Angel

Angel, "Just Rewards" The further adventures of Captain Forehead and Casper

October 09, 2003

Don’t you just love a good buddy show ? You know - the kind where one guy is the wise old veteran, while the rookie yips around at his heels, doing things his own way, making the wise old veteran kill things with spoons and serving dishes and pine for the days of drinking the blood of gypsies and cozy Irish brothels ?

Yup, you got it - the introduction of Peaches to the Angel cast is done, not with a bang, but a big ole’ clichéd whimper.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of Spike. Think that he adds a certain edge to almost every scene he’s in (barring the entire last two episodes of Buffy). And since his English slang quotient has been increased tenfold (for the uninitiated, that’s bugger, balls, roddy, poofta, and a bunch of other silly words that sound even sillier when said with a British accent, but are anything but) I’m supposing this is less the kinder-gentler Spike we’re used to seeing and more the randy poseur that we all know and love. His introduction to the Angel Inc. crew is nicely done and I even like the ghost bit...especially since they were able to tie it in nicely with a trap set out for Angel by the Senior Partners.

However, what I don’t like about Spike is that, as unpredictable as he is, he’s as predictable as a watch. For those new to the Buffy-verse, Spike is just another loose cannon. However, for the Buffy vets out there - we know that as soon as Spike shows up on the scene, he can’t be trusted. Everything he says has to be taken with a grain of salt, every action he takes is called into question. That said, a lot of the scenes that were setting us up for "gotcha" moments fell flat. Especially Spike’s "confession" to Angel that he was ready to shuffle off. Who exactly was that scene for ? Couldn’t have been the necromancer (played wonderfully by Victor Raider-Wexler), if he had Spike "bugged," then he would’ve known about the plot. So why would he do it for Angel ? It’s one of those scenes that does a great job of convincing the audience that things are going to go in a certain direction…but ultimately don’t serve a purpose for the characters. Still, the chemistry between Spike and Angel has always been solid and rife with comedic possibilities (when they aren’t chewing the scenery over Buffy). Even if it was a bit predictable, it’s still fun to see them at each other again.

Unfortunately, the rest of the cast fades into the background this ep so that Spike and his dis-corporeal brooding can take center stage. There are some telling scenes as Legal Eagle Gunn starts to exude a little more than just confidence and slides a bit into downright condescension. Fred is, as usual, completely unsure of herself - even when she’s busy scanning Spike, I keep expecting her to drop her tech toys and run and hide in the corner. Her "partnership" with him will certainly provide some interesting moments in the coming season (after all, they can’t keep him a ghost all season...that’d just be cruel). But it’s another game of "Guess what Spike’s really thinking !" as he pours his heart out to poor, unsuspecting Winifred. Harmony ? Wes ? Window dressing, at best. Even Lorne’s lines were barely amusing. Of course, maybe that was the point of the episode, to illustrate the further fracturing of Angel Inc. by barely focusing on the rest of the team.

Sadly, that’s it. Sure, there’s a bucket o’ lawyer, and some nice shots of Angel’s new digs ; but "Just Rewards" is mainly here to introduce Spike and lay the foundation for some of the threads this season. If you’re a fan of the dynamic duo, then their bickering is certainly enough to keep you entertained for an hour. But otherwise, we’re left with an unbalanced and ultimately predictable episode.