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Post by partcynic on Sept 19, 2015 11:09:24 GMT -5
3x16 "Sleep Tight"
Yet more plot-driven nonsense. "Sleep Tight" has a few funny lines and scenarios that could have been dramatic, but the characters' actions are so contrived, forced and impractical that the ep ends up playing like an especially weak, insipid melodrama.
Likes
- Angel has some funny lines and behaviours while 'wired'. Maybe we can handwave his actions for most of the year by saying his blood had been spiked for some time!
- Lilah putting Connor's blood in Angel's food supply. Nicely nasty, even though I'd like to know when exactly it happened (did someone sneak into the hotel and tamper with it?) The bar conversation with Angel (and then, Sahjhan) was also good.
- Passable fight in the hotel lobby. The gang has too much trouble from a group of sloppily-trained humans, but you have to love Fred with a crossbow, and the repeat of Lorne's 'sing to distract the enemy' strategy was cute.
- Gunn acknowledging that the gang didn't know the ins and outs regarding Wes taking Connor. Nice to have him side with his former friend.
Dislikes
- Too much time was spent on the singer, with unnecessary fawning (her voice really wasn't that good - was she a friend of the producers or something?) The mini-story that emerged from it was okay, but I preferred it when the cases were core parts of episodes, and not just campy subplots.
- The syrupy phone call between Gunn and Fred. The writers are having to force this kind of slush in because the characters aren't capable of believably generating it themselves.
- Justine and Holtz. All of the standard criticisms apply. And Justine can defeat vampires without breaking a sweat, yet is helpless against Wesley?
- The silly street 'stalker' scene. Wesley's being followed by Justine, who in turn is being followed by Holtz. I'm imagining the two of them sneakily ducking in and out from behind trees in order to evade both Wesley and each other.
- All of my criticisms of Wesley from "Loyalty" carry over to this ep (after all, they're two parts of the same plot), which automatically creates major sucking. What we got here compounds it - rather than explain himself to Lorne (or the others), he just attacks him and flees, and then falls for the most blatant double-cross ever with Justine. The slit throat scene could have been shocking/disturbing, but I was close to rolling my eyes at how predictable the 'betrayal' was.
- Lorne can read people's auras, but can't detect that Wesley is taking Connor away for a specific reason? How convenient.
- If Sahjhan could open a gateway to the worst dimension ever, why didn't he just warp in to the hotel one night while everyone was asleep and have the portal swallow the infant Connor whole? Even if he could only access Quortoth once, I'm sure there are plenty of other places where a baby would instantly perish. And knowing that he could do this, why on earth did he think the best option for dealing with Angel/Connor would be to involve Holtz in any way? Sahjhan needs Connor gone, not Angel, so why would roping in someone with an anti-Angel vendetta help (especially if that person was unlikely to want to kill a baby?)
- Corny, over-the-top drama at the end, with Angel writhing around to overblown orchestral music.
Summary
Another ep that ranks among the show's worst. The positives are few and far between, and washed out by the mass amount of rot that's inherent to this poorly conceived and poorly executed arc.
***
3x17 "Forgiving"
The interminable S3 arc continues with a grimdark slice of soap opera - but "Forgiving"'s flaws are primarily those of the ongoing story, and it has a couple of things that could have been cool if they were utilised differently.
Likes
- Everything with Fred was good, especially her unflinching faith in Wesley and later upset upon hearing that Connor had been taken by a portal. Hurling the cinders into Sahjahn's face was also a more believable way of having her contribute to a fight than much of the stuff we saw earlier in the season.
- The return of Grey Angel. I have no investment in this plot, but torturing Linwood, being willing to kill Lilah and attempting to smother Wesley all made emotional sense.
- The white room. A cool concept, and the creepy child conduit worked. The idea of Angel and Wolfram and Hart having to team up to take out a third party has a lot of potential.
Dislikes
- I can really feel Cordelia's absence in these eps - the show is still functioning, but I'm now realising just how much Cordy/Charisma Carpenter brought to the table.
- Wesley's miraculous survival. The guy had his throat slit and was left to bleed out - there's no way he would have lived. Though it would have been horrible to lose the character for such a bad story, it would have given it the gravity it so sorely lacks.
- Linwood is a nothing character. Compare his taken-hostage fear here versus Holland's in "Reunion" - the actor has no presence in this role.
- Does anyone care at all about Justine, or Holtz's other nameless minions? I sure don't, so all of her/their scenes were dead time.
- Sahjahn's backstory and motivations being that he's violent for the fun of it, and doesn't want to die. For all the screentime he's gotten, there needed to be more to it than that - as is, he joins Holtz, Justine, Linwood and Gavin in the one-dimensional S3 trashpile.
- Like I said in my "Sleep Tight" review, most of Sahjahn's plans make no sense. It's hard to see why he's afraid of Connor when when he can hop dimensions at will and spy on people - maybe could just steer clear of Earth now Connor's there? If he wanted Connor dead, why involve Holtz (who hates Angel, not a helpless baby)? If he wanted to summon Holtz/prevent Connor's existence by killing Angel, why bring him back now, instead of when Angel was living in the gutter? And that's not even mentioning the faked 'father will kill the son' prophecy - if he was able to meddle with the scrolls, why not just make it say that Connor would bring about the apocalypse/be evil? This mess is what happens when writers are trying so hard to be clever they don't bother to have things make sense - I can see where the problems in S4 come from!
- The destruction of the Wesley/Angel relationship. After Angel/Cordy, it's the most important and long-running bond in the show, and its ruin hasn't stemmed from who the characters actually are, but from a completely unnecessary and stupid plot. After the events of this ep (and the two previous ones), there's no plausible way these two could ever be around each other again.
Summary
Down towards the bottom of the show's output, but not quite as painful as some of its predecessors.
***
3x18 "Double or Nothing"
A thankful break from the arc, but the potential of this standalone is immediately sunk when you realise it's by the guy who wrote "Dad". "Double or Nothing" isn't as terrible as that episode, but has little to commend it, requiring a retcon for its plot to work and veering from sappy to silly to stupid.
Likes
- The Connor plot has damaged the show so much that it's wonderful to get a reprieve from it. Getting an entire edition free of Holtz, Sahjhan, Justine, Gavin, Linwood and Connor feels refreshing, even though the ep is bad.
