Angel

Belly of the Beast Review: Lineage

Synopsis

The camera pans down in a warehouse. A voice is saying that the line between friend and enemy does not exist for “men like us”. The camera settles on a man, flanked by two others and facing a man who we’re not supposed to recognize but who is so obviously Wes. The man is saying in situations like theirs things are settled by violence. I’m not sure what the point of this is: we know it already; so does Wes; and I’m sure this guy knows it. Perhaps some space needed to be filled. The man tells Wes they call it word of mouth advertising. Wes is as bored with it as I am. The man, Emil, just wants to make sure they know where they stand. Wes says they stand on his patience, as he agreed to meet with Emil’s distributor, not Emil’s muscle. The muscle stand there not really musclely at all, but more…I don’t know, bulky. Emil says they are there to make it more comfortable. I think those beds of nail might be more in order. Emil asks if Wes is hungry, saying Dante could make him a fish sandwich. Fish sandwich? Go all out, Emil. Wes had enough of fish in jolly ole England and decides to end the discussion. Emil tells him his distributor is merely being cautious and wants Emil to inspect the item first. Wes makes a signal. Fred comes up with a briefcase and sets it on the table. Emil, who has read his contract and knows that, as every woman must have a jones for Angel, every guy has to have a thing for Fred, drops a line on her. It thuds pretty hard. Fred gives the details about whatever she was carrying, but I pretty much lost it in the phallic symbolism of her putting the gun together. Wes tells Emil they have 200 units already and will start making more once they get a payment. Emil wonders why they would sell weapons to somebody like him. Wes says it’s okay, as long as it doesn’t show up in LA. Wes has been studying Reagan and Bush in the 80s. Wes tells Emil he’ll get nothing until he meets with his distributor. Emil gets upset that he is referred to as a middleman. Dude, you’re Malcolm in the middle. You’re Jan Brady. Emil gets over it quickly, though, and gives Wes a number to call. Emil decides to hit on Fred again, because he’s not sure if he’s hit the weekly quota, and says to think, he used to sell Wes collapsible swords. Wait, so that part of Wes’s life still exists? But if Connor…oh, never mind. Suddenly they all turn around as one of Emil’s henchmen is pulled up into the air by a chain. Everybody scatters, and Emil is all “nobody double-crosses me!”. He’s auditioning for the next Grand Theft Auto. Fred wonders who that was, as Wes gets all double-armed. Wes jumps out and shoots one of the henchmen, as Fred sits back, musing that she would have loved if she had a gun, also. Well, Fred, darlin’, you didn’t think you were out for a picnic, did you? Or are the men supposed to carry the guns? A ninja, or possibly the black knight from Monty Python’s The Holy Grail leaps down. Emil is about to say he doesn’t want any problems, but the black knight solves it by breaking his neck with a chain. Before Wes can lock on him, the black knight goes Mary Lou Retton.

Wes moves slowly, stalking, so you know whatever happens will end up being behind him. But it’s not. Fooled you. Instead, the black knight, pretty much where he was before, kicks the guns out of Wes’s hands. Before he does any further damage Angel bursts through the windows-seriously, has this man ever used a door knob? Fighting commences, including the whips and chains that Angel likes so. Our theme of the show is pretty much set, as Angel ends up breaking the knight’s neck. But it’s merely a flesh wound. Or not, as it turns out the knight is some sort of cyborg. Wes and Angel look silently at each other until Fred moans, drawing Wes to her. Angel just looks confused. Finding Fred with a wound in her right shoulder, Wes applies a handkerchief to it, probably as close as the poor sap is going to get to this bosom buddy. Wes looks miserable. Angel looks like Angel.

