February 2011
4 posts
July 2010
1 post
April 2010
1 post
Rewatching Buffy: 7.5: Selfless
I always wish this episode pushed just a touch farther. It really is excellent as it is, but part of me always thinks Anya should have died here. The episode doesn’t need it, but the character does.
The benefit of killing Hally is that it pulls an old switcheroo for D’Hoffryn. All of a sudden it’s like “Oh, he’s a huge badass. He’s not just a funny, sassy demon boss. What a mindfuck.” But we...
March 2010
6 posts
Very important
I’ve had the Under Your Spell/Standing reprise from Once More With Feeling stuck in my head all morning.
Last night I wanted to watch either of the following things in the worst way:
Tabula Rasa
or
The end of Entropy.
Oh man. Netflix Instant Watch cannot get here fast enough.
Angel 5.21 and 5.22: Power Play and Not Fade Away
So. It’s over.
All of it.
I was kind of thrown when Buffy ended. Unsatisfied and let down.
Right now?
I don’t feel sad.
Because that was the most incredible ending of a television show ever.
It could not be talked up enough.
It didn’t tie up any of Buffy - and rightly so - but it really was the perfect goodbye to the world that Joss Whedon created. Buffy and Angel were...
Angel 5.20: The Girl in Question
Okay. I liked this episode. I did. And it was definitely the perfect timing for it. But I don’t always love when Angel goes totally comedic. My extensive (oh…I think I mean expensive) comedy training means I can usually guess the ‘ole bits before they happen. And something about them always seems cop-outty. I wish we’d actually seen whatever The Immortal was. Too much...
Angel 5.19: Time Bomb
Eh.
Illyria is okay. It ended where I wanted her to be. Just a little more human but with super strength and an inability to adjust to her humanity. But I wish she was there three episodes ago because that was a whole lot of wasted time.
I really just wish there was more Fred in her. I know they really, really had to emphasize “her soul burned away” so that we could trust she’d never come back...
Angel 5.18: Origin
Chris warned me that this episode might bother me but I should plow through. At this point, with five episodes to go, he’s allowed to preface episodes that way. And to be fair, A connor-centric episode is a pretty good thing to gamble against.
But I loved it.
I don’t know that Connor’s plot needed to be tied up - I would have accepted the memory-erasing even though it was a cop...
Angel 5.17: Underneath
Nothing much happened and yet everything moved forward. Love it.
Oh - I’m so glad they’re bringing Lindsey back. They kind of abandoned the storyline they were building to with him and his master plan. (That Doyle stuff is still weird.)
I love Eve in this episode. I like her as kind of bratty and petulant and then losing out on her own immortality. I also love the minor exchanges...
February 2010
15 posts
Angel 5.15 and 5.16: Hole in the World and The...
I’ll be honest, I’m pissed at everyone who has watched Angel before with the exception of Chris.
So many people spoiled that this was an important episode and a moving episode. That meant that as soon I saw the flashback with Fred at the beginning, I knew this was the episode where Fred dies. That meant that rather than watching the episode with any sense of the stakes, I was just...
Angel 5.14: Smile Time
I’d already been spoiled by the Angel puppet and yet I still loved it.
Well, I loved the puppet stuff. I thought the episode was brilliantly directed in a very fun, very smart way. It could have been insanely hokey and it worked. Angel puppet is awesome.
But besides that, there was way too much crammed into this episode.
Gunn dealing with his knowledge fading is awesome. I like...
Angel 5.13: Why We Fight
Eh.
This episode felt strangely disjointed in spite of being fairly claustrophobic.
Revenge Vampire should have become a Vampire ten minutes sooner into the episode and then he should have killed his crew and THEN felt remorse. We never actually saw him really suffer as a vampire, so the idea that he would follow Angel for 60 years feels entirely implausible. That’s the big flaw.
...
Buffy Rewatch: Innocence
This really is the game changer episode, isn’t it? Everything until now is good and charming and clever but this is the moment when the show really figures out it’s style of play.
At this point, everything is turned on its ear. The good guy becomes the bad guy. But it’s not just a switcheroo because nobody totally trusted him in the first place. Oh, except for the person...
Angel 5.12: You're Welcome
David Fury we are friends forever!
What an amazing episode. If the finale is this good, I’ll be a really happy, really content person. This is the kind of love letter that we were getting from Buffy in Season Six and I wanted to keep getting in Season Seven. But we didn’t really. That’s a tangent.
I didn’t love where Cordelia was going in Season Three, but I accepted it...
Angel 5.11: Damage
Okay. Glad they dealt with the Slayer thing. I’m going to go on record as saying that I don’t buy that NO ONE would pick up the phone and call LA and be all “HEY THERE ARE SLAYERS EVERYWHERE.” They run one of the biggest and best connected powers in the world and Wolfram and Hart didn’t catch wind of that before ANDREW got to town. Seriously?
Also - Andrew. Jeez....
