Billy – Dad
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.
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