Standing in Angel’s office, Wes is taking a tongue-lashing, but not the sort any slash writers would salivate over. Angel is whining that Fred could have been killed and what the hell was she doing there anyway? Uh, well, she works for Wolfram & Hart, and you’ve put her in worse situations before, so shut it, Haircut. Eve argues for Wes’s side, but probably just because it amuses her to oppose Angel. Wes explains that he needed someone to demonstrate the weapon. Angel asks why there wasn’t somebody else. Wes explains (another theme of this show: Wes explaining things to people who should kiss his ass and shut up) that he needed someone who wouldn’t arouse Emil’s suspicion. Should have canceled the neck-popping cyborgs, then. Angel whines some more. Wes explains, in line with me, that Fred has proved herself before in the field. Angel bitches that they found her bleeding to death on the ground. What? I’ve bled worse shaving in the morning. And I don’t think you should mention bleeding to death on the ground to Wes. Even if his throat-slitting was erased, there’s still the gunshot to his abdomen, having the crap beat out of him by Faith… Angel tells Wes to clear it with him before he uses his people. Wes questions that, but I have to agree with Angel here. Those are his people that he shanghaied into this little adventure without any knowledge of how he messed with their lives. Wes leaves the office.

Eve suggests that Angel may have been a little hard on Wes. Angel says Fred could have been killed. Eve suggests that the wound wasn’t that severe. He tells her she wasn’t there; she didn’t see Fred. I did, though. No worse than a shaving accident. Angel says Wes can be careless. Says plan-boy. Eve suggests that Wes focuses on the big picture, without a lot of worry about the people involved. She wonders if maybe Angel is still holding a grudge for Wes stealing his son. Why would he hold a grudge? It’s not as if that really happened. I think. Eve wonders if Angel is worried about the next time Wes betrays him, trying to do the right thing. God knows I can’t wait for that moment.

Wes is gloomy. Fred comes in and says she’s been given the all clear. She is wearing a sling and seems fairly cheerful about having a grappling hook in her. Fred is all geek-giddy over taking the cyborg apart, comparing it to an M.C. Escher painting. Wes apologizes for involving her. He says he should have done a better job protecting her. Fred goes all “I am woman! Hear me roar”, so once again Angel starts something and yet doesn’t have to deal with the consequences of it. Fred says that is very patronizing. Wes says he made the call; he screwed up. But Fred won’t let it go, yelling at him for blaming himself for getting “poor” Fred hurt. If I were Wes, I would reach around and see if somebody had stuck a “kick me” sign on my back. Just as Fred is calling him childish, an older gentleman appears in the door way. Wes says quietly, “Hello, father.” For the purposes of weak humor only, Fred is forced to pretend that remark was towards her, even though Wes is not looking at her at all, and she goes on and on and on about if she were his father. Shut up, Fred. She tells him he should grow up, but then Pops says that he has tried and it doesn’t work. Wes wonders what he is doing there. Before he has barely stepped over the doorway, Wes’s pop, Roger, has already insulted his son’s manner. He introduces himself to Fred. Fred stammers, thinking of a way to get out of there. She books.

Once again, Wes wonders what Pops is doing there. Daddio says that the remaining watchers have decided to reform the council, since it did such a smashing job before, and that he had been sent to contact Wes. Wes, who doesn’t realize yet that this episode is all about humiliating him, wonders if the council wants him back. Roger, being the great baseball dad he is, says Wes’s name is a point of contention and that there are some who think Wes is the worst watcher ever and ever, amen. I find that very hard to believe, but, despite evidence to the contrary, the writers have decided to hammer this one into the ground. Wes wonders if maybe most of the council blowing up would not be the most embarrassing failure. Score! But then Dad gets all “toepick!” and says that humor is not warranted in this situation. You can’t handle the truth! He says friends and colleagues died, and Wes should give a little respect. If I were Wes, I probably would have suggested that none of my friends or colleagues died, and I would have given respect if they hadn’t been scattered over various parts of England, but then Wes is much nicer than I am. Pops says the council will take Wes back, pending Roger’s assessment. Wes tells Dad he’s not interested. Roger Dodger gets up and says it’s not time to be stubborn, “boy.” I wait for Wes to plant him on his ass, but for some reason he doesn’t.