- A good scene with Fred and Wesley at the hospital. It would have been even better if it had been with Gunn or Cordy - strange how the person who's known Wes for the shortest amount of time is the one least willing to throw the relationship away.
- Angel's scenes aren't interesting to watch, but they make emotional sense. And I liked that his response to losing the bet was to chop off Jenoff's head.
Dislikes
- It's nice to have Cordy back, but she no longer feels like the same character. I can see a version of this script where her caring side really would shine through, but what we have transforms her into a platitude dispenser. Furthermore, the real Cordy would be conflicted - she should care about Wesley as much as Angel.
- Why is Gunn suddenly so hostile to Wesley? I'm not saying he should dismiss what Wes did, but given all they went through together in S2, some signs of actual care/uncertainty should be present - especially when Gunn's own wavering almost got everyone killed earlier in the season.
- The show's portrayal of demons as "quirky" stereotypes is really cheesy. I'm all for more nuance in how they're depicted, but the elderly couple, the repo reptile and Jenoff didn't feel like demons, but silly humans in rubber masks (see also "Buffy"'s loan shark, and Clem).
- The story is mostly about Fred and Gunn, and for it to work, you have to care about their relationship. However, the show has never made me believe in them as a couple, nor shown that there's more to it than physical attraction. Despite the good work from J. August Richards and Amy Acker, I wasn't drawn in to what was going on - skilled writing wouldn't have required pancake kisses, nor the amateurish 'live like it's your last day' segment.
- The gang should believe Fred's claims about Gunn more quickly. If she told them what he actually said, they should recognise immediately that he's never been that cruel before.
- The 'Gunn selling his soul' plot might be plausible, but I struggle with it. I can't see him jeopardising Alonna even at his most nihilistic, and if the time was coming for him to pay his debt, wouldn't he have showed some anxiety in previous episodes? The whole 'you're giving your soul to another, so we're collecting now' bit was just awful, and forced in to give the Fred/Gunn ship a legitimacy it doesn't have.
Summary
Still really bad, but at least there's some variety in the types of excrement S3 is offering us!
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Post by partcynic on Sept 11, 2023 9:40:33 GMT -5
3x19 "The Price"
Much respect to David Fury - "The Price" is one of the few watchable episodes from the second half of S3, because it actually feels like "Angel" and not some horrid new show.
Likes
- An episodic plot that also moves the arc forward - so much better than all those tedious connectors! The sluks were cool monsters of the week with a nicely horrible way of killing (drinking you from the inside out!), and we got some nice set-pieces (heading into the bowels of the hotel), and even some genuine tension/emotion when Fred was infected.
- Everybody was in character for once! Cordy and Angel sounded more like themselves, and there was a less cut-and-dried approach to the situation with Wesley. Fred also continues to be compelling, speaking sense and finally being written as intelligent, but not a know-it-all. The scenes earlier in the season of her being a computer whiz and giggling about translating ancient languages were deeply lame - may the Powers That Be bless this ep for acknowledging that she's a physicist by education, and can't do monster research with anywhere near Wesley's skill.
- Better pacing and dialogue in general. There were no amazing lines, but it sounded like there were genuine attempts to keep the script punchy and the story moving.
- The 'price' concept has been done better before by Buffyverse shows, but what we got here was fine, and flowed well from Angel's attempt to punch through to Quortoth in "Forgiving".
- Gavin is a continued nonentity, but he worked here as a bureaucratic annoyance, and it's kind of fun to watch him wind Lilah up (cool enchanted spider, too!)
Dislikes
- The Groo/Cordy stuff isn't bad, but it isn't interesting, as we already know how things are going to end. And the segment with Groo overhearing the wrong part of Cordy's talk was cliched (but not a huge problem, as he brought it up soonafter).
- How do all the extra-dimensional beings know/recognise Angel? Does Connor stomp around Quortoth going "I'm the Destroyer, son of Angel the vampire, who is six-foot-two tall (two inches of which is gelled-up brown hair)"? How does Connor, who has just jumped through a random portal, even know that it was Angel's work, or immediately recognise him? Did Holtz have Angel's photo handy, or give Connor very thorough descriptions?
- The last five minutes are a disaster. They created a genuinely dangerous scenario with the mass sluk invasion, but then Cordy starts glowing and everything's fixed. This is cheap, unimaginative storytelling, and it feels like everything with Cordy's demon part was left deliberately vague so it could be used to handwave anything the writers wanted.
- The utter horror of grown-up Connor. Hard to believe that so much time was spent (and so much damage done) to bring us this rotten character, aged-up eighteen years like in some chintzy soap. This will get much worse in the next few eps, but honestly, what were the people at Mutant Enemy thinking?
Summary
The end of "The Price" is terrible, but everything else it has to offer is perfectly enjoyable - and I truly needed that after so many monstrosities.
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Post by partcynic on Sept 16, 2023 10:22:38 GMT -5
Sadly, I don't have my reviews for the remaining eps of S3, but I do have those for S4 - so that's where I'll resume. Maybe I'll go back and do the missing S3 eps at some point, though not for a while.
4x01 "Deep Down"
A so-so season opener that benefits from the comparison effect. On its own, "Deep Down" is a drab bore, but I have some sympathy for it. S3 left the show buried under so much crud, this ep had nothing to work with - and the fact that it actually managed to ascend to mediocrity is an accomplishment.
Likes
- Better characterisation. Angel sounded like Angel in his big chat with Connor (excellent mention of Buffy sending him to hell, which really puts the sea-coffin in perspective), and Cordy's closing line was the most Cordelia-esque thing she'd said in almost a year.
- Fred and Gunn struggling to hold the fort. Not really 'good', but the frustration was believable.
- Lilah and Wesley's dynamic is interesting. I'd have been happy for more on them and less on the 'story'.
- Lilah's staff meeting. Linwood was a terrible character whose death is much welcomed. I loved the decapitating chair, as well as Lilah's smirk when she asked Gavin to remove Linwood's head.
- Fred's attempts at slang were cute, and the 'love to fluffy' joke following her phone call to Lorne was funny.
- Angel snapping Connor's neck in his dream, and later Fred actually tasering him.
- Mocking Goddess-Cordy. Good to know the writers realised it was an awful idea.
Dislikes
- This is a slow-paced episode with very little plot.
- Dull, witless dialogue, especially for Gunn. He was in so many scenes, yet the best lines he got were a cliche ("I'll kill [Connor] if he isn't dead already") and a generic sex joke.
