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Post by partcynic on Jul 6, 2013 16:28:20 GMT -5
I'll second that. The writers missed so many opportunities with Anya. I see this one as a steady simmer. The explicitly emotional stuff doesn't happen until later, but it just has this pull - at least for me.  I'd guess it was just some kind of energy transfer between the two. And the demon stated that he'd chosen to stay with just Judy because her grief/regret ran so deep, it surpassed everything else. In other words, the demon would rather have a bit of top-range steak every day than a hundred-or-so Happy Meals. Fair enough - I'm at least glad I was able to put in a good word for it. This one's either of case of feeling it or not, and it can't be forced if you don't. |
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Post by partcynic on Jul 6, 2013 16:30:34 GMT -5
2x03 "First Impressions"
A weird episode that wants to be more than it is. The pacing and dialogue are great and Cordelia is at her warmest/most likeable, but the plot is too linear and the attempt at developing Gunn doesn't actually develop anything.
Likes
- Lorne continues to be an entertaining character, and the snippet of Angel's karaoke is quite funny.
- When played right, David Nabbit can be an amusing stereotype (glad we won't be seeing him again, though), and bringing him back for financial advice helps the gang's leasing the hotel make sense.
- Cordelia is excellent for most of the ep. I'm not sure about the early stuff at the house party (being the only white person causes her to lose all of her social skills?), but everything else works. Developing from "To Shanshu in LA", she's deeply dedicated to the mission and is willing to risk herself to help others, but there are still ties to her original characterisation. In addition, Charisma does a great job of showing compassion and concern - strange that a Gunn-centric ep is far kinder to her than to J. August Richards.
- The dialogue is fairly sharp, and there's lots of humour. Besides the parts I've already mentioned, we got the naked Angel/Wesley scene, the funny bit with Angel's reluctance to wear the pink helmet (and then the vamp's response to it at Deevak's), and Cordy proving that Mace is actually useful.
Dislikes
- Gunn. Some of his lines were good, but a spotlight episode needs to tell us something new. The revelations that he's foolhardy and so hellbent on protecting his friends/family/crew that he unwittingly endangers them weren't actually revelations - we already knew it all from "War Zone". In fact, Cordelia's closing chat with him is almost a clone of Alonna's speech.
- Not enough happens with the story, and Deevak is a flat and uninteresting villain. I wasn't impressed by his costuming/prosthetics, either.
- The Darla dreams are okay, but run long while saying little. Four in one ep was too many, and gave the impression of padding. And though the reveal that Darla's actually with Angel at night is neat, you'd think that Wolfram and Hart would think of something less risky.
Summary
A fun way to spend 42 minutes, but I would have preferred more content - as it stands, this comes dangerously close to filler (but a respectable kind of filler). It's also proof that Gunn was better as a recurring character than a regular - he isn't complex enough to warrant more than the odd scene here or there, and the season's steadfast refusal to see this is one of its only real weaknesses.
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Post by cyclica on Jul 23, 2013 17:52:40 GMT -5
My First Impression is that I liked this episode. Sorry, couldn't resist. - When played right, David Nabbit can be an amusing stereotype (glad we won't be seeing him again, though), and bringing him back for financial advice helps the gang's leasing the hotel make sense. Agreed, he was fine in his scene here. - Cordelia is excellent for most of the ep. I'm not sure about the early stuff at the house party (being the only white person causes her to lose all of her social skills?), but everything else works. I found that scene odd too. Cordy was always one of the 'cool kids', but in this scene it felt like she's turned into a different person. - The Darla dreams are okay, but run long while saying little. Four in one ep was too many, and gave the impression of padding. This was the 'lowlight' of the episode for me. It's not that I disliked the story, it's just that it dragged a bit, and it's not until the reveal at the end that we're even given a reason to care about this subplot. Watching angel's dreams isn't interesting until you realise someone is actually making him have these dreams as part of the plot, before that reveal it just seems like the subplot exists just to give angel something to do. - Gunn. Some of his lines were good, but a spotlight episode needs to tell us something new. The revelations that he's foolhardy and so hellbent on protecting his friends/family/crew that he unwittingly endangers them weren't actually revelations - we already knew it all from "War Zone". In fact, Cordelia's closing chat with him is almost a clone of Alonna's speech. A fun way to spend 42 minutes, but I would have preferred more content I can understand your desire to have a gunn spotlight that goes deeper and reveals more, but I was content with what we had. Gunn hadn't been the focus since his first episode, it was good just seeing him in a bigger role again. It wasn't an amazing story, but there was nothing about it (the gunn plot anyway) that I disliked. |
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Post by partcynic on Jul 24, 2013 8:05:51 GMT -5
That's corny, but I can accept it. ;D
Very much so. I can understand the writers wanting to show Cordelia in a different light (and her spoiled, upper-middle-class background could provide 'comedy of errors'-type material in a party context), but she really does feel like someone else in that scene.
