The Calvary Has Left The Building

Well I wonder what Brian thought of the episode :)

No, really. That was a mind job like I have not seen in quite a while. I have been scratching my head so much since seeing it that I think I'm developing a bald spot.

That out of my system, that episode was damned cool. To sum it up, the whole damned thing was excellent. I have no real complaints whatsoever. This is just another M.E. episode that has reeled me in at the end. How? As I wrote about an earlier episode, the revelation that Angel had not, in fact, reverted to Angelus was no surprise whatsoever. No, I did not read it in a spoiler or anything, it's just the way the episode was put together, I was pretty sure that the whole thing was too easy.

What got me, instead, was the coolest of the cool surprise endings this season on Angel. What I do have to say though, is that this new development could possibly explain Cordelia's behavior ever since she returned. I think that may be key. We've all had a wonky feeling about her, and I'm sure this is why.

Continuing, the whole episode left us little crumbs to look forward to, and maybe even some false leads. For example:

What's the deal with Lilah's wound? She went to great lengths to show us that the wound she had suffered from the beast was not healing. This was not a capricious thing.......was it?

Why did Lilah have to die? This is more of a personal obervation to me than anything else. In the past of BUFFY and ANGEL, no recurring character has been killed unless their death has served a greater good. Jenny Calendar died to provide emotional angst for Giles and to prove Angelus' evil to the audience. It was also used to make the return of Angel's soul seem hopeless. Tara was killed (despite the compaints of fans) in an effort to further the story arc and push Willow to the dark side. Warren's death was a result of that, and has brought him back in as The First this season. Jonathan's was ritualistic. Doyle served to transfer the visions to Cordelia (besides there was a certain nobility in his death.) With all that, Lilah couldn't really be finished, could she? I feel (and hope) that we haven't heard the last from her.

The aforementioned Cordelia questions And they are abundant.

What was up with Fred's hair in the last scenes? OK, not a story-based question, but DAMN did it look good, huh?

I can't wait for the next episode. FAITH YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!

I think I will be using the three week hiatus to catch up on my older ANGEL episodes thanks to the SEASON 1 DVD collection.

The other night, I actually took some time to watch the Angel pilot. What struck me with it was that it was really good. This is not to say that I was surprised too much by that point. However, I do have this feeling about most pilots. After a show has been on for a few seasons, the pilot is generally more or less unwatchable because the show was so underdeveloped at the time, and the characters were so exaggerated that they were caricatures of what they became in later years.

This was not the case with ANGEL. ANGEL was such a full show in it's series premiere. Yes, the show has changed dramatically since then, as that a lot has happened, but it was still a fully developed show, right out of the womb.

And the best part is that the uninitiated got a very nicely laid out education. The ANGEL pilot was able to spoonfeed three seasons worth of exposition to the audience in the simplest way possible.

Doyle (to Angel): Let me tell you a story.....

That's it! That's all it took. Doyle feeds Angel his own life story. And when Angel (who's obviously heard it all before) tells him that he knows the story, that's when Doyle sets up the premise of the program. The mission statement, if you will, set up in the simplest of terms.

And back to the point about how much has happened on ANGEL, let me just say "WHOA."

Look at all the changes since the show started:

1) Gunn - Arguably one of the most angst-ridden characters when he started, Gunn has now become a firmly planted member of Angel Investigations
2) Cordelia - Originally the actress-wanabe who did the P.I. thing on the side (and as a means to actually have enough money to eat), she's now become the den mother of the group, dedicating her full resources to this new endeavor
3) Doyle leaves, Wesley comes in - While one of the saddest departures in ANGEL history, it set the stage for one of the darkest story arcs ever. Wesley finally takes a stand, and is forced to kidnap Angel's son, alienating him from the group and almost getting him killed.
4) Lindsey - One of the hotshot attorneys from Wolfram & Hart, Lindsey was the original bad boy on ANGEL, who held out on his reformation to the very end. He lost a hand in his battles with Angel, and was the one responsible for bringing Darla back to haunt Angel. Little did he know how that would turn out.
5) Detective Kate Lockley - The almost Commisioner Gordon for Angel's Batman. She showed some promise for even being a love interest for Angel, but their relationship was ultimately destroyed by Angel's demonic past and the death of her father.
6) Lorne - This bit player/lounge lizard from the second season would soon become one of the core group.
7) Fred - This plucky southern girl, freed from slavery in another dimension, became the comic relief of the group, but also served as a great source of tension as well.
8) Angel Investigations - The company itself started out in a setting more befitting a P.I. firm. The office was the perfect image of the film noir detective agency. Who'da thunk they'd wind up with a whole hotel?

And that was just off the top of my head. I'm sure there is more that I have forgotten, and I'm sure I will be exploring it in the coming weeks with the Season 1 box set. I REALLY look forward to it.

  posted by J @ 11:17