AtS S5. Ep. 1, 2 & 3.

[elisi]

Squee! *bounces* Bestest sister-in-law ever just called and said she'll pick up the girls from school! Which is extra brilliant since Little Miss M has choir and finishes and hour later than Impish Girl! Oh and she's going to get them some tea as well!

So since I decided to take a break, you get some scattered thoughts on the beginning of AtS (which I've been re-watching), since AOQ has just posted his review of 'Conviction (yet again proving that he has no sense of humour!).

Conviction
This was *so* much fun! 'Deep Down' is still my favourite opener, but this comes a close second. Too many lovely moments to mention, so I'll just focus on the best bits:

Hauser: "You pathetic little fairy!"
Angel: "I'm not little!"

Squeeeeeeeeeeee!

And of course the best one of all:

Angel: "I have no problems spanking men!"

(And a million fangirls died and went to heaven, where they - after worshipping The Mighty Joss - proceeded to write lots and lots of slashy porn!)

Dear Lord above what a great line! Sub-text rapidly becoming text... Is it any wonder that we all love Joss, no matter how much he likes to rip out our hearts?

Anyway, on to the meat of the episode:

HAUSER: That's exactly what you are. You're minuscule. A dust mote on the shelf of that great institution. Now, you think I'm just a trigger-happy jerk who follows orders, but I am something you will never be. I'm pure. I believe in evil. You and your friends, you're conflicted. You're confused. We're not. That is why you are gonna lose, because we possess the most powerful thing in the world... conviction.
ANGEL: There is one thing more powerful than conviction. Just one. Mercy.
[kills Hauser in cold blood]
AGENT: What happened to mercy?
ANGEL: You just saw the last of it.

Just damn! That was *so* cold. No second chance, no trying to save this guy... just brutal murder. And foreshadowing of the shooting of Lindsey in NFA much? Angel's not so heroic anymore...

See it ties back to 'Blind Date':

Angel: "No, it's not my fault. - I-I didn't cause it, and I can't fix it. I can't do anything about it. - Well, she's guilty. - She's guilty and- and they let her go. She murdered a man right in front of me and I can't even testify to that fact in a court of law."
Cordy: "Well, maybe in night court you could..."
Angel: "It's their court room, not mine."
Cordy: "Whose?"
Angel: "Their rules, their game."
Cordy: "Oh, you mean the Wolfram and Hart types."
Angel shakes his head: "I have no place in their world at all."
Wesley: "Angel."
Angel: "How am I expected to do battle if I can't even get into the ring?"
Wesley: "You have a place, Angel. Our battle will be fought elsewhere."
Angel: "It's still their world, Wesley. Structured for power - not truth. - It's their system, and it's one that works. - It works because - there is no guilt - there is no torment, no consequences. - It's pure. - I remember what that was like. - Sometimes I miss that clarity."

Notice the repetition of the word 'pure'! There's even a mention of Holland Manners in this episode, and none of that is co-incidence. 'Blind Date' was all about Manners testing Lindsey... and in the end Lindsey chose W&H. Remember Lee being killed? Please compare Holland Manners then and the Angel we now have. Not so very different are they? Killing employees if they refuse to fall in line... And of course this time it's Gunn getting the guilty client off, not Lindsey! W&H don't want Angel dead, they want him dark - and they're definitely getting there!

Speaking of Lindsey, I have to mention this:

Lindsey: "The key to Wolfram and Hart: don't let them make you play their game. - You gotta make them play yours."
Angel: "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
'Dead End'

In the beginning of S5, Angel is playing their game... and when he finds a way to make them play his game the stakes have been raised unbearbly high. ::loves S5::

Just Rewards
I'm working on a long Spike&Angel essay inspired by this ep, so instead I'll go with silly. I was thinking of writing out how all (well some) of the different fandom groups reacted to Spike being on the show (since I was actually following fandom for the first time and noticed this stuff):

Spike fans: SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! [/incoherent joy]

Angel fans: Shirtless!Angel! Woohoo! [mutter: TWO YEARS we've been waiting for this!] Oh and Petty!Angel! Yay!

