Consider Wesley
Wyndham-Pryce.
The rough, rugged, stubbly, vaguely psychotic Marlboro man's second cousin, the
image that carried him through all of his weapons training, through his seduction
of Lilah Morgan, through all of his adolescent alpha-male ideals, once leader
of Team Angel is a fragile soap bubble.
One visit from his father -- even a cybernetic image of his father --
transforms him instantly into the nebbish, Brylcreem’d, hopelessly awkward
"Giles the Next Generation" we were introduced to in the
"Buffy" series, the flailing rogue demon hunter of "Parting
Gifts," the towering nerd we remembered in "Spin the Bottle."
Even his defenses are vaporized in his exchange, as he's tidying up like he has
something to apologize for:
Rogerbot: "There are some who believe that your tenure as Watcher ranks as
our most embarrassing failure."
First off, nice how he slips that in -- virtually as part of his invitation.
Wesley: "Really. I beat out 'Everybody dying in an explosion' as most
embarrassing failure."
Well, let's look at it: Screams like a girl in the face of vampires, openly
obtuse concerning rogue Slayers, preferring his kneecaps to the global
devastation possible with the return of a powerful amulet to a hot-tub demon
(presumably he'd prefer to face the anticipated anihilation intact),
access to the collected wisdom of the Council but retaining the emotional
maturity of a blueberry scone where dating is concerned, and carried off in an
ambulance whimpering for pain-killers as a girl half his age engineers the
saving of the world from an Ascension, all while exuding an air of pompous
superiority.
Placed up against the destruction of the Watchers Council, I'd have to say that
that -- even all of that -- comes in a distant second. But the Roger-bot is
capable of such nuanced responses that even that is deflected back upon
him.
Rogerbot: "Friends and colleagues lost their lives in that event, Wesley.
A little respect."
Rodge is there to conduct an evaluation. There is no evaluation. Wesley knows
that for all the sophistication he's gained, he is and will always be a puling
and inadequate little boy in his father's eyes -- even those of a computerized
simulation.
I wish -- I really wish -- he'd managed to say what needs to be said:
"If I'm so inadequate, if I've turned out so badly -- department head in
the most powerful law firm in Los Angeles (rather than lowest on the totem pole
in the "Everyone Thinks We're Weirdos Home Journal") -- if I'm that
great a disappointment to you, maybe you could've found some way to be a more
adequate father figure, instead of constantly berating me and dismissing all of
my efforts and achievements (with the exception of those you usurped entire
credit for) and found a way to be satisfied with yourself instead of trying to
live what meagrely cobbled-together success you've ever felt you've experienced
in your life vicariously through me."
In fact, in S3, in "Fredless," he does manage a moment's reflection
on this matter, in which subtext rapidly became ... text:
Wesley: (wistfully, concerning the Burkles) "They loved her.
Supported her. Didn't grind her down into a tiny, self-conscious nub with their
constant berating, never-ending tirade of debasement and scorn."
All of that resentment was present in his refusal:
Wesley: "I'll save you the trouble. I'm not interested."
Instantly. He is instantly transformed into what he was, his image
through his father's eyes, so completely he stumbled first into a door and then
into an intern. While still trying to retain some shred of dignity, he invites
Rodge to Fred's cybernetic necropsy.
Wesley can read many, many languages, including, apparently, proto-Mayan
pictographs. He's very good at what he does, and he's trying desperately to
appear competent in his translation of the code embedded in the mechanism.
To simplify what happens in this exchange, consider the word "gift."
The exact same four letters mean a present in English, and poison in German.
Surely the language employed in the cyborg is just similar to other dozens of
languages at Wesley's disposal. Wesley's thumbnail analysis is perfectly valid,
and his father's contempt is fragrant.
Rodge: Upon deactivating the charge (which he would well understand, being a
cyborg of that construction), the Rogerbot lays another blow: "Quite
simple, really."
Bitca.
And the story of Wesley as a precocious child trying to resurrect a poor dead
bird is the sweetest motivation in the world, and naturally his father has
found a way to turn that into some sort of a belittlement.