Agreed. It's basically filler, which was likely included solely to fulfil David Boreanaz's contract. The Angel scenes here aren't as jarring as in those first few eps of "Buffy" S3 (or "Deep Down"), but they're shoehorned in regardless. It might have worked better if there'd been more of a subplot.
As always, that's fair. For me, the issue with the Gunn plot/development is more a complete lack of positives than any true negatives. We get/got a finite amount of time with these characters (especially the supporting cast), so it's frustrating when their showcase eps say so little. Compare this with "Rm w/a Vu" or "Guise Will Be Guise", and its hollowness really becomes apparent.
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Post by partcynic on Jul 24, 2013 8:07:27 GMT -5
2x04 "Untouched"Another enjoyable but ultimately below-average episode. The plot has little content, and the client-of-the-week is uninteresting, showing no characterisation beyond 'abuse victim'. Likes- The episode is reasonably well-paced, and I find it consistently watchable despite not being that engaged. - Cordelia is great at the start, bickering with Wesley and playfully pointing out to Angel that he can't fire her (the foreshadowing is superb this season). She's also good elsewhere, especially when dealing with Bethany at the promenade (and yes, I was very pleased to see her react with horror at being mistaken for Angel's girlfriend). - Gunn is far better than he was in "First Impressions", and his scenes here are exactly the kind of concise, plot-relevant material I want for him. Love the new axe and his to-the-point response to being paid for his contributions. - Wolfram and Hart. I like the sneaking and suspicion with Lilah/Lindsey, and Darla is eerie in her present-day scenes. MVP of the law firm is (of course) Holland. Lilah's respectable, though she won't come into her own for a little while yet. Dislikes- Darla dreams. Yes, Angel is being disturbed and functioning less well during the day, but there needs to be more to it. This plot point is eating up time without progressing much. - Bethany. I don't actively dislike her, but I needed to care about her far more than I did. The actress managed to convey some of Bethany's hot-and-cold qualities and emotional disturbance, but she didn't do it in a particularly resonant way. I would suggest that it was the director's fault, but Joss helmed this one, and he's usually good at drawing out strong performances. Perhaps the script is the problem - the theme of abuse and its consequences is pushed too hard, and leaves no room for Bethany to show real personality. - We needed a lot more on Lilah's plan - as is, it's too lazy. Now, we already know that Wolfram and Hart works with assassins (and that they're down one - if this plot was intended to flow from "Blind Date", it's a cute touch). Lilah presumably found out about rumours of a telekinetic girl(?) and arranged to go to her school to make contact and bring her to LA. She then pays thugs to attack Bethany to spark her powers, and has some half-baked scheme with her 'trigger' father (was he in on it, or did he really think Lilah wanted to help his daughter? Why on earth would he go to see her at the hotel when he knows what she can do, and that's he's responsible for all her trauma?) In short, how was this clumsy meddling supposed to produce a skilled, compliant killer-for-hire? - There's too much of Cordelia's 'female intuition' - you don't need to be a woman to recognise that Bethany's an abuse victim, as everything the character said and did was cribbed from a psychology textbook. So much was crammed in that that Bethany even contradicted herself (she has major, violent reactions to any physical contact, yet is apparently out seducing countless men). Cordy's suspicions should have instead been tied into her 'actress and student of character' bit, a la "Lonely Heart". - The kidnap portion is really sloppy, with Angel and Gunn arriving just in time to give chase. - A minor thing, but stupid. Bethany's father pops up right outside the hotel room where she, Angel and Cordelia are talking. Okay, he/Lilah know she's at the Hyperion, but it's some timing for him to appear at the exact right room at the exact right moment. - Interesting that the Hyperion's imminent glazing bill never gets brought up in any future episode. SummaryI've got a big and detailed list of dislikes there, but I'll reiterate that I've got nothing against "Untouched". It's pleasantly okay, but it just so happens that that's not very desirable when taken in context of the rest of the season.