Angel 5.10: Soul Purpose
The only weird part of the episode is that it followed Harm’s Way which meant a lot of kooky, jokey stuff in a row. (This is where watching weekly as opposed to marathon watching is better. It probably wouldn’t have bothered me if I didn’t have that chip on my shoulder.)
I love Lindsey coming back. Every ten or so minutes I’d just sigh and mumble something about not...
Angel 5.9: Harm's Way
Nah. Harmony didn’t need a Zeppo.
This was my fear with Harmony - and it at least hasn’t happened much up until this point - but I don’t think she warrants a deep emotional attachment. I can have moments of sympathy, but an entire episode from her perspective doesn’t hold much interest for me. I think if you establish a character as having simple games and transparent...
Buffy Rewatch: When She Was Bad
At Brett’s tongue-in-cheek-suggestion, I’ll be occasionally blogging some thoughts when I rewatch episodes.
What? You thought the obsession would just stop when I got through everything?
I forgot how long it took me to have any real sentimental attachment to Buffy herself. For whatever reason - probably because I’m not a slayer, actually - I always identified with the Scoobies....
Angel 5.8: Destiny
So. Loved it. I’ll say this right now - I wish they moved Spike to Angel seasons earlier. I get that it was the Buffy writers who loved him and there’s some huge payoff in dealing with their issues now - but he’s so much better used here. I feel like I see Spike the way the Angel writers are playing him right now - a vampire with serious “daddy” issues, women issues,...
Angel 5.7: Lineage
Oh man. I racked up so many “called it” points in this episode.
At the beginning during the teaser I started thinking “Man. I’m kind of over the whole episodic thing. I wish they would get into character stuff.” Bam.
After the last episode - when Angel made a reference to “the father will kill the son” for why he doesn’t believe in prophecies, I...
Angel 5.6: The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco
I feel pretty strongly that somebody dressing background charectars was like “let’s put a Mexican wrestling mask on this extra.” I really don’t think it was set-up for this episode. I think they just decided to play with it later. Mostly because - no offense wrestlers - those masks look so ridiculous that I can’t imagine PLANNING to build a serious episode around...
Angel 5.5: Life of the Party
Gah. Lorne. Awesome.
I loved this episode. I laughed out loud at a few parts and I don’t frequently laugh out loud when watching things.
I wish only that they’d been able to delve deeper into Lorne - more messed up stuff, maybe. The “not sleeping” explanation jives with the entertainment world he’s in, but I wanted something a little more sinister especially after...
Angel 5.4: Hell Bound
Okay. This Monster of the Week was good but not awesome.
The “ghosts” were so, so so freaken creepy. Season Five is succeeding at new levels of disturbing. But the eventual payoff of Pavayne wasn’t so great. He looked kind of like a community theatre production of Jekyll and Hyde. Also, he was a poor man’s Jack the Ripper to start with, so he lacked specifically menacing...
Angel 5.3: Unleashed
Not bad. Not awesome but not bad at all. I wish we had really DONE something with the concept of a female werewolf because it barely ever gets explored on TV but we only had an episode so that’s fine.
Here’s a big difference with these later one-offs. Like Season Seven of Buffy, they’re returning to the episodic routes but doing it better. Early Angel Monsters-of-the-Week were...
January 2010
20 posts
Angel note
chrisreblogs:
buffywatch:
A la the post-Christmas Buffy/Spike sex spoiler fiasco, I’m instituting a no more talking rule. I’m not getting gchat yelled at for getting tentative-spoilers anymore. And since I’m watching weekly for now, I will see you people in four months.
I apologize for gChat yelling.
It was gChat scary.
Angel note
A la the post-Christmas Buffy/Spike sex spoiler fiasco, I’m instituting a no more talking rule. I’m not getting gchat yelled at for getting tentative-spoilers anymore. And since I’m watching weekly for now, I will see you people in four months.
Angel 5.2: Just Rewards
I still love it.
Because Spike was just introduced and because the circumstances were weird we had to deal with him a lot this episode, but I hope he doesn’t become the screen time suck that he was on Buffy.
(Also, it’s been six years and now his outfit looks stupid and out of place instead of bad ass. He just looks dumb.)
I will say that the place he was in during this episode -...
Angel 5.1: Conviction
I still can’t believe Buffy is over.
Anyway. I don’t know why, but I love this. The concept that Angel Inc takes over Wolfram and Hart should be completely shark jumpy and it just isn’t. It’s so good. It’s so so good. You know what? This show was best when it had a solid ensemble to play with + monster of the week stuff + occasional longer arcs. It was fun. Welcome back, fun.
I like Fred so much...
7.22: Chosen
(You guys. Tumblr failed and lost my original review. Charming.)
This was hard to write. I was disappointed and then I was angry at myself for being disappointed. It felt like going out with kind of a whimper. I think thematic things got tied up at the expense of a strong narrative arc. No character actually went anywhere excited and new at the end of the season except for the sort-of hero...
