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Angel: Epiphany

Host: "I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say, if all you're going to do is switch back to brood mode, we'd rather have you evil. Then at least, leather pants?"

The Angel I love is baaacckkk! We're finally past ambivalence, and certainly not soon enough for me.

It began so well with Angel and Darla doing a flip-side version of what he did with Buffy three years ago: the thunderstorm, the waking-up-in-a-sweat, the eerie music, him falling to the ground in the rain, and even to Darla doing some of Buffy's lines ("Was I not good?") And how about this exchange? Talk about long time couples speaking in shorthand:

Darla: "But we..."
Angel: "Yeah."
Darla: "And you ..."
Angel: "I know."
Darla: "And I..."
Angel: "Three times."

And now Angel can have gratuitous sex and not lose his soul. Think of the possibilities! Kate, Anne, Lilah, Drusilla, Lindsey, Wesley, Gunn... okay, I'm getting carried away, but it does really opens things up for his character.

I loved the Lindsey/Darla scenes, although it's a shame that we didn't actually get to hear what Darla said to Lindsey about Angel that set off the whole truck and cowboy boots thing. Speaking of which, that was really fun too, in an over-the-top supernatural violence sort of way. Although I admit that the whole mallet thing made me cringe.

The writers also hit the right tone with Angel and his former staff: Angel humbling himself, Wesley acting cool and disinterested, Cordelia feeling hurt, and Gunn outright threatening to take Angel out if he screws them over again. These past few episodes have been great for second banana character development, and I'll include Kate and the Host in that statement.

I've never loved Kate, but I'm glad she made it. It'll be interesting to see where they go with her. Plus I liked the part about her realizing that she had never invited Angel into her apartment.


Bits and pieces:

— During the first car scene, Angel was dying to tell Wesley that he'd gotten laid, and Wes never gave him an opening.

— The message pad scene made it clear that Gunn is still the only actual detective in their detective agency. Which could change if they recruit Kate.

— The Host called Angel "Sparky" and "my lamb."

— Loved Cordelia getting a vision of herself in trouble, but with only a flat few seconds of warning ("Well, that was helpful!"). And speaking of Cordelia, she lives in L.A. and doesn't have a car?

Quotes:

Host: "I'm not deaf, you know? Jeez, keep your pants on! (Angel walks in) Well, I see we're a little late with that advice."

Angel: "I probably should have killed her."
Host: "Eh, kill her, give her cab fare, whatever. The point is, you've turned a corner. Well, yay you. Suzu's petals. It's about time. And between you and me, if it had taken you much longer to hit your bottom, I was gonna kick it."

Angel: "I'm still not sure I understand what happened."
Host: "What's to understand? You think you're the first guy who ever rolled over, saw what was lying next to him and went 'Guyeah'!"

Gunn: "Where's Cordy?"
Wesley: "We don't know. Not here."
Gunn: "You checked her pad?"
Angel: "I stopped by there earlier."
Gunn: "You enjoying your visit to 1973? I meant her message pad."
Angel: "Oh, right. That's a good idea. Oh, here, use this. You can make a rubbing of the impressions she left. See what the last thing was that she wrote."
Gunn: "Or we could just read the carbon."

Gunn: "So, you had an epiphany, did you?"
Angel: "Yeah."
Gunn: "So, what you just wake up and, bang?"
Angel: "Well, it was sort of the other way around."

Excellent episode. Four stakes,

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

7 comments:

  1. Outside of the Sharp's house, Wesley worried that the gestation of the Skilosh in Cory was nearly complete, but when the Sharp girl had the Skilosh spawn in her, it took them a couple days to figure it out and still cure the girl in time. This inconsistency really bugged me.

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  2. The message pad scene made it clear that Gunn is still the only actual detective in their detective agency.


    Amen to that. I wish Team Angel would realize it. I sometimes wonder if even the writers of the show didn't realize it.

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  3. I was so happy that this episode finally established that there is a difference between "perfect happiness" an "orgasm". At last!

    I loved Angel getting into Kate's apartment without an invitation, too. Little miracles every now and again are a nice touch (as long as they're rare, of course!)

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  4. I noticed that Angel got into Kate's apartment and was confused as I couldn't remember when she had invited him in. I liked the fact that the writers didn't just gloss over this fact, but made it part of the story.

    The way the team didn't immediately forgive Angel worked for me. It made everything that has come before seem much more real.

    Having said that, I love the idea of Angel catching Cordy at the end of the episode. Yes, it's a mallet of a metaphor, but it works.

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  5. One of the things I really like about this show is that it rarely follows convention. In most shows Angel would show up and everyone would make nice but I'm glad he's going to have to work for it. Darla is such an interesting character. She obviously still has feelings for Angel and feels bad about Lindsey. I was surprised that she didn't just eat Lindsey when she was done with him. The Host is one of my favourite characters. His one-liners and endearments for Angel always make me smile.

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  6. "My lamb" <3 What could be a more appropriate term to describe the Angel that first walked out of the elevator?
    Don't know why but I liked Angel smashing Lindsey's fake hand. Weirdly satisfying, just on a physical level, I dunno.
    The best episode so far by far, and basically the end of a two-parter.
    "Yikes, it sounds like you had an epiphany"
    "I keep saying that, but nobody's listening"
    lol. I don't know why I felt like quoting that, considering the most succint mission statement ever made is made in this episode ("If nothing you do matters...) but I liked it too. A really nice moment at the end.
    I loved how the whole thing with Angel's ambivalence was resolved, it really did feel like an epiphany and a clear upswing... definitely earned. And still holds up. This is the fine stuff, Buffy-preferers, I hope the ones who gave up on this show at least made it to this episode if nothing else. It's so good.
    Hey, where the hell is Dru? Why does she keep slinking away?

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