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Post by cyclica on Aug 11, 2013 5:04:15 GMT -5
Sorry I've not been on much, I have a new job and it's eating up my free time. - Cordelia is great at the start, bickering with Wesley and playfully pointing out to Angel that he can't fire her (the foreshadowing is superb this season). The playfulness of cordy's 'you can't fire me' really helps the dramatic impact of her actually being fired later on. The whole idea that she could be fired (by her friend) is so inconceivable it's a joke at this point, and looking back it was a good way to set up just how much the actual firing would affect her. She's also good elsewhere, especially when dealing with Bethany at the promenade I found it a bit awkward when cordy randomly changed subject mid-conversation into 'hey, don't go after my boss'. That subject should have come up more naturally. Lilah's respectable, though she won't come into her own for a little while yet. Just giving lilah such a prominent role in the story is reason enough for me to like it. Lilah and lindsey are meant to be equal rivals, yet the story up to this point was focused on lindsey far too much, with lilah feeling like a side-character in his story. We really needed an episode like this to make her a more important character in the W&H story. - Darla dreams. Yes, Angel is being disturbed and functioning less well during the day, but there needs to be more to it. This plot point is eating up time without progressing much. Angel's dreams of darla are about as interesting as s3 buffy's dreams of angel. Once you know these scenes are nothing more than dreams, it's hard to be interested in whats happening within them. and has some half-baked scheme with her 'trigger' father (was he in on it, or did he really think Lilah wanted to help his daughter? Why on earth would he go to see her at the hotel when he knows what she can do, and that's he's responsible for all her trauma?) - A minor thing, but stupid. Bethany's father pops up right outside the hotel room where she, Angel and Cordelia are talking. Okay, he/Lilah know she's at the Hyperion, but it's some timing for him to appear at the exact right room at the exact right moment. The father storyline feels half-finished to me, as though we're only given tiny pieces of what's going on. It would help if we were shown what lilah had said to him to get his involvement, or what his motivation was, or what would have happened if bethany had gone with him, or what their relationship is with each other now the episode is over. In short, how was this clumsy meddling supposed to produce a skilled, compliant killer-for-hire? Looking back, I can only assume that lilah was out of her depth here, desperately trying to get someone powerful on her side, since rival lindsey is working with darla. Lilah had never tried to turn someone into a killer before, and ultimately failed at it. Though that's just me overanalysing now, not my first impressions when watching it. A better written story would make more clear what lilah's plan was. I've got nothing against "Untouched". It's pleasantly okay, but it just so happens that that's not very desirable when taken in context of the rest of the season. Agreed. It's an episode I enjoy and rewatch now and again, but it could have been better. |
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Post by partcynic on Aug 12, 2013 12:07:48 GMT -5
No problem! I hope everything at work is going well.
Very much so. And it's to the season's credit that they make (almost) every step of this story - and the character reactions - succeed.
I very much agree in concept - I'm always happy to see more of Lilah (in S3/S4, she's one of my favourites), but the execution here was lacking. It might have worked if they'd spent less time bludgeoning us with the abuse metaphor and more showing Lilah's specific, character-relevant motivations.
Yep, it's obvious filler. Though they were careful to at least make it titillating filler.
Agreed again. This is another problem with the heavy-handedness of the main theme - it leaves both Bethany and her father poorly-developed plot puppets who have no characterisation beyond 'victim' and 'villain'.
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Post by partcynic on Aug 12, 2013 12:11:45 GMT -5
2x05 "Dear Boy"
A nice improvement from the last two shows, if only because we're beginning the Grey Angel arc. I wouldn't say that there are any real highpoints here, but there also aren't many problems, and we're left with a well-paced, engrossing story. "Dear Boy" features some very well-written conversations, and reveals just how far Lindsey/Wolfram and Hart are willing to go to be cruel.
