Been a crazy few days, but finally I’m getting back in the rhythm of things. Herewith comments on last week’s Smallville and Angel, since I know you’ve all been waiting to read what I say so you can know what to think…
SMALLVILLE: A couple years ago I said, “Hey…what if Chloe, an aggressive reporter character, turns out to be Lois Lane. Maybe she invents the name for a byline for some reason.” And I was immediately told by a number of fans that, apparently in an episode I missed somewhere, it was established that Lois was Chloe’s cousin, so that wouldn’t happen. So imagine my demented giggling fits when Chloe talks about writing under the byline of her cousin, Lois, who has no interest in journalism at all.
Now does that make Chloe becoming Lois a slamdunk? No. Nothing’s predictable with “Smallville” (although I’d bet pretty heavily on Jonathan having a heart attack in the near future, ’cause that’s sure being talked about enough.) What it does seem to tie into, though, is the recurring theme of this season which appears to be identities. Everyone’s trying to figure out who they are in all sorts of ways, even moreso than previous seasons. Lana is seeking other avenues of romance; Clark acquires the glasses that will theoretically mask his identity (yeah, like that’s gonna work on Lex, Chloe, et al, but never mind) while his Kryptonian heritage simmers; Lex is literally searching for an entire piece of himself that’s been excised. And in this episode, the characters lose their identities entirely as they try to kill Chloe who is herself laying groundwork (if we take the developments as rote) that will form her own future identity of “Lois Lane,” Daily Planet reporter.
Perhaps that’s why Pete Ross has had short shrift this season. Pete is the character in the show with the most poorly defined identity. We have more of a sense of Adam Knight, the maybe Bruce Wayne, in two episodes than we do of Pete Ross after several years. He is the only one defined entirely by his relationship to Clark. Furthermore, there’s no aspect of his character that isn’t duplicated by someone else. A sounding board for Clark who knows his ID? Ma and Pa Kent. A fellow student? Lana. Someone involved with the newspaper? Chloe. Someone who’s been adversely affected by LutherCorp? Lex. A connection to law enforcement? The Sheriff. Someone to be taken prisoner so Clark can save them? Ma and Pa, Lana, Chloe, Lex. Thus far there’s nothing that’s uniquely his. No interests of his own, no storylines of his own. Maybe the reveal that his mother’s a judge (if it was brought up earlier, I missed it) will cause Pete to develop an interest in law. Or politics. That’d be cool. Either way, they’d have to play catch-up with him. I hope they do.
ANGEL: This was one of those episodes where I loved it while it was happening, and had several incredible jaw dropping moments (all involving Spike). And I loved the idea of Andrew showing up…loved it so much that it took me all the way to the end of the episode to realize that it really didn’t work. Andrew shouldn’t have shown up for the same reason that Ted Baxter wouldn’t have worked in a guest shot on “Lou Grant.” It’s too jarring. Too many things we’re being asked to swallow for reasons that are too obvious. Andrew’s lengthy expository speech underscored too many major problems. He had to make the speech for those people who might have started watching “Angel” and knew nothing about “BtVS” which is, okay, fair enough.
But are we actually supposed to believe that in six months, Angel and Co. have remained completely in the dark over the events of the Buffy season closer? This wasn’t a small scale event: Sunnydale was swallowed. With all the resources of Wolfram and Hart at his command, Angel wasn’t able to find out about the multiple slayers? He wasn’t able to contact Buffy? Giles? ANYone? Oh, but we’re told Buffy and Co. don’t trust him. Why is that, exactly? The last time Buffy saw Angel, they parted on good terms and, by the way, the resources of W&H provided the amulet that helped save the world. So in six months, Buffy couldn’t pick up the phone, call Angel and say, “Thanks for the amulet, we have a ton of slayers now, and by the way, tell me more about this whole W&H thing you got going.”
It’s annoying. It’s contrived. Almost as contrived as Andrew requiring W&H’s help until the 11th hour at which point he pulled a dozen slayers out of his ášš to be his back-up. If he had them handy, why in the world did he need W&H to go in and finish the job? He was worried a dozen slayers (armed with tranq guns, no less) couldn’t bring down one nutball slayer? Doesn’t sound like the world’s in such safe hands, does it.
I was really with the story until that end sequence when Andy’s Dandys showed up, and that whole “Buffy doesn’t trust you” speech, at which point the entire episode started to retroactively unravel for me. Which was very, VERY annoying.
I’m hoping for better things this week. Let’s just hope they don’t do something unfortunate like kill off Cordy.
PAD
• 
Re: Last Week’s Angel.
I agree totally.
RE: Delete(SMV)
The episode was okay, but the ending was nicely done. A nice way to reveal Lex’s new mission by tying it into the science of the episode.
Re: Lois Lane: Looks like Peter was right!
The fight in Act 2 where Lana tried to kill Chloe was NICELY choreographed! Well done! Still, Lana didn’t get injured by being thrown in a glass fire extinguisher case that breaks. I also find it convenient that there are partially unclothed girls getting changed right behind the locker room doors, when bathrooms and locker rooms usually having a wall or partition separating the disrobing area from the door.
Hmm…is Adam a good guy or a bad guy….hmmm…. I wasn’t sure, and I’m ashamed to say that I totally missed the clues that a fellow poster at http://www.nitcentral pointed out on the board for this episode at http://64.33.77.146/discus/messages/17996/23156.html?1075440215:
His name is Adam Knight. (As in “Adam” West and the Dark “Knight”?)
He wears black and gray
He has expertise in martial arts.
He has expertise in computers.
His parents are dead. (Though he claims it was in fire rather than murder.)
He’s mysterious, and has some tension with Clark.
Was I the only one who missed these things?
So Martha Kent’s email is CNH320@instamail.com? Hmm….funny how that username is just like the license plate number on the General Lee…
I thought the acting on the part of Martin Cummins, who plays Dr. Gardner (and who played Ames White in Dark Angel) in the closing scene was poor.
