"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsmtsm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:6659dcab-5eab-4788-a2e7-6522c9e759d1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> ANGEL
> Season Three, Episode 20: "A New World"
> I complained when the series' main agenda, at least for awhile, was
> the relationship between Angel and Cordelia. Now, all the apocolpyses
> and such are next season, and the show's most important ongoing issue
> is the relationship between Angel and Connor. And it's a strong
> enough story to carry the arc;
For now.
> it's been well established this season
> how much it means to our hero, and it's the most I've ever empathized
> with him and wanted him to succeed.
Wanting to save Darla in S2 mattered to me too.
> From [our] Stephen: "One theory
> I've heard is that Connor is, in many ways, the opposite of Buffy &
> Co. On that show, our teenagers often have to cope with adults
> apparently being willfully stupid or blind, failing to understand them
> and their concerns, and generally being obtuse. Here it's Angel, the
> adult, who's our protagonist - and it's his turn to be baffled by the
> actions and feelings of his teenage son."
I wonder how much we're supposed to empathize with both Angel and Connor.
We can certainly see how Angel is baffled by the teenager. But can we
perhaps perceive on the teenage level too? In other words, Angel, the
adult, still can be obtuse and non-understanding - making the mistakes
adults make. And it surely is adults that screw Connor up. Or to put it
yet another way, is Connor someone for teens to relate to and attract them
to the show? I've wondered sometimes what they had in mind making him
such
a major cast character. But the circumstances of his creation plus next
year's exploitation by Cordy dooms him to be the screwed up kid headed for
a
bad end.
I muse about that for a couple of reasons. Angel may be the protagonist -
the star - but for close to two years (depending on when you think his
influence starts in S3) the series revolves around Connor nearly as much
as
Angel. Perhaps more in the sense that he is so often the object of big
events. I enjoy it a lot through the end of this season, but then it
wears.
Not just because of the characterization, but because it feels like Angel
is
diminished as a character too long.
Anyway, secondly, with Connor such a big part himself, I wonder if the
comparison to Buffy et al might also be that they cope and he doesn't.
Their's is a story of growth. His of being beaten down.
> My biggest complaint the
> first time was that I wasn't sure Connor held together as a character
> rather than a bunch of clashing concepts, but having a better sense of
> his personality seems to have been sufficient to remedy that worry.
I still notice that they don't really sustain Connor's semi-feral nature
featured in this episode. I'd probably mind that more if the story was
really about that. But it's not, so it's OK I think to get past that
quickly without really addressing the transition. In the meantime it's
quite fun to watch The Destroyer in the wild. I do wonder, though, how
Connor found Holtz.
> Rating: Good
I like the episode more than that because I get off on the excitement and
tension of it. The stylized slo-mo opening with the stakes spiraling
through the air works really well for me. And it's so-o-o cool the way
Connor jumps on the bus. The junkie culture scenes work surprisingly well
-
one of AtS's better dabblings at traditional underbelly of the city
depictions (which they don't always do very well). That also brings out
the
best "father" scene with Angel trying to defuse the trouble his son has
gotten into. And the fantastic Wesley/Lilah scene. When she closes with,
"Don't pretend you're too good to work for us," I almost believe her
myself.
Imagine what Wesley thinks. There's some good humor with Mistress Meerna
temporal shifting here and there and Groo frozen in place guarding the
portal. And so on. The episode pretty much keeps me going throughout.
But in truth, there's also not all that much to it. Connor's back. Hates
dad. Maybe gets some doubt introduced. But meets up with Holtz at the
end.
A lot more noise than content, though the running about does give the
audience and characters some time to absorb the simple fact of a teenage
Connor, now named Steven and popularly called the Destroyer. It's the
implications of the episode more so than the action that matters.
Objectively I think that adds up to a Good rating. And a mild yearning to
have seen Connor just run wild for a while more.
> Season Three, Episode 21: "Benediction"
> Writer: Tim Minear
> Director: Tim Minear
>
> One of the first things I think about when calling this episode to
> memory is the sound-effect-enhanced vision and the cut to how everyone
> else sees Cordy. I don't know exactly why that bit tickles me so
> much, but there ya go. I'm also, though, tickled by pretty damn near
> everything else about "Benediction." It's one of those confluences
> like "Forgiving" (and perhaps more so than "Tomorrow," curiously),
Oh, absolutely. This is, IMO, the climax of this season's story - Holtz's
final killing blow. Tomorrow is part aftermath and part looking ahead.
> as
> Lilah gauges Wesley's reaction to Justine's peril while Angel and
> Connor are discovering the infectious joy of fighting as a team. I
> nominated those five minutes or so as among my favorites of the series
> originally, and they still are.