Likes
- As is usual for this period of the show, there's fantastic dialogue and believable characterisation for Cordelia and Wesley. Both are witty, intelligent and consistent, and are uniquely suited as a double act due to their personalities and skills 'completing' each other.
- The brief segment with the 'alien abduction' client. It's so ridiculous and desperate that it's funny, and it's nice that money's an issue (following the hotel move). I liked seeing the gang doing some old-fashioned surveillance work, as well as having an irritated Angel cut through the nonsense and frankly address the adulterous wife.
- Angel's growing sense of unease and disturbance is very believable. Awesome callback to "Somnambulist" with him seeing Buffy/Darla - only this time, it's real.
- Lorne and Gunn both work well in their short scenes. It's great for Gunn to be the one to find the flaw in Kate's theory, a well as for him to learn a little about Angel's past.
- Darla's human (and more than a little unhinged) - nice twist! Love Wolfram and Hart's sheer nastiness and dedication to making Angel anxious and miserable - the promenade stroll and stuff at the hotel and house served no purpose but to torment him, and you can sense why he comes dangerously close to snapping. Note to the "Buffy" S6 writers: this is how you portray dark downward spirals - and observe that Angel spiralled as he was acting, and not via whining and self-pity.
- Excellent, character-developing conversation between Darla and Angel. Lots of insight and revelations, and Julie and David work very well together - thanks to this (and the material to follow), I can now feel the power of the Darla/Angel bond rather than approaching it as an abstraction. There are also some very valid points made regarding who exactly Angel is - much like the dilemma Oz faced in "Wild At Heart", is he a human with a vampiric 'affliction', or a monster in a muzzle? From what we've seen over the years, both can apply.
Dislikes
- Mixed on the Drusilla flashbacks. I'm a huge fan of the character and the actress (and enjoy yet more foreshadowing), but they seem to have retconned Dru's history. In "Lie to Me", it was implied that Angelus took his time in torturing Dru and killing her family, but it was implied here that it happened quite quickly. They need to be careful with this kind of thing.
- I'm happy with W&H being malicious, but we needed firm confirmation as to what exactly bringing Darla back was meant to accomplish. Yes, they want Angel 'dark', but that's a very non-committal explanation. I'd prefer a real, thought-out plan.
- Angel's comment about who Wesley had slept with the night before bothered me. It also dilutes the impact of the upcoming "Guise Will Be Guise" - if Wes is out scoring one-night-stands, then his connection with Virginia (and its meaningful character development) is spoiled.
- Angel's able to pull Darla up into the tree without a couple of people stood a few feet away noticing or hearing?
- Kate. I hadn't missed her presence in the last four eps, and would have been happy never to see her again. She's not interesting or compelling, and her 'blame Angel for all the supernatural occurrences in LA' mission is irritating, petty, and makes little sense. I hate this spillover from her father's death.
Summary
A cool opening to the year's arc, which whets my appetite for the greatness to come.