Why did the kryptonite stop glowing when it rolled away after Chloe knocked out Jonathan with that hay? I don’t recall it ever doing that before. (Then again, I always wondered what king of energy that stuff must be putting out to be generating its own internal light, and what should be by extension, heat.
To my way of thinking, it’s just too cutesy to have Chole adopt the name Lois Lane for her byline. Not because it hasn’t been done before in real life, but because those who know her are going to call her Chloe, rather than Lois when they’re in private.
If they wanted to establish that Clark and Lois first met in high school, why not just call her “Lois” from the start? If “Adam” turns out to be Bruce Wayne, it would make sense, because it’s been long established in the comics that Bruce didn’t use his real name when he was training to become Batman. But it doesn’t make sense to introduce Lois Lane under another name. If she’s Lois, she should’ve been called that from the start.
On the other hand, I’m looking forward to seeing how the Lex arc develops. What will he remember? My personal theory is that he will regain bits and pieces about Clark’s abilities which will lead him to believe that Clark was somehow involved in what happened to him and/or that Clark betrayed him by not confiding in him about his powers (he seems to regard not telling him things that other friends know as a form of betrayal).
I can’t see any realistic way that the adult Lex would not know Clark and Superman are the same person (unless Supes wears a mask in the Smallville universe). As a result it leads to interesting questions as to what sort of rules of engagement Lex will resort to in battling his former friend.
I look forward to seeing how that arc plays out. It’s pretty much what keeps me tuned in to Smallville.
Rick
In the past, the K has sometimes only glowed when in direct proximity to Clark (i.e. Lana’s necklace).
Actually, I think Andrew did need Wolfram & Hart’s facilities. Not to contain a slayer, but to find her. If you’re dropped into LA with 12 slayers who presumably also don’t know the city or have any contacts there, well, it’s a lot bigger than Sunnydale and making use of W&H’s resources to find her makes sense.
What did annoy me was Andrew still saying “Vam-pyre”; you figure Giles or Buffy would’ve slapped him out of that pronounciation by now. 🙂
It is true that one of the Scoobies, should’ve called Angel Investigations about the apocalypse…although they may have tried, and gotten call forwarded to a cheery “Wolfram & Hart! Press one for sacrifices!” greeting which may have raised some eyebrows. Still, Spike should’ve mentioned the multiple slayers bit by now.
Did love Andrew’s line of “I’ve got twelve slayers, none of which have ever dated you”.
It was the ending of Angel that actually made it for me. I actually thought it was a nice idea to have the split between the Buffy and Angel gang. When Angel appeared on Buffy there was no way for her to know about the W&H offer. She just knew Angel got the amulet from a questionable source but trusted him at the time. Upon hearing about him taking over W&H’s office I could expect her and the others to become a little suspicious. And even if they did trust Angel, any contact with him could open up the slayers that they haven’t found yet as potential victims of other W&H branches. They could be made into very potent assassins.
The dozen slayers coming out of nowhere did seem a little off but I just figured he was holding them back until he was sure he didn’t need W&H’s resources to locate the slayer anymore (ie. once she was unconcious). If he brought them in too early it may have tipped off W&H too early or possibly he was hoping to not have to reveal them at all.
Here is what I see happening in Smallville during the last season. First though, Lois Lane gets introduced in the last episode of the next to last season. Lex has become evil, possibly as a result of murdering his father. Since Lois hardly knows anyone other than Chloe, they both investigate the murder of Lionel. Chloe gets too close and Lex murders her, maybe in front of Lois. This results in Lois taking up Chloe’s mantle to become a journalist to bring down Lex. Perry is impressed with Lois’ drive and recognizes the parallel between him and her through his past trials with trying to bring down Lionel. Perry thus hires her to the Planet.
Pete will most likely be killed too.
Lana will probably follow down the same road as in the comics. In the last episode, Clark will reveal his powers by flying to her, whisking her away to make love, and offers her the chance to follow him to Metropolis. She will say no and he will move on.
About how Clark covers his identity from Lex is still up in the air for me.
“Like Nickels?” – very nice.
NICE fight between Chloe and Lana.
Adam is SO Bruce. I wonder when I would have started to notice clues if I didn’t read this blog though.
If Lana’s future does follow the comics version, I hope it diverges after Clark leaves. Having her activated as a Manhunter sleeper agent and spending the next decade homeless while tracking Clark…let’s hope not.
I think the use of vam-pyre was meant to be for laughs. Between Andrew putting on airs – the pipe, the long-windedness, walking around the table, etc. – and Angel using vam-pyre after the meeting this was the only reason I saw for it.
But Andrew being “Giles’ best man”? I don’t think so.
As for Spike not telling the others about the many slayers, why would he? He doesn’t care over much for Angel, and Fred is the only one of the others he has any reason to care for/about. Also, the only time he mentions Buffy is to annoy Angel by reminding him that he (Spike) was sleeping with her.
Andrew need Angel to find the Slayer.
Buffy doesn
I’ve said this over in an Angel Usenet group, but it might bear repeating here: Giles wouldn’t spend five minutes alone in a room with Andrew post-Apocalypse, much less train him to become a new Watcher, much less entrust him with 12 Slayers (like super-strong women would ever follow orders from Andrew anyway…), much less assign him to bring in a Psychoslayer. Andrew’s always been a one-note joke, and it’s a joke that simply can’t be twisted into the shape this episdoe requires us to do for its basic premise.
Think how much better the story would have worked had it been Xander in that role, with all his history of distrust and personal animus for Angel, Spike, and even Wesley. That could have been something special, especially as it could have been a nice way to dovetail into Cordelia’s situation this week. But what we got was the BtVS character I personally never needed to see again, ever.
And why isn’t this murderer in jail, anyway?