Wes says he’s perfectly happy where he is, but Dad, being a mental sadist from days of yore, takes another route, and starts on about how Wes is working in an evil firm. He walks out the door. Wes, following him, bumps into a door and then into an employee, causing her to spill files. Because, you know, he reverts to Wes of old in situations like this. The Wyndham-Pryces continue their conversation. Dad is evil, evil, evil. Son is we’re changing it. You don’t sing me love songs. You don’t send me flowers anymore. Wes says they take their work there very seriously.

So Lorne shows up, chatting on a cell phone about Louis Gossett, Jr. What the hell happened to him. “I got no place else to go!” Wes introduces his father to Lorne. I’m almost sure Lorne is hitting on him; it’s kind of squicky. Wes explains that Lorne runs the entertainment division. Dad gets all snippy about how that could help in the fight against evil. Gunn shows up. He greets Pops, then tells Wes they’re working on the cyborg upstairs and need his help. Wes says he should head up there, and because he hasn’t been abused enough today, asks Daddy to come along.

Angel listens as Fred explains about the cyborg, nervous system, and other such stuff. Basically it comes down to the cyborg blurring the line between robot and human. Like Britney Spears. Spike asks if they’re not ruling out that a human being could have boffed a robot. Sex with robots is more common than people think, he says. It’s nice to see that soul working for him. Spike manages to knock over a glass. Eve looks at him. Wes shows up and makes the mistake of introducing his father. Spike, who as far as I can remember has had little or no personal interaction with Wes, goes on about how he thought Wes was grown in a greenhouse or something. Dad reminds Spike that they’ve met-Spike was slaughtering an orphanage and killed two of Pops’ men in his escape. Gee, that kind of sounds like a failure. Spike wanders off. Angel, seeing the success one vampire has had with Dad, holds his hand out for a shake. Dad refuses, getting all snotty. One of the few times I actually am on Angel’s side here. Guess that won’t last long. Angel and Eve leave.

Knox comes up and says they’ve been worried about cracking the cyborg open. Fred says there might be a bomb. Knox uses some excuse to get his hands close to Fred. Wes notices. I’m starting to miss Dawson, Pacey, and Joey. Now I’m going to shoot myself. Fred starts to build up Wes to Dad, so you know Wes is about to screw up big time. Dad suggests that the Academy didn’t make him Head Boy for nothing, but then says the pickings were a bit slim. Seriously, who the hell came up with “honor thy father?” How about “honor thy father until he proves he’s a bag of dung and then kick his ass?” Wes starts to dig around in the cyborgian guts, and something clicks. Wes suggests he might have activated something. Now all he has to do is walk into a classroom naked.

Knox asks if Wes sees a trip mechanism. Wes asks if he means the one he jus tripped. The camera zooms around. Paging Dr. Greene, Dr. Carter. Wes tells everybody to get out of the building. Spike starts to take off, then realizes he’s a ghost. Wes has got the “kick me” sign; Spike is wearing his “I’m with Stupid” shirt, but it’s pointing straight up. Wes tells Fred to get out of there, basically manhandling her out the door. Suddenly, all the noise stops. Wes turns around to see that Dad has stopped the bomb. Pops points out that it was a different language than Wes thought (thanks for mentioning that before), and he triggered the failsafe.

In Angel’s office. Angel asks what happened. Spike steps up and says that when Percy (Wes) was younger, he used to be known as Head Boy. Thanks, blondie. Wes explains what happened, and that his father was there to correct his error.

Pops is listening to Lorne regal him with tales.

Fred decides that’s a bad idea and goes to rescue him. Spike asks if Angel wants somebody to type up the report about Head Boy. I’m sorry, I’m not British, but is that supposed to be funny? Once Spike goes, Wes admits that it was a stupid mistake, and that he finds it hard to think straight with his dad around. Since this can tie in some way with Angel, he decides to commiserate. Angel hands Wes a file with reports similar to the cyborg they have. They’re attacking demons. Angel wonders if they’re the good guys.