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Post by cyclica on Sept 1, 2013 13:11:11 GMT -5
Dear boyBeing part of an arc makes this ep a little difficult for me to remember on it's own, as I would always watch arc episodes back-to-back. Is this the one where angel and darla decide to go have a talk in the endless hall of pillars for no real reason? - Excellent, character-developing conversation between Darla and Angel. Lots of insight and revelations, and Julie and David work very well together - thanks to this (and the material to follow), I can now feel the power of the Darla/Angel bond rather than approaching it as an abstraction. Definitely. I find it fascinating that these two characters, who were really rather underdeveloped in buffy season 1 when they first appeared, are now given this deep, beleivable bond, despite that fact that we're not told a whole lot more about their past than what we were told back on buffy's early years. Having the actors play off each other really went a long way towards making their implied bond come to life. ... though it does make me wish btvs s1 had more angel/darla scenes. If these two characters had this much chemistry and a more fleshed out script back in 'angel', it could have made for a much better episode. - Mixed on the Drusilla flashbacks. I'm a huge fan of the character and the actress (and enjoy yet more foreshadowing), but they seem to have retconned Dru's history. In "Lie to Me", it was implied that Angelus took his time in torturing Dru and killing her family, but it was implied here that it happened quite quickly. They need to be careful with this kind of thing. We only saw small glimpses of angel tormenting dru, I assumed there was a lot we didn't see too. Perhaps it did take place over a longer period of time. Though this subplot is much more 'tell' than 'show' (if you count what we're told on buffy too), we were shown enough to make the subplot work. - Angel's comment about who Wesley had slept with the night before bothered me. It also dilutes the impact of the upcoming "Guise Will Be Guise" - if Wes is out scoring one-night-stands, then his connection with Virginia (and its meaningful character development) is spoiled. That line bothered me too. Until the end of s1, wesley had always been portrayed as having poor social skills and having no life outside of working with angel and cordy. And while we did get a small (easily forgottten) scene in 'judgement', for the most part we've had little indication that wesley had changed in any way other than becoming more familiar with the two people he sees every day. For him to be having one night stands, while entirely possible, still feels 'out of character' for him. - Kate. I hadn't missed her presence in the last four eps, and would have been happy never to see her again. She's not interesting or compelling, and her 'blame Angel for all the supernatural occurrences in LA' mission is irritating, petty, and makes little sense. I hate this spillover from her father's death. Agreed. By this point, her role in the show hasn't changed in a year, and for a recurring character this seemingly important to the show, they really should have had her move on to something else by this point.
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Post by partcynic on Sept 4, 2013 6:27:10 GMT -5
Yes. Or rather, Angel drags Darla to the water tank because he wants/needs to to interrogate her with no interruptions. Given the whole 'back from the dead' thing, it's pretty understandable. It would have been nice for "Buffy" S1 to have had more on their pairing, but I think they did fine with the original concept. The "Angel" episode already had plenty of content; it just suffers in hindsight because 'Angel's a vampire!' is hardly the shock it was on that first, unspoilt view. I agree with your agreement. I have to mentally delete that line - it makes little sense within the context of S2, let alone the ridiculously sexually shy Wesley of S3. Yep. And we get exactly the same thing in "The Shroud of Rahmon", except that ep pushes her forward slightly at the end. |
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Post by partcynic on Sept 4, 2013 6:30:07 GMT -5
2x06 "Guise Will Be Guise"
Seeing the welcome return of Jane Espenson, "Guise Will Be Guise" is to Wesley what "Rm w/a Vu" is to Cordelia - a well-paced and well-written character (and actor!) showcase that produces significant development.
Likes
- A serviceable plot with Wesley playing at being Angel while the latter is trying to get over Darla. There aren't many surprises, but two of the twists are decent (Virginia's father wants to sacrifice her; Virginia wouldn't have been an acceptable offering anyway) and the narrative hangs well; though you have to watch and listen very carefully for everything to make sense.
- Lots of quality humour. I didn't laugh often (exceptions: Wesley with the blood and Angel repeatedly insisting that he's not a eunuch), but the episode was consistently good-natured and amusing - few Buffyverse writers can touch Jane's comedic proficiency.
- This is Wesley's spotlight episode, and no other show matches it in terms of analysing and developing him. Via adopting Angel's persona and being released from his usual self-doubt/sabotage, we find that Wesley is perfectly capable of being a thoughtful and competent leader who is able to make difficult decisions. Thus, we're shown what he could be (and soon will be) if only he had a little more confidence - and by the end of the episode, he seems to be realising this. Very good acting from Alexis Denisof, too.
- Virginia is a likeable character, who has a believable mix of 'spoiled rich kid' and sympathetic qualities - I'm glad we'll be seeing more of her. And it's further development for Wes, in that he was able to earn her interest and affection simply by being himself.
- Lots of insightful material with Angel. Almost everything the fake Tish Magev said to him was interesting and meaningful (drawing out the core facets of Angel's character while pointing out that most of his attributes are only there for the sake of television), and many of his comments were wittily phrased.
Dislikes
- Wesley's slapstick could have been dialled down. It's usually humorous, but having him trip/stumble three times in five minutes was overdoing it.
- What happened to that first enquirer/kidnapper (the one who's driven away by Wesley's clumsiness)? I presume that he was also sent by Mr Bryce, so why's he never seen again (besides the fact that he'd have blown Wesley's cover)?