PAD’s right, too, about the basic implausibility of the lack of knowledge of the new status quo on W&H’s part, especially since an earlier episode this season showed us that Angel and Buffy had talked, post-Sunnydale Sinkhole (he knew she’d gone to Europe). We’re to believe that in that conversation he never asked, “So, Buffy, how’d that thing with the First work out?”
Stupid all around–but that seems to be the effect of Andrew on these shows in general.
at which point the entire episode started to retroactively unravel for me. Which was very, VERY annoying.
Ya know, I had absolutely the same problem with watching ‘Once Upon a Time in Mexico’ last night. (slightly off topic, but what do you want for nothin’?)
If I were to explain away Andrew’s needing W&H when he’s got his own Slayer’s Dozen…
Well, this girl is homicidal; why put your own people against her when you have, essentially, cannon fodder in the form of Angel and his people?
And I didn’t take Andrew’s exposition speech as being a “clue in the in-the-dark Angel crew” so much as Andrew being…well, Andrew, trying to be all self-important by flaunting his “intimate” knowledge of what went down.
Maybe Clark isn’t the only one with a secret identity. Maybe Chloe’s real name is Lois Lane, and for some reason she’s living in Smallville under an assumed name. That would make it easier to pull her “cousin’s” name out of her hat when she needed a pen name.
–your pal, Hoy
And why isn’t this murderer in jail, anyway?
Same reason Willow isn’t in jail… the body wasn’t found by the cops. As for why the Scooby gang trusts him, he was (more or less) under the thrall of The First, and managed to prove himself in the end. The Gang has forgiven worse… say, anything Spike or Angel did while evil.
I sort of liked Andrew on the episode. Whole point was they were playing W&H, getting what info they could (perhaps doing a little recon on Angel), knowing full well they could get the Psycho-Slayer back when the time came… and I seem to recall W&H calling The New Watchers in, meaning they needed to pretend to go along to keep Angel from figuring out they didn’t trust him, resulting in him taking better precautions to keep the Psycho Slayer. Some question regarding Andrew’s ability to pull off such a stunt based on the last time he tried it with The First… but assuming he’s come along in the last six months, he’d be the last person anyone would suspect of a double-cross.
What if Andrew was sent to fail? The slayers were there for his backup in case he seriously screwed up?
I’ll be waiting to see if Cordelia asks where Conner is this week.
I’ve been reading the comments about this week’s episode of “Angel,” and something occurs to me…
What makes you think that Andrew was working for Buffy and Co.?
We’ve seen in previous episodes that there seems to be some other agency working against Wolfram & Hart (the episode with the ninja-robots comes immediately to mind), and if they were able to replicate Wes’ father accurately enough to fool him, they’re probably able to slap out a double of Andrew in a New York minute. Add to that the fact that only Andrew says that the girls behind him are Slayers.
Also, as another poster already brought up, Giles wouldn’t put up with the little jerk for five minutes, let alone the time it would take to bring him up to speed on all the demons and such he’d need to know about.
And if he were an “Andrew-bot,” that’d explain his lack of growth from the end of “Buffy” to now. Yep, if I were a group out to do in the Fang Gang, I could think of worse weapons than a psychotic Slayer to pick up. Worked for Mayor Wilkins…
And why isn’t this murderer in jail, anyway?
Same reason Willow isn’t in jail… the body wasn’t found by the cops.
Ah, well, there ya go, then: I think Willow should be in jail, too. (I’m not big on the Cry Really Hard, Feel Really Bad, Go on an English Vacation approach to human crime and punishment in the Buffyverse. I think Faith should be back in her cell, too.)
And Andrew was clearly shown not to have been under the Thrall of the First Taunter when he killed Jonathon, which makes him as morally culpable for his actions as Willow or Faith were for theirs, and distinct from Angelus and Spike (pre-soul).
To make matters worse, one can’t even reasonably offer the Greater Good excuse with Andrew as one can with Faith and Willow–whose continued freedom is (arguably) a necessary compromise for the overall promotion of Good, given their considerable skills. Andrew’s just your average loser with a smattering of occult knowledge, just enough to have had delusions of grandeur.
In other words, he’s exactly the kind of person Rupert Giles would have nothing to do with. No body, no crime, sure–and it may not be possible to actually have Andrew serve a jail term when Jonathon’s body is with the rest of Sunnydale–but taking him into the fold as a Watcherbe is hardly the logical alternative. Confine him to the grounds of the Coven in the Cotswalds, or somesuch. Just don’t make me see him again. 🙂
I’m surprised, PAD, you didn’t comment on the whole Spike-lost-his-hands scenario. For a little while there, I thought they were going to follow your lead with Aquaman and turn “Spike” into “Hook.”
Also, I would have loved to have seen Ted Baxter guest on an ep. of “Lou Grant!” That would have been kewl!!
I more believe that Andrew’s slightly less dangerous (i.e. completely neutralized) when supervised… Hence Giles training him… After all, Giles did his own share of the bad back in his Ripper days.
As for sending his “best man”, no doubt it was a combination of getting rid of Andrew for a little while, and annoying the hëll out of Jenny Calendar’s killer in the process.
Well, this girl is homicidal; why put your own people against her when you have, essentially, cannon fodder in the form of Angel and his people?
The girl may be homicidal, but these girls are vampire slayers, and vampires hardly have your best interests at heart. Buffy didn’t hesitate to take a half a dozen *unempowered* novices girls and lock them in a crypt with a vamp. So a dozen empowered slayers were worried about handling one nut? And if we’re to take what we saw on faith (no pun intended) then Buffy, via Andrew, was being far more manipulative and duplicitous than anything we’ve seen from Angel in W&H. “We could take care of this ourselves, but why bother when we can use you to do our dirty work.” And they think W&H isn’t trustworthy? Frankly, if I were Angel, at the very least I’d have my accounts payable people break it down and send Buffy one hëll of an invoice for their time.