The praise is well earned. It's a beautifully constructed scene that
brings
everyone together in one shared moment where each observes something
different - something critical - and the conversations themselves are
about
seeing what has been hidden. Even Cordy turns out to have watched in her
vision world. You mention the infectious joy of fighting as a team - a
worthy observation - but I think it is superseded by the joy of them
playing
in the alley after when for just a moment - a rare moment as it turns out
-
they really feel like father and son. A rare moment serving as the final
thing to be observed - by the other Dad. Holtz stepping out of the
shadows
to cap that sequence is so disturbing, and suggests that he has made the
most important observation and most commands the situation - as proves to
be
true in subsequent events.
Tim Minear can write - even if he professes not to deal with big themes
and
such. This is some of his best.
> (I also managed to get myself to call
> Connor "Steven" through the whole review, even though I figured he'd
> change back since no one else ever used that name.)
Steven's a nice name. And there is an Irish version - Steafan. Angel
needn't have worried.
> That thing I said
> about ANW about caring more than anything else about Angel's quest to
> win Connor back? Well, repeat it here with more emphasis. Meanwhile,
> Holtz makes his last appearance, although he'll cast a shadow over
> large parts of S4. It takes a certain kind of man to admit to himself
> that he's left justice behind a long time ago, and still recognize the
> power of love to be rather brilliantly perverted into a weapon. The
> doublethink in which Holtz really does love his son, but it doesn't
> stop him from seeing him primarily as an instrument of vengeance kept
> me guessing long enough to lead to yet another very memorable episode
> closing in a string of them.
Does Holtz really love Connor? I suspect he's convinced himself that he
does, which I suppose creates a kind of reality. But I think it's
delusion.
He never truly sacrifices anything for Connor's benefit - never once
relents
from crafting Connor into his weapon of revenge.
I don't think I was guessing exactly about his feelings and intent. It
seemed to me that he was always working his evil angle. But I sure didn't
see how he was going to do it. What a beautifully conceived and executed
stroke.
I really admire how brazenly he makes his plays too - sometimes almost
spelling out what he's doing to his victims. As he told Justine, it's not
all lies. The moment that makes me gasp is the following:
Angel: Why are you doing this.
Holtz: I thought I'd made that plain. I love my son. And this is the
only
way I know to ensure that he will go on loving me.
A moment before Holtz had told Angel that he had no taste for one sort of
vengeance. If only Angel had realized that what he meant was that he
wanted
so much more.
The thing that continues to tantalize me with Holtz is wondering just what
is plan and what is improvisation. Perhaps it's just always being
prepared,
gently prodding the wild animal in the direction he wants, while it still
seems to run free, ready to strike the moment opportunity presents.
> Rating: Excellent
This is a great episode and pretty much seals my admiration for Holtz as
my
favorite AtS big bad. (That's assuming that Darla is something else and
more than a big bad.) A very well earned Excellent.
> Season Three, Episode 22: "Tomorrow"
> This one is still divided between stuff I like and stuff I don't, but
> the former seems more important now. Watching the inevitability of
> the way things will fall apart during the happy moments is - and
> originally was, too - similar to the experience of re-watching "Sleep
> Tight." I'm in the right mood to appreciate it.
It's not so much that there's stuff I like or don't like as it is that it
feels like a hodge-podge forced together to clean up loose ends and set
the
stage for next season. The show jumps around getting a little dab of
everybody, which gives me an extra laugh when Gunn and Fred are suddenly
left alone asking where everybody went. The peacefulness of the lobby
then
is almost a relief.
So the flow of the episode knocks down my appreciation of it some. I
don't
have much complaint about the content though. Except maybe the commando
raid at the drive-in, which seems kind of dumb. Another reason why I
think
Linwood is too stupid to head a W&H office.
> My other issue was
> with the Angel/Cordelia non-romance that other characters have to
> shove them into, but luckily, that's actually mostly submerged in the
> ascension storyline.
See? They mitigate each other. Both are also blessedly brief. And it
sent
Groo packing. And I can't help laughing at Cordy talking to herself.
(Her
end of season bad hair seems especially annoying to me for some reason
though.) So it works out.
> As mentioned, at this point many fans seem to
> have understood that not all was as it seemed, and that's just
> prominent enough to partially mitigate some of the cheesy excesses of
> that. (And as discussed elsewhere, the S4 twist doesn't demean the
> more moving moments at all either, for me.)
The ascension struck me as so far over the top the first time that it
actually smothered Angel's opposite move a bit for me. There was a whole
lot of WTF for me at the time - which was only added to as I paused to
think
about the season with a miracle birth and a talking hamburger. There had
been a touch of ludicrous to the whole year, but somehow it stayed just
short of that and somehow seemed to make sense. I definitely bought into
what was done with Cordelia - even though I can't say I truly understood
it.
