I think S4 of AtS is criminally underrated. I was so surprised when I started poking around in fandom after the fact and came across so much fandom bashing of it, and of Cordelia's character arc in particular.
It's a tricky issue because based on what I've read, Charisma Carpenter was treated horribly on set during the later seasons. But there seems to be this weird backwards logic in fandom that this means all fandom criticism of S4-S5, and Whedon's showrunning, and Cordelia's narrative, is of course merited and rational and Objectively Meritorious, and surely that's nonsense. In fact, the impression I've gotten is that ~righteous indignation on Charisma's behalf is often wielded as a tool by fandom to vent its frustration over Cordy's story not turning out the way people wanted it to, and to try and justify that frustration on Moral Grounds (as opposed to, "we just don't like it")… which is not the same thing as her story being Bad, Period.
If anything, when I was watching S4 whilst isolated from mainstream fandom, I thought it did a great job of retroactively repairing much of the damage that could've been done during S3--I thought the story of Cordelia being tricked into a trap by TPTB through hubris, and buying into a Saint Cordelia Champion Narrative, was a compelling one and more emotionally honest and psychologically plausible than the story we seemed to be getting in S3, even though it was tragic. Of course, there is the larger issue of AtS having a gross recurring issue with turning its women into vessels who then get hollowed out and die, but I'm a bit suspicious of how much of Blanket Fandom Indignation for this show gets focused on Cordy's arc to the exclusion of almost all else.
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It's a tricky issue because based on what I've read, Charisma Carpenter was treated horribly on set during the later seasons. But there seems to be this weird backwards logic in fandom that this means all fandom criticism of S4-S5, and Whedon's showrunning, and Cordelia's narrative, is of course merited and rational and Objectively Meritorious, and surely that's nonsense. In fact, the impression I've gotten is that ~righteous indignation on Charisma's behalf is often wielded as a tool by fandom to vent its frustration over Cordy's story not turning out the way people wanted it to, and to try and justify that frustration on Moral Grounds (as opposed to, "we just don't like it")… which is not the same thing as her story being Bad, Period.
If anything, when I was watching S4 whilst isolated from mainstream fandom, I thought it did a great job of retroactively repairing much of the damage that could've been done during S3--I thought the story of Cordelia being tricked into a trap by TPTB through hubris, and buying into a Saint Cordelia Champion Narrative, was a compelling one and more emotionally honest and psychologically plausible than the story we seemed to be getting in S3, even though it was tragic. Of course, there is the larger issue of AtS having a gross recurring issue with turning its women into vessels who then get hollowed out and die, but I'm a bit suspicious of how much of Blanket Fandom Indignation for this show gets focused on Cordy's arc to the exclusion of almost all else.