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Such perfect pain...

Well, I nicely timed out my viewing of the DVD set for 2003, and just finished watching the finale. Its sad. But, thats why I titled this what I did.

In another thread, I think the one that turned into a discussion of burritos or something, the point was stated that Angel never liked Brian, so he should just get over it. Or something like that.

But that ignores the look at the end. The way Angela was really now seeing Brian in a whole new light, the way she was actually looking at him.

What if Jordan had not walked up at that moment. It was almost imperceptible, but I'll take to my grave that they were leaning into each other, a prelude.

And with all my might, I willed Angela to get out of that car, and run back to him. But it never happened. And it never will. And thats the briiliant cruelty. I want so much to know, there is so much untold. And yet, its just perfect.

I don't mean this as a comment on the last episode, because I know there is a place for that already. I believe the reason everyone is still here, 10 years later, is more than just the quality of the story-telling. Its the perfect pain of what we were left with.

There really is no denying that Angela and Brian had a connection in the final episode.

Sweet Jesus, burritos are the best.

There really is no denying that Angela and Brian had a connection in the final episode.

I would say Angela and Brian were strangely (but firmly) connected throughout the entire series...

I agree that Angela and Brian have a bond throughout the series. It ebbs and flows, as all relationships do. Obviously, Angela has Jordan on the front burner of her mind, but there are moments when Brian seems to be more than a friend. It's unclear whether these moments will turn into a true love relationship. I guess it depends how you look at things. I tend to think that Angela and Brian do get together in the unwritten future. But I identify myself with Brian, so I might be engaging in wishful thinking. During my own high school years, I was way too shy and unsure of myself to ask girls out. I think I might have asked for two or three phone numbers in four years. I also had few close relationships with neighborhood girls. They usually moved away. So, Brian has an advantage over me in that Angela's lived across the street from him since they were five years old. And he seems to be a little bit more daring than I was in high school. Ack...long post...I hope it's on topic. Time to go home.

i think angela had a connection with brian the entire series also...i mean have you noticed how she always turns to him when she needs something..yes someone could argue she was just using him but since they were good friends when they were kids i think shes still holding on to their friendship but she doesn't want to actually admit that she misses him--i mean why couldn't she of just gone with rickie rayanne and corey to the dance? but no, she decided to ask brian to take her because she KNEW he would say yes...because she KNOWS he can't let her go either

MSCLfan00 wrote:someone could argue she was just using him but since they were good friends when they were kids i think shes still holding on to their friendship but she doesn't want to actually admit that she misses him--i mean why couldn't she of just gone with rickie rayanne and corey to the dance?

Actually, she IS just using him because she needs a ride to the dance. She didn't go with Rickie, Rayanne, and Corey because Rickie doesn't want Corey to think that it's a double date:

Angela : So, I guess I -- should go with you and Rayanne and Corey, right?
Rickie : Sure. I mean, except that you know, then it might seem like, you and I are together. Kind of like a boy-girl thing.
Angela : It might?
Rickie : Well, yeah, like a double date?
Angela : Yeah, I guess -- I guess it might.
Rickie : Whereas if it's just -- you know -- me and Corey and Rayanne -- wait a second! Oh my God this is too obvious, isn't it? I mean, maybe you, maybe you should come.
Angela : No -- I shouldn't. You know, you're right.

candygirl wrote:

MSCLfan00 wrote:someone could argue she was just using him but since they were good friends when they were kids i think shes still holding on to their friendship but she doesn't want to actually admit that she misses him--i mean why couldn't she of just gone with rickie rayanne and corey to the dance?

Actually, she IS just using him because she needs a ride to the dance. She didn't go with Rickie, Rayanne, and Corey because Rickie doesn't want Corey to think that it's a double date:

Angela : So, I guess I -- should go with you and Rayanne and Corey, right?
Rickie : Sure. I mean, except that you know, then it might seem like, you and I are together. Kind of like a boy-girl thing.
Angela : It might?
Rickie : Well, yeah, like a double date?
Angela : Yeah, I guess -- I guess it might.
Rickie : Whereas if it's just -- you know -- me and Corey and Rayanne -- wait a second! Oh my God this is too obvious, isn't it? I mean, maybe you, maybe you should come.
Angela : No -- I shouldn't. You know, you're right.

I also get the impression that Angela notices the attention Brian has given Delia. Although using Brian, as per usual, is her first motivation, I think there is an undercurrent of the "hey, there's someone interested in my lapdog syndrome."

To me I think Angela is very connected with Brian. She has been friends with him for life and I think she really doesnt ever want to lose him. I think she may have been jealous about Delia for one reason. To Angela Brian is kind of a back up for her, someone she always counts on to be there when she needs him. She uses him for that.

Although I think she cares about Brian, its no further then a friendship to her. Even with just finding out how he feels, its not going to change a thing. She loved Jordan! Thats who she had the relationship spark with!

TomSpeed wrote:I also get the impression that Angela notices the attention Brian has given Delia. Although using Brian, as per usual, is her first motivation, I think there is an undercurrent of the "hey, there's someone interested in my lapdog syndrome."

Totally! Even if you don't really desire or solicit those kinds of feelings from a person, you really miss them when they're gone. For one. you just miss the attention -- you feel abandoned, and you miss knowing that, to at least one person, you are special, you are noticed. The other reason we miss it when it's gone, is we start to second guess ourselves, thinking: "If this person like me for so long, without any encouragement from me, and even when at times I treated them terribley, what have I done that would now drive them away? Did they finally get to know the real me and decide I wasn't worth it? ect..."


As for their connection, I have never been convinced that Brian and Angela were ever these great friends in their younger days. Yes, they had spent time at each other's houses playing when they were little, but that does not necesitate that they were these great friends with this lasting bond between them. I don't see anything in the show that really indicates a surviving bond from childhood. Those few scenes where we do see Angela and Brian having intimate moments (like at the ends of "Pilot" or "Strangers int the House" or "Pressure", or in "Father Figures" or "So-Called Angels" etc...) it seems to me that these moments are enabled more by their new interactions in high school (how their current lives are bringing them together through the course of the series) rather than because of the remnants of some childhood friendship or bond. But that could totally just be me.