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Angel: Benediction

Connor: "Filthy demon."
Lorne: "Actually, that's uncle filthy demon to you."

You know, I actually believed for a few minutes that Holtz had changed. Silly me.

Justine killing Holtz, with his permission, with an icepick... to the neck... twice... hey, that was freaking evil. Way to go, Holtz, you turkey; go out with a bang, why don't you? It showed that Holtz never truly loved Connor, no matter what he said. Leaving Angel out of it completely, if Holtz had really loved Connor, he wouldn't have set him up to commit patricide – a crime that will surely have a lasting, negative effect on Connor if he actually carries it out.

At least we know now that Connor doesn't know what Angel is. Connor thinks Angel is just pretending to be good to fool him. Obviously, if Connor is going to be a continuing character, the two of them are going to get past the vengeancy booby trap that Holtz left them in, and they're going to bond. There's the heroism, the supernatural fighting skills... they're made for each other. Batman and Robin, but without the subtext. (Vampire bat? Robin Hood? As if it weren't obvious enough, Lilah even said, "Who's the boy wonder?")

There was more serious Angel/Cordelia bonding; I sense a major love scene approaching. And she has new and interesting powers. That white light thing is way cool, but it isn't always a soul colonic, is it? Wasn't it something else with the transparent lobsters? Maybe she can aim it. Speaking of superpowers, looks like Connor has superhearing. Gotta watch it around Angel Investigations. Can't sing around Lorne, can't whisper around Connor.

More shenanigans as Lilah set up Justine ("seems she has been pissing off a lot of undead Americans lately") in order to sound out Wesley. Sorry, I just can't buy Wesley compromising his principles that way, ever. The only way I'll ever believe Wesley taking Wolfram & Hart up on their offer is if he does it in order to bring them down.

Bits and pieces:

— I liked Fred in the tie-dyed, braids, glasses, and Geiger counter. It was a good, nerdy look for her. Seriously.

— Lorne looked good in a red suit. It went with his eyes.

— Angel sleeveless. That hasn't happened in awhile. I noticed that the shirt didn't come all the way off, though. I miss the olden days when Angel took off his shirt a lot. *sigh* I know, gratuitous beefcake, but I miss it.

— Connor using crumpled and obviously stolen bills to get a motel room made me flash on a similar scene in Terminator with another Connor.

Quotes:

Angel: "He survived Quor-toth this long. He can take care of himself."
Fred: "Okay. So he survived an unspeakable hell dimension. Who hasn't?"

Cordelia: "That's gorgeous."
Fred: "And priceless."
Lorne: "Though in this instance, priceless meaning 'without price,' as in free. A six-horned Lachnie owed me a favor. Don't ask."

Fred: "Anything that came out of Quor-toth should have left behind a kind of para-plasmic radioactivity. Of course, I'm working off the principle that everything in nature seeks a relaxed and stable state."
Lorne: "I know I do."

Groo: "But if a thing is meant to be, then how can it be forced?"
Lorne: "Well, I guess it can't."
Groo: "And if a thing is not meant to be?"
Lorne: "Well, then it really can't. Just because someone hops a dimension or two is no guarantee that things will work out. (pause) Well, aren't you just sneaky with the subtext?"

Fred: "Looks like we've been following Angel's son's emissions the whole time."
Gunn: "Now there is a sentence I don't ever need to hear again."

Cordelia: "Wait. Angel, before you go, we have to do that thing."
Angel: "What thing?"
Cordelia: "That thing we do. You know, that thing where I say, 'Are you sure you know what you're doing, Angel, please think about this,' and then you ignore me and rush headlong into trouble?"
Angel: "Right. That thing. Okay, are we done?"


Justine: "I can't believe you survived it. How did you?"
Holtz: "My hate kept us alive."
Justine: "Hate gets a bad rap."

Very good episode. And only one more to go. I hope there are no cliffhangers this year. We must have gotten five on Alias Sunday night and I'm nearing my quota,

Billie
---
Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.

3 comments:

  1. Loved Lorne's "Well aren't you sneaky with the subtext," even if it means we got too cocky, friends o' Groo :( They're not doing anything with him except making him feel neglected. Aw...

    It was a really really good episode, Holtz's final move makes a dark statement about the power of love's failure to overcome vengeance (or like you said the truth is he never loved Steven). Very metal. Fuck Holtz. What a strange and fascinating villain he was, making himself the 2nd besides Holland Manners to make statements in praise of love. It merits a rewatch down the line, it was just very satisfying and I wish I had more to say about it beyond the fact that I absolutely love the Lilah-Wesley thing. Angel's pretty bare on themes but it succeeds in the pure storytelling department... good stuff, underrated stuff.

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  2. Very inspired ending for Holtz. A wonderful character played by a fantastic actor (that voice!). After seeing what Angel and Darla did to his family, part of me was even rooting for Holtz. In the end, vengeance prevailed.

    Oh and poor poor smoking hot depressed Wesley. Please for the love of god don't make him go evil. He's the best character in the whole show. I do think he deserves more than he got from his friends.

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  3. Mandragora, I absolutely loved "poor poor smoking hot depressed Wesley." :) I think this was close to the time when I saw Alexis Denisof at an autograph thing and I asked what he thought of how they had changed Wesley. He said he was enjoying the change and hoped we did, too. We assured him that we did.

    https://www.douxreviews.com/2003/01/alexis-denisof-and-andy-hallett-in.html

    ReplyDelete

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