I didn’t mention the Spike sequence specifically but that’s what I was referring to when I said “incredible jaw dropping moments (all involving Spike.)”
PAD
PAD
I think Willow should be in jail, too. (I’m not big on the Cry Really Hard, Feel Really Bad, Go on an English Vacation approach to human crime and punishment in the Buffyverse. I think Faith should be back in her cell, too.)
Well, if you take the secondary purpose (rehabilitation) of the American penal system as the most important — or at least assume that Buffy and the Scoobies do — then one could make a case for Willow and Faith having served their time. I haven’t watched Buffy 7 yet (I’ve been watching Buffy 6 with the help of my Tivo and only two weeks ago learned how Willow killed a guy and tried to destroy the universe) so I can’t speak for Andrew, but I’m saddened to learn of Jonathan’s death — I always liked the poor dope. Fortunately, I’m not bothered by spoilers, so carry on the discussion.
Angel:
Andrew does seem like something a a one-note joke at times. I generally hate the little weeny. However, I look at Wesley now compared to his first appearances on Buffy, and I say anyone can become a bad-ášš in the Buffyverse. I started on Buffy Angel with the 4th Season of Angel, and caught up on the rest (Angel & Buffy) through reruns. When Wesley showed up in the third season of Buffy, I wouldn’t have even recognized him if they hadn’t told me his name.
Giles would, indeed, never tolerate Andrew’s more annoying tendancies, but the amount of respect in Andrew’s voice when he speaks of Giles hints that he is far more reserved in his presence. It might be that Andrew only acts like this in the field or when he’s trying to impress people like Angel and his crew.
Also, although Andrew was a really annoying twit in the planning stages, I was surprised to see that when he actually came face-to-face with the Slayer he didn’t panic. He immediately got out his tranc-gun and tried to take her out. When he came to, he immediately went to get help. He’s not Rambo, but he kept his head in a real crisis. This shows lots of development on Andrew’s part.
As to why the Slayers were there in reserve, I speculate that it’s not Angel that Buffy doesn’t trust, but Wolfram & Hart. There’s no way that Angel can change that thing overnight…if at all. What if the Slayer had simply disappeared out of holding. Buffy figured she had to take custody of little psycho herself (it’s her responsibiltiy afterall), but maybe Angel would have simply let Andrew take custody of the girl without a fuss. If things had gone that way, Angel wouldn’t have needed to have a metaphorical gun pointed at his head. I wonder if Andrew’s sense of theatre and desire for grand gestures compelled him to be so pushy with Angel that it was never in doubt that Angel would try to push back. I can just see the little dweeb visualizing the confrontation scence and mumbling “cut, print” as drove away with his prize.
I was kind of disappointed that Andrew didn’t mention Anya, however. I realize that the purpose of his little speech was to let the audience know where the Buffy characters are instead of Spike, but she did die saving his life. Perhaps he was feeling a tad guilty?
As for the believability of the episode, Andrew said, “We never could have found her without you.” It’s a bit contrived, but it’s certainly believable, backup slayers and all.
Frankly, if I were Angel, at the very least I’d have my accounts payable people break it down and send Buffy one hëll of an invoice for their time.
I agree. It makes sense that nobody trusts Angel and crew — I think Wesley’s robo-dad was probably reflecting the truth feelings when he said the remaining watchers didn’t trust them.
Re: Chloe as Lois Lane
I was a bit disappointed by this, in how early it came. I’ve been a believer in the ‘Chloe uses Lois Lane as a pseudonym’ idea, just based on conservation of love interests–we know Clark is going to end up with Lois Lane, but there’s no payoff for the viewer there unless she’s a character to root for/against.
Tipping the hand so early, though, makes me wonder. My expectation was that we were going to get an episode where Lois shows up to visit Chloe, Clark finds her attractive, but she ends up in some way so entirely wrong for him that the viewer is left scratching their heads about how they’ll end up together. Then, in the punultimate scene in the series finale, we get Chloe’s final words on the show, telling Perry White that she’s using Lois Lane as a pseudonym…
The fact that it was tipped so early, however, makes we wonder if it’s just a fake out.
Re: Angel
> So in six months, Buffy couldn’t pick up the phone, call Angel […]
We almost have to assume that there was some contact immediately after the Buffy finale. In _Harm’s Way_, Harmony mentions Europe as Buffy’s location in passing, implying that this was common knowledge at W&H.
> Almost as contrived as Andrew requiring W&H’s help until the 11th hour at which point he pulled a dozen slayers out of his ášš to be his back-up.
The only rationale I’ve heard for Andrew showing up at W&H is that one of his purposes for being in L.A. was reconnaissance–Buffy/Giles wanted to get a first-hand report about Angel and W&H.
Personally, I would have far rather seen Xander fulfil that role–the “and none of them dated you” line would have sounded much better from him, and I would have bought Giles trusting him with such a mission. OTOH, the plot called for the person Giles sent to act like an idiot for most of the episode, so that the ending would have more force, and I would have found Xander playing that role to be painful, let alone how difficult the Spike/Xander interaction would have been.
Was it just me, or was anyone else dying to see Andrew and Harmony hang out together… just for a bit?
I agree w/ PAD that Angel and co. didn’t have a clue abt. the Slayers for 6 mos. It made no sense absolutely whatsoever.
What would’ve made sense for Buffy and co. after the series finale since their home was gone (swallowed up in fact) is to go to Angel’s. It would be there he’d learn abt. the Slayers, the First, and she would learn abt. W&H, giving him her reservations abt. it. It’s clear in the second episode that she told Angel she’d be in London.
It’s funny too w/ Andrew, the ex-member of the Nerd Herd who conspired against Buffy and was an accessory to Tara’s death, that Buffy trusts him and not Angel. Andrew really didn’t fit in. While he developed, he was still annoying w/ his pronounciation of the word, “vampire.”
One person he didn’t mention was Faith. What happened to her? Did she return to jail? Or, via his W&H contacts, did Angel arrange for her record to “disappear,” while she could go live large.
