A reminder: These threads were chosen to become a higher being because
they=92re such a pure, radiant saint. Puh-lease!
ANGEL
Season Four, Episode 16: "Players"
Writers: Jeffrey Bell and Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft
Director: Michael Grossman
Now, my first impression of =93Players=94 was that it was a lackluster
minor episode. But after watching it again, I have to say that I
pretty much called it. Obviously in retrospect part of the agenda
here is a first attempt to spend serious time on Gunn=92s desire to be
one of the big guys. This particular episode won=92t really lead much
of anywhere in that regard, but the theme will be tackled more
successfully in Season Five. For now, I=92m a little tired of ATS=92s
attempts at heist stories at this point =96 it=92s like the show=92s go-to
for =93we want a light stand-alone holodeck episode, now!=94 What bothers
me more is not understanding what=92s so refreshing for Charles about
getting suckered into beating people up in the name of stealing from
the rich (he =93knows=94 they=92re evil because the person who duped him
says =93they=92re evil=94) and giving to the even richer. What good fight
is being fought here? If I were to judge only based on =93Players,=94
I=92d=
conclude that Gwen is a self-absorbed asshole, Gunn is a jerk who=92d
rather indulge in his fantasy role than be a real hero, and ATS
figures that morality is relative for people who look good. It=92s an
unpleasant hour for me.
Rating: Weak
Season Four, Episode 17: "Inside Out"
Writer: Steven S. DeKnight
Director: Steven S. DeKnight
EPIC. I=92m used to television as long-form storytelling now, so I
sometimes get this idea that it=92ll take more than one episode to ramp
the drama back up after having had a centerpiece episode so recently.
This is one that puts the lie to that. What=92s funny is that Steven
spends a good portion of his commentary pointing out all the places in
which they didn=92t have the money to do what he wanted, or in which
they skimped on what would have been a big setpiece, or in which
things just look cheap. I honestly never would=92ve noticed, except
maybe for the shortness of the Angel/Connor fight. Quoth noted not-a-
huge-fan OBS =96 =93it's a surprisingly big episode for one where so
little happens outside of the words until the finale.=94 But words are
what it=92s all about on these shows, and =93Inside Out=94 uses words to
bring out the tension in every remaining storyline. I=92m as swept up
in father and son pitted irrevocably against each other as I was the
first time, and it=92s the talking that does it, not the stunt
coreography. Meanwhile in a more conventional use of words, Connor
has an angel and a devil on his shoulder, with Darla serving as a
little bit of help from the PTB that=92s far too little and too late
given the way he=92s been warped. Given the moral world that ATS
resides in at the end of the episode, one can see why humans have to
keep behaving as if all that matters is what we do =96 all the gods are
either malevolent or useless, so we=92re on our own. But for those who
are more spiritual, S4 can alternatively be seen as a paean to divine
abstinence. If the Powers tried to more actively shape the world in
their own image, rather than helping us along in little ways and
leaving it up to us whether to accept them, then they=92d be Jasmine.
Perhaps I should say something about the nature of The Retcon, but
I=92ve explained why I like it already, so I=92ll wait for others=92
prompts=
to focus any thoughts about that. I=92m fine to have a little doubt
about whether or not we can believe Skip=92s boastful assessment of how
much they=92ve shaped. I can totally understand why some might get
impatient with S4=92s constant futility and vagueness and lies, but this
specific occasion seems like one in which this crazy mindfuck of a
storyline shouldn=92t feel obligated to deliver a clear truth. Let me
fulfill a different obligation by pointing out that Skip is awesome.
More than that, he=92s the kind of generous awesome that lets him
translate his awesomeness to make the scenes he=92s in feel more, well,
epic, and makes the person who kills him (Wesley) inherit his
badassery by association. Putting Skip in your episode is like a gift
to your show, so I encourage any readers who happen to be struggling
showrunners to contact 20th Century Fox about buying the right to use
the character.
Rating: Excellent
Season Four, Episode 18: "Shiny Happy People"
Writers: Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain
Director: Marita Grabiak
How much do you like to cringe? What happens on screen for the bulk
of the episode is an abomination, but it=92s supposed to be one. Does
that make it good or bad TV? Well, there are moments when it works,
but in the end, I still think that it crosses the line of no longer
being entertaining to watch, and it crosses that line early. As an
audience member, I do not want forty-four minutes (or more) of this.
And Jasmine needs to hypnotize herself up some better speechwriters.
Fortunately, Fred sees the true face of what Evil Zoe represents in a
scene that has more kick than I gave it credit for, and from there we
enter a Phillip K. Dick style story of the few or the one against the
world. Here=92s a subgenre that ATS hasn=92t spent so much time dabbling
in, and it can be deliciously creepy here and in the next episode,
especially anything involving lots of people directing silent glances
at Fred. I do really wish the blood transfer in the bowling alley
were shown more clearly =96 even knowing to look for it, I didn=92t see
where it happened. Like Apteryx says, you almost need to go over it
frame by frame to notice. Be clearer, show. Who cares if you make
your twist a little more obvious given that it doesn=92t make any sense
without the clue?
Rating: Decent
Season Four, Episode 19: "The Magic Bullet"
Writer: Jeffrey Bell
Director: Jeffrey Bell
Conventional wisdom has Jeff=92s directorial debut as clearly the best
of the Jasmine set. I liked it better than its neighboring episodes
originally, but I actually prefer SHP now, when at least the monotony
is a little fresher. Not surprisingly, most (well, pretty much all)
of the stuff I like about =93The Magic Bullet=94 comes from the paranoia
in Fred=92s solo section. That=92s some more good conspiracy-movie stuff
going on, and its choice of hero combines vulnerability and resilience
in just the quantities needed. I=92m less convinced that it=92s really
necessary to take all of the side trips the episode does, or that it=92s
necessary to give Kramer=92s midget sidekick any screen time at all.
Meanwhile, the Jasmine side of things, even what I originally called
the funnier parts, are far more tedious on second viewing; this has
gone on for an episode and a half too long for me. Once Angel=92s back,
the episode turns into a shoddy mess, and I=92m surprised to see that
few people seem to have even registered the baffling moment in which
our heroes get captured, and then are free the next time we see them.
All in all, TMB is nothing special.
Rating: Decent
Additional comments on S4D5: For whatever reason, ATS doesn=92t follow
the form of a conventional fantasy drama. Any given season of _Buffy_
(except S6, kinda) will end with an increasingly growing threat to the
world, and Buffy defeating it in a cinematic showdown. Whereas
whether one divides ATS by seasons or more loosely by arcs, not so
much. In this case, nothing in the last six episodes, including
=93Peace Out,=94 goes to the same epic-battle places that =93Inside Out=94
does, and nothing displaces =93Orpheus=94 (which itself does not end with
a fight to the death between Us and Them) as the climax of the year.
Jasmine emerging to give us a quieter kind of apocalypse after the
visual of fire raining from the heavens already came and went early in
the year isn=92t so unusual when you compare it to the way the series
has operated for awhile. Since around S2, I guess, when Angel=92s trip
to the heart of W&H=92s evil turned into an elevator ride to nowhere,
and he =93defeated=94 the villain by sleeping with her.
Thoughts?
-AOQ
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