- The hallucinations all ran long while saying nothing. The acting and dialogue in the Angel/Cordy beach chat is particularly bad.
- "[Connor]'s Angel's son. That's all that matters". In one line, Fred encapsulates the biggest problem with S4 and most of S3. For this story to work, you have to care about Connor and what he means to the other characters - but Connor is the worst-conceived and -executed character on the show. He's not funny, dramatic, emotional or scary, nor does he offer a unique POV from being raised in a hell dimension - he's just a whiny teenager with superpowers. Almost every moment Connor was on screen was dead time, as were all the scenes where he was off-screen, but Fred and Gunn were talking about him.
- Vincent Kartheiser's acting is shoddy, but I don't know if it's a talent issue, or because all Connor does is pout and throw tantrums.
- The informant escaping by climbing a sheer wall. Seven years in, it's too late for Buffyverse vamps to be revealing new abilities.
- How did Wesley overpower Slayer-girl Justine? How was he able to defeat her and keep her locked in his closet for months (emerging periodically to sail and scuba dive), with no problems? How could he be certain she'd always tell the truth about what was underwater? I know we're supposed to believe that new-Wesley is a badass, but this is just silly. It's obvious that we haven't been told something - he must have done something pretty horrific for someone as spiteful and vengeance-minded as her to near-unquestioningly obey him (she could have easily smashed his head in in the boat, but immediately stops when he threatens to take her bucket away).
- Justine. Can she get a single line that isn't jaded snark? Huge missed opportunity by not sacrificing her to save Angel - it's not like anything of value would be lost, and it would have made dark Wesley actually dark rather than a put-on.
- Pretentious Wesley dialogue. "Everything changes", "you were always a slave, Justine" - these comments are nowhere near as deep or perceptive as the writer seemed to think they were.
- Fred and Gunn thinking that tying super-powered Connor to a chair a regular human could break would actually constrain him, and not keeping him under constant watch.
- Fred and Gunn being upset that Wesley didn't tell them about Connor's duplicity. Fair enough that they're angry with the man who betrayed them, but they shouldn't kick him out of the group and then get upset that he's not passing them info.
Summary
Bad in the context of "Angel" as a whole, but quite decent for this point. There was no coming back from the Connor/Holtz arc unless they made it all a dream, and this ep did a passable job with the limited options available to it.
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Post by partcynic on Sept 22, 2023 13:08:56 GMT -5
4x02 "Ground State"
A nice step up from "Deep Down". This episode features an actual plot, better dialogue and minimal interference from the trainwreckier aspects of S3, but has little in which it excels.
Likes
- The pacing, plotting and dialogue are all improved. Minimal Connor and no Wolfram and Hart really helped.
- The "X-Files" opening, which introduced us to Gwen. It was a new move/style for 'Angel', and I was interested in seeing where the narrative would go.
- I liked the demon Angel visited to get info on the Axis. She was nicely creepy, and the costuming was good (basically a female Gnarl - I wouldn't be surprised if the prosthesis for one got recycled for the other).
- There are a lot of problems with Gwen, but she's a decent entrant into the 'feisty but secretly vulnerable bad girl' stakes. Some nice quips, lots of sex appeal and a teeny bit of emotion - all fine.
- The heist is alright, and I appreciated that the show acknowledged the repeat plot, while also playing the scenario more for comedy than suspense. It was fun to see Gwen's sophisticated take on theft versus Angel's blunter one, though that contradicts S1 somewhat, when Angel was both stealthy and smart.
- Fred has been one of the show's highlights since her arrival, and she was really good here, being successfully used for both humour (the presentation; "I hope my cellmate will be gentle") and emotion (her breakdown). At this point, Amy Acker is the show's best performer.
- Justine had to listen to Wesley and Lilah!
Dislikes
- Electro-girl is a stupid concept that fits better with the X-Men than the Buffyverse. If Gwen were half demon, I could buy it, but a regular person born with an electric charge is too much (how did her mother even survive? Did Gwen develop her powers soon after she was born?)
- Gwen's core personality is cloned from Faith (no surprise she's not about for the three Faith eps - they're the same character).
- Wesley got his gang/business together in remarkably little time - only a couple of days seem to have passed since "Deep Down", when he was doing everything alone.
- The Wes/Lilah scene was disappointing. The lines were often corny, and the 'sexy' movements so blatantly choreographed that there was nothing spontaneous or believable about them.
- Another one-of-a-kind supernatural artifact that just happens to be in LA.
- Cheap shocks. Gunn's 'death' and the Gwen/Angel kiss were embarrassing to watch.
- Gwen's client managed to have the entire elevator remodelled to contain/kill her in the space of a day? I know he's really rich, but it's still too quick.
- The 'snarky Cordy closer' was fine in the last ep, but repeating a joke weakens its impact.
Summary
A watchable second episode that pulls the show a little further out of the muck, primarily by being largely detached from any arc-based problems.
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Post by partcynic on Sept 27, 2023 3:20:22 GMT -5
4x03 "The House Always Wins"
Another improvement, "The House Always Wins" restores Lorne to the gang while having an entertaining plot. This can't be watched for 'higher' purposes (theme; character development), but works well as mindless adventure. In fact, this is probably the kind of thing the show could do with more of - a fun standalone with a self-contained story that avoids undue bloat.
Likes
- It's been ages since Lorne had a meaningful place in the show, but this episode rectified that. Andy Hallett did a fine job in both the comedic and emotional moments, and when he/Lorne was on screen, I was entertained.
- Nice humour and pacing - David Fury wrote this, and it shows. I also appreciated his eye for continuity (finally taking that trip to Vegas).
- Good that the singing sections were relevant to the plot. The first time I watched them, I thought they were going to be padding - it was nice to be proved wrong.
- The entire 'future trading' plot. It's not that it was gripping, but like everything else, it was fun to watch. I suppose you could even claim a smidgen of character insight when the 'destiny free' Angel still acted to protect his friends.
- Fred as a Lornette. She could have done better with her 'Lorne escaped!' fakeout, but since her intelligence is academic rather than social, I'll let it pass.
- Nice bits for Cordy, and a good mystery with her return at the end. Did her expulsion from the higher realms have anything to with 'interfering' (the slot machine), or did Jasmine decide she was ready to return at that point?
Dislikes
- The ep is mostly surface, and like something that could air on any competent fantasy/supernatural show.
