Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel Character Review: Connor

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Read at your own risk if you have not watched one or both television series. In this series of character reviews, I will strictly be writing about the characters from the television series, not the 1992 film.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

In this series of weekly blog posts, I will examine character using the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel to explore how writers can create fully dimensional, human characters that audiences and readers can relate to.

One of the marks of adulthood is making the conscious or unconscious decision to break away from your parents and how you were raised. The grey area of this decision is that as much as you may want to break away from your parents, they are always with you.

On Angel, that break is represented by Connor (Vincent Kartheiser). Born to two vampires, Angel (David Boreanaz) and Darla (Julie Benz), he was not raised in the typical happy family life.

Initially taken care of by his father and the rest of the gang at Angel Investigations, Connor is kidnapped and raised by Daniel Holtz (Keith Szarabajka) and raised in another dimension. Taught to hate his father, Connor has superhuman abilities and is not afraid to use those abilities.

Returning to Earth, Connor is now a teenager and is intent on killing Angel. But Angel, like many good parents, forgives his son, even after Connor tries to drown him and watches him from a distance. He also, like many young men, falls in love. The woman he falls in love is Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter). She becomes pregnant and both are manipulated by a cosmic entity bent on destruction.

To save his son’s life, Angel agrees to take over the running of Wolfram & Hart. Connor’s memories are wiped and replaced with that of a normal childhood. Though his memories are briefly returned to him, Angel tells him to go back to his foster parents and live as any young man would.

To sum it up: Though Connor tries to run from his past and his parentage, he can separate himself from the fact that he is Angel’s son. By the time the series ended, Connor found peace with himself, his past and his father. As fans, we remember Connor because we understand his inclinations and though we may have grown past that stage of life, we can easily remember going on that same path.

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Thoughts On the First Half of the Democratic Debate

The 2020 Presidential Election will be here before we know it.

Last night, the first half of the twenty Democratic Presidential candidates debated as to whom would best represent the party and go up against you know who next fall.

While there were many moments to go over, I want to talk about two moments that stood out to me.

Julian Castro made his mark. I knew of him by name, but I knew nothing of his positions and his potential policies. After last night, I hope that he will be given the opportunity to prove his mettle, especially after he announced his public support of the Equal Rights Amendment. This amendment has been bouncing around the halls of Congress for for nearly fifty years. It’s time to make it the law of the land and ensure that American women are once and for all viewed by the law as equal to American men.

The other moment that stood out for me was the question about socialized medicine. When the candidates were asked who among them supports socialized medicine, only Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio raised their hand. I agree with the idea of socialized medicine (known in the US as universal health care), but I disagree that private insurance should be gotten rid of completely. I think that every citizen should have access to some form of socialized medicine, but I also think there should be the option of obtaining private health insurance via an employer.

Readers, what do you think? Do you have any favorite moments or candidates from last night’s debate.

Throwback Thursday-Jeopardy (1964-Present)

Most television shows, if they are lucky, will have at least one or two seasons on the air. A small minority of shows are on the air for multiple years. An even smaller minority of shows are on the air for decades.

Jeopardy is one of these shows that has been on the air for decades. Currently hosted by Alex Trebek, this quiz show tests the knowledge of three contestants. The show game is broken down into three rounds: Jeopardy!, Double Jeopardy!, and Final Jeopardy!. The questions vary from topics such as entertainment, history, politics, current events etc. By the end of the game, the contestant who has answered the most questions correctly wins the game and walks away with a nice financial reward.

For those of us under a certain age, Jeopardy is just part of the television schedule. It is almost fun to watch, try to guess the right answers with the contestants and predict who will in.

I recommend it.

P.S. Does anyone else love Saturday Night Live‘s Celebrity Jeopardy as much as I do?