I was unenthused about a Fred-centered episode and wasn't wildly impressed with it. Until the last twenty minutes.
There were several surprises. The first was that we finally saw Fred and Gunn in bed together having something resembling sex; that raised my eyebrows. Plus, I thought it was a hoot hearing Angel and Lorne talking about the noise ("It's just Fred. I think it's a Texas thing.") Is everyone but Wesley living in the hotel now?
The second was Fred's uncharacteristic homicidal rage directed toward Professor Seidel. Fred has never shown that level of hatred for anyone or anything before, and I found it disconcerting, but believable under the circumstances.
The third was what Gunn did for Fred, which actually shocked me. Gunn has come a long way from the angry, violent, gangbanging vampire hunter he used to be, and he chose to give up the progress he'd made for Fred's sake. Did he just feel that when it came right down to karmic terms, he had less to lose than Fred did?
In other news, Connor continued to give me the genuine creeps. I wasn't quite sure what was going on with him, but whatever it was, I was glad Cordelia finally put a stop to it before "the non-CPR mouth-to-mouth" got too ooky.
Wesley was moving closer toward reconciling with his former mates, and rejecting Lilah's attempts at a reconciliation. I hadn't expected this. I thought he'd be going back to her so that he could continue with their affair as well as whatever plan he had to take down W&H. Frankly, I'd be thinking "hell hath no fury" right now and shivering in my boots. Lilah is the last person I'd want as a jealous ex-lover.
They left us with an emotion-filled cliffhanger. Last year, Angel would have answered Cordelia's question, "Were we in love?" with the truth. I wonder, after this hurtful and unexpected competition from Connor, how Angel will handle Cordelia's question now; I'm sort of expecting him to say, "Yes."
Bits and pieces:
— Fred was scheduled between two other speakers, but I don't remember seeing someone going on before her.
— I continue to love the outrageous way Lorne flirts with Angel, and the gentle way Angel treats him in return. When Angel brought Lorne a tray in bed, Lorne said, "Give it to me, sweetness." Later, he called Angel, "sugar pie."
— Lorne called Connor Angel's "hellspawn," as well as "the little nipper."
— What was with Angel's new parlor trick, pulling up a holographic auditorium to re-live the attack?
— Loved that whole thing about Angel in the chatrooms. The girl, the cat and the peanut butter? That's not a real story, is it?
— This was the first time you could actually see the sign that said "Los Altos Hotel and Apartments" above the Hyperion Hotel.
Quotes:
Lorne: "I know I've been a wee bit jumpy the last couple of days, but did I hear a scream?"
Angel: "Oh, it's just Fred. I think it's a Texas thing."
Lorne: "Well, it's all too much Sturm and Drang for my appetite. Cordelia shacking up with your hellspawn, no offense, and the hole between my horns?"
Gunn: "The girl kept me up all night. She is unstoppable."
Angel: "More than I need to know."
Fred: "Five years of unendurable torture and mental anguish aside, if I hadn't been sucked through that portal I never would have figured out my string compactification theory."
Gunn: "Exactly. 'Cause, you know, strings need to compactify."
Lilah: "Tragedy struck Gidget? Really? Did she go to that place in the big Texas sky?"
Teenager: "You guys know how it is. Like you hear things from the friend of a friend's roommate. You don't know if they really happen."
Gunn: "Like the story about the girl, the cat, and the peanut butter."
Angel: "That one's true. (Gunn looks at him) Long story."
Angel: "They talk about me in the chatty rooms?"
Cordelia: "About what happened earlier. The non-CPR mouth to mouth?"
Angel: (to the demon who isn't dead yet) "Come on. I'm holding your head!"
Two and a half? Okay, maybe three. Good episode,
Billie
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Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
I don't agree that Fred's rage was so uncharacteristic. Remember how she went after Conner with the Taser when they found out what he had done to Angel; Gunn had to restrain her. Or think of how she vented at Wesley when he was in the hospital. She's probably the angriest member of the regular cast, after Conner.
ReplyDeleteI think she's always had a lot of pent-up anger hidden under the surface, which isn't too surprising given what she went through in Pilea. I think that for a long time she was too fearful to express it, and maybe she wanted to try to be the sweet person she was before Pilea. But now that she's grown in confidence and courage, all that rage is bubbling out.
And she did have a point: how were they going to stop him without killing him? Angel threatening him with prison was laughable. Even if you got a court to believe her story, would a prison hold a guy who can open portals so easily? And if they banished him to another dimension, he likely has the knowledge to find his way back.
My favorite Lilah line ever is in this episode-
ReplyDeleteAngel: "Remember when I ripped your car in half just now?"
Lilah: "yeah, yeah...Hulk smash."
No one character other than her has ever been able to tear Angel down in just a petty insult. Except maybe Lindsay!
>>"— I continue to love the outrageous way Lorne flirts with Angel"
ReplyDeleteI still don't really see it that way lol but alright. It still sounds maternal to me. But I guess with Cordy and Connor now it's not mutually exclusive, hehehe*gigglefart*
@magritte:"Or think of how she vented at Wesley when he was in the hospital"
That's really not the same thing. It was a very reasonable and controlled call-out.
Why couldn't Gunn just toss him alive into the portal? I don't know if I should see his killing as a quasi-romantic gesture, tying himself irrevocably to Fred's sense of vengeance, or whether I should see it as him taking away her right to see her chosen course of action through. But it was pretty cool, and I like the way Wes was pulled into it.
Lailah and Wes, not quite ogre yet? I'm not complaining