Tom Charman

306 | Billy

Andy: Crumbs! An action packed episode. It’s nice to see Billy dead and a bit of a schism in Wolfram and Hart. Fred has trouble with possessed men — she should learn to whoop some ass. I feel sorry for Wesley. He’s always such a nice guy and to have attacked Fred like that, the poor guy. He’s going to be distraught for weeks. He’s lost all confidence in himself. Gunn managed to get himself knocked out at least. Far more sensible than Wesley. Angel was immune to the bad guy’s powers this week. How did Angel manage to sneak up on Cordelia and Billy at the airport? It’s not like there were any walls to hide behind. What was that earthquake/slamming the ground thing that Billy did at the end while he was fighting Angel?

Tom: Awesome. Great development for or the characters. It’s about time Cordy learned to fight, and I loved seeing her take an active role in the plot and her keen sense of responsibility. But the big prize for the episode goes to Alexis Denisof (Wesley). From psychotic to devastated, and carried them both off well. I don’t know how Wes or Fred will deal with this, though Fred seems fairly unconcerned. Wesley should probably have brain damage from that fire extinguisher though. Not such a big role for Gunn, his small bit was excellent too.

307 | Offspring

Andy: A bit of an aimless episode this one. The writers obviously don’t want to give anything away yet so the episode is stretched a bit to fill in time. I like the Angel-Cordelia relationship but it does seem to be taking away focus from the other characters. None of the other characters really cared whom Angel had been sleeping with and Wesley has forgotten about last week’s problem. Angel has far too much of a soft spot for Darla. He should just stake her again and be done with it. I think Darla should be come part of the gang. She fits in so harmoniously.

Tom: A bit of arc-advancement as Darla returns with her lump and Holtz rises again results in a fairly standard, going-through-the-motions episode. Most of the bright spots come near the start, with Angel’s shock (then interest) at the thought of him and Cordelia together, Wesley and Gunn’s occasionally bumbling break in, and the Host demonstrating once again that no one can pun better than he. I was glad Cordy said she was stupid for getting so close to Darla, because we were all thinking it. Wesley obviously hasn’t forgotten about his problem with Fred, but as he is only with her in one scene there is little scope for advancement–perhaps next episode. Not a great episode this one, but plenty of bright sparks within it. It just goes to show how effortlessly they can make the characters on this show entertaining. Perhaps they could nip over to the Buffy set and teach them a thing or two.

308 | Quickening

Andy: This end-of-the-world has a slow build-up. The characters don’t know if the child will be evil so they unable to do anything. Too bad about the Jedi. He probably spent years training to get those powers. I liked the evil doctor. I was hoping he’d get his chance to dissect Darla.

Tom: A kind of average, plot advancing episode. Not quite as funny as your average Angel–the Ninja guy getting killed was below lame, and only Darla’s peculiar relationship to the group raised any smiles with me. Perhaps though we’ve been spoiled with the initial run of character-based episodes. This new boss guy at Wolfram & Hart is crap as. How I long for the days when that law firm had menace–the days of Holland Manners and Lindsey McDonald. Gavin is beginning to grate also. Fred was given some pretty lame dialogue this week too. Hmmm. This really wasn’t much chop, was it?

309 | Lullaby

Andy: Very dramatic episode with prophecies all coming true and what-have-you. It is a big build up. I hope it it worth it. End-of-the-world events are fairly common so it can be a bit hard to get excited about them. A good thing about Darla. I never liked her and it was an easy and quick way to give birth. How did Wesley & co. manage to beat the demons who had taken out Wolram & Hart’s special forces?

Mattt: This was a good one. I didn’t see Darla’s death coming — she’s one of the best characters in the show, and I’m pretty disappointed that she’s dead. I liked the rooftop scene with Darla.

