[SPOILERS] Angel Episode 1/28/2004: "Damage"

[shilsen]

Nope, not breathing. That was established pretty early, when Angel was the only one who could go into a room with toxic gas/smoke to do something. Also used in Angel season 4 when Angel went to Jasmine's home dimension, where the air was toxic. Their lungs apparently function muscularly (because they can talk and smoke), but for some reason they can't give mouth-to-mouth.

Plus Connor dumping Angel to the bottom of the sea in a box and counting on the fact that Angel would stay alive and suffering, because he doesn't need to breathe.

I was just curious about the whole tranquilizer and drugs thing because that seems one place where Joss and co. break their own rules for how vampires work. It's one thing with magical drugs or the like, but apparently normal stuff works on vamps too (as in this episode), and that should be impossible with no blood being pumped by their hearts.

 

[CCamfield]

I am also glad that we are running into more power groups (Slayers, whoever sicced the cyborgs on them) in the world, it was getting on my nerves that there was Angel and Co., W&H and not much else. The fact that there are major forces for good out there that now view Angel as the enemy opens up a host of possibilities for me.

Yeah, actually this message has been hammered down on them a bit recently - this episode was stronger, but Spike's comments to "Crockett and Tubbs" in the previous episode also come to mind. ("You don't change a place like that, it changes you.")

I hope we will see the cyborgs again, or their creators.

I was reading in a completely different context that the mandate for Angel this season is to be more episodic. Which I guess it has been, compared with how last season was handled. Do you guys think the show is weakened by this? I have to admit that there's enough evolution in the story from episode to episode to satisfy me.

 

[John Crichton]

My thoughts mirrored (spoilers for next week in that review, but only if you haven't seen the previews) -

http://entertainment-geekly.com/web/general/jan2004/Angel_Damage

Excellent episode. Loved the Buffy tie-ins but they weren't needed to enjoy the show. The 'evil' talk at the end was wonderful.

 

[Henry]

OK, the theory on vampires being affected by drugs - the only drugs that affect them apparently are those which enter via the blood - although a vampaire's heart does not beat, the blodd is still (somehow) used in the body - otherwise, why would vampires need blood to stay "healthy"? This blood is obviously incorporated throughout the body, and any pathogens that are injected follow this same path, even if it's NOT circulatory any longer.

Several clues:
-Spike's whole "woodstock - fed off a flower-person" speech
-Spike getting drunk numerous times
-Angel getting injected numerous times

Gas-borne pathogens, as long as the vampire doesn't choose to breathe, don't affect them. Vampires COULD breathe, otherwise, they can't blow smoke.

Why did Angel say to Zander "I have no breath?" It's possibly because in two centuries of being alive, the ponce NEVER learned CPR, and didn't want to admit it with Zander standing right there.

 

[Taren Seeker]

Argh! WARNING, that review has a BIG spoiler in it for next week!

 

[John Crichton]

Argh! WARNING, that review has a BIG spoiler in it for next week!

Oops!! Sorry about that. The spoilers are the same thing that are in the teaser for next week so I didn't thing to put a warning. I'm REALLY sorry about that. I have edited the post with a spoiler alert.

 

[CCamfield]

Argh! WARNING, that review has a BIG spoiler in it for next week!

The link that John Crichton posted?

THANKS.

I loathe and detest spoilers. We don't even get the preview "next week on Angel" bits here in Canada ... I prefer watching the show in a way that I can be surprised by everything.

 

[John Crichton]

The link that John Crichton posted?

THANKS.

I loathe and detest spoilers. We don't even get the preview "next week on Angel" bits here in Canada ... I prefer watching the show in a way that I can be surprised by everything.

Hey...

I did amend it and said I was truly sorry. People around here know that I'm very careful about these things. This one slipped through.

 

[Taren Seeker]

No problem, like CC said, we don't get the next week previews in Canada, eh?

 

[satori01]

While Spike was nowhere near as sadistic as Angel was a Vamp, William did get the moniker "Spike", by torturing people with railroad spikes. Clearly, at least sometimes Bloody William liked to play with his food.

I love the fact that with both Angel and Spike having souls we can get an insiders look into what it means to have been creatures of evil, looking back with repentance and cognizance on what they were/are.

I always felt before whenever the dynamic souled duo, talked about their souls, it was always with not a small manner of melodrama.

The last five minutes of the episode were great.

As an aside, Andrew was not as funny here as he was on Buffy, where every week he became more and more the gem of the show.