Buffy 7.21: End of Days
So. Caleb is dead? That’s it? He doesn’t even make it to the finale? He’s not even that important. What a giant waste of space for four episodes in a show that is already over-saturated. I don’t care how much I like N. Fillion. This makes me sad.
I obviously knew Angel came back - but the entrance was still awesome. It’s the only time that made me wish I wasn’t...
Buffy 7.20: Touched
You know what? For all that I have never understood or bought the connection between Buffy and Spike - I think Spike was the writers confusing a charismatic character with a solid character - I bought this scene. At this point, I kind of just have to suck it up and sign on for what they’re doing.
Pairing up Andrew and Spike was fun.
The Bringer talking through Andrew was awesome.
The...
Buffy 7.19: Empty Places
Some of this may be recaps because of my overall End of Show review.
This show needed Faith to come back.
I loved ousting Buffy from the group. In part because I found myself fed up with her adamant “my way or the highway” stance.
And the truth is, this show was always about the fact that what made Buffy different from other Slayers was the steadfast loyalty she inspired in people...
Buffy: The End, preliminary
A more detailed summary will follow.
This is so unnecessarily dramatic but I’m having mixed-up feelings. The end is weirdly anti-climactic. It’s thematically conclusive, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the last two season finales. I wanted more. More death. More destruction. More intimacy between characters. Tie up the story, not just the series. But the thing is - they tied up...
Buffy 7.18: Dirty Girls
I’m so angry.
I kind of liked Lies - or I thought I did at the time - but that entry was way angrier because I was so mad after Dirty Girls.
Caleb sucks. SUCKS. HE SUCKS SO BAD SO BAD. And it’s such a great actor WHY ARE THEY MAKING HIM HAVE THAT ACCENT.
Here’s my problems with Caleb:
*Too late, no dice. Your show is at capacity and you just broke back a major and dynamic...
Buffy 7.17: Lies My Parents Told Me
I guess I have a chip on my shoulder (hah, chip) about Spike because I’m basically waiting for them to do something magical to make me excited about him again and it’s just likely not going to happen.
The background stuff was interesting but still did not, for me, provide that crucial link between why Spike is whiny and poetic and romantic in life and how he becomes that...
Angel 4.22: Home
Okay. So - okay. So.
In no reality would I have ever guessed that was the big twist that would make Season Five completely different. In no reality. Ever.
I think I like it. I say “think” because it is basically a bit hokey and a little nuts. BUT it is also going back to the roots of the show - Wolfram and Hart, missed ya. And it’s presenting the possibility of having at least...
Angel 4.21: Peace Out
I like that the Angel Inc crew is really forced together in a way that they kept trying to make happen all season. Now they are very close to being the only people in the world not under Jasmine’s spell. They really only have each other.
And I liked the Jasmine plotline…but not as the big culmination to TWO SEASONS worth of continuous storyline. It’s too muddled. I still...
Angel 4.20: Sacrifice
Yeah. I get why Brett couldn’t really remember this episode. Not so much with the stuff happening.
I like that they’re upping Jasmine’s creepiness factor. I kind of liked the creepy demon in the cave.
Angel 4.19: The Magic Bullet
It’s amazing to me that I’m not getting cranky about this Jasmine plot. I generally hate mind control plotlines. But I like this. I also love that Cordelia is in a coma.
This is where Fred should have been when she came back from Pylia. After her crazy time, she should have been a reluctant warrior (which she kind of was that time she almost killed Angel.) But then they dropped it to...
4.18: Shiny Happy People
I love the Jasmine plotline.
Well, I love it in a relative sense. I love it in comparison to how much I hated the Beast plot. And I think G. Scherr plays it all pretty well. I do genuinely find her calming and charismatic (though I remember not loving her on Firefly, I may be wrong).
And I love this change for Fred. Love it. Love love it.
Angel 4.17: Inside Out
I was so excited they brought back Skip and then…it’s not even like they ruined him. It’s just that they took such a simple concept and made it so confusing. And undercut episodes from a season ago in the process.
I finished Season Four and I still don’t know how much I understand of the Beast Master and her master plan. Or what’s going on with Cordelia.
But I also know that I hate Cordelia....
December 2009
75 posts
Angel 4.16: Players
Okay - first and foremost: that outfit is the worst idea for Cordelia they have ever had for Cordelia on the show. If they weren’t dressing her like a knocked-up Princess Jasmine her whole plotline might be much less hokey.
I don’t mind Gwen. I can find sympathetic things about her. And virgins are sad. But it’s still unsane that they’re over-using a new charectar like...
Angel Season Four Thoughts
Oh my god.
I miss Wolfram and Hart.
Angel 4.15: Orpheus
Sigh.
I’m really not a brat. As exhausting as it might be, I wish I always felt as excited about these shows as I do at their best episodes. I don’t like writing bratty summaries. But -
What a waste of two things
1. Faith
and
2. Angelus
The benefit is that Faith still worked and still was awesome and now she gets to head off to Sunnydale where she is going to be absolutely...