Definitely the best so far.
This episode was obviously intended to give us more to like about Kate, and it worked for me... to some extent. Kate looked just a tad more cop-like in the tee shirt, jeans, ponytail, and sweat, but she was still wearing so much mascara that she managed to catch her hair on it. Let me quickly add that the way an actress is presented usually isn't up to her; she may very well dislike the Police Officer Barbie look. Or she may love it – who knows. No matter whose idea it was, it reminded me of Counselor Troi's cleavage and Seven of Nine's catsuit. It really isn't necessary to gild the lily and it does in fact keep reminding us that what we're watching is unrealistic.
Having said all that, I have to say as well that I'm starting to like Kate since they're making her more like a real woman. What a wonderfully written script. It was an inspired way to bring out Kate's background and her inner feelings without making her permanently gooey. I liked the ice princess comments her co-cop-workers were making about her, and the scenes with the cops under the influence were great. The retirement party scene was soooooo painful to watch that I almost couldn't; what sort of subhuman father could listen to that and remain unmoved? And the Kate/Angel scenes really worked ("You have the most intense eyes...")
The way Cordelia and Doyle kept teasing Angel about his angst, his reserve, his clothes and even his hair worked extremely well. Angel even mocked himself, and that makes him a more likable and sympathetic character. "You've got pensive face." "I've always got pensive face." David Boreanaz is continuing to look better in each episode. Maybe he's thriving under the pressure of doing a one-hour action series. Good for him.
Villains who use sensitivity training to disarm the cops? How droll. Wolfram & Hart are fun. And they even had the smarts to drop Little Tony before he blew their cover.
Quotes:
Spivey: "I heard it was a suicide."
Kate: "Supervisor Caffrey shot himself..."
Spivey: "It happens."
Kate: "In the back of his head? He wrapped himself in plastic and he locked himself into the back of his car?"
Spivey: "He'd been depressed."
Cordelia: "Okay, am I wrong in thinking that a please and thank you is generally considered good form when requesting a dismemberment?"
Cordelia: "Do you think that tentacle spew comes out with dry cleaning?"
Angel: "Ah, good, you're back. Cordelia, you need to..."
Cordelia: "No! I don't care what horrible thing is about to happen. Asteroids are hurtling towards earth. Unspeakable evil is rising the San Fernando Valley. Jar-Jar is getting his own talk show. Whatever! I don't want to hear about it. Not until you ask us how it went."
Cordelia: "Mr. and Mrs. Spock need to mind meld now."
Clearly, too much exposure to Xander.
Cordelia: "Wait, you've got pensive face."
Angel: "I've always got pensive face."
Cordelia: "Well, pensive-r face."
Cordelia: "What's her deal? Too much..." (makes a drinking motion with her thumb pointing at her mouth)
Doyle: "Thumb sucking?"
Cordelia: "Alcohol! Dummy."
Doyle: "Don't look at me like that. I'm not the one that needs to brush up on their finger pantomime."
Angel: "Which demon do you worship, huh? Which one gives you your power?"
Allen: "A whole bunch actually. I'm a polytheist."
Allen: "That's good. Give yourself permission to open up. What were your parents like?"
Angel: "My parents were great. Tasted a lot like chicken."
Cop: "I hear what you're saying, but I don't think that you are listening to your mugger's feelings at all."
Angel: "You know, Anthony you could be a rainbow, and not a painbow. I mean, it really is all up to you."
Kate: "You."
Angel: "No, you."
Kate: "Come here." (They hug)
Cordelia: "Ugh. Anyone for vomit?"
Three out of four stakes,
Billie
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Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
I liked this episode also. Strangely I think I somehow skipped over it when I originally watched the series. It was fun though. It was a little weird to have an episode so focused on Kate, who I still consider a side-character, so early on in the series. But there was lots of good moments. I really liked getting a little bit more insight into the workings of Wolfram and Heart. More please!
ReplyDeleteAnd can I add I really am loving how much the internet has made my Buffy/Angel rewatch so much easier this time around! I remember how I used to have to switch in and out dvds inbetween each episode the first time I watched the series. Now I just have to click back and forth on my internet browser. Oh technology.