The ep, while good on many levels, left a lot of unanswered questions.
Adam Knight,
Maybe Bruce Wayne?
D’OH!
Nope, I missed that one.
I can see it, now.
But, then again, it could
be a red herring…
Based on her performance in the fight between Chloe and Lana, I want Lana’s physical therapist. What a miraculous recovery!
I can buy the fact that Giles was training Andrew. He may not have the people skills of real grown-ups, but he has shown that he has the guts to fight when necessary. I doubt that he would ever become an actual watcher, but the council, old and new, needs errand boys.
As to Buffy not trusting Angel, I think we’re all aware that Andrew is subject to melodramatic hyperbole. Giles doesn’t trust Angel and has never made any bones about it. With Giles’ attitude towards Angel as his backdrop, orders from Buffy might take on the atmosphere of distrust. She may have simply said, “Bring the girl back to here. Angel has enough to worry about right now without us dropping our problems in his lap.”
Perhaps the reason Buffy kept the slayer army a secret was she wanted to have a new council in place and the slayers accounted for before saying anything, just in case something like this happened. Simply, pride. The psycho-slayer just moved up the time table.
Are we certain that >GILES< (and thereby Buffy) thought that this was an important mission? Thoughts of a “make work” mission that turned more serious than at first thought did dance through my head….
I can see the Scoobies keeping Andrew around because, like Harmony, he tends follow the path of least resistance to fit in. I really hated Andrew’s new hairstyle until I realized it was all part of his desperate attempt to be totally British.
Smallville:
I enjoyed this episode tremendously!!! A lot of gosh-wow! moments like:
1- The Daily Planet
2- The Lois Lane pseudonym.
3- Chloe dodging Clark’s truck.
4- The sheriff’s quip about “Your family sure has its way of going through vehicles!”
5- The Brainwave handle. (Okay, I know that wasn’t particularly great; but for some reason, when I saw it, I imagined a big Albino Gorilla, clad in red body armor, typing away on some computer lab! Yeah, I know I was thinking of the Ultrahumanite, but I just couldn’t help myself. It would’ve been a great visual!)
Anyway, back to the count down…
6- Chloe’s hart to hart with Clark.
7- Chick fight!
8- Ooooh! A shower scene!
9- Wet T-shirt contest with Ninja Fighting chicks! (THAT I had to watch twice!)
10- Then Batman shows up
11- And he tells Lana to mind her own business and not be such a drama queen.
12- And then he uses the Bat-computer
13- to catch the bad guy.
No problem, right?
Wrong!
Problem: Am I supposed to believe that Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mind of our time, CANNOT piece together all that he knew prior to his 7 week gap?
C’mon! That whole Morgan Edge fiasco just confirmed what he suspected! He said as much, when he was at Belle Reeve!
Anyways, I would think that Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mind of our time, would have more common sense than to extort some guy into “fixing his brain”.
I can see it now:
LL: “So Doc, this potion that you just made… it guarantees I’ll get my memory back?”
Doctor: “That’s correct!”
LL: “And it won’t kill me?”
Doctor: “Of course not! I already tried it myself. Go ahead, ask me anything?”
Dumb-ášš!
Of course, once I realized that, the whole thing unraveled on me…
1- Chloe, the intern, had her own desk and name tag?
2- Someone liked Battlefield Earth!
3- You can pull a hard-drive out of a running computer and lose your picture 3 seconds later.
4- You can take back donations? (Such as high school computers)
5- No one besides Adam knows what an IP address is?
6- You can kill somebody with a pencil through the ear, without as much as a jerk from the victim.
7- Your super hearing fails to hear a guy screaming his lungs out, through the phone.
8- You don’t remember trying to kill your roommate, but DO remember receiving a spinning leg sweep from your new boyfriend.
9- You’ll let Chloe hide in your Mansion but you won’t give her Dad his job back?
10- And my favorite… “Hey, Jonathan! Let’s open this e-mail together! It’s from Brainwave!” “Oh look, Martha! It has an attachment! I bet it’s something sweet and not a nasty virus!”
Anyways… I must have been brainwashed too; because after all that, I still like the episode. I just don’t like this new, spaced-out Luthor. Somebody check his prescription quick!
As for Angel:
They did a 180, and changed focus on us, mid story line. Yup, one second it’s all about vampire prophecies and the other is about how Law Firms corrupt people.
Spike thinks so. Buffy thinks so. Giles thinks so.
And from the previews, I bet Cordellia will think so too.
But here’s a thought, instead of saying it; show it. Have Angel do something morally questionable. Have one of the Partners put him on the spot. Anything would be something, right?
And as far as the Vampire Cheerleading Slaying Squad, I can live with it. Technically, it seemed like Lord Andrew of the Shire, was more concerned about “shadowing” Spike than capturing the Psycho Slayer. Besides, I figure that “getting the slayer band together” would take time. But, I agree with PAD; Buffy not trusting Angel, seemed contrived.
One final question.
Was it just me or did Spike seem somewhat nonchalant at the end. It was like…”yeah, mate. I didn’t do anything to this girl; but I guess I had it coming.”
Dude! If that’s the case, I little remorse would be nice! You’re supposed to have a soul, don’t you know!
Ps: Saw Keen Eddie on Bravo and absolutely love it! If you want to watch even MORE television than you usually do; then I recommend this show! It’s bloody brilliant!
I’d also like to point out that both shows had excellent cinematography this week.
Why is everyone assuming they know Giles’ motivations? We have no idea how the characters have progressed offscreen. They haven’t been written yet.
Let’s see, in the “Buffy-verse”
1) Vampires and Demons et al are real
2) There are vampires with souls
3) Magic is real
4) Buffy died (the 2nd time) and was dead for several months, but came back to life
5) Extra-dimensional beings own and used to a run a law firm in LA, and continue to do so in multiple dimensions.
