Angel: "Which would explain why you look so well rested."
The tiresome pregnancy plot is finally over, but there is no joy in Mudville because we now have the baby plot. Please, make it stop.
Dan and I both thought ahead of time that the baby would be "born" the way it was... and voila. Does that mean it was predictable, or were we the exception? I actually felt bad seeing Darla stake herself that way. Hey, we still don't know how Darla could get pregnant in the first place, although we did get several references to a "miracle." (Speaking of miracles, do you think they'll bring Darla back again? Please, make it stop!)
Why didn't I feel some compassion for Holtz, especially after we got that little rerun of Holtz and his daughter, like Gunn and his sister? Was it that the actor playing Holtz left me cold? Were they being repetitious? Or was I just refusing to warm up to the whole baby/Holtz cosmic convergence plotline?
Wolfram & Hart, once a terrific villainous institution, seemed to be around as a convenience – so that Lilah could tell Holtz about Angel's soul, and to translate the scroll about there being no birth but just death. (Did that mean it wasn't a miracle? I wish they'd make up their minds.)
So Angel is now a single father. Holtz is still planning revenge – like maybe killing Angel's baby? Did I mention how much I hate baby plots on genre shows? Okay, this episode actually got a bit intriguing and I'll be tuning in after our spate of reruns to see what happens next, but I still wish they'd fixed on something else this year.
Bits and pieces:
— What should Angel should name his baby? Not "Jesus," too Messianic. "Damien" and "Adrian" are too cliched. I'm going for "Liam," Angel's birth name.
— I liked the Wolfram & Hart translator trying to jockey for promotion, although he seemed to have a death wish.
— Yellow highlighter and post-it notes on an ancient scroll? The librarian in me was cringing.
— I liked Cordelia and Fred hitting Gunn upside the head to test Caritas' new carnage-prevention device.
— Speaking of which, did they have to blow up Caritas again?
— Fred looked like the Virgin Mary when the baby was "born," and I'm sure that was on purpose. Did they introduce her character so they'd have a convenient baby sitter?
Quotes:
Wesley: "I'd feel a lot better if we had the ancient prophecies to guide us."
Cordelia: "Please. Women have been giving birth without ancient prophecies for years."
Gunn: "What we could really use right about now is some Vaseline and a catcher's mitt."
Wesley: "The trick is to breathe. Something like this: Heh, heh, heh, hoh, hoh, hoh, heh, heh, heh..."
Darla: "I! Don't! Breathe!"
Gavin: "He's going to crucify us."
Lilah: "They don't crucify here. Too Christian."
A little Messianic reference, maybe?
Darla: "I promise I won't throw anyone out of the car. Not while it's moving."
Fred: "It's not that we don't trust you. I mean, we don't trust you. But the fact is, your water broke all over the back seat."
Holtz: "Do you know what he is?"
Lilah: "Yeah, I know. (Reciting) Vampire, cursed by gypsies who restored his soul." Destined to atone for centuries of evil, wacky sidekicks, yada, yada. I'd have him killed myself, except the people I work for have this (makes air quotes) 'policy'."
Holtz: "You said you work for the law."
Lilah: "No, I didn't. I said I'm a lawyer. I don't care about the law."
Fred: "The Nyazian Prophecies did say that the Tro-clan was going to be a confluence of events."
Cordelia: "And the sudden appearance of an eighteenth century vampire hunter in the twenty-first century does seem pretty confluey."
Sahjhan: "So Angel has a soul. Big whoop. So did Attila the Hun. Not to mention a heart as big as all outdoors when it came to gift giving. He is still a vampire. Angel, not Attila."
Holtz: "He's not the same vampire."
Sahjhan: "Of course he is. His hair is a little shorter, a little spikier. He's using product. But it's the same guy."
Sahjhan: "You'll get your money."
Arnie: "I've heard that one before. You know, I've got mouths to feed. Plus a family. Some of them have mouths, too."
Angel: "Attacked? I thought you had double protection sanctuary spells?"
Lorne: "I do. It's a thing with the door and the stairs and the world and the thing. Never mind."
Gunn: "Apparently you can be outside and shove stuff in."
Lorne: "I just said that."
Let's see... ratings... I thought episodes earlier this season were really, really good, but now I'm worried that the entire rest of it will be revolving around this baby/Holtz thing. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't eager to watch it again. Let's give it a two,
Billie
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Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
Wow, you really did hate this story line. I don't blame you the idea of it is absolutely stupid. However, this episode had brilliant execution. It was good enough to make me hope that wherever they are taking this will actually be good and not....stupid.
ReplyDeleteBillie, do you still hate this plot, looking back?
ReplyDeleteMaybe not so much.
ReplyDeleteI liked this episode and sadly more than Tabula Rasa but I can totally see what it was about it that continues to put you off. Holtz in particular definitely still remains completely unsympathetic to me. Which is kind of a feat since I tend to easily sympathize with characters on a final revenge kick. Yeah, even dour Dark Angel, I must admit.
ReplyDeleteWas surprised at how much I felt like I'm gonna miss Darla. I never really liked her, but I loved her presence in the past few episodes forced to be with the Angel crew. Sarcastic and still dangerous, she was pretty funny. Ultimately I'd say, yeah, it was worth it to bring her back.
I liked Fred staying behind for Darla's staking.
"— Speaking of which, did they have to blow up Caritas again?"
x( Is it supposed to mean we're not going to see it anymore? The explosion wasn't that destructive, but..
Arnie: "You know, I've got mouths to feed. Plus a family. Some of them have mouths, too."
lol, that's something I distinctly remembered for some reason and was happy to finally see again.