- I have no problem with Wesley/Lilah, but their dirty talk makes Wesley's "oh my God, a girl!" coyness about Fred in S3/5 even more stupid. Does he have a Madonna/whore complex?
- The magic for sucking out people's futures seemed too slight for something so major. And does this mean the show is now advocating determinism (people have a set future that can be taken from them, rather than the future being shaped by constantly unknown, varying actions leading up to it?)
- Armed guards constantly choosing to get in fistfights, instead of using their weapons. And Angel just allows himself to be carried out/separated from Fred and Gunn? It took too long for him to react or fight back.
- The gang not instantly realising that something was wrong with Angel when he was more interested in the slot machines than them.
- Angel having taken multiple trips to Vegas and hung out with the Rat Pack during a time when he was supposed to be in despair - if not in the gutter, then at least deeply avoidant and mistrustful of humans. His history is getting so inconsistent and convoluted that he's starting to fail as a believable character.
- Cordelia's amnesia. Plausible, but so predictable.
Summary
Good fun that doesn't stand up to much scrutiny - but exactly what the show should have been doing at this stage, slowly but steadily undoing the damage of the S3 arc.
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Post by partcynic on Oct 3, 2023 8:51:24 GMT -5
4x04 "Slouching Toward Bethlehem"
I used to have a very negative view of this episode, but upon rewatching, it isn't bottom-of-the-barrel bad - merely dull and void of highlights. The main problem is that this is 'all about the arc', but there's not enough material to sustain it - the relevant stuff is done in about five minutes, leaving us with a lot of repetition and padding.
Likes
- Wesley and Lilah's discussion about their relationship, and the 'signed dollar' bet. At present, they're the most interesting, complex and adult part of the show.
- Some nice continuity references with Cordy's graduation book, and her singing "The Greatest Love of All" for Lorne.
- Connor's straight-talking with Cordelia, and her being willing to trust him because of it. It made sense, and Connor being blunt after growing up in a hell dimension could give him a viable niche in the show.
Dislikes
- No episodic plot, and only minimal development of the arc. And since there was no great comedy, emotion or character development, that makes the ep a waste of valuable time.
- At the end of the last episode, Lorne said he needed the bathroom and walked off somewhere rather than heading into the hotel (does he, uh, go in the garden?) When the gang sees Cordy and realises she's got amnesia, Gunn rushes off to tell/warn Lorne... but Lorne is stunned to see Cordy when she runs into him later (and not just startled that someone ran into him).
- Bad continuity. Lorne has just gotten back to LA via multiple-hour drive, after months spent as a captive in Vegas. Why on earth did he choose to have a demon client visit that night (wouldn't he be exhausted, stressed and want to rest?), especially when he knew a mind-wiped Cordelia was there?
- Cordy's TV amnesia, which only affects things that are convenient for the (non-)plot.
- The early comedy fails almost entirely, and requires the gang to be total idiots by trying to conceal the unconcealable. Just be honest with Cordy from the start - if she's forgotten everything, why would she be shocked by the supernatural? As far as she knows, it's just another part of life.
- Lorne's post-reading news is that 'evil's coming, and it's planning on staying'. Needlessly vague and void of tension - on this show, evil's always coming!
- Cordelia's trite lines about trust. "Buffy" covered this topic far better in "Lie To Me".
- Sowing the seeds of Connor/Cordy with his hand brushing her chest.
- Lilah's plan to double-cross Wesley is overly contrived. In addition, how and when did Lilah find out that Lorne and Cordy were back in LA, let alone that he'd read her? It's plausible for her to have the hotel monitored, but the show is acting like a week passed between episodes, when these events take place the same night.
- Wolfram and Hart special ops teams opting to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the superpowered child-of-vampires instead of just shooting him.
- Wesley tells Angel that Cordy is "with Connor" - and Angel is fine with this, despite knowing that the last time he saw Connor (a couple of days ago), he was sleeping rough. And how does Angel know where Connor's staying? Wes didn't mention the specific location, and nor did Lilah when she was talking on the phone.
Summary
Not terrible, but not good either. I'd put it about even with "Deep Down", which is a drop after the improvements of the previous two episodes.
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Post by partcynic on Oct 8, 2023 2:52:27 GMT -5
4x05 "Supersymmetry"
Disappointing. Fred has been the show's best character since her arrival, played by one of its most versatile actors. Any Fred-centric ep thus has a lot of potential, but this one squandered it on a cliched plot that produces no meaningful development.
Likes
- Fred-focus. I care about the character, so a centrepiece ep is fine by me. Amy Acker's performance was great throughout, and whether Fred was excited, anxious or furious, I could always feel what she was feeling.
- Finally acknowledging Fred and Gunn's lack of genuine compatability, and the fact that they can't truly connect/share a major part of her life.
- Fred reverting to writing on the walls after the portal trauma. Excellent and believable continuity.
- Wesley and Lilah. Love the complexity of their relationship, and Lilah's jealousy despite her claims of being indifferent.
- Angel and the 'chatty rooms'.
- Wesley and Fred. So much more engaging than Fred/Gunn, and with far more chemistry. I loved that Wesley made no attempt to moralise - he instead listened to Fred, respected that she was an adult capable of making her own decisions, and assisted her revenge.
Dislikes
- Too slow at the start. The first few scenes were stuck with cleanup from "Slouching Towards Bethlehem", and didn't do much besides give Lorne/Connor/Cordy some contractually-obligated screen time.
- Connor. It makes perfect sense for him to hate Angel - but his streams of bitterness and spite aren't entertaining, meaningful or interesting to watch. It also makes perfect sense for him to be attracted to a good-looking woman, but it's gross to watch him make out with his stepmother.
- How did Siedel open the portal above Fred, when he was sat behind her throughout her talk? Did he just mumble under his breath? Why would he summon it in public and in his own presence, when he could've just waited and done that phone message thing he tried later?
- Angel's memory is now photographic. I like that Gunn pointed out the contrivance, but it's still bad writing to be giving long-established characters new skills out of nowhere.
- Retconning Fred's past. Before, she inadvertently opened the Pylean portal by reading from a strange book, but now they say Siedel did it. How do these two approaches form a cohesive narrative? If the book had nothing to do with it, was it just coincidence that it contained magic to reach Pylea? If Siedel planted it there and instructed Fred to find it, how did he know she'd open it to exactly the right page and read the correct phrase in the correct way to summon the portal?
