Connor (played by Vincent Kartheiser) was the son of the titular protagonist of Angel. The character was born as an infant in "Lullaby" (3x9), disappeared in "Sleep Tight" (3x16), then returned (as Kartheiser) in the closing seconds of "The Price" (3x19). Connor was promoted to a spot as a lead cast member as of "Deep Down" (4x1) but was eliminated from the cast at the end of the season (4x22). Subsequently he returned for two guest appearances in the 5th season (5x18 & 5x22).
I was involved in the online fan community at the time "The Price" aired and I monitored reactions from fans throughout the character's appearances. Connor was not well-loved. Well, that is, Connor the baby was absolutely adored by Angel fandom. But when people talk about Connor, they usually mean the version who debuted in "The Price".
There was a tradition going back to Buffy the Vampire Slayer that the creative team wanted at least one recurring character who would butt heads with the program's hero. For most of her time on Buffy, Cordelia Chase (played by Charisma Carpenter) was present principally to mock Buffy and her friends and predict certain doom for everyone. She was like C-3PO, if that comparison makes sense to you.
James Marsters has said that one of the reasons his character Spike was promoted to a leading role on Buffy was to fill the void left when Cordelia joined the cast of Angel. Yet at the same time, Cordelia quickly evolved on Angel - no longer the doomsayer, she quickly became a staunch ally who would criticize the show's hero in private, but relentlessly defend him before others. Cordelia had undergone character development, so Angel needed its own critic.
Initially that unwelcome responsibility fell upon Kate Lockley (played by Elisabeth Rohm), who was present partially to serve as a love interest to Angel, but also as someone to be an uneasy ally, frequently suspicious of him. I found Kate to be a very compelling character, one who had a valid viewpoint. And yet, a lot of fans did not (and still do not) like her because she would oppose Angel almost reflexively. Who would have thought that a character who says in her debut appearance (1x2) that she has "trust issues" would go on to demonstrate that she has trust issues?!
Kate departed in "Epiphany" (2x16), mainly because Rohm had joined the cast of Law & Order. Apparently if she had been available, Kate would have become Holtz's chief lieutenant in season 3, rather than the new character Justine. I don't know if that means the creators would have made Kate slit Wesley's throat, but that would have certainly cemented Kate as the most disliked person on Angel. But instead, the single most problematic character became Angel's own son, Connor.
Connor seems to have been made a regular principally to be the critic, the doomsayer, the one who would give Angel a hard time. Unlike Kate, whose interactions contained an element of sexual tension, Connor would complicate Angel's life because of their father-son relationship (or lack thereof). A son who disobeys and talks back to his father - that's a good basis for some character conflict, and Angel ran on character conflict like it was gasoline.
Why didn't it work?
In the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the character of Dr. David Marcus is introduced. He's a scientist who is deeply critical of Starfleet (which he refers to as 'the military') and looks down on the franchise's hero, James T. Kirk. As the film progresses, the audience learns David is Kirk's son, raised by his mother Carol away from his father's influence. At the end of the film, after seeing his father's grief at the death of his friend Spock, David consoles Kirk and reveals he knows Kirk is his father - and he's proud to be Kirk's son.
There are some helpful comparisons to be drawn between David Marcus and Connor; both are the sons of the series' lead protagonist; both were raised outside of their father's influence; both are sharply critical of their father. And just as Angel fandom had some trouble accepting Connor, there were a lot of Star Trek fans in 1982 who weren't quite sure how to feel about David. One fan observed that although David was not an especially likeable character on his own merits, they made allowances for his behaviour based solely on who his father was. That is, David inherited some of the affection fans had for his father.
I think it also helped that David's last significant scene in the film was that where he humbled himself and hugged his father. There is simply no similar scene for Connor between "The Price" and "Home" (4x22). At various times during that interval, Angel lectures Connor. At various times he fights and defeats Connor. Yet Connor remains unchanged - even growing more unhinged as the series progresses.
The fundamental problem with Connor as a character who criticizes Angel is that we in the audience are meant to take him seriously. Connor wasn't simply taunting or teasing Angel in the manner of Cordelia & Spike on Buffy; he wasn't merely disagreeing or threatening Angel as Kate had on various occasions; he attempted to murder Angel (3x20), then followed it up by imprisoning his father on the floor of the ocean (3x22).