Pops is telling Fred an embarrassing story, something about a resurrection spell, about Wes as Wes comes up. Wes explains that a bird had flown into his window pane, and he tried to resurrect. That’s one bad ass window pane! Wes tells Pops he wanted to ask for his expertise in some research. Dad asks if Wes is going to try to blow him up again, but at this time, it almost seems jovial rather than demeaning. They leave Fred, as Pops lightly touches his son on the back for a moment.

In the office, Pops asks about Fred and if she knows how he feels. Wes doesn’t want to discuss it. Pops asks if he has a girlfriend already. Wes says the last girlfriend he had he had to chop her head off because the higher powers decided to stab her in the neck. Pops says obviously Wes doesn’t want to discuss that. Thanks for the concern, dad. Pops says if he likes the girl, then he should tell her. You know, everybody always gives that advice, but half the time it blows up in a person’s face. Not that I’ve ever had that experience.

Wes says the name of the book he wants and it appears in the book in his hands. Pops wonders what’s the dealie, you. Wes explains the whole thing. Pops wonders if he wonders how dangerous the books are. Wes says they’re safe. Pops starts asking about locks on the door, whether or not Wes will be able to handle a prowler, if he’s bought a home-security alarm, it’s only $29.95 a month for six months!

Black knights land on the roof. Oh, boy, there’s going to be plenty of scratches.

Eve is in the elevator. Spike appears beside her and says she’s been keeping an eye on him. Spike says there’s more to her than what she’s letting on. She says the same could be said of him. Sarah Thompson is a very pretty woman, but close-ups-at least these close-ups-aren’t working for her. Spike goes over the whole amulet, meant-for-Angel spiel. Eve asks who said the amulet was made for Angel. Damn it, if they’re going to do more of this pre-destiny crap, I’m cutting out of here. The power goes out. Spike shouts out, thinking it’s all about him. He hands out with Angel too much.

Gunn and Angel wander around the building, wondering what’s going on. Angel asks for something to be shut off, and almost immediately the noise stops. Gunn suggests that the security is shut off, also. Wow, it really is easy to break into Wolfram & Hart. Angel tells Gunn to get security on the line, so he can know if it’s a false alarm. Somebody is punched and black knights fall from the ceiling, so I’m guessing no. There’s a big camera movement for no discernable reason. Gunn echoes me, the big copycat.

Pops asks Wes if this sort of thing happens all the time. A black knight bursts into the office, and for some reason Wes pushes his dad out of the way. He grabs a sword off the wall and fights with the black knight. The knight goes toward the books, but Pops approaches him. Wes throws his sword. They swing at each other, until Wes grabs the knight from behind and throws him over a chair. Pops complains that he had attack priority. Wes says they’re not fencing, and then grabs the sword and thrusts it into the black knight. They pick up the books and head out through a secret passage.

Wes puts the books in the vault, while Pops actually gives him a compliment. He asks what the next move is. Wes is surprised that Pops would ask what he thinks. As Wes says they should contact the others and continues to put the books in the vault, Dad hits him on the back of the head. Fathers.

He grabs the key and goes to another drawer, picking up what looks like a very small, very ugly walking stick. He touches his ear and says that phase one is complete. Begin phase two.

A knight is punching Angel, so I like him already. I’m gonna call him Eduardo. But then Angel, the bastard takes Eduardo down. Gunn is facing the chain gang and being tossed around quite a bit. Angel watches him get tossed and then takes one in the mouth for his troubles.

Wes naps. He sees what’s been taken. He walks around.

Pops also walks around nonchalantly, before bumping into Fred. She tells him they need to get him to safety. Amy Acker looks really good in this scene. Pops spreads some BS about Wes’s department finding something on the roof. He says Wes sent him to tell Angel about it. Fred wonders about Wes letting a senior citizen wander around unattended. Next thing you’ll know he’ll be getting with Elvis and fighting mummies. He admits he’s a little lost. Fred helps him. Way to go, Fred.

