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Angel: Awakening

Cordelia: "What is it about evil that jacks up the IQ points?"

What an outstanding fake-out! It completely had me going until the Hallmark crapfest at the end, when the Beast was vanquished way too easily and things started getting extremely hokey. That's when I realized that all this just couldn't be happening.

It took a lot more for Angel to achieve a moment of perfect happiness this time than it did before. Last time, all it took was sex with Buffy. This time, Angel had to save the world, destroy the Beast, re-bond with Wesley, work through all of his myriad conflicts and competition with Connor, and receive an abject apology and a declaration of love from Cordelia.

And then there was the sex. After an extremely long hiatus, the shirt finally came off... but he didn't look the same, and we didn't get a good look, did we? What with that and Charisma's pregnancy, I admit I was wincing through that Angel/Cordelia sex scene. I still can't buy into that relationship. And maybe Angel wasn't totally into it, either; when he started to turn into Angelus, he flashed back to Sunnydale: "Buffy! Oh no, oh God, no." I also noticed that the magical sword Angel retrieved in his fantasy looked an awful lot like the one Buffy used to kill him. Which made sense.

The whole Indiana Jones thing was cute. I especially liked the Angel/Connor fight in the room with the fun boobytraps. Angel even did a take-off of one of Harrison Ford's lines: "Wood. Why did it have to be wood?"

I have a strong feeling that Wo-Pang isn't going to live long enough to restore Angel's soul. Look what happened to Jenny Calendar.

Bits and pieces:

— The TV station that was broadcasting the news at the beginning of the episode, KTLA 5, is real. It's the station that runs Angel here in L.A. I thought that was fun.

— I love to mention the nicknames that Lorne calls Angel. This week, Lorne called Angel "Bucko," "Stud" and "Angelcakes."

— Charisma was definitely wearing the Official Television Pregnancy Wardrobe, with the loose coat indoors and not being shot from the side.

— How about Angel leaving Connor in charge? Yes, he was the only superhero type left now, but Connor is such a prick! At least he works much better as a character than Dawn does.

Quotes:

Gunn: "Soon as vamps everywhere realize this town's open for business twenty-four seven, there's going to be a huge rise in undead tourism."

Lorne: "Is there any part of this guy that doesn't have writing all over it? Scratch that. I don't want to know."

Cordelia: "What are those? Holiday decorations left over from some S&M bondage party?"
Angel: "Wood. Why did it have to be wood?"

Angel: "It's a dead end."
Cordelia: "Who booby-traps a dead end? That's just not right."

Fred: "Wait. We found some relevant passages in the Paranych Grimoire which we were able to cross-reference with Wo Pang's... butt."

Beast: "We could rule this world. Why do you oppose me?"
Angel: "Rain of fire, blocking out the sun... and you just kinda piss me off."

Very good. I was impressed. Four stakes,

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

8 comments:

  1. I just don't understand why they didn't stuff Angek full of those pills he took involuntarily in "Eternity". The effect would be guaranteed to wear off. They have bad memory.

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  2. Hot diggity! I fell for it again!

    I'm so relieved Angel and Cordelia didn't reconcile. The character is completely broken for me. Every time she starts moralizing people (i.e. every time she opens her mouth), part of me is screaming, "Shut up, you statutory rapist!" I think I even said it out loud once. It's okay no one was around, though my cat might have thought I lost my mind (she figured out the people in the magic box aren't real at a pretty young age).

    I find it intriguing Angel's fantasy includes his friends getting along again and Wesley apologizing. I'm sure Wesley would have apologized in real life if his throat hadn't been cut at the time, and Angel wouldn't have tried to kill him.

    This one's mostly for you, Mark, and other comic book readers: is anyone else astonished that Wesley managed to find a Hand ninja that Wolverine hasn't killed yet?

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  3. Maybe Wolverine had killed him, Dimitri. Those pesky Hand ninja's love their dark magic resurrections. You're not considered a true member of the Hand until you've been killed at least half a dozen times by a Marvel superhero.

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  4. "Look, Joe, you're a great ninja and all, but there's no way I can give you this promotion. You have to work on your getting killed skills. Look at Steve, there. He's already been kille three times by Deadpool alone. How often do you engage in deadly combat against a much superior enemy? When in doubt, ask yourself: what would a raging suicide do?"

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  5. It has been years since I watched this season and the fake out got me again! It was only at the very end when things got a little too neat that I realized what was happening. Great episode!

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  6. I feel like I am the only person that likes Dawn

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  7. Hcckdude, I love Dawn. I love her entire arc. I think she is brave, insightful, generous, and kind.

    And, all the things people hated about her, especially in the beginning, are very authentic to me. I knew was different but didn't know why (until I found out in my forties I am autistic) and so many of her reactions are relatable to me. I didn't behave exactly like her but I do know that it is really hard to know there is something going on and have people around you constantly tell you that you are imagining things. It was even harder for her because those very people knew what was different about Dawn and didn't tell her. And she knew it.

    Once she knew who she was, she was able to free herself from the self-doubts, self-loathing, and constant uncertainty. Season 7 Dawn is pretty a pretty amazing, self-assured human. I definitely admire her and strive for that self-assurance. :)

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  8. >>"It completely had me going until the Hallmark crapfest at the end"
    Same. Wesley with-holding a proper apology until this episode was an inspired call. I fully bought it. And the quest stuff was really no different than The Trial stuff Angel went through to save Darla, so I bought all that too. I even bought Connor reconciling. Did Angel have to have sex again though? I think it would've been nice to have Angel acknowledge aloud that they have to hold off because he's dangerously at risk, but then realize in horror it doesn't matter and he's reached perfect happiness without it anyway and it's too late.

    >>"It took a lot more for Angel to achieve a moment of perfect happiness this time than it did before."\
    Yup, he's either matured or got really greedy lol.

    Gus Brunetti: "I just don't understand why they didn't stuff Angek full of those pills he took involuntarily in "Eternity"."
    I wish they brought up all the possible options so I wouldn't feel inclined to fanwank but I always wrote it off as: Angelus would just wait them out and wouldn't be inclined to spill a single bean unless he knows he's sticking around / freed, so they'd just be burning time they really can't afford. A better question to me is, and I know I sound like a closet prude, but why did Angel have sex in his fantasy when he knew everything else was finally going right for him? He should've thought about it. I really really can't buy him overlooking it, but of course the episode reached its end by that point so it didn't really ruin much for me.

    Wesley took that stab through the palm really well in that cave. That thing was huge (was it a stake too?).

    I wish when in the mini montage at the end that cut to different civilians noticing the sun return they end it with a sad-looking vamp whose shoulders slump and lets himself be burned alive on the spot. "It's over, viewers at home..."

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