Spuffy shippers: Why didn't they show the 'I love you'? Although he *did* ask after her straight away! Now CALL HER!

Spangel shippers: Spike in Angel's bedroom! Spike saying he's Angel's date! Lots and lots and lots of snark! *pop Champagne, write lots of pr0n and already love S5 to infinity and beyond*

Spike/Fred shippers: We knew it! Spike needs someone *nice* who'll *appreciate* him - not like that nasty Buffy! [Rest of fandom: Yeah, whatever.]

Spike haters: Spike has ruined AtS! *sulk*

(Do you have any that you think I should add?)

Unleashed
This is such a sweet episode! I don't think I've actually re-watched it since it first aired, when mostly I was impatient, but I *love* the Angel/Nina interactions - and they're all so HAPPY! The last scene with everyone in Angel's appartment, ordering Chinese and being friendly... *SNIFF* It's like that breakfast scene at the end of 'Parting Gifts'. Utterly lovely, but so, so bittersweet knowing what'll become of them all...

Comments

[elisi]

*hugs Gunn* My own hubristic tragic hero!
*hugs him too*

And I still don't understand what was smart about Angel's plan. Way to go, Angel, you provoked the apocalypse!

"We can't bring down the senior partners, but for one bright, shining moment, we can show them that they don't own us."

Me, I just love it. :) Partly, because just like The Father Will Kill The Son it's a prophecy come true in the most unexpected way: 'The vampire with a soul will be a big player in the apocalypse, but no one knows what side he'll be on.' And even watching it, we don't know. Well he's on the side of good, but the consequences will be dire. I love me some shades of grey!

[thirdblindmouse.livejournal.com]

It's an adolescent gesture that endangers the lives of all LA (or so I infer). That's not the note I want the show to go out on, especially not when it seems the show is endorsing what Angel & co. is doing as the right thing.

It rather contradicts the message that the last shot and most of Angel sends, which is that you have to keep struggling with a less than perfect world. Rather than do that, Angel would go out in a blaze of stupidity glory. I really need to rewatch the earlier seasons, which do much better message-wise, IMO.

[elisi]

Hmmmm. Here's a snippet from an interview with David Fury:

FURY: Again, we had planned this [the finale] very early on. The basic idea was to discover who the architects of the apocalypse were and then were going to do this Godfather-like massacre where all of our characters were going to go killing each of them, and the last beat of the episode would be Angel and whoever was left of his crew about to launch into the apocalypse. You know, "Let's go, let's move…whatever."

My thought on that is, that's the perfect way to end the show. The point of Buffy was always girl power and showing that power. The point of Angel was always that the fight never ends. He'll always fight. It's an eternity of fighting. You can't ever win but the fight is worth fighting. That was a perfect 'going out' scene - you know, the Butch Cassidy/Sundance Kid sort of we're going up against impossible odds and probably die? That's the perfect way to end the series, and anybody who says otherwise is dumb.

I know what you're saying - that the message of 'helping the helpless' got lost - but then really that disappeared somewhere in S4, when Jasmine's apocalypse got underway and the 'detective side' went away (and Cordy wasn't there with her visions). Come S5, we have *Spike* taking over Angel's original role (I'm going to post an essay on Spike & Angel tomorrow btw, so won't go into more detail here), because Angel has moved on... What I like about that, is the fact that the story focusses far more centrally on Angel himself and his story. Buffy had a different Big Bad every year, but Angel always had W&H, and it was made clear that the only reason they let him live was because he was a major player in their apocalypse - only no one knew what side he'd be on. To end the show with him finally becoming that player (and still not being able to tell what side he was helping the most) was immensely satisfying to me. (And as I said, we see people like Anne carrying on his original mission.)

[thirdblindmouse.livejournal.com]

And as I said, we see people like Anne carrying on his original mission.

And that's why Anne is awesome. Sister Sunshine. ;)