- It's too coincidental that Cordy is able to determine the kidnapper's identity from a photo present in the one celebrity magazine she happened to have at hand.
- It's odd that the fake Magev is so amazingly perceptive when dealing with Angel, but given that Angel isn't that hard to suss out, it's not a huge problem.
Summary
An impressive slice of believable development, and one of S2's more underrated offerings. Besides "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been", the year's non-arc eps up to this point had tended to be somewhat disappointing, but this one more than helps tip things back into balance.
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Post by cyclica on Oct 6, 2013 13:36:46 GMT -5
- Lots of quality humour. ...Angel repeatedly insisting that he's not a eunuch Definately one of the funniest moments of season two. - This is Wesley's spotlight episode, and no other show matches it in terms of analysing and developing him. Via adopting Angel's persona and being released from his usual self-doubt/sabotage, we find that Wesley is perfectly capable of being a thoughtful and competent leader who is able to make difficult decisions. Thus, we're shown what he could be (and soon will be) if only he had a little more confidence - and by the end of the episode, he seems to be realising this. In that regard, this ep might have worked better at the end of season one. To be honest I hadn't noticed much of a change in wesley's personality before and after this episode, if anything he seems to have changed more between season's one and two (and certainly again after his throat is cut in s3). Putting the ep in late s1 (or retaining less-confident wesley up to this point in s2) would have bade the ep work better for me. Not that the episode failed in being a good wesley ep, I just think it would have worked better within the season with regards to his arc, if a slight change had been made. - Virginia is a likeable character, who has a believable mix of 'spoiled rich kid' and sympathetic qualities - I'm glad we'll be seeing more of her. And it's further development for Wes, in that he was able to earn her interest and affection simply by being himself. Agreed. When first watching I was sure virginia would be a 'gone and forgotten' love interest of the week. Seeing her again later on made me wonder if there may be something special about her I wasn't seeing yet. It wasn't until later looking back that I realised this was just a simple case of a couple staying together. Which I wasn't used to seeing on a show like this. I expected her to turn evil or her storyline to return or something. - Lots of insightful material with Angel. Almost everything the fake Tish Magev said to him was interesting and meaningful (drawing out the core facets of Angel's character while pointing out that most of his attributes are only there for the sake of television), and many of his comments were wittily phrased. It was almost disappointing to find out the tish was a bad guy, since he did seem insightful and helpful. I can't help but wonder though- was he just an average guy, bluffing his way through, or did he posess the same talents the real tish had? - What happened to that first enquirer/kidnapper (the one who's driven away by Wesley's clumsiness)? I presume that he was also sent by Mr Bryce, so why's he never seen again (besides the fact that he'd have blown Wesley's cover)? Good catch, I hadn't noticed that. Maybe he fell into the plot hole. An impressive slice of believable development, and one of S2's more underrated offerings. Agreed. Certainly I tend to underrate it. It's enjoyable, with the only dislikeable moments for me being wesley being forgetful about the nature of vampires while pretending to be angel. But is was for the most part a fun and interesting episode. |
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Post by partcynic on Oct 6, 2013 16:47:09 GMT -5
I'm liking all of the agreement here - makes writing responses a breeze! I think it works really well. There's a huge change in how Wesley approaches things from now on - bear in mind that this season takes him from a clumsy sidekick to the leader and organiser of a rebel attack, as well as the de facto head of Angel Investigations. The arc is subtle, but it's certainly there. I know the feeling - the shows have their own formulae, and it's shocking when they deviate from it. I really like seeing characters in decent relationships with people who aren't part of the core group - it makes them feel more rounded and believable. That's an interesting point. I've always considered the 'average guy bluffing' theory to be the correct one. |
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Post by partcynic on Oct 6, 2013 16:51:14 GMT -5
