I remember saying that after ‘Hammer of the Gods’, half laughing through my tears.
It’s funny how a character that was only in four episodes could have that kind of impact on me but then again…
It was Gabriel.
Sometimes I think about exactly why I feel the way I do about him. It wasn’t just the wit and the goody charm. It wasn’t the fact that almost every time he was on the screen I had a smile plastered to my face (when I wasn’t crying that is).
I related to him. Who could I not? What kid who had ever ran away from home in the hopes that their family cared enough to come looking for them couldn’t? What kid who had ever locked themselves in their room, hands over their ears, waiting for the screaming to stop couldn’t?
That’s what Gabriel was. He was a kid from a broken home. While his family fought, he just wanted it to stop. He ran away and I don’t believe for one second that he didn’t hope they would come looking for him. But they didn’t and he was alone so he found a new family.
He wasn’t perfect; he had just as much blood on his hands as anyone else. He was an angel of retribution. ‘Justice with a smile and a snap.’
Except in the end, he found the strength to stand up to his family. He knew he was going to die; he said so himself. But he did it anyway because he knew he had to and because that was the only way it would ever stop.
No matter what, I will always love him.
Basically…
This post is a) seriously tear-inducing (OH GABRIEL COME BACK) and b) my feels in a nutshell. I could go on for hours...