6) All the potentials have been activated, they all seem to be at full power, with neither Buffy nor Faith’s powers dimished by this “shared power”.
But Andrew becoming a watcher AND Buffy’s crew not trusting W&H Angel?
You’re right, I could believe the other stuff but my suspension of disbelief is comletely shattered by the Andrew and trust thing….Puh-leeze
Why did Andrew let the W&H crew capture the psycho-slayer? Well, the Slayerettes know the slayer-side dreams and such she’s having, plus they’re women. My guess is having muliple female presences to calm her and empathize with her will help bring her around sooner.
As for Andrew’s speech patterns (Vam-Pyre), he may be a Watcher now, but he’s still Andrew the mega-geek. He’s learned from the evil he’s done as part of the trio, he’s reformed, he’s a changed person, but it all takes time.
This sort of thing is why they need a Buffy spin-off, to get more into the aftermath of Chosen…
I, too, was in dork central over these two shows. The Lois Lane thing sent me over the edge, and this was the first time that I’ve really been accepting of the whole Adam=Bruce thing. I do like how Lana called him on his crap about the whole “You don’t remember where you picked up kung-fu?” thing. It looks like we’re going to get a slightly Adam centric episode this week, although that’s what it looked like to me last week. Granted, he was in this one a bunch, more that Pete, but still.
Peter, you’re 100% on Pete. Funny, but true. I’m hoping that at some point they don’t decide that hey, let’s make him more interesting by having be a wild child, bad boy.
Speaking of things unraveling, a couple of days after this ep I got to wondering why Clark bothered to use the truck to try to whack Chloe. None of the suggestions that brainwave sent seemed to method-specific, because if they were I doubt there would have been a proviso for the Kent to bring out the K in case Clark shows up. Really, the teaser only worked for dramatic purposes and to not ruin Clark’s identity. While I think it was a good touch of forcing the tensions between Clark and Chloe, this seemed kind of a sappy way to do it.
And yes, I loved Angel as well. While I can concede some points on the whole “contrived” aspect of everyone not trusting Angel, to be fair, Buffy didn’t know exactly where Angel got the amulet that saved her. W&H wasn’t mentioned in her finale, if I recall. Yeah, they left on good terms, but them later finding out that they are part of W&H could put them on edge.
Of course, making one go “How do they even know about W&H (maybe through Faith?)” and “How do they find out Angel is in charge?” It is weird that they have found out Angel and have leapt to not trusting them instead of picking up them phone, but all season I’ve found it a thousand times weirder having Spike go “Yeah, I don’t want to bug Buffy with the whole ‘me being alive’ thing.” At least in ghost form it was understandable, now it’s hella contrived. He flies around the world to get a soul, flies back (while crazy, no mean feat), and now he’s all “Ehhh, I want to do something with my life first.”
Pick up the phone, you ponce.
While the Slayerettes showing up didn’t bother me as much as it bothered you, I do think it lends itself to some interesting questions. It may be safe to assume that there aren’t any active Slayerettes in LA (that weren’t in an asylum), and these had to be pulled from Cleveland, Poughkeepsie, Jersey, American Samoa, etc, and this lack of concentrated forces is why Andrew was there alone (presumably there not being another Slayer within reach where he was when he got tapped). One can also assume that even though he’s being trained by Giles, the USA is Andrew’s turf. A little odd, him being the weakest link and all. Frankly, I think it would have been more interesting to have Faith and Robin Wood show up (even though he irritates me), but they are busy with their own shows.
To be frank, the Whedonverse pulls crap like this *all the time.* To my knowledge, Buffy & Faith never got the direct memories of Spike killing other slayers, even though it was implied in the BTVS pilot. This girl gets them because she’s crazy. WTF? There are lots of examples of them retconning stuff to make the current episode make sense, and that just bugs me. You made it up in the first place (or work for/with the person who did). This isn’t “Enterprise” for god’s sake.
As an aspiring storyteller, I’m always irked when we all must gather together as a community to try to make sense of these types of things on a show, especially when a lot of the time it’s little things that could have been explained during the, well, exposition, but just weren’t. Sadly, it just comes off a lazy.
Not that I’m complaining mightily about Angel, I still thought it was well done. I didn’t catch most of these nits upon first watching, so it’s hard for me to be irritated now. I bought it while I was watching, so IMO the onus is on me and my willing suspension of disbelief.
must…stop…typing…
Regarding Andrew not mentioned Anya:
Why would he? Angel and Wesley both knew Buffy, Giles, Xander, Willow and Dawn. Kennedy was only mentioned in conjunction w/ Willow. A lack of mention of Anya wouldn’t seem weird.
Now, regarding the use of Andrew altogether:
First, let’s think in terms of the real world situation. Yes, Xander might have been a better choice, but was Nicholas Brendan available/willing at the time? Sometimes you have to make due with what you’ve got.
Second, Andrew may be the best man Giles had available. Replacing the Council of Watchers can’t be a trivial taks. Andrew may be a watcher not because Giles thinks he’s a great choice, but because he’s available and willing. I can’t recall the dialogue relating the gist of the phone call (I can’t even remember if Angel or Wesley made the call), but I don’t think it’s certain that Giles personally said he was sending his best man. For that matter, it’s possible that Andrew took the call….
Finally, regarding the disposition of Andrew (i.e., his not being in jail):
It’s possible to convict someone of murder even in the absence of a corpse. However, given the details of this circumstance, the courts would have a more difficult time with their prosecution. All Andrew has to do is tell the truth, and he’s likely to be considered insane.
Also, he may not have much power, but it is possible that he’s someone (like, for instance, Faith) who could only be held in jail, in the long run, at his own sufferance. Also, consider his involvement in the Trio – he remained involved once significant criminal acts had been done because a person with a (relatively) more forceful personality had taken charge. Prison might not be the best place to put Andrew – someone could get him to wreak some real havoc there.