Tom: Wowsers. I doubt anyone was expecting Darla to go like that. Far better than last week’s episode, with meatier stuff given to everyone: Angel, Holtz, Darla… Oh, but not the regulars, unless you count everyone hitting Gunn in Caritas to see if the sanctuary was working. Perhaps they could have been given something to do? Poor old Lorne. I wonder if this bar-destruction thing is going to become a running gag. Very cool way to do it though–I loved the singing and the look on Lorne’s face. And Angel has a baby–will it be a baby all season, or be supernatural and grow up really quick? That’s the trouble with babies who are supposed to save us–there’s a bit of waiting around involved. Nice ending also. I don’t know what Holtz is thinking, and I like that a lot.

310 | Dad

Andy: That’s the exciting part done. Now we have to wait until the kid grows up. Why don’t Wolfram and Hart have special people to stop Angel entering their building? It’s fortunate that all the bad guys have eaten each other.

Mattt: The chase after the baby was kind of lame. Not a bad episode, but not that good. I don’t like those lawyers any more. Holtz just felt sleazy when he was recruiting that girl. It was more like he was propositioning a hooker.

Tom: What a cool family Connor has. If he survives he should be quite happy. Angel’s reaction to the baby was funny and in character, I thought, and Holtz’s recruitment was interesting, even if the graveyard did look kind of familiar… I was impressed with the twist, and it was nice to see the group actually doing something clever rather than rushing in and hitting things. Even though that was cool when Wes had the flamethrower. Can I just reiterate again how crap Wolfram and Hart are these days? No challenge whatsoever. Linwood was a bit better, while Gavin Park reached new depths of crapness. I’m going to go to the senior partners myself and point out just how shit things have become.

601 | Bargaining, Part One

Written by Marti Noxon Directed by David Grossman

Andy: Poor old Buffy. She’ll suffocate trapped in that coffin. Oh well, they’ll just have to try something else. I liked the bit when Tara went grrr argh in the airport with the little finger monster.

Mattt: I didn’t like this episode. Didn’t like Tara, didn’t like Anya, didn’t even like much of Xander, or… anyone. Except Willow — I like where she might be going. She’s the only one who shows signs of growing this season. I liked the fighting the vampires at the start also.

Tom: Bit of a disappointment. Takes so long to get anywhere, and then ends fairly abruptly. I was a little shocked to see Buffy’s emaciated corpse. Ew. I’m embarassed to say that Giles’ farewell made me a little teary. Even though I know he’s coming back later.

602 | Bargaining, Part Two

Andy: Poor old Buffy. She’s a bit confused about what’s going on. No- one’s really explained what’s going on and why she isn’t dead.

Mattt: Lame. I liked the bit where she was trapped in the coffin. The suspense was rather killed by having seen Buffy do all the stuff that the others were working out slowly. I suppose that Buffy being reincarnated was the point, but as we knew it was going to happen all the little revelations throughout the episode were ruined.

Tom: An episode of sitting around talking leads into an episode of constant action. That’s what you get when you split up a double length episode I suppose. For the first time in a while I was really impressed with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s acting. I wish Xander could get vaguely good at fighting. Heck, just vaguely good at SOMETHING. He seems to have even dropped the ball in the going for doughnuts department.

603 | Afterlife

Andy: Xander and co. are boring.

Mattt: A very tense episode. I liked the eyes, and the final revelation. Nice to see Buffy fighting something non-corporeal for a change. Very interesting revelation about Buffy in heaven. Tara still looks dopey. I believe she is ruining this series, and possibly has an IQ of 80.

Tom: At last, a good, run-of-the-mill episode on Buffy. And pretty scary in places. Recently the only good ones have been the ‘event’ ones. Great stuff from SMG and Michelle Trachtenberg this week. And Spike is back in form. Awww. I’m worried that he might be getting just a little too cuddly though. And the final scene — fantastic.

604 | Flooded

Andy: Now that the interesting characters (Giles and Buffy) are back things are looking good. But one of the nerds on Buffy is called Andrew — lowering the average coolness of Andrews anywhere.

Mattt: I loved the nerds. Very funny, but a little too close to the bone at points. So far so good for the season. I am impressed. Nice to see Giles back, and a good scene between Spike and Buffy on the steps.