Wes peels the steel plate off the cyborg in his office. It reveals a human face. Good, Wes says, you can feel pain. As we know, it’s not a good sign when Wes realizes this. He asks if the cyborg, Eduardo’s brother Paolo (hey, it’s a multi-cultural family) can speak. They cyborg says nothing and Wes pushes the sword up harshly twice. Paolo makes some noise, and Wes pulls the sword out. He wonders if Paolo has a sense of self-preservation and reaches into his abdominal area and jiggers with the little bomb-ticky thing. Wes asks what his father is doing. Paolo points out that the explosion will kill Wes as well. Wes says it will likely kill everyone in the building, including his father. That would be one way to stop the plan.

Another black knight, Stephen, is attacking Angel. Angel dispatches of him, but is then hit by Alyosha, Stephen’s first cousin, twice removed. Eduardo’s nephew from California, Digger, has a chain wrapped around Gunn. Spike, still wearing his shirt, sees Gunn and decided to help him. Oh, wait, he can’t. Who didn’t see that coming? But then he pulls up to Gunn, tells him he has to concentrate, gets all Zenny, and punches Digger. Well, swings an elbow about two feet from Digger, actually. Alyosha is hit from behind by Pops, who gives Angel a helping hand. Angel decides to go to the roof to help Wes, followed by Pops. Fred does something, as does Gunn. Spike points out that Eve is stuck in the elevator.

Angel bursts onto the roof. Angel asks where Wes is. Pops says he’s sorry to have misled Angel, walks softly, and pulls out his big stick. Angel gets all jittery, sort of like Tawnee Welch in Cocoon, but nowhere as good. He drops, as Pops says it’s a pleasure to meet Angel, too.

Pops tells Angel not to fight it. He holds his ear again and says they’re ready for extraction. Wes comes up, grabs the stick from his hands, and they get all Face/off with their guns. Pops tells Wes to walk away, that he’ll never understand what they’re trying to do. Wes says they’re using the big stick to take away Angel’s will, to make him their slave. Wes explains that the cyborgs panic a bit too easily. Pops explains that Angel is more dangerous than Wes knows. He says Angel is a puppet. Well, I ain’t disagreeing so far. Wes gives us a synopsis of all Pops has done, including smuggling a weapon into the one cyborg. He asks if Pops ever thought of talking to Wes about it. No. Well, okay then. Pops says Wes has failed him enough for one lifetime.

Fred comes out, having borrowed the shirt from Spike, and kneels next to Angel. Wes tells Pops he knows what he’s doing. Wes says he’s done everything Pops asked and he did it well. Pops says he didn’t ask for this. Wes finally unleashes about what a rotten father Pops was, which makes the big reveal later such a load of crap. More on that later. Pops snarks that it’s LA, so they have to talk about their feelings and then maybe they’ll hug. Wes says that it’s doubtful. Pops tells Wes not to force Pops to shoot him. Wes backs up until he is able to hold the big stick over the edge of the roof. Pops says he will kill Wes for it. Wes believes him. Wes explains if he drops it, the crystal will shatter, and Angel’s will is restored. Wow, the lady or the tiger. Pops bends down, grabs Fred, and says maybe if it’s somebody Wes cares…but Wes doesn’t give him time to finish it, as he shoots Pops nine times, moving closer with each shot, shooting even when Pops is on the floor of the roof. Man, I thought I had paternal issues. Fred looks a little wigged. Wes walks away, dropping the stick and the gun, and throws up-but out of sight, for he is a polite lad. Then he turns around and sees that Pops is a cyborg, too. Yeah.

