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Angel: Life of the Party

Lorne: "Here's the snafu in a nutshell, Top Cat."

Let me be the first to say that an ongoing Angel/Spike nudity competition would be absolutely fine with me.

Halloween, lots of Lorne, a silly party, sex and violence, gratuitous vampire nudity... what's not to love? It's hard to beat an episode where Wesley and Fred get drunk, Angel has sex, Gunn pees on the furniture, and Lorne hulks out. I laughed my ass off.

Angel was disturbed about his little romp on the floor with Eve, although Eve seemed to think nothing of it. I'm sure Eve was planning to seduce Angel, anyway. She's been hitting him with double entendres since they met, plus there was that very interesting shower scene with the masturbation discussion and the nudity. (In case I haven't mentioned it yet, gratuitous vampire nudity is just fine with me.) Angel's literal flirtation with evil is extremely interesting, although I prefer him brooding, watching hockey, and helping the helpless.

One of my favorite relationships on this show is Angel's relationship with Lorne. Angel is always gentle with Lorne, and Lorne continually flirts with Angel; it's very sweet. I'm not implying that it's a romantic, slashy thing, but when Lorne was unconscious on the couch and Angel was pulling the covers up over him, I thought Angel was about to kiss Lorne's left horn.

Wesley and Fred, drunk but still managing to do research, were absolutely adorable together. But I felt cheated. They should have ended up in a drunken clinch, and they didn't. Where is Fred's head? Wesley adores her, Spike is constantly flirting with her, and Fred is interested in Knox? Nothing against Knox, I like him, but come on. What can Fred be thinking?

Bits and pieces:

— Angel punching out the guy in the costume was a direct homage to the Buffy episode "Halloween," where Buffy did the same thing.

— I didn't care much for the Archduke Sebassis. Why would he be a draw at a party? The blood doll with the cork in his vein was pretty funny, though. The Archduke called his buddy (the one who died on the toilet) Artode, but I kept hearing, Our Toad.

— Not much Spike here, but after last week's king-sized helping, I don't mind.

— Knox mentioned last year's party. When did Wolfram & Hart go zombie last season? Was it after Halloween?

— In this episode, Lorne called Angel "Big Boy," "Angel Heart," "Top Cat," "Milk Dud" and "Sweet Tart."

— Did you notice Eve's face after she made that UC Santa Cruz comment? It's like she switched herself off. What is she, really?

Quotes:

Lorne: "It's Grapes of Wrath in outer space. It's got heart. It's got laser battles. It's got a timely message of interstellar poverty."

Lorne: "We've still got a few bugs to comb out of the cootie garage."

Lorne: "Harmonica!"
Harmony: "Lorney-tunes!"

Gunn: "Image-wise, if this party doesn't kick ass, we lose face."

Angel: "It's a perfect recipe for an out-of-control bloodbath."
Lorne: "Describing every good party I've ever been to."

Archduke: "Your contempt is fragrant."


Eve: "I said you need a release. Not everyone bottles all this stuff up like you."
Angel: "I don't bottle."
Eve: "You bottle."
Angel: "I don't bottle."

Angel: "I mean, do you even have a last name?"
Eve: "Do you?"

Wesley: "Charles, you just peed on my shoes."

Fred: "They don't just do sleep here. Madeleine Chu in Accounting, she had her ennui removed."

Eve: "Angel, it's not like this is the first time I've had sex under a mystical influence. I went to UC Santa Cruz."

The fifth season premiere was excellent, but this was better. Definitely a four,

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

4 comments:

  1. This has one of the best openings of the Buffyverse. It just shows how Lorne sees it as his biggest responsibility to be always available and always at the top of his form. Even at the expense of his identity and sanity. And it's all private; he can't show his darkness. He's a great character.

    I was thinkung about it, and I think Angel should have kissed Lorne's forehead. It wouldn't seem romantic at all. I'd have loved it.

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  2. Confession: when I rewatch Season Five, I start with this episode.

    It's not that the previous ones aren't good. It's that this season gets so awesome with this episode and barely ("Why We Fight") lets up.

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  3. I thought it was a tad slow and weird in the beginning, but then it picked up! As a nerd, I really want the resident nerds to hook up, and I was disappointed when Fred brought up Knox...

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  4. >>"Let me be the first to say that an ongoing Angel/Spike nudity competition would be absolutely fine with me."
    Lol, well concerning Angel at least nothing is going to beat his s3 Buffy's re-entrance. What a beautiful shot of him on the floor.

    >>"— In this episode, Lorne called Angel "Big Boy," "Angel Heart," "Top Cat," "Milk Dud" and "Sweet Tart.""
    Lol and he had to specify Milk Dud was affectionate too. The Angel[thing] ones are still my favourite.

    @Gus: Well said, a forehead kiss would've been a sweet moment. Why did only Spike ever get one (which was still only Angelus)?
    I loved the opening too, just because the transition is so palpable from the energy of the song to the moody credits sequence. So good. I always found it kind of ironic/disappointing that Lorne's usefulness on the show basically drops off as soon as he finally gets a spot in the opening sequence. Oh well. And even the screening for evil-immediacy had a work-around found for it too quickly.

    @Josie: Actually I was just about to say that I find it curious that the first episode of the season that really clicked for me is this filler episode. But I still like the ending of the premiere too much to think of starting with this next time.

    The way Hinduism has a few references is pretty cool. Before this episode there's apparently a Senior Partner with the name Suvarta. Well I guess also Buddhism when Angel visited that monastery in Sri Lanka after getting the news about Buffy. Who knows what else I missed. Speaking of neat names, I liked Archduke Sebassis as one.

    I like that Angel likes hockey. And Fred has been disappointing me consistently this season. I miss Cordelia, I would've loved to see her puttering around the riches of the firm without showing any of the strain that's weighing poor Lorne.

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