- Portal summoning used to require an energy hotspot, but now they can be opened whenever and wherever the caster wants?
- The coincidence of Fred discovering Siedel was responsible for her Pylean sojourn after removing a random book from his shelves.
- Yet another 'killing humans' episode. Granted, this is the first time it's been done on "Angel", but even if I acknowledge that, it doesn't change the fact that it was done poorly. Joss's shows keep creating scenarios with evil humans who are ethically worse than many of the vamps and demons the heroes kill on sight (the humans have souls and moral consciences that they ignore; the monsters don't, and many kill humans because they literally have to in order to eat), but then insisting that harming humans is never acceptable.
In this episode, Siedel is presented as a serial killer who murders over trivialities, and could never be brought to any kind of justice within the human world (good luck with the decades-long overhaul of the entire legal system to account for the supernatural). He shows no signs of remorse, has made another attempt on Fred's life, and can be trusted to keep doing so in the future. He is an immediate threat to everyone around him (not only his targets, but innocent bystanders near any portal that he opens), and he had to be stopped, NOW. Killing - or permanently crippling - him was the only viable option (note that although Angel says he has a way of dealing with it, it's never actually stated).
An intelligent or dark show (like "Angel" used to be) would have done something with this, but we instead got another run of the trite "We don't kill humans!" and "it'll change you forever!" lines. Even worse was that much of this simplistic dreck was primarily coming from Gunn, whose background should make him one of the characters most aware of moral greyness. He's grown up as a Black man in the poorest parts of LA and knows that the police can't handle the supernatural (hence having to form his own vampire-hunting group), and that even if they could, it's a bad idea getting them involved ("The Thin Dead Line"). But now he has faith in the system?
- Angel and Gunn buy Fred's excuse that she's going to 'lie down', apparently believing that her legitimate fury/grief has been quelled by their vapid blathering. How stupid are they?
- No development of the Fred/Gunn relationship. Just imagine a different version of this ep in which they grimly agreed that eliminating Siedel was necessary, and the killing actually brought them closer together. So much more interesting, and lots of potential for the secret to eat away at them further down the line.
Summary
A stellar performance from Amy Acker wasted on a dead-horse plot.
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Post by partcynic on Oct 14, 2023 3:16:53 GMT -5
4x06 "Spin the Bottle"
One of the best episodes of the season, but also one of the most frustrating. Seventy-five percent of this episode is of a quality we hadn't gotten since "Fredless", but the potential for character development is thrown out of the window once Connor arrives, progressing nothing and leaving the ep 'good' when it could have been excellent.
Likes
- Much-improved pacing.
- Humour. Angel hasn't had success with pure comedy since "Disharmony", so it was wonderful to have an episode that was funny while maintaining a basic understanding of the characters. Everyone besides Gunn and Connor managed to make me laugh, and the reappearance of bitch-Cordy was delicious. The character lost much of what made her compelling in S3, and it was wonderful to act like it had never happened (ditto for geeky Wes and even leader Gunn). And Fred was obviously as cute and likeable as ever (love the weed, conspiracy theories and body-scan cross).
- Dialogue. Lots of fun lines and situations (Wesley's device!) kept the ep entertaining on a moment-by-moment basis, and every character had their own unique 'voice'.
- Great continuity, especially "Salty goodness" and the callback to "Helpless".
- Wesley's stand-off with Gunn. Dark-Wesley has nothing to do with the Wesley we saw in "Buffy" and "Angel" S1-3, but he's fun to watch. Absolutely loved the knife popping out against Gunn's throat - the scene had real tension.
Dislikes
- As stated in the intro, a complete failure in character development. When this was done on "Buffy" (and it was - once as "Band Candy", and once as "Tabula Rasa"), the situation prompted change in the characters and a shift in dynamics. This ep seemed to be going the same way (setting up the Wes/Gunn/Fred triangle for analysis; resetting Cordy and providing potential for examining her relationship with Angel), but chickened out at the last minute. So much wasted potential.
- Lorne's narration. It was cute, but it didn't fit the tone of the show, and the character's thematic statements about youth weren't actually reflected in what happened.
- I understand that Lorne got knocked out, but since he was affected by the spell, shouldn't he have become his teen self, too? It seems that the only reason he didn't was to provide the plot with an escape clause.
- Is Connor permanently lurking on a Hyperion balcony, waiting to crash in at just the right moment? His appearance was contrived and irritating, and the ensuing father/son chat said nothing, as Connor's perceptions of Angel as holier-than-thou are wrong - in fact, Angel's been stunningly understanding of why Connor did what he did.
- Yo-yoing Cordy. She can't trust Angel, so she goes to Connor. But she needs more info, so she returns to Angel. But then she gets her memory back, so has to leave again...
Summary
An enjoyable comedy episode that should have been so much more than it is. That said, it's still one of the highlights of S4, ranking among the average works from S1/2.
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Post by partcynic on Oct 18, 2023 3:44:42 GMT -5
4x07 "Apocalypse, Nowish"
This episode is the opposite of "Spin the Bottle", which started well and ended disappointingly - instead, we have a really drab start that eventually becomes quite exciting.
Likes
- Lilah teasing Wesley with the Fred outfit (and his request that she keep the glasses on).
- Even Wolfram and Hart wasn't expecting this apocalypse. Very cool, and Angel's chat with Lilah (and her eventually turning Lorne's reading over to him) made sense.
- Once the Beast arrives, the episode becomes genuinely gripping. The gang's 'decoding' the paper puzzle was fun to watch (kudos to Gunn), and the skyscraper fight was excellent, slo-mo and all. Loved that the team tried a variety of weapons and approaches, yet still lost.
- The Beast. Not a great demon, but something I can be intrigued by. I liked that he emerged from the spot where Connor was born (shame it didn't really mean anything), and it's refreshing to have a real Big Bad again.
- Wesley rejoining the gang.
- Great, ominous atmosphere with the circle of bodies and ensuing rain of fire. The shots of the scattered characters regarding the scene with bewilderment also worked.
Dislikes
- Horrible pacing. A good two-thirds of this ep was based on dull, witless conversations that progressed neither story nor character, and weren't engaging in their own right. In addition, the endless statements about the big bad evilness of the approaching big bad evil got tiresome.
- Dialogue is flat. After "Spin the Bottle"'s memorable moments, this seems even duller. Is there even a single keeper line here?