Angel is in his office, feeling pretty sick. Wes tells him it should wear off before too long. They wonder what the cyborgs might want with Angel. Angel muses that the perception is they’re weak. Wes corrects him that the perception is that he is weak; that’s why they went after him. Angel, having learned his after-school lesson for today, says they’re wrong, that Wes does what he has to do to protect those around him. He says Wes is the guy who has to make the hard decisions, even if he has to make them alone. Thank you! Wes says he feels like the guy who shot his own father. The two of them realize the Cyborg Syndicate had access to the Watcher’s Council records, including everything about watchers-history, psychological profile, character assessment. Angel takes a trip down memory lane and says that he killed his father, one of the first things he did when he became a vampire. Wes rightly points out that it’s not quite the same situation-well, unless Angel is trying to say that Wes is a soulless being, too.

Wes leaves and bumps into Spike. He decides to share his own matricidal history, as well as the fact mama wanted to shag him, too. Thanks, Spike. Glad you got that shirt back from Fred. Wes, his skin visibly crawling, gets out of there quickly.

Wes stands at his desk. Fred comes into the doorway. Wes says if she is there to tell him about how she killed her parents, perhaps it could wait for another time. Another cheap joke here, as Wes obviously knows her parents are alive. Fred says it’s not like Wes killed his dad, either. Fred says part of Wes knew that it wasn’t him. Wes disagrees; he says he was sure it was him. Wes says he killed his father. Fred tells him Pops was threatening his friends. He was threatening you, Wes says. Dear God, man, just throw her on top of the desk and get this over with. Then move on, one way or the other. Fred is about to say something, so of course Knox comes in. Knox, interrupting, asks if he’s interrupting. Knox says he thought he was going to take her home. Fred says that Wes and she were just…but then Wes tells her to go. This is just like My So-called Life, except that Wes isn’t on a bike, nobody is saying “hey”, and there’s a little more patricide. Fred goes out the door, with one last glance back at Wes. Knox, who at least doesn’t mean to be a prick, I think, puts an arm around her.

Wes watches them. He looks down slowly, picks up the phone, and dials a number. He greets his mother and says he was hoping to speak to his father. He waits for him to get on. He greets him, but then is interrupted with his father telling him how late it is. Wes says that of course they have clocks in Los Angeles. Wes says that nothing is wrong, then seems to deflate, and says that he just wanted to call. To see how he was.

Review

The Basics

This is the first episode Drew Goddard has written for Angel. Judging by his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was expecting a lot. Unfortunately, I got a lot less than I expected. I don’t know if it was difficult for Mr. Goddard to make the transition between shows or if things just didn’t jibe for him somehow, but this just felt like half a show. Of course, the one half of the show I liked I liked a lot. It was fantastic stuff, in which both the writer and the actor (Alexis Denisof) seemed to be on the same page. Unfortunately, the material written for most of the other actors seems quite different. It’s as if he wrote “Conversations with Dead People” and then mixed it in with the episode “Go Fish” and expected it to work. It just didn’t. There’s not an episode of his from Buffy that I don’t like (and two of them are probably around my top ten list somewhere), so I expect much better material in the future (which, since he is writing or co-writing episodes eleven and thirteen, will be very soon). I will go more into what I felt was wrong and right in this episode later.

The direction, on the other hand, was pretty spot-on the entire time. Jefferson Kimble did an excellent job, especially when he was just able to rest the camera on Wes’s face. The lighting department should also get props. There was a darkness over this episode (even more than most) and also a sort of filminess that I felt worked so well with the story they were trying to tell.

The Story

Well, the story this season has continued a little. I think. Spike can still move things. Angel is still not comfortable with his position, and now there are other people who are attacking him because of it. We see in the next episode that Lindsey is somehow a player in this, too (and let me get this out right now-if Lindsey is just back to being evil Lindsey again, I’m out. I give up. No mas.).

