Part of the price for Angel's scary ass mojo seems to have been transparent lobsters.
Are they blowing hot and cold, or what? We're getting some really good episodes interspersed with some genuine lulus. Fortunately, this was one of the better ones, in spite of the silly slugs from Hell. Except that I felt really bad for the guy who walked in and ended up in Fred's dustbuster, when all he wanted was to find his dog.
Angel and Cordelia were acting rather couple-y, but not in a nauseating way. He finally talked about losing Connor – to her; and they fought the monsters together, in somewhat Buffy-reminiscent way. She even said outright that he was her first priority, although she amended it somewhat to soothe Groo, who is now the Buffy puppy. (I've always wondered, why puppies? It seems to be a continuing Buffyverse joke and I've never gotten the punch line.)
It was almost unbelievable that the L.A. Scoobies actually left Fred alone; it was like painting a target on her forehead. But it was way cool that Gunn had his priorities straight, used his brain and went to Wesley. And didn't Wesley look sexy? All scarred and bearded and gravelly-voiced? Ooooh. It was clear that his Watcher talents were sorely needed, because Fred wasn't coping well with those demon books.
Good continuity, with Lilah pointing out that Angel has lost it before ("remember the wine cellar? Slaughter?") Other than that, Wolfram & Hart seemed pointless; the best part was the spider and the magic password. Was Gavin blowing smoke? Would Lilah have actually shown up with a shaman exterminator to rescue her mortal enemy?
Of course, the big news is that Connor the Destroyer has arrived. Making him a teenager was a good choice – not as old as Angel, still somewhat kid-like and giving out a definite Mordred vibe. Here's hoping he's not a male Dawn. Speaking of which, isn't it weird that just a couple of years ago, Buffy and Angel weren't parents, and now they both have teenagers?
Bits and pieces:
— I'm sort of confused about Cordelia's vision. Did it not happen yet? Did the pentagram finally work? Is that what brought Connor, or was it the slugs from Hell, or both?
— Why shut off the power? There are these light switch thingies, you know.
— Wesley lost his glasses, and apparently doesn't need them any more.
— Cordelia's hair. The cleaning rag was more becoming. What was Charisma thinking? Why do gorgeous brunettes have to go through a blonde phase when they look so great as themselves?
— Speaking of continuity, how about that reference to the Buffy episode, "Amends"? (If you didn't catch it, it was Cordelia saying that it had snowed once in southern California.)
— That is one huge, deserted hotel. The South Wing? One part hum, two parts dinger? Do I sense a new Caritas approaching, please?
Quotes:
Groo: "Angel. You and I have fought side by side on more than one occasion, fellow warriors, shoulder to shoulder. By now, my council must surely hold weight. So I beseech you to heed my words."
Angel: "Okay."
Groo: "Pomegranate Mist is the wrong color for this room."
Groo: "Summer splendor is a hue more worthy of a champion. Or perhaps this unique one called purpla."
Angel: "Purple. Yet you have no problems pronouncing pomegranate."
Groo: "It was my mother's name."
Angel: "What are the odds?"
(Gunn walks by carrying a crisped piece of furniture.)
Angel: "Hey, hang on. Where are you going with that?"
Gunn: "I'm tossing it."
Angel: "It's an antique."
Gunn: "It's a charcoal briquette."
Angel: (holding a snowdome) "I don't know why I bought this for him. A whim, I guess. Thought he'd like to look at it. Snow. It never does snow in southern California."
Cordelia: "It did once."
Gavin: "Well, in any case, Angel tried to kill a human, bringing him one step closer to his dark side, and one step closer to us."
Lilah: "Dark side, shmark side. Remember a year ago? Wine cellar, slaughter?"
Gavin: "They were lawyers."
Lorne: "Big bru-ha-ha at the juice bar across the street, only light on the ha-ha. Some guy over there is cracking up."
Angel: "But at least we have one advantage."
Cordelia: "What? They glow in the dark? How is that going to help unless we shut off all the lights in the... holy crap, you're not serious."
Cordelia: "Did you hear something?"
Lorne: "Sorry, cupcake, all I'm picking up is the loud, erratic thumping of the heart in my mouth."
Lilah: "Fine, play your little games. I've got to go save my mortal enemy."
Angel: "What are you fleeing from?"
Fred: "The bringer of torment, agony, death. The Destroyer."
Cordelia: "Oh. That is just not the name you want to hear."
