Angel

Angel bits 10/2/03 •Just who is this mysterious stranger Corbin Fries ? If he looks familiar it’s because he’s no stranger to "guest spots" on the small screen. You may have seen the actor, AKA Rod Rowland in other dark and spooky dramas that include "C.S.I," "Dark Angel" and "The X-Files." Most recently Mr. Rowland appeared in "Hard Cash" with Christian Slater and Val Kilmer. •If you plan on being in the San Diego area on Saturday October 11, you’ve got to get yourself to the Buffyfest (for fans of both Buffy and Angel) ! Tickets are a little steep, $50-$75 a pop and you can’t get ’em at the door. But the gig is from 9 :00 AM to 6 :00 PM and will be held at the beautiful Downtown San Diego Concourse. Guest panelists will include Mark Lutz "Groo," as well as Andy Hallet "Lorne" (worth the price of admission alone to see the guy without his greenery), and many, many more from both in front of the camera and from behind the scenes. Check it all out for yourself at the official Buffyfest website at http://www.buffyfest.com/

•There are three TV shows that TV Guide featured this summer because the in-house scribes simply could not wait until the fall to begin discussion. The first two - we’ll they’re really unimportant. The one we’ll focus on is Angel of course. TV Guide (and fans of the show) know it’s no small feat getting Joss Whedon back to man the ship again after the official end of his other creation, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Fans of the show also know that it came close as one can get to kicking the proverbial bucket at the end of last season, but with new additions like Spike everyone sees new life.

WB president Jordan Levin told the Guide that the changes this season are a result of creative direction. "We wanted to brighten the show." So along with the arrival of Spike, expect the arrival of more light humor - right alongside of the angst of course. Not only have Spike and Harmony signed on for the season but word has it that SMG herself readily agreed to appear in a couple of episodes as well. So how does the head honcho feel about Buffy and her newest love heading to LA ? "Remember, it’s called Angel," Boreanaz says.

KTLA on Angel 5.1 "Conviction" http://ktla.trb.com/entertainment/wbnetwork/stv-angel-pkgepisodes.special#conviction

5th season episodes

Conviction Season Premiere Original air date : October 1, 2002 Written and Directed by Joss Whedon

What’s the case : A dark alley, a helpless damsel in distress, a nasty vampire attacks and Angel arrives just in time to save the day. Nothing has changed…except the S.W.A.T. team, Public Relations rep, legal types and the paparazzi that appear at the rescue scene as soon as Angel is done with the saving. Welcome to Wolfram & Hart. Fred and Wesley have a bit of trouble finding their way around the gigantic office building of Wolfram & Hart-which they now call home. Truth be told, no one, with the single exception of Lorne, really feels comfortable in the place. The gang is quickly introduced to the W&H Senior Partner Liaison Eve who reminds Angel Inc. that in order to keep this business running, they’ll have to keep the business running. In other words, their clients will be evil but at least attempt to stop the worst of it by finding new solutions to old problems. Not at all comforting to know that the scum they used to fight are now their clients. And we won’t even get into the potential evil of the W&H staff.

What’s up with Angel : The good news is no more traveling by sewer. The bad news is that a tracking monitor is attached to his lapel. Our hero isn’t exactly happy to have to represent scum like Corbin Fries, who is guilty of just about every evil that the undead L.A. lifestyle can conjure up. Fries lets Angel and the gang know that he’s not about to go down in this trial he appears to be losing. They better do all they can to keep him out of the big house because he’s planning on dropping the bomb if he gets convicted. The bomb you ask ? After some serious sleuthing, Fred and her staff of science dudes discover that this bomb is a virus that has been implanted into little Fries Jr. Guess we know who won’t be getting the Daddy of the Year award anytime soon.

What’s up with Gunn : The W&H senior partners have chosen Gunn for a very special assignment. Apparently it all happened during the time the fella spent in the white room, chatting with the big cat. Think back to the season finale fans ! Some electro-shock action later and Gunn is a new man…

What’s up with Wesley, Fred and Lorne : They are each attempting to get used to their new surroundings and situation. Fred heads up an entire team of science nerds who work around the clock at her request. Wesley continues to be big with the research and Lorne, after decorating his office quite nicely, screens the old W&H employees with singing tests in order to weed out the evilist of the evil.

What’s up with Harmony : She’s back with the team and expecting them to forget all about how she left them for dead. The vampy vamp has been assigned as Angel’s new assistant (don’t call her secretary). As it turns out, Harmony has been with Wolfram & Hart for a couple of years now. A working undead gal needs a solid job and a good dental plan just to get by in the big city after all.

How does it all wrap up : The whole evil virus planted in Fries’ son doesn’t sit well with Angel. Everyone else may have forgotten about his son Connor but he hasn’t. Liaison Eve gets it but tells him to get over it. Unfortunately as the Fries trial begins to wrap up it looks more and more like he’ll be convicted and "drop the bomb" on the unsuspecting city/state. The good news being that California would be able to skip that whole embarrassing recall mess. The bad news is that the task force (A.K.A. the S.W.A.T. team) dispatch themselves, along with the clean up crew to the kid’s school. Traditionally these folks handle all fieldwork but this doesn’t sit well with our brooding hero. Angel arrives at the school prior to the task force and the vamp takes on his very own employees. A brawl ensues. Just as things start to look very grim, Gunn arrives in the courtroom, decked out in a very smart suit, and demands a mistrial ! The man throws around all kinds of legal mumbo jumbo that all adds up to the fact that the judge had an investment in one of his client’s companies. Not so good for the legal system. Genius ! Fries is free and the state is saved ! As it turns out-Gunn was selected to get some big time lawyer-type knowledge implanted into his brain (along with some Gilbert & Sullivan but that’s a long story). Apparently he had the most untapped resources and now he can help out the cause without bustin’ heads…physically. As the gang gathers back at the office they’re frustrated that they had to let the "bad guy" go to save millions. Angel decides that it’s just a matter of figuring out how to use this powerful weapon that is Wolfram & Hart. He convinces his old pals that they can handle anything that comes their way. Just as he says this, a crazy amulet falls out of a small package on to the floor, and slowly, painfully, morphs into…Spike !