Now... well, the effect is weird knowing what's coming. It doesn't play
the
same way now. Maybe Skip was honest back in Birthday, but he feels like a
flim flam man this time. Cordy a higher being? Yeah, right. But the odd
thing is that I kind of enjoy thinking of it as a scam now. A part of the
Jasmine game that I actually enjoy. (Better than bored Cordy in the sky
anyway.)
More important for me is that now, with the ascension not seeming quite so
momentous, I'm more aware and moved by the other big things this episode -
Connor turning on Angel and Wesley sleeping with Lilah. There's some
pretty
thrilling things in this episode once you turn down the flash-bang a
little.
Hell, I even appreciate more the lost chance for Cordy/Angel. This is as
close as they'll get. Knowing that makes it more poignant and makes me
more
tolerant of the love tease they went for this season. (I don't consider
You're Welcome as closer, incidentally. That's sweet, but in a very
wistful
way. It's too late for them then. At best they can acknowledge what
might
have been.)
There's a very funny moment when Fred prods Angel with a stake to be sure
he's not perfectly happy. I was struck this time at the irony of how
thoroughly unhappy he was about to be.
> The show also deceived me
> in a good way with Wes, giving me one read on where his head's at that
> will turn out, in "Deep Down," to have only been part of the
> situation. Wonder if there was ever any serious consideration of
> giving the Lorne character a rest for awhile? As nasty of a trick as
> it is, I guess I do appreciate a well-done end-of-season cliffhanger,
> and this is a pretty good one, particularly with the montage. I still
> get a bit caught up in how incredibly cruel Connor is with his
> vengeance, and hearing Angel's proclamations of love as the lid closes
> on him definitely gets to me.
> Rating: Excellent (up from Good)
Still stuck at Good for me. But quite solidly Good.
>
>
> Additional comments on S3D6: Anyone note the "screen tests" among the
> DVD features? They're fun little bits with Acker and Kartheiser
> joining the others in scenes that don't fit anywhere in the series
> continuity, apparently so everyone can get a sense of what it'll be
> like playing/playing opposite/writing for/filming the new characters.
> Do all shows do this?
I don't know, but thanks for reminding me. I love Amy's screen test.
Elizabethan crazy talk indeed.
> Numerically, Season Three isn't that far a margin ahead of Season One
> (it's ahead of all BTVS years so far barring S3, although I haven't re-
> calculated for S6 yet), but it feels like a much stronger year. Even
> the missteps early are missteps with a purpose in mind,
Looking back it really feels that way, even if it wasn't always so clear
at
the time. The season really hangs together - or at least gets put
together
by the end. It's the most successful that way for me - especially since
the
emotional intensity is so strong at the end. I suspect that's really why
I
enjoy the cliffhanger so much. It's only partly the cliffhanging aspect.
It's more that the emotional charge continues to resonate.
> and after
> "Loyalty," well, I've gushed before, but it'd be hard to exaggerate
> how much I love this period of the show. It feels the most _Angel_-
> like because the whole team, as Chris has pointed out, is in place:
> Fred has arrived, Cordy hasn't left (or turned amnesiac/possessed)
> yet, Lorne moves in, and teen-Connor drops in at the end of the year.
I can only partly agree with that. It was an outstanding period, and is
closest to the whole team being in place. (Though Wesley isn't exactly in
place.) But I think it's a little thin on core Angel themes and behavior.
This season does a nice job of expanding upon the Gypsy curse and showing
it
as Angel's natural fate....
Connor: Killing is to good for you. You don't get to die. You get to live
-
forever.
But S2 is much stronger at presenting his great redemption battle - in
theme, in object (Darla) and in extremes of behavior. S2 - and somewhat
reprised in an S5 which also repeats the theme - has the character of
Angel
that most thrills me. I love what's done with Wesley in S3 and S4, and
even
Connor at times, and the cast in general - especially Lilah. But the core
of the series never stops being about Angel. Angel as dad just isn't at
the
top of what I appreciate about the character no matter how much they
hammer
the family theme.
> When asked to name my favorite year of the series, there's not even a
> hesitation from me.
S2 as a whole still stands with it to my mind - albeit not for the same
reasons. Upon reflection, I also realize that I enjoyed the side episodes
of S2 - things like Guise Will Be Guise and The Shroud of Rahmon - more so
than the side episodes of S3 - with the glorious exception of Waiting In
The
Wings.
> Where did everybody go?
Heaven and and hell. Just like everybody.
OBS
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