Groo: "You are truly a goddess."
Cordelia: "Well, demoness, anyway. Beats horns and a tail."
Lorne: "Hey. I'm standing right here."
Three out of four stakes, and it looks like the Destroyer hits the fan next week,
Billie
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Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
My favourite quote of this episode is Wesley explaining his anger to Gunn, how he thought his friends would give him the courtesy of explaining what happened despite their anger. I especially liked Gunn seeing that he's got a point, all expressed with just a nod. Nice bit of acting from J. August Richards.
ReplyDeleteI find Angel and Cordelia remarkably cavalier about lives that are not each other's. Turning up the heat and depriving Fred of water when they know it's going to kill her? Refusing to ask for help from Wesley because Angel's anger is more important than Fred's life?
I hate what the writers have done with Cordy this season, turning her into this generic and excruciatingly bland Mama Bear figure. They keep positioning her as the voice of reason and a devoted parter for Angel, but all I see is a self-righteous monster.
Bleh. I was ready for a Wesley spinoff at this point. He could bring Gunn and Fred along.
"But it was way cool that Gunn had his priorities straight, used his brain and went to Wesley."
ReplyDeleteI appreciated you making these kinds of comments about Gunn when he first officially became a part of the team. I wish they used him more this way, and less of the... romance... eugh. But I'm happy to get any small glimpse of this kind of good thinking.
Cordy's on my shit list now. I was glad to see her back until this episode where she sided immediately with Angel and.. wouldn't even go to touch base with Wes (even if it's to admonish him)?? Man what the fuck, I completely memoryholed this...
"And didn't Wesley look sexy?"
Good god yes I'm glad I didn't remember that incorrectly. I still haven't shaken off that surreal feeling of finally being in PUNISHED WES territory. Well, that isn't to say I fully sympathize with him. He never really did express remorse or justify why he didn't bring Lorne into the fold before telling them they're not welcome to reach him anymore. At first I chalked it up to the writers not being able to defend it but then they had Fred mentioning that oversight explicitly to him. Hm.
"Good continuity, with Lilah pointing out that Angel has lost it before ("remember the wine cellar? Slaughter?")"
I wouldn't really call that good continuity, that is not likely to be a cute little detail anyone's going to forget lol.
"Here's hoping he's not a male Dawn."
Oh god lol, I didn't even think of that concern...
Well, he's a qt-3.14, and I loved his entrance. It's unexpected even this time. I liked the sound as it cut to credits. Very ominous, and frankly kind of heart-breaking in a distant echo kind of way to see him back in an openly antagonistic fashion. All that childhood missed. I liked expecting dad Angel, even if I can understand why people would find that stretch of episodes annoying.
"— Cordelia's hair. The cleaning rag was more becoming. What was Charisma thinking? Why do gorgeous brunettes have to go through a blonde phase when they look so great as themselves?"
I still really like it tbh, she's had worse hair as a brunette.. I typically hate the short-hair look on a lot of actresses, but not this time.
"— Speaking of continuity, how about that reference to the Buffy episode, "Amends"? (If you didn't catch it, it was Cordelia saying that it had snowed once in southern California.)"
Definitely a much nicer instance of it considering there's been no crossover shenanigans this season. What a waste though.
"— That is one huge, deserted hotel. The South Wing? One part hum, two parts dinger? Do I sense a new Caritas approaching, please?"
!!! YES PLEASE. BEEN TOO LONG
Still love Groo sticking around so far, but less as an attachment to Cordy and more as just another ally to the team.
@Dimitri: But his friends already DID know everything. He had nothing to tell them they hadn't already figured out. How does he 'explain' something like making a decision to operate entirely on his own when the only person who was compromised was Angel? But I like to see it as he's just hurt that they didn't even let him say he's sorry (and it worked for me that his throat was still recovering to prevent him from voicing it before Angel lashed out). It's all still emotionally resonant, correctly tragic, and I don't side with anyone really. I understand Wes's bitterness and his perpetuating his isolation from the crew so my heart goes out to him, but nobody besides Cordy did him dirty. Great stuff.
Eager to see the rest immediately but it's time to return to Missus Get-Buff and start the last arc of the season. I remember loving it, just not the finale itself, and probably gonna have further trouble restraining myself enough to go back and forth like I intend to.
It's a very good 1st world problem and I have to make sure to savor this stretch of it.