Allowances for Connor's behaviour can be made because, as was frequently mentioned, he was raised in a 'Hell dimension' - raised by Angel's nemesis Holtz, a man whose family was brutally killed by Angelus. Holtz had a legitimate quarrel with Angelus and used Connor as a means to hurt Angel - realizing that because of Angel's human soul, he could be made to feel deep emotional pain. After raising Connor as his own son, Holtz arranged to have himself murdered and to frame Angel for the act, ensuring Connor would forever hate his father (3x21).
So yes, Connor was a victim - you could even call him 'brainwashed' by Holtz. But that, unfortunately, eliminates him as a viable critic. How can any of Connor's criticisms of Angel be taken as valid when he is fundamentally incapable of sound judgement? In the first half of season 4, there is a sense that the creators wanted to set up Connor as an 'alternative viewpoint' to that of Angel; certainly when Connor invites the amnesiac Cordelia to live with him instead of Angel in "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" (4x4) it places Connor as a rival to Angel.
But Connor didn't change. During "Soulless" (4x11) it becomes clear that he remained a victim of Holtz's brainwashing. How were we in the audience meant to consider Connor's viewpoint when he seemed barely able to support his own views?
Fissures began to form. Starting with "Salvage" (4x13), the criticisms fans had been making about Connor online seemed to be referenced on the show itself. In that episode, Faith makes a guest appearance and both verbally and physically disciplines Connor when he refuses to follow her orders. This continues into "Orpheus" (4x15), where after Faith gives Connor a thorough thrashing, Gunn remarks, "I just wish I could've seen you kicking the crap out of junior, here." Faith agrees. "It was pretty funny."
At the time "Orpheus" aired I was amused to see the program acknowledge how disliked Connor was by having the characters verbalize their own dislike of Connor. But in retrospect, it's not a good sign when a television show gives up on one of its main characters - and that's what was going on with Connor. A few episodes later in "Sacrifice" (4x20), there was a brief scene where Angel beat up Connor. It was at least the third time that season that viewers had seen Angel defeat his son in a fight, but that one stood out to me because the friends I was watching Angel with thought that scene was hysterical; unlike the previous two fights (4x1 & 4x6), Angel and Connor's fight went on mostly off-camera, so the sudden appearance of Connor's unconscious body, thrown on the hood of a car, provoked laughter from my friends. They hated Connor.
I wanted to like Connor; it's the same principle Star Trek fans struggled with for David Marcus. Although I found Connor to be a pretty obnoxious character with no real redeeming qualities, I did like Angel, so I wanted to like Connor. If only the show would meet me halfway! But the creators had written a deeply stubborn character who refused to grow, learn or change. The only ways in which he did change were not for the better - as season 4 progressed, he turned out to be a willing accomplice to the season's 'big bad', Jasmine. In the finale, he fought Angel yet again, then had his memories altered.
The attitude of my friends to Connor's fate in "Home" was good riddance. They were happy to move on. But for me, as a fan of a television program which is thematically about redemption, I wasn't as willing to give up on Connor. And happily, once he stopped being a series regular the creators were at least ready to meet fans halfway (also, season 5 was their last opportunity to handle any of the characters). In season 5 Connor returned in two episodes; his memories were restored in "Origin", which was confirmed in "Not Fade Away", yet Connor has no particular angst about his fate - for the first time, he understands that Angel cares about him and changed his memories in an attempt to help him. Without being asked to, he fights at his father's side for the battle against Hamilton. Connor is ready to participate in the final fight against the armies of the Senior Partners, but Angel asks him to stay out of it. "But they'll destroy you," Connor protests. "As long as you're alive, they can't," Angel answers. There are no further complaints or protests. Connor and Angel are finally at peace with each other.
There was a lot of wasted potential in Connor; for one thing, the series never did get around to explain what the heck he was. He was the son of two vampires - a "miracle child". The best theory is that Connor's soul was the result of Angel winning the trial for Darla's life in "The Trial" (2x9); in that episode, Angel won Darla a second chance at life, only to learn because she had already been resurrected the second chance couldn't be used to save her again; Connor's life, body & soul, is the result of Angel's victory in "The Trial".
Okay, but why did Connor have superhuman strength and tracking abilities? He seemed at times to have all the powers of a vampire but in a human form. At one time, Angel wondered if the prophecies about his own role in the Apocalypse were actually referring to Connor - that Angel's destiny was to train Connor to play that oft-referenced 'pivotal role' in the Apocalypse.
There was so much more that could have been done with Connor on Angel - but the program mostly reduced him to a whiny brat who would typically insult Angel then get punched in the face. It was not much fun to watch back when it first aired. Still, at least the character was redeemed in season 5. And heck, Connor isn't my biggest problem with Angel...
Tomorrow: Cordelia.
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