- The phone calls were presumably intended to provide some levity, but the majority of the jokes were unfunny.
- Fred and Gunn. It was a shot in the dark that Siedel's death might produce interesting development, so it's not surprising that it didn't. And hearing Fred whine about the murder of the serial killer who made three attempts on her life was plain stupid.
- When chatting, Fred and Gunn mention that they haven't touched each other since the murder... except that in the show's timeframe, only about thirty-six hours have passed. Perhaps they're just hyper-sexual?
- The writing for Cordelia is terrible. She doesn't come across like Cordelia, nor as being possessed by Jasmine. Instead, she evinces the worst, wettest aspects of late-S3 Cordy. The whining about the big evil was unconstructive and tiring, and the chat with Angel total hackwork. It was embarrassing to hear her say that 'feeling Angel's evil' changed everything for her, when she'd explicitly stated that she knew that Angel and Angelus were different ("Somnambulist"). And if she was going to be upset about what Angel had done in the past, wouldn't knowing what he did to Jenny (and then to Giles) have been enough to put her off?
- Cordy/Connor sex. Again, I know it's actually Jasmine, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant to watch. In fact, it takes things from pseudo-incestuous to genuinely incestuous!
Summary
Fifteen minutes of entertainment paired with twenty-five of plodding nothingness. When it first aired, I could enjoy "Apocalypse, Nowish" simply for the Beast and whatever apocalypse was coming, but it loses its appeal when you know how convoluted and nonsensical the arc will be. Still, the fun parts mean I can't dislike it too strongly.
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Post by partcynic on Oct 23, 2023 3:35:19 GMT -5
4x08 "Habeas Corpses"
From this point, the season shifts to an 'all arc, all the time' approach, which complicates assessments of individual episodes. As we all know, the arc ended up being a failure, but its biggest problems don't come in until about "Release" (becoming fatal in "Inside Out"). In between, we have six genuinely engaging, fun episodes, and I'm not going to penalise them too much for the larger flaws of this story.
As for "Habeas Corpses", it's a pretty cool ep, mainly because the ratio of plot progression to empty verbosity has shifted in the audience's favour. Once the first act has dealt with the immediate aftermath of Connor/Cordy, it becomes an entertaining adventure.
Likes
- Good pacing and action for two-thirds of the ep. The Beast plot was engaging, and I was interested in seeing what would happen next ("the answer is among you").
- Wesley and Lilah. Shame they had to break up, but their scenes together were very good. I liked that Lilah seemed genuinely hurt by what happened, and their moment together in the sewers (where she told him about Connor, helping him for helping her) worked.
- A murderous, evil demon doing murderous, evil things. It's intriguing that the Beast chose to attack the show's other villains, and is one of the few things in the arc that makes sense from Jasmine's POV (kill off the big evil that poses a threat to your own power).
- Connor's first good line - about the dumb, flesh-hungry zombies being just like Angel.
- Killing off Gavin. He, Linwood and Justine are now all gone, and it feels so good!
- The reappearance of the white room girl (as well as her helping the gang, and Lorne's hilarious reaction when they teleported back to the Hyperion).
Dislikes
- The first fifteen minutes were akin to "Apocalypse, Nowish"; with lots of bland chit-chat. I don't think any writer could have made the Cordy/Connor 'morning after' scene palatable, so it's no shock that it fails. Likewise, Angel's anger was believable but unengaging, and Fred/Gunn's reunion was corny - why can't Gunn express romantic sentiment without falling into sickly language?
- Connor pouting about Cordy rejecting him / being linked to the Beast. This is a Dawn-esque reaction not befitting someone who grew up in a hell dimension.
- Gunn pouting about Wesley and portals. If he hates Wesley, fine - but do something with it other having him spew bratty lines.
- Wolfram and Hart's lack of security. Connor waltzes in with no problem, Lilah summons two human guards to deal with him, and the Beast meets absolutely no resistance. Wasn't W&H supposed to be tough? Surely they'd have some demonic fighters and magical safeguards too? It's fine for the Beast to overpower them, but they needed to be present.
- Wesley's appearance at Wolfram and Hart (saving Lilah from the Beast) is convenient. I know he says he's got 'someone on the inside', but that's a weak excuse.
- Lots of instances of the main characters getting away because the monsters approach them at a snail's pace, or decide to injure rather than kill them.
- Angel's stupid 'split up' plan. The gang is in an already-evil building that's also inhabited by an unkillable monster - sticking together is the best option.
- Gunn gets swarmed by tens of zombies, and is left in a very dangerous situation - but never mind, as he emerges without a scratch a few moments later.
- Jasmine-Cordy's behaviour doesn't make sense. She's gotten what she needed (sex with Connor so she can give birth to herself), which she could have had without summoning the Beast in the first place. And now she chooses to alienate Connor and stay in LA, rather than heading off somewhere, with him as her protector ("I had a vision. We need to go to [far away place] to find the magic weapon that can kill the Beast, which only you - and not your jealous, evil father who could never understand our love - can wield!") Stupid villains are not compelling.
Summary
As I've said before, you have to give up on depth/substance from "Angel" at this point. However, "Habeas Corpses" is entertaining as far as mindless action goes, and what we got here was a really nice example of that.
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Post by partcynic on Nov 6, 2023 11:00:56 GMT -5
4x09 "Long Day's Journey"
Very good! "Long Day's Journey" is 'all about the arc' done right, and does a wonderful job in pushing the seasonal story forward, being both mysterious and exciting.
Likes
- Great plotting and pacing from act two onwards. The episode resolved one overhanging mystery (who really had the connection with the Beast) while progressing an engaging story, and closed by creating a fascinating and genuinely problematic scenario.
- Gwen. The character remains conceptually stupid, but the writing for her was much better than in "Ground State". As in that episode, she provided toughness, sexuality and class, but she managed to be more sympathetic and rounded.
- Angel's failed attempt at an inspirational speech. I like to think of it as a jab at "Buffy" S7.
- The Beast's plan to blot out the sun.
- Angel channeling his anger at Cordy into the case. Heading off with Gwen was a perfect compromise between expressing his emotions (dismissing Cordy / making her jealous) and keeping the plot moving.
- Manny was a bit annoying, but his prompt butchering made up for it. I was interested in knowing who the murderer was, and a good range of suspects was established.
- I love that the Beast knocks so politely on Connor's door.