Tom: Average. The argument between Giles and Willow is the highlight — especially after their sweet farewell only three episodes ago. Buffy has gone from the most boring character to the most interesting. The evil nerds are alright, but I hope they don’t outstay their welcome.

605 | Life Serial

Andy: Are those nerds this season’s villians for Buffy? They can’t be too hard to vanquish. It is about time Jonathon was killed. Too bad that the death star picture on the side of the van was painted over.
It was pretty good although conspicuous. Buffy has ‘on previous episodes’ at the start of each episode almost every week at the moment often showing the same stuff as the previous week’s one.
Are lots of fans only tuning in now and need to be updated?

Tom: Very funny. Loved Buffy’s reaction to the whiskey, the nerds’ Bond conversation/argument, the death star, the kittens. Willow’s tutorial looked like the tutorial from hell. My postmodernism one is a little similar but not nearly as fast. Someone needs to do something about how boring Tara, Xander and Anya are though.

301 | Heartthrob

Andy: Nice one to start the series with one of those cool flashbacks to Angel’s past. Angel seems to be over Buffy.

Tom: A pretty good season opener, James was an OK villain, and are we seeing a deeper bond between Cordy and Angel than before? Glad to see Angel isn’t getting all mopey again, because I’m getting kind of sick of that. Darla has obviously been drinking way more people than is good for her figure.

302 | That Vision Thing

Andy: Things are getting confusing in Angel. They clearly have no idea of good and bad. Angel is going to get everyone killed. When did Darla get up the duff? Good thing Angel killed that hovering brain guy at the end. He looked like he could cause a lot of trouble. The Wolfram and Hart lady is intimidated by Angel. She’ll probably get kicked out soon for lack of nerve. Angel is getting edgier every episode. He’ll snap soon.

Tom: An average but fairly good hour of Angel. A bit of interesting set up for later in the season, and an indication of just how clear Angel’s priorities are now. I look forward to the return appearance of Skip.

303 | That Old Gang of Mine

Andy: On and on goes the struggle in LA. It seems not everyone can cope with such a diverse range of species. Is Angel just trying to protect innocents or does he have a bigger plan in mind?

Tom: One of the best episodes of Angel for some time. Tense, funny, involving, and with one of the most enjoyably irritating characters we’ve seen in a while. Nice moves by Fred. A great pity about Merl though!

304 | Carpe Noctum

Andy: I loved Angel this week. I thought they did a very good body-swapping episode. The old guy should have been more cautious (and less horny)–he kept making mistakes about what was going on. It was pretty obvious that Angel wasn’t himself. Also Angel shouldn’t be so cocky that he impervious to spells. He’ll get into real trouble one day. It’s about time Fred did something with herself. She just loafs about the house all day.

Tom: Angel usually does pretty good comedy episodes, and this was no exception. I was a tad surprised about Lilah’s reaction to Angel! Fred’s still a lot of fun, especially when describing her date to Wesley. Who, by the way, needs a bit more to do.

305 | Fredless

Andy: I was hoping Fred would leave but without her I think they are lacking in minor characters. I hadn’t being paying enough attention to really notice how attached to Angel she is. She’s a bit useless for my liking. Perhaps she’ll imput more into their missions now. They quickly dealt with Buffy; I was speaking to Matt about the different networks and lack therefore of crossovers. I guess there’s been a lot of Buffy + Angel relationship focus before and it wasn’t worth revisiting. I liked the Cordelia + Wesley impersonation.

Tom: Awww, aren’t Fred’s parents lovely. This episode really brought home what a bunch of misfits the Angel cast are. Which is probably why they seem so much more interesting than their Buffy counterparts. What’s up with the Host? Perhaps he’s considering a change in profession. I liked his pimento spiel. A fun episode, though the whole toaster/decapitation device could have been done away with I feel. The Buffy and Angel show put on by Wes and Cordy must now rival Spike’s speech in ‘In the Dark’ as the funniest moment in Angel.