One thing I did enjoy is that there were at least some clues that Angel’s whole mind-wipe plan may be coming to the forefront sometime soon. For a long time, I thought the writers were just going to sweep that under the rug and basically start anew and pretend everything before this season did not happen. I hope this is not so. Also, I’m confused. Since the memory was wiped away, and Eve says the others don’t remember the actions they did during that time-or at least Wes doesn’t remember kidnapping Connor-then how do they explain Wes remembering he had to cut Lilah’s head off. I don’t mind an explanation that doesn’t make complete sense; I just want an explanation I can at least latch onto.

One of my main problems with Angel this season is that it’s a little too Simpsony. What I mean is that no matter what happens, it seems that some things never change. Bart is always ten years old. Angel is acting the same way he always has. Wes is still hung up on his father at the end of the episode. More on that later, too. I just need some movement in this series. Right now, it’s a beautiful car resting on blocks. Somebody needs to take it down, put some hot tires on it, and run that bitch down the street.

Your Part-Time Players

Some of the characters didn’t have much to do this episode, so I’m just going to lump them in here altogether.

Lorne was just used mainly for comedic purposes. Once again, I am confused as to why he’s a regular. I can understand it’s a reward for the work he’s done, but he served no real purpose in this episode.

Gunn served no real purpose, either. And he really should have. One of the things I want to see is the relationship between Wes and Gunn, however it may be now. But that relationship, like the one between Gunn and Fred, seems to have been removed from the collective mind of the writers, much less the characters. I still don’t buy Gunn as lawyer-man, but J. August Richards is doing the best with what he’s given.

Knox. He’s evil, man. I don’t know how, but he just is. I can tell. It’s not that I just dislike him being the rival for Fred’s affection (hell, it seems like everybody is). Actually, I pretty much wish they would put him and Fred together and just let Wes move on somehow. Again, more on this later. Bu there’s just something about Knox that makes me suspicious. It’s not the actor, either, since he’s been in all three ME shows. I think this character is going to play a bigger part later, somehow.

By this time, we know that Eve is spreading sheets with Lindsey, so I’m not sure how I feel about her. As with the Wes/Fred/Whomever triangle, I’m afraid of one between Eve, Angel, and Lindsey. I certainly do not want to see a rehash of the Darla situation. I’m glad Lindsey is back, but like this? I don’t know. Future is cloudy. Ask again later. Eve, like so many of the other characters, feels like a bookmark right now. She’s just waiting for the time for her to be essential, and unfortunately it has taken a long time this season for that to happen.

Angel

I don’t have a problem with Angel not trusting Wes. I have a problem with Angel being a hypocrite and not being able to see it. He has forced everybody to live a different life, but then he gets all up in Wes’s face for his actions. And I’m still a little ticked that Wes had to take the browbeating from Fred that Angel deserved. Angel’s main problem is that he’s a foul-weather friend. The only time he seems to be there for somebody is when they’re at their ultimate lowest.

Spike

Spike was just wasted in this episode. I felt sorry for James Marsters. There have been times in the past when people have complained about how Spike has been changed over the years. I was not one of those people. However, this episode, I just kept going, what the hell happened to Spike. For one thing, Spike has never been stupid. Reckless? Yes. Stupid. No. And, also, why all of a sudden would Spike show concern for either Wes or Gunn, when there has been no indication before? I could understand him showing concern for Fred or even Angel, but nothing has indicated anything between the other characters.

The one thing I’m glad of is that he spoke to Eve and at least moved the plot, whatever it is, along somehow. And his comment about her still being in the elevator was funny.

I don’t quite understand the use of his (and Angel’s) stories about killing their parents. It’s like watching the end of Return of the King, only to see Frodo slip on a banana into the fires of Mount Doom. What Wes went through was something very heavy, even if it wasn’t actual patricide, and this use of humor, in addition to the whole cyborg thing, totally threw the episode away. Some dark humor is often necessary, but this humor wasn’t dark. It was just lame and kind of icky.