Angel’s was a fun episode to watch, I had some issues with it as well, but nothing that hasn’t been addressed here already, so I’ll leave it at that.
Now Smallville: one thing that bugged me from the moment it became apparent that Clark was hypnotized to kill Chloe is why didn’t he use his powers to do it? We know from Lana’s case that the instructions weren’t specific as to the method to be used, just “Kill Chloe”.
Watching the show has made me so paranoid in regards to Lionel that I never made the connection between Adam Knight and Bruce Wayne; I just immediately reached the conclusion that Lionel planted him there in the hope that he’d learn more about Clark through Lana, with Adam’s story of how his parents died just an easy way to establish a rapport with her.
I have a somewhat far fetched theory regarding Lex’s future. What if the Lex that faces off against Superman in the future is actually Lionel? Here’s how I see it playing out: Lionel is not the kind of person who accepts defeat, even against an enemy like old age, and much weirder things than a mind swap have happened in the show already. Some might say that the psychic from season 1(?) saw that Lex would bring much pain to the World, but maybe she was reading the future of the body, not of the mind (so to speak). A mind swap could also be the resolve for the Chloe/Lois situation, with Chloe deciding to keep what happened a secret, perhaps so that Lionel wouldn’t know that she was on to him.
Raphy
OK, first off, Buffy needed help FINDING the slayer. What buffy didn’t trust is to LEAVE THE SLAYER IN W&H’s Care. Nothing more or less. The slayers couldn’t have possibly helped in that area seeing as they are untrained and have no prior knowledge of LA. The who “we don’t trust you” bit is just the running theme of the whole season which is that Angel is doubting which side he’s really on. you know the whole “Can’t we make it thru one day with out saying that word (Gray area)”.
Regarding Clark as Superman:
By series end, look for Clark’s final power to be super-hypnotism, with which he will cause all of Smallville–Lex in particular–to forever blur the connection between his past and future selves.
Regarding Chloe as Lois Lane:
See above. 🙂
I thought this last episode was rather good…considering the rest of the season which started out great and then sort of dropped off. The characters don’t really jump out at you in terms of personality. They are all about as exciting as cement. Cordelia added a lot of oomph to the show up until last season…ughh.
I think the idea of bringing Andrew in was a good one. I like the tie-ins to Buffy…as I dearly miss that show. I just hope they can bring in some more characters to spice it up a bit. In my personal opinion…get rid of Fred and Gunn, they add nothing to the show…at least currently they don’t. I miss the witty writing that used to make the show so great. Every once in a while it shows up, but it isn’t what it was.
OK, first off, Buffy needed help FINDING the slayer.
Well, how about finding out that this was a Slayer in the first place? Angel knew from reviewing the tapes, and Spike knew from personal interaction. But how would Giles and the newly reformed Council know? Far as they knew from second hand reports, this was just a possible. And THAT’S why Andrew was sent….
i liked the episode, although it is so hard to imagine willow/kennedy in brazil, xander in africa, and buffy in rome…. almost information/imagry overload.
onto the comments,
#1, andrew proved himself worthy by the end of buffy season 7. he was a less valued, but still valued, member of the group. who did bond with the hero (spike)
#2, why wouldn’t buffy/giles enlist w&h to help. if only for to see what was going on in LA first hand. buffy and giles get together, trick andrew (annoying and kind of expendable) into thinking he has an important mission to save the crazy slayer and spy on angel. tell the slayers that if anything goes wrong (i.e. andrew dies in the corporate restroom) they can swarm and destroy. and then casually take slayer once she is secure.
#3, andrew was authorized to take the slayer back, and therefore was authorized to let angel know that he is not 100% trusted anymore.
#4, buffy and gang (the internatinoal scoobies?)have every reason not to trust angel and his crew. if anybody understadns the power and subtle persusion of evil its them. hëll, angel and gang arent even sure if they trust w&h.
i see wolfram and hart seriously downsizing by the end of this season. this new becoming a monster to kill a monster thing never ends with hugs and puppies.
I hate coming in late on Roundup day. So, after editing my original notes, here’s what’s left:
Smallville:
It was nice not seeing Lionel Luthor as the immediate Villian Dujour.
Angel:
Some people above me have spectulated about an Andrew-bot. But what if it’s really Andrew and he’s being trained by a Giles-bot?
Meanwhile, Gunn seems to be the only one truly adjusting to life at W&H, but how’s it going to effect everyone once W&H are ‘dealt’ with?
Considering that Sarah Michelle Gellar will not be appearing on Angel until at least 2005 (if ever?), what are the chances of some of the other former Buffy cast members guest starring?
I am shocked at how many issues fans have with last week’s Angel episode. I thought “Damage” was phenomenal. It perfectly combined the stand-alone formula with the themes of this season’s arc. It was entertaining for casual viewers and incredibly rewarding for long-time Buffy/Angel watchers. I think to nitpick every detail is to miss the point. As this is a fantasy show, it requires some suspension of disbelief.
Although I would have loved to see Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, or Anthony Stewart Head as guest stars, using Andrew made the last scene even more unexpected. As even Spike noted, no one could have expected the ponce’s double cross. Andrew benefits from a history of low expectations. Also, without Andrew, how else would we have enjoyed those hilarious LOTR references about Spike?
As far as the revelation that Buffy doesn’t trust Angel, I found that to be both completely believable and heartbreaking. Not only does it add on to Angel’s self-doubts about his decision to take over Wolfram & Hart, but it really underlines Angel’s overall theme through five years. I’ve always believed that more so than BTVS, Angel was always about the “shades of gray”. This is precisely why it is pointless to wonder why Willow, Andrew, or Faith are not incarcerated. As the hero himself is not pure, the show never sees things in black and white terms. This is a universe that recognizes that there is good and evil in all beings human and non-human. (Besides, even in the real world murderers roam free, does anyone remember OJ?)
