts in its law practice

What to watch for

  • How does Faith's self-hatred and behavior compare to her attitude and behavior previously?

Transcript is available at http://www.buffyworld.com/angel/season1/transcripts/18_tran.shtml

Episode (Angel) 1.19: Sanctuary

What to watch for

  • Faith trying to understand what she can do to go on from here

Transcript is available at http://www.buffyworld.com/angel/season1/transcripts/19_tran.shtml

Questions

What is the relationship between forgiveness and redemption?

When Angel says, "I know what you want, and I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna make it easy for you." What does he mean?

What has Faith achieved so far towards redemption? What is left that she must still do?

What can we say about the journeys to redemption that other characters are on? Wesley? Cordelia?

Whose forgiveness do we ultimately need?

What is it that we do which ultimately achieves redemption?

Is there anything that guarantees redemption, or that makes redemption permanent?

How does this view of redemption contrast with those of other religions?

We've seen parts of Angel's journey of redemption as well. Who or what is the "higher power" that Angel calls on for guidance?

Closing

For remaining silent when a single voice would have made a difference, we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.

For each time that our fears have made us rigid and inaccessible, we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.

For each time that we have struck out in anger without just cause, we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.

For each time that our greed has blinded us to the needs of others, we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.

For the selfishness which sets us apart and alone, we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.

For falling short of the admonitions of the spirit, we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.

For losing sight of our unity, we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.

For those and for so many acts both evident and subtle which have fueled the illusion of separateness, we forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.

-Robert Eller-Isaacs

Additional Reading

Brock, Rita Nakashima, and Rebecca Ann Parker, Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us. Boston: Beacon Press, 2001.

Forster, Greg, Faith and Plato: "You're Nothing! Disgusting, Murderous Bitch!" South, James B, ed., Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2003.

Held, Jacob M., Justifying the Means: Punishment in the Buffyverse. South, James B, ed., Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2003.

Money, Mary Alice, The Undemonization of Supporting Characters in Buffy. Wilcox, Rhonda V., and David Lavery, Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002.

Riess, Jana, What Would Buffy Do? San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Sakal, Gregory J., No Big Win: Themes of Sacrifice, Salvation, and Redemption. South, James B, ed., Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2003.

Schudt, Karl, Also Sprach Faith: The Problem of the Happy Rogue Vampire Slayer. South, James B, ed., Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2003.

Stevenson, Gregory, Televised Morality: The Case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Dallas: Hamilton Books, 2003.

Stoy, Jenifer, Blood and Choice: The Theory and Practice of Family in Angel. Kaveny, Roz, Reading the Vampire Slayer, second edition. London: Taurisparke Paperbacks, 2004.

Stroud, Scott R., A Kantian Analysis of Moral Judgement in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. South, James B, ed., Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Chicago, IL: Open Court, 2003.