Episode Review A:TS 4.09 - 4.10

[kangeiko]

Ow, did not see this one coming!

OK, from the beginning - I liked Gwen in this, despite the fact that she's still wearing that ridiculous Electra rip-off outfit. I liked how her hellhole of a place wasn't, in fact, a hellhole, and I liked the Ra-whatevers, and the spell to bring total darkness to the world. 'cause, hey, way back when in about 1999 I had this weird thought - "why doesn't the Big Bad try to bring about total darkness, 'cause that would make things a hell of a lot easier for the Eeeeevil legions?" And then I went off and wrote it. Only I never finished it, because it became too convoluted and then also there were politics. But that's beside the point. The point is that the spell makes perfect sense, and it makes me incredibly happy that someone Jossverse-connected thought so too.

I also liked Lorne and Angel's chat, what with Lorne saying everything I wanted to say to Angel, and then some. Plus, Cordelia telling Angel to get over it? Rocks. He is having an infantile tantrum, yes, thank you! Glad that it wasn't just me being paranoid.

Where is Lilah? Why is there no more Lilah around for the hot Wesley/Lilah action? Instead, we get Wesley making doe eyes at Fred. And Fred making doe eyes at Wesley and stammering in that really annoying way she has. Plus, we get further destruction of Gunn's character as a sensible, pragmatic bloke who'll work with vampires if he has to and will stake his sister if needs be - instead, we get Gunn, the guy who'll bitch endlessly about everyone. Blergh. Did he do anything constructive in this episode? Or, in fact, in the last few episodes? Other than that murder bit in Supersymmetry, Gunn's character has been wholly extraneous, and it shows.

Speaking of extraneous, do something with Lorne soon, please!

On the other hand, Connor? Is now my sweet baby boy. *pets* Which, seeing as how I started the season off thinking he's a twerp is a definite improvement. I felt really sorry for him with having to put with all the "yeah you're connected to the Beast therefore you're eeeeeevil!!" bit from Gunn (and although Fred was good in saying, duh, don't be stupid, she wasn't really convincing. Which is stupid, 'cause it's a convincing argument delivered unconvincingly, if you see what I mean). Stop being such a bitch, Charles!

Also, Angelus being connected to the Beast? ooooh, yeah. *nods*

I give this 8/10. Marks were deducted for Gunn and his utter gormlessness in this episode.



So, there was a point at which I thought, "hold on, this isn't even halfway through the season, you can't kill the Big Bad yet!" And then I remembered that it doesn't happen, so it must be something else. Curse those memories of the S4 arc! Otherwise, this episode was strangely convincing - I guess in a bad way. We've had several episodes where, after an estrangement, the group fight something together, there's an inspirational speech or two, and there is much back-slapping. So, despite the sacchrine bits - or maybe because of them - I actually believed it. I guess also because this season has been pretty unrelentingly dark, so to have this uplift felt sort of justified. Of course, to have that sucker-punch of an ending just crushed you all the more. It's like the inverse of "The Wish": you start off with a light world that gets unbelievably dark and gets darker, but then, in a flash, it's all light again, and everything is fixed. Here, you start off with a dark world, and then everything starts getting better - and better - and better - and you can't quite believe it, but everything was so dark before, maybe they're due - and better - and then, in a flash, that's all taken away, and things are even darker now that you know you dreamt the light.

Hmmm. Is it time for Emily Dickinson again? This definitely brought one of my favourite verses of hers (*) to mind. The rest of season will be all that more darker, I think, because of this episode - because this episode goes, "what if we solved the problem and had a group hug and everything was sweet and lovely like back in season 2 post-darla?" and then yanks the rug out from under your feet.

I totally see what selenak was talking about in terms of Angel requiring a lot more, now, to be happy. There was definitely the desire to fix everybody back into the roles he would like them to stick to - Connor as son, Cordelia is love interest, the rest of the gang as loyal, amiable sidekicks, and the world carrying on blissful ignorance. I notice that Angel didn't save the world in a way that got him attention, or indeed exposed the supernatural to LA's media - instead, it was a freak weather thing, and people were all happy and glowy and stuff, and went about being blissfully ignorant again. Angel wants to be a champion, not a - a - a whatever it is that has public adoration alongside saving the world. Hero? Celebrity? Anyway.

I did like how Connor's transition from hating him because of Cordelia to not hating him because of Cordelia was handled. I mean, I think it credits Connor with a lot more social skills than he actually possesses, given that he hasn't actually been socialised, but it's interesting. And it implies that Angel doesn't want to 'steal' Cordelia 'back' from Connor; he wants Cordelia to have been his all along, and Connor to understand that.

RE: Gunn and Wesley - interesting that Angel doesn't seem to actually be that interested in the reasons for Gunn and Wesley's animosity - ie the Fred question - and just wants them to shut up about it and put it behind them. Interesting, in the sense that they're hostile for the same reason that Angel&Connor are hostile (well, one of them) - and, again in this instance, the need is for the girl to remain with the guy who has 'always' had her, and the contender to understand and bear no grudges.

I'm gonna take a stand and say that's somewhat sexist, in that it objectifies women as prizes to be won, and makes men the determining factor. Sure, Cordelia says that she never 'belonged' to Connor, but she does belong to Angel - at, least, in Angel's head. And, much like modern rape law, a woman's sexuality is here 'owned'. Connor attempted to steal Cordelia away, and Cordelia was complicit in that. Therefore, she has to apologise to Angel in his fantasy, essentially for 'stealing' her own sexuality away from him. Now, 'our' Cordelia would never do that. She might apologise for hurting him inadvertantly, but she'd also point out that who she sleeps with is not his business - especially as they're not together in any way, shape or form. Fantasy!Cordelia instead yields gently - and the sex scene is cringe-worthy, too - in a very womanly fashion. With Connor, she takes charge (even though in the actual sex scene she looks bored out of her skull). She initiates the sex. Here, she yields to Angel. She waits on him. She reassures him. And, in the end, she absolves him of any guilt in staying inside and feeling happy by saying that they have waited long enough.

I have a lot more to say on the subject, but I have to go meet athena25 for coffee. Plus, I sliced my finger open and am dripping blood all over my keyboard. Must not pass out.

Um. I give this 9.5/10, for sheer upset and gutsiness. And also for Angel being a sexist pig. Yay!

* If I had not seen the sun
I could have borne the shade,
But light a newer wilderness,
My wilderness has made.