I loved it when the twelve slayers appeared out of nowhere. There’s something empowering to see grown men with machine guns back off in fear of 12 seemingly innocuous teenage girls (although I wished they were more attractive or better dressed).
Didn’t anyone else find the last scene when Spike and Angel discuss the nature of evil touching? Despite their mutual disdain for one another and their dramatically different personalities, in this scene, both soulful “vampyres” prove that they are the only two who can understand what the other is going through.
After this episode, all I could think was how great a Buffy movie would be with her army of slayers and new Watcher’s council … like “X-Men minus the crappy third act”.
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with this review. I thought this episode was perfection from beginning to end.
Another contrived moment in this weeks ANGEL: Dana was kidnapped and tortured years ago, the LAPD unable to find the guy yet Angel and co solve the case and guess what he died five years ago. And they do this how exactly? Because we now know she was held in a distillery so therefore it must have been… HUH?
I’m astounded to hear anyone found Andrew’s LOTR jokes actually funny as opposed to pathetic funny. For me, he crosses that line between being annoying to other characters and annoying to the audience, and the Mutant Enemy writers never seem to have gotten that balance right with him, except in that “Storyteller” episode on BtVS last year. The LOTR routine here was a perfect example of that–every second it kept going on was more nails on the chalkboard.
(Now, Xander making a Nick Fury reference, or shouting “Parlay!” at an approaching Psychoslayer, those would have been funny…..)
Checkout another review of Angel
Review from:
http://www.cityofangel.com/episodes/index.html
“Damage”
Is there a better example of an episode that perfectly blends the standalone format with the vast mythology of the series than “Damage?” Writers Steve DeKnight and Drew Goddard crafted an episode that spoke to new fans and yet sank deep into the characters and the legacy of the series along with tying up lose ends from Buffy’s finale. “Damage” illustrates what Joss show’s do best – they genre bust, jumping tones from scene to scene, sometimes in the space of a line reading, with a finesse that can be dazzling. From high comedy (thanks to the tremendous Tom Lenk) to the darkest of dark and violent, “Damage” touched on it all and gave us an episode with resonant messages about the nature of evil and the paths of redemption and remorse that linger long after the fade to black.
The standalone story of the week, dealing with the newly empowered Slayer, Dana (played with quiet and creepy intensity by Navi Rawat) is a frighteningly dark and disturbing look at the after effects of child abuse, while simultaneously being an engrossing exploration of the unexpected down-side of Buffy’s “gift” bestowed on all the Potentials in the world at the end of “Chosen.” She is not only tortured by her actual past, but she also suffers from the memories of Slayers past – adding to her troubled state. Considering the story stems from a Buffy storyline, it makes sense a familiar Sunnydale resident appears in the episode to help the story along. Some might have been looking for Willow or Xander, but really who better than Andrew, the redeemed nerd and now Watcher-in-Training, to come calling. Sporting a tweed wardrobe and a Dr. Who style-do with hilarious sincerity, Lenk gives a bravura turn whether he is spouting “Vampyre Slayer” lore, nibbling on Union Jack snacks or getting freakishly emotional over Spike’s return. He crams in a lot of entertainment in his brief, but memorable return.
The B-story stemming from Dana’s hacksaw rampage is the exploration of remorse and redemption especially as it applies to the souled vamps, Angel and Spike. While Angel has been brooding about his sins for centuries, Spike has seemingly moved forward to the point of mocking Angel for his lack of progress. It’s an attitude Spike pays for dearly when Dana’s psyche blends her Slayer memories of Spike’s former victims, Nikki Wood and the Boxer Rebellion Slayer, with her actual sadistic childhood abuser. She hacks off Spike’s hands in a brutally gruesome act of mutilation, yet Spike doesn’t revert to the demon in response, he instead gets back in touch with the remorse Angel still wrestles with daily trying to help Dana back to some sanity. Meanwhile, Angel gets another sobering dose of reality when Andrew informs him that his place at the helm of W&H has even caused Buffy to distrust him and his motives. It’s another blow to the gut further deeping his self-doubt and uncertainty.
It’s through such extreme events that Angel and Spike are both painfully faced with the forever burden of their past sins and future paths. The final scene, when the two men quietly talk in a stark hospital room about the origins of their evil, ranks as one of the great scenes of the show. These truly reluctant but irrevocably connected brothers have a moment of shared clarity that draws to a close with an exchange as exceptional as the scene itself when they reflect, ”She’s an innocent victim. So were we…once upon a time.”
Review by Staff Writer, Phoenix
Did love Andrew’s line of “I’ve got twelve slayers, none of which have ever dated you.”
Ditto!
Oh and I just didn’t want to believe that it was really Spike who tortured the girl in the past, for some reason that would have been harder to forgive of his character then all the blood sucking and mayhem.
( I kept thinking well maybe he was trying to get slayer information out of her or maybe…. well anyway it was a huge relief that it was in fact not him.)
Smallville:
I still don’t think Chloe’s Lois Lane. I think they put this out there to nail down the cousin thing (which has been rumored for a while but never explicitly stated), and throw some irony into the mix as well (the uninterested in journalism thing). There are simply too many contradictions with the canon if Chloe is Lois, and, to be honest, I think it’s be just… stupid.
As far as Adam being Batman, I think he’s a virtual Batman, but he’ll never be revealed as Bruce Wayne (at least officially). They’ll keep up the wink wink nod nod and never state it explicitly.
Angel:
I think Andrew may have been made a watcher out of desperation – Giles probably doesn’t have that large a pool to choose from (considering how many were killed) and – with a huge number of slayers to watch – Andrew may just have been a practical choice since he knew all of the info already.
I think Giles probably uses the slightest excuse to get rid of him though.
I also think that Angel probably hasn’t talked to the rest of the crew much about exactly what happened, since he tends to be a bit tight-lipped. And I think Wolfram and Hart will cease to exist (at least as a real world law firm) by the end of the season.