Wesley: "Five by five."
This episode went so quickly that it seemed to be over in, like, five minutes. A lot happened in a very short period of time. Even the jail break took less than fifteen seconds: I timed it.
It was totally great seeing Faith again, even though I was still peeved with Eliza Dushku for reneging on the spinoff. But I always dug the character, and she looked terrific. Her hair was longer and a few shades lighter, and her face was more adult and even more beautiful, if that's possible. Faith as a character seemed to be focused inward for a change, and it became her.
I absolutely loved all of her interactions with the L.A. Scoobies: telling Wesley "you're looking... good," bonding with Gunn, sparring with Cordelia, turning Connor on in a big way, not to mention the fact that she was determined to lead the charge and save Angel from Angelus. I also noticed that she had faced the truth about herself and was dealing with it. She referred to herself grimly as a murderer, but from the way she threw herself at the Beast, I think she also finally accepted herself as a Slayer.
Faith is usually interested in "getting some," especially after slayage, and she's even been without a guy for a couple of years, so do you think one of the L.A. Scoobies is about to get lucky? She might be too into repenting right now, but hey – Connor and Gunn would volunteer in a moment. Connor in particular looked at Faith as if he wanted to eat her with a spoon. ("A weakness for slayers. You're definitely his son.") Although Connor had his hands full with the very strange and pregnant Cordelia, who is also somehow the Beastmaster. How weird is that?
What is going on?
Theory number 1. It isn't Cordelia; something else is wearing her face. (So where's the real Cordelia?)
2. Cordelia is possessed, quite possibly by the baby she's carrying.
3. All the hair dye finally went to her head.
4. She lost me when she slept with Connor, so I probably don't care. Except that maybe it wasn't Cordelia who slept with Connor... wait a minute.
Whatever. Now we have yet another baby plot. Is this going to be an annual thing? Noooooooo!
Moving right along, doesn't Wesley have balls of steel now, cutting his dead lover's head off? Has he changed since he last saw Faith, or what? That conversation he had with "Lilah" was a nice way for him to achieve some closure and mourn her just a little. He was angry that he couldn't save her from her own evil, and unable to convince himself that she didn't love him (we all know she did). I'm going to miss Lilah... although I must remind myself that being dead doesn't stop a character from returning in the Buffyverse.
David Boreanaz continued to do a good job as Angelus. I particularly liked the phone call to Dawn ("It's the other one"), calling the Beast all those names ("Come on, lickspittle's nice") and putting up that "Welcome Faith" sign. But I was confused about Angelus' motivation in killing the Beast. Was he just unwilling to work for anyone? Or did he know what was really going on?
Lots of bits and pieces: (this was a busy episode!):
— Faith was prisoner number 430019, and her sentence was murder two, twenty-five years to life.
— Lorne looked extremely snazzy in the pale periwinkle suit with a mauve shirt. Those pastels worked well with his complexion.
— I wonder who paid that woman prisoner to kill Faith with that jeweled dagger. They didn't tell us, did they?
— Speaking of which, Connor was more than ready to kill Daddy. And now he is a daddy. Connor is in serious need of psychotherapy.
— It's a shame Angelus didn't have a chance to turn Lilah. She would have made a terrific vampire.
— How did Cordelia get to the docks and back so quickly?
Quotes:
Angelus: "That's right, brothers and sisters. The rumors are true. Angel has left the building and I am back. But hey, I'm no different than the next guy. I put my victim's skin on one leg at a time."
Demon: "Whoa! You're him. Talking to me. Not usually impressed by vampires but this is such an honor. Hey! Could sign a little something for my hellspawn? Make it out to Ashley."
Connor: "I know what we have to do. Angel told me. If something goes wrong, I kill him."
Lorne: "Oh, and now you listen to him?"
Angelus: "What? You don't like lackey? Well, how about toadie? Or lickspittle? Lickspittle's nice. Oh, wait. I've got it. Flunky. That's it. You're just a big, stupid, butt-ugly..."
Wesley: "Thought you could use a little release. Feel natural?"
Faith: "Just like riding a biker."
Faith: "Love the name. Hear you're a good fighter."
Gunn: "I hold my own."
Faith: "That's a shame."
Wesley: "How do you expect to find Angelus without Connor?"
Faith: "The old-fashioned way. The kid's not the only tracker. Something will turn up. Trail of bodies, tell-tale clue... (they see a huge sign that says WELCOME FAITH) maybe a carpet fiber..."
Gotta give this one a four out of four stakes. Except for the SECOND ANNUAL BABY PLOT, it was a terrific episode, and I can't wait for next week,
Billie
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Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
Faith: "Love the name. Hear you're a good fighter."
ReplyDeleteGunn: "I hold my own."
Faith: "That's a shame."
I didn't understand that. Why's it a shame?
And yeah the episode really did breeze by quickly. Loved Angelus making those stupid commentator noises while Faith was fighting with The Beast. And amused by Cordelia noticing how intrigued Connor was by Faith at the end of that first scene together. Her saying "Touch it" at the end of the episode in reference to her belly was the first time she read properly to me as a Not-Cordy character.
Didn't love the Wes-Lilah postmortem scene, I think I hate those even more than flashbacks. Closure's overrated. It did make me think of The First though, I don't remember whether this show and Buffy ever did a thing where someone has an imagined conversation with a dead person, it feels like it's happened all the time before The First but I can't think of a specific example.
>>"— It's a shame Angelus didn't have a chance to turn Lilah. She would have made a terrific vampire."
Yeah... It would be hilarious to see her being the first character who's exactly the same after being turned.
Onigirli, "I hold my own" "That's a shame" was a sexual reference. :)
ReplyDeleteOh haha. Charles Gunn: Vampire Hunter, and truly the master... of his domain
ReplyDelete