Fred

Amy Acker gets more beautiful each episode. Her character probably irritates me more each episode. Actually, I still like Fred, but I am not down with the whole situation with her and Wes. I probably would not mind them being together, but I don’t like how it is right now. And I certainly don’t need a rehash of Wes likes Fred, but Fred likes someone else. Why would the writers cover this territory again?

And, although Fred is generally soft-spoken, most of her ire and sarcasm seems to be reserved for Wes, also. I watch these two characters, and all I can think of is the dating plan on Sports Night, and I just want to call Joss up and ask what the hell is he doing. Ship or don’t ship, but get me out of this hell somehow.

Wes

I save most of my commentary for Wes, since it was primarily his show. He was the best part of the show, and in some fashion the worst part, although through no fault of the actor.

Alexis Denisof was superb this episode. He was able to incorporate both “ends justifies the means” Wes and bumbling Wes within the same space, something probably very difficult to do. Once again, he proves himself to be probably the best actor on the show when it comes to doing nothing at all. When the camera lingers on his face, you can see about twenty different emotions appear on it.

The scenes with Wes in them all worked-individually. It’s only when the scenes form an episode that problems arise. His end scenes with Spike and Angel should be in a different episode. His first scene with Fred in his office, while emotionally powerful on his part, was obviously, from the start, a set up for Roger Wyndham-Pryce to show up.

All of his scenes with his faux-father worked. It is only in light of the ending that I had problems with it. I have gone back and forth on the revelation that his father was actually a cyborg. At first, I thought it was just a cheap out. Then, as pointed out to me by a friend, I looked at it as to whether or not I wanted to watch Wes all season deal with having killed his father. Now I think I am pretty much back to the cheap out. And perhaps I wouldn’t have been so much, except that his telephone call to his real father revealed that, in this Simpsonic episode, nothing really has changed. Wes is still culled by his father. If Wes had been able to make even a small step forward with his father, perhaps I could have forgiven the gutlessness of making it a cyborg. But they didn’t.

Until the reveal came, though, it’s hard to argue with the simple brutal feeling of Wes putting nine bullets into his “father” without any thought. And then slowly walking away and puking.

Nitpicks and Observations

So does anybody else wonder how long it’s been since Wes has talked to his parents? This seemed to come as a great surprise to him, and yet if he had talked to his mother recently, he might have either known it was coming or been more suspicious. What, we can have Lorne pop up for little more than a cameo, but no Harmony? With all the slo-mo and attention they given to Wes and his guns over the last year or so, who else is expecting a Hot Shots, Part Deux-like parody? So, wait, were they men under machines? Or machines under men? Should I care? Can somebody please tell me at least one way or another what Fred, Gunn, and Wes remember? Is that so hard? Has Cordy been mentioned since the first episode? Connor’s name has been given a lot of play, but not so much for Cordelia. Okay, who else thought that with both Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer off the air that this season would be awesome? If so, how disappointed are you so far? Who else besides me is pretty much okay with this right now simply because on the 17th Return of the King comes out. “Well, I’m back.”

Some Final Thoughts

This episode is a strange one for me. Because, despite some of the things I’ve written, I did like it. This is an episode I will probably watch several times. However, when I do watch it, I will keep my remote close by and fast-forward through much of it. In the end, I will probably have a good 20-25 minutes of very powerful television.

This is the episode I had promised to do a review on (actually, I made a mistake and wrote the eighth one, but I meant this one, because I wanted to write a review for the Wes episode). I thought, since the show won’t be on again until sometime in January, about writing a review for the next episode, in which Lindsey McDonald appeared. The truth is that I just can’t work up the nerve to write it. This season so far has been very frustrating for me. What I think will happen, and what I hope, is that the second half of the season will steamroll along and all the questions I had before will be answered, and all the players will get a chance to play their parts. As the episodes come, there might be one or two that will strike my fancy that I will want to write about. There might even be an episode that I hate so much that I have to write about it, but I hope that doesn’t happen. So until such a time comes, I hope you enjoyed this one, whether you agree or not.