do u think fang and angel should have gotten consequences?
So here's the thing: I am a big believer that narrative consequences does not equal narrative punishment, and also am a big believer that consequences and limitations almost always make a story more interesting, and in the case of Maximum Ride, the lack of consequences is a big factor that prevents the characters from developing in any meaningful way. Because, from the literal definiton, consequence is just the follow through of cause and effect. The characters do something, this triggers a reaction, fallout ensues. And, ideally, that fallout (be it good or bad) is supposed to last, and supposed to force or inspire the character to change. So, in short: absolutely. Literally all of the flock should've had to handle consequences. I wrote a post about Angel specifically, because she's the member of the flock with the most robust set of powers who triggers a lot of major events as a result.
My hot take considering specifically Fang and Angel, though, is this: As much as canon was willing to have narrative consequences, Fang is Angel's consequence.
I'm not sure if JP intended it to be like this, but with a slightly better writer I think it would be incredibly apparent. In book 3, Max&Angel conduct a double agent ploy without consulting the rest of the flock. It works! They're all alive and nothing bad happens!
Fang leaves. And they come back eventually, but there is a direct line from point A to B that Max&Angel did something risky without looping in everyone else, and Fang took half of them and left.
Fast forward to book 6, Angel teams up with famous eugenicist Hans Gunther-Hagen, kidnaps Fang, and accidentally kills them. She alerts Max when she realized how bad she fucked up, they save Fang in the nick of time, everyone lives! Nothing bad happens!
Fang leaves. For multiple books this time, and gets in with a new friend group.
Both of these times they cite other reasons for leaving, and both of these times they eventually come back and the dynamic doesn't change, which I have issue with, but the through-line is there: the most consistent and long-lasting consequence Angel faces, directly stemming from her actions, is that Fang will not stick around to let her go back to the dynamic of an innocent little girl. They will leave, and they will cause a lasting impact on the people left behind, and they will not apologize for it.
And I, personally, love that as a character dynamic.
(Also psst psst I wrote a fic exploring this exact concept and I consider it my magnum opus in the maximum ride sphere.)
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