- The team's confrontation with the Beast. They learned from the unsuccessful physical fight in "Apocalypse, Nowish" and came up with two workable, sensible plans (portal; Gwen zapping the totem and making it unusable). It was also good that both plans failed - this is the kind of 'thwarted competence' that allows the gang to look good even when they lose.
- Angelus' imminent return. More coolness.
Dislikes
- The first part of the episode had to deal with the gang's relationships, which is easily the worst part of the season. The show is stuck trying to make something out of the S3 messes that were Connor, Angel/Cordy romance, and Fred/Gunn, but this stuff is unsalvageable. Furthermore, the early Lorne/Angel and Cordy/Angel chats are badly written - the dialogue is full of cliches.
- Connor and Cordy talk about horrors on the streets, but we need to be shown it - at present this situation feels no worse than the typical "Angel" scenario.
- Four members of the Order of the Ra-Tet just happened to settle in the LA area?
- Why did the Beast choose to do the ritual at Connor's, when he could apparently have done it anywhere?
- What does blotting out the sun have to do with Jasmine's ultimate plan? Was she willing to be supreme deity over a humanity that would inevitably die out from lack of sunlight (mass plant and animal death leading to mass starvation)? Or was she going to undo the spell as a 'miracle' to make everyone love her even more?
- Gunn. It's fine for him to be angry with Wesley / unsettled by the prospect of portal magic, but the character needs to express it differently. His sniping and hissy fits accomplish nothing, and aren't enjoyable to watch.
- The slow-motion fight scenes look silly, and make the stunt team's use of wires obvious.
Summary
Lots of fun, and one of my favourite S4 offerings. As with much of the year, the arc's ultimate failure means that the glow's warn off, but I won't ignore the fact that at this moment, it seemed like things were really going somewhere.
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Post by partcynic on Nov 11, 2023 5:31:13 GMT -5
4x10 "Awakening"
A strange ep in being both fun and a waste of time. This is clearly designed to be a 'one and done' - once you know that it's all a dream, there's not enough in the story or dialogue to encourage repeat views.
Likes
- The dream as a believable way of bringing Angelus forth. I'm very pleased it wasn't done with a few words and a hand-wave.
- Good pacing.
- The dream could have been executed better, but I can forgive the Indiana Jones plot, stream of contrivances (Fred can translate ancient Chinese!) and fake-emotional cheese, as this was about making Angel happy - and he'd absolutely go in for a 'get the sword, save the girl, tie up every loose end' scenario.
- Cool shaman. I liked the body-scripture.
- Angel standing up to Connor and telling him to STFU.
- Gunn asking to play with the sword, and smashing the table.
- The ending, with the realisation that the situation is still dire, and Angelus laughing.
Dislikes
- The discussion about Angelus' genius. Angelus is incredibly cruel, but he isn't smart - Darla did almost all of his thinking for him.
- The gang gets the cage built rather quickly.
- Team Angel is doing something incredibly dangerous by restoring Angelus, and they (and the audience) needed to have a firm idea of how exactly they'd get him to help them. Restoring Angelus and then winging it is stupid beyond belief.
- No mention of drugs as a way of temporarily releasing Angelus?
- I understand that the dream is not to be taken seriously, but it could have been done better. The Indiana Jones stuff was played straight, so it's not very interesting.
- Too much time spent on the dream. Granted, we needed a decent amount to make the fantasy believable, but the end product is an ep that's eighty percent discardable. For a season that's enjoyable primarily for its story arc, it would be a good idea to keep said arc moving.
- The joke-y parts of the episode are fine, but the emotional stuff fails, with lots of hackneyed 'deep' lines ("Is this what it feels like to be a Champion?") and pretense masquerading as character development.
- The Cordy/Angel scenes are horrid. The dialogue is either bland or straight out of a romance novel, and neither David Boreanaz nor Charisma Carpenter appear to buy into it. And it's not due any deficits on their parts - contrast DB here versus his chemistry with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Julie Benz, or CC with Nicholas Brendon and Glenn Quinn. They know how bad it is, and are phoning it in.
- Connor. He's dull, constantly whines, and is acted by someone with very little range or believability. It's sad when a character's best scene is when he's being shouted at and beaten up... and he's not a villain.
Summary
A passable dream ep whose cool ending compensates for the genre show fluff that makes up its midsection.
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Post by partcynic on Nov 14, 2023 13:52:59 GMT -5
4x11 "Soulless"
A good episode that would have been better if it had more of a plot. There's a lot of talking here, but for once it's justified - Angelus dominates the show, and it's fun whenever he's on screen.
Likes
- The introductory streetfight. The writers set up an excellent scenario with permanent midnight, but it sucked that although we were told about the mayhem outside, we never saw it. This ep changed that, and made the real world situation seem genuinely horrid.
- Most of this ep is Angelus talking, and almost all of his lines were worth hearing. The role of 'truth teller' has gone unfilled since Cordelia's wimpification in S3, so it was wonderful to have a character bluntly acknowledge just how stupid most of the gang are. Also pleasing were the deserved jabs at the sillier parts of the season (like Connor/Cordy and Angel's dream). For other highlights, I'd select the Teddy Bear's Picnic song, laughing at romance novel Cordelia ("Chicks!"), Gunn and Fred being Othello and Desdemona, and mocking Connor ("there should be a play"). David Boreanaz made me believe that he was Angelus, and the character was perfectly nasty throughout.
- Progression for Fred/Wesley. As I've said, the pairing is more believable than Fred/Gunn, and has better chemistry. I also liked Gunn finally acting on his anger - hitting Wes said more than passive-aggressive sulking ever could.
Dislikes
- There's next to no plot, and what little there is is obvious. Was anyone surprised that the priestesses were dead, or that Angel's soul was missing?
- As in "Awakening", too much spiel about Angelus' intelligence. Long-term viewers have already seen the character multiple times, and we know Angelus isn't smart.
- The gang's reaction to Angelus' words. Wesley and Cordy warn that everyone needs to be hyper-vigilant, but they all fall apart after a bit of teasing. If the characters are that soft, they wouldn't make it through high school (imagine them meeting "Buffy" S1 Cordy - she'd have them sobbing on the floor!)
- Cordy's bargain with Angelus. Her 'look in my eyes, and you'll know I'm telling the truth' dialogue was garbage, and Angelus' accepting the trade was stupid (because she'll so obviously agree to let him rape-murder her?)