ReplyDeleteSorry, geek rant over.
ANGEL RE-WATCH comments begin here! Remember, no spoilers for future episodes. Want to talk spoilers and foreshadowing? Season one spoilers are posted here.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great episode.
ReplyDeleteI’m definitely drawn to characters who don’t talk about their feelings much, and that might be part of the appeal of Angel over Buffy for me: Cordelia really does use sarcasm as a defense (remember how bitchy she got for a while in Buffy Season Three?), and Doyle refused to open up to Angel in “Rm w/a Vu” about his traumatic life story.
But that’s what makes episodes like this so enjoyable, as they give us a glimpse of what’s going on beneath the defensive sarcasm.
Plus, I loved Elizabeth Rohm pulling that gun out of her purse mid-cry in Angel’s office. It was hilarious.
On the silly accent side of things: Boreanaz’s Baltimore accent is about on par with his Irish accent, right? I think the best accent he does is the Minnesota one, which we heard briefly in the pilot episode.
Hope this doesn't duplicate. I posted it earlier, but it didn't show up.
ReplyDeleteI’ve always like Cordelia, but she works even better for me here than she did in Sunnydale.
Kate’s speech to her father was hard to watch, but I loved the switch of all of the cops accessing their inner feelings. Then the back and forth between comedy and tension at the precinct, culminating in Angel’s “Someone needs a hug.” Loved it!
That whole scene with Angel, Cordy and Doyle was such fun. DB is a great brooder of course, but I liked watching him work the comedy.
Ok, now how is Angel gonna get out of the precinct in daylight? This is starting to really disrupt my viewing.
Jane, I like both Angel and Cordy a lot better in Angel. I wonder if it has anything to do with them being older actors and not quite fitting into the teen setting of Buffy.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, as much as I love the show Angel, I am still more fond of the show Buffy overall. Both shows were great, but Buffy has my heart.
I agree, Suzanne. Buffy was such a special experience for me. I loved getting more Buffyverse with Angel and I loved Angel for itself, but Buffy had my heart.
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily Buffy herself, though. It's funny how my favorite characters on both shows weren't either Buffy or Angel. Saying who they were might be spoilery, though.
This episode always makes me smile because I am not a fan of psychobabble; in fact, it makes me crazy. All the touchy feely stuff among the cops is hilarious and a better send-up of all the nonsense it is hard to imagine. I'm with Josie -- the more laconic, the better.
ReplyDeleteI liked your last comment, Billie, as my favorite character is neither of the two main characters either. Ironically, mine is the same across both worlds...
Another good early episode. I'm realizing now that most of the episodes I like the most are the ones that play with the dark, brooding vampire persona. Particularly that one in season five. I think you guys know which one I mean.... :)
ReplyDeleteI really like this one. Definetely agree that it's the best one so far.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that both Angel and Cordelia work better in this world, and for me, it definetely has a lot to do with the fact that they seemed a little too mature for the highschool world of Buffy, and would have probably felt the same for the college vibe of Buffy season 4.
I'm loving Cordelia and Doyle a lot together, and it's great seeing the cast starting to really gel together.
Personally, I'm actually a bigger fan of Angel than Buffy. I'm not sure why, since I actually think Angel as a whole is not as good a show. I guess I like the atmosphere better, and I'm quite fond of W&H as the big bads.
Yeah, great fun episode
ReplyDelete...but not all fun, I do feel for Kate in this.
I'm glad that they don't go for the more typical resolution with father and daughter having a cheesy emotional heart to heart at the end, rather having her father shut the subject off - which is more believable if her account of his behavior through her life was accurate.
"You don't want a reputation for going outside the department?"
ReplyDelete"I don't want a reputation for getting you killed"
was a sweet moment for Kate and Angel. And I liked her getting upset about him still moving into action instead of waiting since I forgot she doesn't know he's protected as a vampire.
Her dad pissed me off so much, I just need a revised edition where she punches him in the throat at the end there when he told her she embarrassed him. The balls on this bastard!
Everybody skipped one of my favorite lines: "Why I ever thought it was a nifty idea to work for a vam-triloquitst ......."
ReplyDelete