Joss Wheadon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel can make me feel very sad faster than about anyone. Me and my roomate have been watching the 4^th season of Angel, and the first 3 episodes weren’t sad at all. This fact is very much unlike Joss, who normally bums us out in the first episode. (This trend is more consistent in Angel than in Buffy.) Starting with the fourth episode in the season, though, all that changed. I was wrenched when it was over. And me, being the one who likes to know what happens next, loaded up the subsequent episode. Same thing. I went to sleep last night an unhappy little boy. Joss never lets any of his characters be happy for too long. It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t so emotionally invested in the characters. I think they are all well written, as none of them fit into a neat little catagory. Almost every character he has created is neither all good nor all bad. Even the worst of his villians can garner pitty, since they are almost never evil for evil’s sake. Anyway, I’ll dive into some more of season 4 tonight and end up a wrenched-out ball of emotions again…It’s oh so fun!

[Note: When I say a wrenched out ball of emotions, I don’t mean that I break down and cry or anything like that. I don’t get that invested in my shows. What I mean is that I’m either sitting there at the end of an episode saying, “Oh my God! That didn’t just happen!” or “Why didn’t you let them be happy for just a second!!!” And I don’t lose sleep over my shows either, just in case anyone may wonder.]