Motivations
The whole episode revolves around Wesley's self-loathing coupled with his
desperation for approval. The show actually opens with Angel berating him for
putting Fred in danger, which Fred rightly points out is not entirely his
fault. Wesley's defenses are up, and -- as demonstrated in Rodge needling Wes
about having a girlfriend -- there is no right answer.
Angel: "Fathers and sons, can be torture sometimes."
Angel does get it in the end, tho, and has something of a revelation -- an
epiphany, if you will:
Angel: "You do what you have do to protect the people around you, to do
what you know is right, regardless of the cost. Y'know, I never really
understood that. You're the guy that makes all the hard decisions, even if you
have to make them alone."
Side note: The cyborgs were almost certainly going to be the Big Bad in S6. A
very light dusting of groundwork was laid for them in this episode, including
the very presence of a Rogerbot. They meant to abduct Angel using the most
sophisticated and devastating of weaponry -- human angst. Their purpose, from
initial reports, seemed to be good, but somehow misdirected. In breaking in on
that gun sale (in which W&H was almost certainly planning to sell
gun-runners some useless junk), they made their presence known, and in
deploying the Rogerbot, they revealed their objective: Angel.
And, as for the rest of it, Wes should've known something was up when his
father offered so much as a word of praise while he was in the vault area.
Despite his protests to the contrary, I'm certain he knew full well that that
was not his father.
His father has no self-esteem to speak of, and it manifests in his ... how did
that go? Oh yes ... "grinding him down into a tiny, self-conscious nub
with his constant berating, never-ending tirade of debasement and scorn."
Hence, no words of praise. You can't express love for others if you have none
for yourself, and Roger Wyndham-Pryce ... simply doesn't.
It all came down to this exchange:
Rodge:
"You've failed me enough for one lifetime. ... You know what that vampire
is and what he's done, and yet you follow him anyway."
Wesley:
"Maybe I know what I'm doing. Why can't you trust that?"
Rodge:
"You've disgraced yourself with the Council, you join forces with him, and
you have the nerve to ask me why I can't trust you?"
Wesley:
"I've done everything you've ever asked, and I've done it well."
Rodge: "I
asked for this? I wanted to be humiliated?"
Wesley:
"No, I suppose I don't know what you really wanted. You never had any use
for me as a child and you can't bear the thought of me as an adult. Tell me
father, what is it that galls you so? That I was never as good at the job as
you, or that I just might be better?"
And Rodge
sidesteps the feeling-based Angelino psychobabble and makes the colossal
blunder of aiming a weapon at Fred, which brings a reflex action from Wesley,
pumping several rounds into his chest.
It ends with an image of Wesley trying to work through that reality -- and
finding out just how true to life that insufferable 'bot had actually been.
Oh ... just go get married, Alexis. You've earned it.
Be well.
.
Some fun lines:
Fred: "This thing really blurs the line between human and robot."
Spike: "So you're not ruling out that a human being could have boffed a
robot. Sex with robots is more common than most people think." Nice bit of
continuity
Angel: "I didn't know your father was coming, Wesley. I'm Angel. Pleasure
to meet you."
Rodge: "You really expect me to shake that?"
Angel: "Well, I'm not really comfortable with hugging."
Eve: "Let us know if you need more resources."
What an interesting show of concern, given that very recently, Fred was scolded
for being way over budget.
And this little ray of sunshine:
Lorne: "So I'm covered in cherries, the police are just pounding on the
door, and Judi Dench starts screaming 'That's way too much to pay for a
pair of pants!' "
And a fun bit of foreshadowing:
Rodge: "He's (Angel) a puppet. To the Powers That Be, to Wolfram&Hart,
and now he's ours."
And if I'm not mistaken, Angel's characterization of the Rogerbot as a
"robot with a fancy glamor" seems a little bit ... serene to
me, yes?
Overall, "Lineage" is a nice, nice eppy.
Shame about the .. y'know ... lack of resolution on the whole cyborg thing.
* on his way out, kicks the Frog into a wastepaper basket, dumps lighter
fluid on top of it, strikes a match and throws it away *
Stupid Frog.