Pinch me. Did Angel actually save Spike's un-life? How far they've come from the beginning of the season. When Illyria staked Spike the first time through, I was so shocked that I almost didn't register what happened.
The time travel loop was interesting, but the first time through, I was actually confused about what was going on, and I don't like that. I also don't like the hints that Illyria is going to be a "member of the team." (Given that there will actually be a team after the next three episodes.) I don't think Illyria has potential as a permanent character. She is too pompous, too powerful, and too grim, a total antithesis of Fred; the only time she made me smile was when she said she wanted to keep Spike as a pet. True, the Senior Partners don't want her around, which can only be good for Angel, and true, she has (or had) superpowers, which would make her useful. But as a character, she's a void. In my opinion.
And I'm worried about Wesley. He is alternately catatonic and frenetic. His continued obsession with Illyria is all that is keeping him going. Poor guy. He's going to lose it soon. I want Fred back, both for herself, and to save Wesley from coming apart.
The Rosemary's Baby B plot was there to illustrate that Angel is going to be ruthless in order to make his branch of Wolfram & Hart succeed. Either that, or he's going to make it appear so. I'm going with appearances. Maybe he could go save the kid from the Fell when he turns twelve, or something. One of the things I love about this show is its bald-faced, unabashed homage to other works; in the book, the coven gave Rosemary special shakes and natural vitamins, and Amanda mildly resembled Mia Farrow.
Bits and pieces:
— I'm glad that Gunn is finally free from his "vacation in hell." Even if the Senior Partners end up billing Angel for it.
— Was Hamilton about to try to make a deal with Wesley? I wonder if Lorne is next.
— This week's comic relief came from Lorne and Spike, no surprise there. I particularly liked Lorne as Secret Demon, talking with Angel about his "thingy." Spike called Illyria, "Little Shiva" (as in, Come back, little Sheba) and "Babe the blue ox." Lorne's was better, though: "Our Lady of the Blue Bummer."
— How does Amy Acker keep from blinking for such long periods of time? Aren't her eyeballs drying out behind those huge contacts?
— Jamie Bergman (pregnant Amanda) is David Boreanaz' wife.
— We learned something new about the apocalypse; it's a thousand year thing. That gives us a lot of time for series spin-offs. That's me, thinking positive.
And this week's quotes:
Illyria: "When the world met me, it shuddered, groaned, and knelt at my feet."
Spike: "Dear Penthouse, I don't normally write letters like this, but..."
Wesley: "She still thinks she's the god king of the universe."
Gunn: "She's like a TV star?"
Wesley: "No, nothing that bad."
Gunn: "This place just went Poseidon on my ass. I don't know which way is up."
Angel: "Did it ever occur to you that now may not be the time for 'when we were muck' stories?"
Spike: "It's not murder if you say yes."
Harmony: "Coffee, tea? Got blood. And a variety of organic colas."
Illyria: "A true ruler is as moral as a hurricane, empty but for the force of his gale."
George W. Bush, to a T.
Hamilton: "It's a business, boys, not a bat cave."
Lorne: "Tell you what. Still like him better than Eve."
Me, too. sorry about that, Sarah Thompson. This line reminded me of when Xander was first propositioned by Anya, and he said, "Still more romantic than Faith."
Two out of four stakes. And three episodes to go before The End,
Billie
---
Billie Doux reviewed all of Buffy and Angel, so she knows the plural of apocalypse.
Loved it for the disturbing sight of Angel's entire crew being taken out by Illyria. Starting with Spike, holy shit. Even Angel. I can see why anyone wouldn't like the suggestion that she might become part of the team for that reason alone, I didn't even consider your legitimate reasons as to why she wouldn't fit well otherwise. In my case, I don't usually like seeing this kind of stuff even when it's not permanent (like for example The Wish and having to see altBuffy getting her neck snapped). It was different here, just because it's visually cool to see them all dispatched so quickly.
ReplyDeleteThere's not much to discuss in the episode, it's just thicc action and really cool to watch. Never get tired of her slow-mo effect, shame it's gone now. Only Illyria's words about what it means to be king might be worth poring over. I liked it... the idea that a force of nature is empty inside.
I was amused by Angel just baldly calling it weird that Wes is still fixated with Illyria. Although the beginning of the episode showed Wes unraveling it actually made me feel a nostalgic pang. Considering his memories are back and he's properly up to date, I found my reaction odd. Well, I guess it's almost like when he was obsessing over Connor's prophecy back in s3. Bad headspace but I loved seeing it.
Illyria's still awesome and I'm glad Acker wanted to do something different. What an inspired call.
Infamous. This episode is absolutely infamous. I wish I could erase the image of Spike being staked from my mind. It was so quick and unexpected that I “couldn’t even.” When she staked Angel, I actually was relieved because I knew none of this would take. Kinda ruined the whole episode for me. I had the feeling the writers threw that in just because they wanted to see it before the end. Grr. Argh.
ReplyDeleteThat is all.