Angel 11-12-03 (SPOILERS INSIDE!)

[Henry]

Easily the best episode this season so far.

I was surprised when Wesley shot his father; especially the timing of it - right in mid-threat! "Perhaps you'll care if I shoot someone you care about-" *blam!* --- *blam!*blam!*blam!*blam!*blam!*

And then throwing up in the corner....

Powerful stuff!

Spike is getting more and more fun - another reason why James Marsters is a better actor than anyone gives him credit for. This man needs to be in some serious drama when Angel ends its run, because he's got a lot of chops.

I hope Fred just picked up the HUMONGOUS clue-by-four that Wesley whacked her up-side the head with. She should be mulling over what he told her - "no, Fred I did it because he threatened to shoot YOU." She may or may not see him that way, but she needs to deal with it - or are women in the Jossverse habitually inclined to hide from relationship issues ALL the darned time?!?!

And Angel's and Spike's anecdotes were great! "I killed my father, too - first thing I did when I became a vampire!" "I killed my mother, myself - not firs thing, but when she tried to shag me, and..." Alexis' looks he was giving as Wesley were funny as heck.

Thankfully, Wesley's father was unhurt, meaning that there's still plenty of room for a REAL father-son chat in a later episode (ihopeihopeihopeihopeihope). John Crichton said it best - "That's what I call Sweeps TV."

 

[el-remmen]

He was a wimp in BtVS, so how did he get so good at fighting?

Five seasons of Angel.

They have actually done a great job of developing his character in that respect.

 

[Henry]

Wait, wait, wait...

This is the guy whose rescue of Cordy (near the end of BtVs season 2) consisted of screaming like a girl? He was a wimp in BtVS, so how did he get so good at fighting?

He grew up.

Seriously, it's been a bumpy ride for ol' Wesley, but the writers have made it a natural progression. It's been one of the best things about Angel in its entire run!

You must've missed the part where faith tortured him in Season One - and their interactions when he freed her from jail last season. Now THAT was some good drama!

One thing, however, that they've made clear about Wesley that wasn't prominent in Buffy - he can't fight as well as some of the team, but he is a hell of an expert marksman. There are so many examples I can't name them all, but when Wesley is not intimidated, he can target a bullseye almost every time he shoots. What's happened is that the writers have parleyed that skill into Wesley's "trademark."

 

[CCamfield]

Wait, wait, wait...

This is the guy whose rescue of Cordy (near the end of BtVs season 2) consisted of screaming like a girl? He was a wimp in BtVS, so how did he get so good at fighting?

When he arrived in LA he styled himself a "rogue demon hunter" but was still as incompetent as can be. He toughened up a bit over a couple of seasons, and then when he read a prophesy he interpreted as "Angel will kill his own infant son" he kidnapped the boy and handed him off to Angel's enemy Holst. Only Holst's agent slit his throat and left him for dead. Then in the hospital, Angel tried to smother Wes with a pillow for betraying him, so he ended up on his own, actually becoming a real rogue demon hunter. He also developed a somewhat twisted relationship with Lilah, an evil lawyer from the Wulfram & Hart law firm.

Also in there was a love triangle in which both Wesley and Gunn fell in love with Fred, and Gunn 'won'.

 

[CCamfield]

The Lovely Miss Burkle

Whether or not you consider Fred attractive or not makes no difference, she serves as the foil very well here. It has been very obvious that Wes still pines for her and she has been blissfully ignorant. I had no idea his feelings for her were that deep until Wes pulled the trigger.
[/b]

I kind of find this hard to believe... at least, I figured she'd know, but I suppose it's possible. Certainly she just thinks of him as a good friend - consider the scene in the week(?) before at the party, in which they have a drunken conversation while trying to find Lorne's sleep. "We could be confidentes..." Poor Wes.

The Return of the Rogue Demon Hunter

The Max Payne-esque dive with twin guns blazing was worth an extra half point in my rating, all by itself.

Don't take this the wrong way, but have you seen any of John Woo's great action movies? (i.e. the ones from the 80s)

Vampires With Humors

Spike almost stole the whole show with his one liners and quips. Add that to the possibility that the the amulet may have been meant for him all along and the episode gets even better. "I know what this is. You'll never take me to Hell, Pavane!! Oh. Well that's just something I say. When, uh... it gets dark." Classic.

That was[/i] really funny, as were the vampires' attempts to cheer Wes up. (I missed the punchline of Spike's line about sex with robots! Oops!) But who's Pavane? Was that the ghost guy in the previous episode who tried to kill him?

I hope his ability to smack the robo-ninja that was strangling Gunn is a sign of things to come. If he and Angel could come to terms, he'd be an awfully effective scout and could occasionally hit people if he tried hard enough.

 

[KnowTheToesToe]

I have a MUCH better ending for the show. It would involve an actual story line having to be played out.

Rather than Wes. calling his parents at the end. His mother should have been calling him stating that his father is dead.

or

During the phone call, Wes's mother should have said something like "were you surprised to see your father?" Implying that the robot had been created a while ago and had been living with his mother that whole time. Would have made an interesting storyline - where's Wes's father? Who created these robots?

If the Watchers counsel was actually blown up - how in the world did these "robot makers" get the background info to fool Wes? Just some observations.

I do agree that it was the better of the episodes this year. I'm a bit disappointed that Joss isn't creating a main storyline to follow. It annoyed me that the episode took so long to wrap up - they could have spent the first 1/2 hour "distroying" the bots, and they could have used the 2nd half trying to figure out who these bots were and what they want.

The Buffy Bot inuendo from Spike was funny.

 

[Pielorinho]

Okay. A robot named Mr. Wesley Sr. sneaks into Wolfram and Hart, and their superspy security team has no idea.

More importantly, super robot ninjas land on the building's roof, and W&H security doesn't pick them up (or pick them off).

Are you seriously telling me it's never occurred to W&H, with their elite paramilitary defense team, that an attack on their HQ could come from the roof?

I don't buy it. This was, at least in part, an inside job. W&H is messing with the Ministers of Grace.

That said, this episode rocked my world. I liked the luchadores episode just as much, but it was a very different style; this was quintessential Angel at its best.

Did anyone else start laughing hysterically when dadbot got shot? I mean, I felt bad immediately afterward, but I was laughing my fool head off in a "Gah! Freak out!" kind of way.

Daniel

 

[LightPhoenix]

Alright, one thing I did want to ask, since it's obvious I'm missing something. I take it there was something on Buffy that referred to sex with robots? I mean, the line was funny enough not knowing there was a reference, but I'd at least like to know what it was.

 

[Olorin]

Alright, one thing I did want to ask, since it's obvious I'm missing something. I take it there was something on Buffy that referred to sex with robots? I mean, the line was funny enough not knowing there was a reference, but I'd at least like to know what it was.

I haven't seen this episode yet, but I'm guessing they were referring to Spike using the Buffybot as his sex toy for a while.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Okay. A robot named Mr. Wesley Sr. sneaks into Wolfram and Hart, and their superspy security team has no idea.

More importantly, super robot ninjas land on the building's roof, and W&H security doesn't pick them up (or pick them off).

Are you seriously telling me it's never occurred to W&H, with their elite paramilitary defense team, that an attack on their HQ could come from the roof?

I don't buy it. This was, at least in part, an inside job. W&H is messing with the Ministers of Grace.

Daniel

Just have to say this...they were NINJA robots.