2x07 "Darla"I had a hard time thinking of what to say in this review, because this episode is so good that it's hard not to commence an(other) endless rave, when I'd been promising myself that these reviews would be shorter than my multi-page "Buffy" write-ups. Anyway, "Darla" is another impressive entry into S2, and an intelligent companion for "Fool For Love" that puts an interesting new spin on several of its seemingly innocuous events. Likes- Darla cracking up, just as Angel had sworn she would. Her smashing the mirror so she wouldn't have to look at herself said a lot, though I wish the writers hadn't felt the need for Angel to spell it out. I enjoyed seeing Julie Benz really push herself; fully displaying Darla's conflict and confusion, and creating strong chemistry with David Boreanaz and Christian Kane. This (and "The Trial") are also vital in creating a distinction between human and vampire Darla, as other eps made it seem like there was no difference between them. - Flashbacks! They constitute the majority of the episode, and they're riveting. On first viewing, it was a tremendous surprise to see the Master again, and getting all of this long-overdue info on Darla is welcomed. It's worth pointing out that the character is underacknowledged as the real genesis of the vamp core four, and it's interesting that she and Dru are ultimately so much more badass than Spike and Angel. I can't go through every single flashback moment for fear of taking forever to finish, so let's just say that they were all excellent. - The reveal that human Darla was dying of syphilis is good set-up for "The Trial". I also really liked the thread with her inability to remember her original, pre-vampire name, which was a great microcosm of the broader identity issues she was experiencing. - The rest of the gang. Cordy in particular is good for comedy (the website joke; the call to the property manager) and emotion (her hurt when Angel implies that he still perceives himself as doing everything alone). That said, I'm looking forward to seeing them as a self-contained, Angel-free unit rather than just supporting characters. - Wolfram and Hart continues to be tricky. Granted, their scheming sometimes gives the impression of being so convoluted and based on deception/backstabbing that it's a shock it ever succeeds, but who cares when it's this cool? Great reveal that Holland/W&H actually wanted the unstable Darla to be with Angel. - Boxer rebellion twist. Angel(us) wasn't jealous of Spike having murdered a Slayer, but disgusted. An already powerful scene is given additional depth, and the remainder of the material in China is gripping (Darla killing the missionary family Angel tried to protect, and asking him to kill the baby to prove his dedication to both evil and her). Nice contrast between the closing predicaments of ensouled-Angel and human-Darla, too. - The closing conversation between Angel and Darla. Very interesting that his response to a soul was to feel remorse and try to cope with it; while hers is to want to escape it via a return to demonhood. Their differences in perceptions of vampirism (salvation/damnation) were also really striking. Dislikes- Regardless of setting, the flashbacks feel like they're taking place in 20th/21st century California. Only a minor problem, though, as the content is so good. SummaryWell-written arc deliciousness with deep conflicts and flashbacks that are utilised to fully flesh out an underexplored part of "Angel"'s (and "Buffy"'s) mythology. Not an ep that immediately jumps to mind when thinking of the show's best, but there's no denying that "Darla" is a classic.
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Post by cyclica on Dec 1, 2013 13:38:42 GMT -5
 Apologies for thread neglecting once again. - Flashbacks! They constitute the majority of the episode, and they're riveting. On first viewing, it was a tremendous surprise to see the Master again, and getting all of this long-overdue info on Darla is welcomed. - Boxer rebellion twist. Angel(us) wasn't jealous of Spike having murdered a Slayer, but disgusted. An already powerful scene is given additional depth, and the remainder of the material in China is gripping (Darla killing the missionary family Angel tried to protect, and asking him to kill the baby to prove his dedication to both evil and her). Nice contrast between the closing predicaments of ensouled-Angel and human-Darla, too. Definately. The reveal in the boxer rebellion scene in particular was such a joy to watch, especially after having already seen the scene from a different point of view on btvs. and it's interesting that she and Dru are ultimately so much more badass than Spike and Angel. When was dru more badass than angel or spike? She is always a follower, be it spike or darla or whoever, and she's more a (fascinating) tragic character to me. - The rest of the gang. ... I'm looking forward to seeing them as a self-contained, Angel-free unit rather than just supporting characters. More and more the storyline is going on without them, with angel/darla/w&h becoming the entire show, and the gang only being there for jokes. I too am looking forward to seeing them having a more interesting role in the show again. Not an ep that immediately jumps to mind when thinking of the show's best Perhaps because it is so completely within the ongoing arc, it's hard to see it as a self-contained entity.
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Apologies for thread neglecting once again.