- The convenience of the descendants of the ancient Prussian mystics living locally. And they have protection spells against demon attacks, but not those by vampires or humans?
- Connor's reaction to the dead bodies. I know he said it was the family aspect that made him sick, but I don't buy it. This guy is supposed to have been a murder machine (literally nicknamed 'the Destroyer') who grew up in the worst possible hell dimension, but he's written like a sheltered suburban teen.
- Jasmine-Cordy's behaviour continues to make no sense in the context of her ultimate plan.
Summary
A solid ep that would have benefitted from more of a story. I'm almost glad I haven't committed myself to formally rating these - the quality is below S1/2 (eliminates 7-10 scores), but still better than most of S3 (eliminates 0-2 scores), meaning that I'd probably end up giving much of S4 the same grade.
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Post by partcynic on Nov 18, 2023 5:30:41 GMT -5
4x12 "Calvary"
The last two eps were like sidesteps from the arc, so it's good that "Calvary" returns us to the year's main story. At this point, it really looked like the writers knew what they were doing - the ending here resolved a number of dangling plot threads, and promised much for the future.
Likes
- Nice opening reprise for the shaman. The first time I saw it, the replicated "Awakening" shots had me wondering if the wrong ep was being aired!
- Arc progression, with old mysteries being solved and a couple of new shocks. It feels great to have a single, conclusive response to so many ongoing concerns. Why did Cordy return to Earth? Why has she been acting so unlike herself? Why did she sleep with Connor? Why hasn't she been getting visions from the Powers? Why aren't her new 'visions' anything like the old ones, and why do they cause things to get worse? Why did Manny get killed when she was on watch? Why did her re-ensoulment spell fail? Answer to all: because she's evil.
- Lilah's return. Love the character, her humour and her philosophy. She also provided a believable way for the gang to learn more about the Beast (as well as explaining why Angelus remembered it, but Angel didn't).
- Some good dialogue. Lorne was actually funny ('succubitch') and Angelus effectively alternated between being amusing and scary.
- Gunn and Connor hunting and fighting the Soul Eater. I'd have been happy for future scenes of them working together.
- Continued terror on the streets, with LA now being a vamp free-for-all.
- Excellent action, especially in the second half. Once Angelus got free, the episode became very tense, with good hunting scenes, the Lilah chase (remind anyone of "Passion"?) and the gripping murder/reveal.
Dislikes
- Too slow in the first half, with lots of focus on the still-sucky relationships (Fred can be a good character in her own right, and should not be reduced to a prize for Gunn/Wesley) and little action.
- It's fine for the Beast to have a boss, but the news coincided with making him a passive (and thus less interesting/scary) being.
- Characters feeling like plot-puppets. It's not a problem as the story is engaging (compare and contrast the "Buffy" S7 arc), but it still feels like you could give almost any line to any character and not change anything - their individual 'voices' are absent.
- Killing Lilah. It was a dramatic and shocking scene, but we're now down a great character, who was one of the most consistent figures on "Angel". If someone significant had to die, far better to rid the show of its biggest weaknesses: Gunn and/or Connor.
Summary
A strong arc edition. It's a shame that the story didn't continue at this level of quality, but there's no denying that the last ten minutes of this ep are the most gripping "Angel"'s been in some time.
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Post by partcynic on Nov 21, 2023 10:35:17 GMT -5
4x13 "Salvage"
S4's coolness continues in "Salvage", which benefits from adding Faith to an already-interesting arc. Ignoring the draggy earlier material for Wesley, this ep moves at a good pace, being lots of fun to watch and featuring a number of memorable moments.
Likes
- Faith. The prison knifefight was an excellent way of reintroducing the character, underlining her basic traits, tying in to "Buffy" S7 and offering some jokes. It gets even better when Wesley recruits her - I love her change in attitude when she's told Angelus has returned, and the jailbreak was awesome (plus, it reinforces that she's in there of her own volition). Once she was out, she was a likeable and strong leader who provided humour ("riding a biker"), emotion (refusing to give up on Angel) and pure satisfaction (chewing out Connor). Furthermore, her energy boosted the other characters - from only a few lines of interaction, Faith and Gunn had more chemistry than the entirety of Fred/Gunn.
- Connor's attraction to Faith. Besides the obvious factor of Faith's hotness, it makes sense that he would admire a woman who's a tough and assertive leader.
- Wesley in the second half. Thoughtful and driven, with a touch of emotion.
- Lorne having a good idea with the sanctuary spell, and then trying to smack Connor after the latter made yet another bratty comment.
- Angelus out and about. None of his scenes were great (why are the writers so fascinated by loser henchvamps?), but his lines were witty, and it remains important to see how dangerous things are in LA.
- Angelus' phone call to Sunnydale. One of the best Dawn scenes ever!
- An okay fight between Faith and the Beast.
- Jasmine-Cordy telling Connor about her pregnancy. The scene was gross and unsettling, and that made it feel evil.
Dislikes
- Wesley's 'chat' with the deceased Lilah. Too slow, and it didn't say anything that wasn't obvious.
- Angelus stakes a vampire in full sight of everyone in a bar, and no-one reacts or wonders if he's Angel pretending to be evil?
- Wesley can brush off a multiple-storey fall onto a car? Even if Faith absorbed most of the impact, he should have been badly injured.
- A vampire seeing Faith and instantly recognising her. I could buy it with Buffy (who's mythically long-lived for a Slayer, and is known to have stopped multiple apocalypses - makes sense for evil to keep tabs on her), but most of Faith's LA time was spent in custody, not killing monsters.
- Angelus calling Sunnydale was good, but we needed a brief mention of why summoning Buffy to help hunt Angelus was impossible. Throw in another down for "Buffy" S7 - it's ridiculous that none of the Scoobs heard about the sun vanishing over LA.
- Jasmine-Cordy is supposed to be smart and to have planned for everything, but paid no mind to the two Slayers living in California?
- Overdone slow-mo during the action scenes. And Faith has too much plot armour in the final fight - the Beast had multiple opportunities to kill her (like snapping her neck when he had her by the throat), yet didn't.
- The Beast's death (and the sun's return) were anticlimactic, and make the arc less compelling. Eternal darkness was a great concept, and even as I like evil-Cordy, the prospect of a(nother) supernatural birth has nothing on it.
Summary
Another well-written arc episode. Things are moving along very nicely at this point, and Faith cleanly slots back into the show, as if she'd never gone.
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