"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsmtsm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:f58965ab-cf54-4da6-aaef-d422846b99a0@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>A reminder: Cool! Are these threads in hi-def?
You had to break this thread into three posts. If that's hi-def... well,
maybe Google isn't the ideal posting solution.
> ANGEL
> Season Four, Episode 20: "Sacrifice"
> It's interesting re-reading that I commented I was getting more and
> more worried about Gunn cracking. Lo and behold, although it's not a
> straight path - he's the defiant one here and in "Peace Out" - he'll
> be the first to lose the mission once the next arc starts. Otherwise,
> the most rewarding discussions I had about "Sacrifice" involved
> hypothetical ways it could've been compressed down to five minutes or
> so. The clacking demon is an interesting enough creation, even if
> it's telling a story that's like the antithesis of the kind of plots I
> watch fantasy shows for, and there're a few hints about how the Connor/
> Jasmine relationship ticks, but this is an episode that's practically
> asking to be skipped entirely.
I like the clacking demon, but it's Wesley I really enjoy. We're getting
a
little late season peek at how smart and clever Wesley can be - in a
better
sense than we'd grown accustomed to since the baby kidnapping fiasco. It
wouldn't be right to say that he's exactly over all his woes, but there is
a
sense at the end of the season that he's working in top form. The way he
puts the pieces together here is kind of impressive.
I'm not sure what about this sub-plot is the antithesis of what you watch
fantasy shows for, but I do recognize that the mystical power of one's
name
is kind of an old saw in the genre. But it's one that I've always liked a
little anyway. It just fits mystical worlds. I think it also fits here
because of the repeated motif this season of monsters being brought down
by
a piece of themselves. Granted, Connor punching Jasmine is the stronger,
more important instance of that. Still, it seems fitting that this other
essence of Jasmine gets used to break through the illusion. There's also
the simpler notion that by naming her, we know her.
Anyway, Wesley and the demon are easily the best part of the episode. I
also really enjoy "the big fight scene". And, especially the image of
Jasmine with her skin sliced open and healed repeatedly as she luxuriates
in
the sensation of bloody mayhem from afar.
I wish the rest of the episode had been at that level.
> Rating: Weak (down from Decent)
The above parts keep it Decent for me, though the episode does struggle
quite a bit through a kind of forced angst as they run through the sewers
and a kid gang that I'd be happy to do without.
In the next episode we learn that Angel is driven by his need to save his
son. In retrospect, that makes this episode a little more interesting as
it
brings more sense to Angel's beating of Connor and his subsequent behavior
in the tunnels. It also sets up a little disconnect between Angel and his
team as they think of everybody acting for the greater good when Angel is
sent through the portal while the rest stay behind for the futile fight,
but
Angel has narrowed his focus to one person - Connor. (Angel's version of
Buffy's obsession with Dawn at the end of BtVS S5 I guess.)
That's all fine and well - and I could draw all sorts of implications from
it - but the thing is that it still plays poorly in this episode. Maybe
even worse as a result. Other than the beating of Connor at the start, I
don't feel any of that through this episode even knowing about it.
Meanwhile, the behavior of the others looks more like forced dialogue in
service to this all about Connor notion. Like Fred for no particular
reason
suddenly wailing what about Cordy. I guess that's just to remind Angel of
how he fails the ones he loves. An OK notion. Just artificial in
presentation.
Writ small, the use of artifice here is another example of my usual
complaint for the season. Everything is done to service the idea that
nothing is ever as it seems. So much so that it doesn't seem to matter if
the moment makes any sort of sense to even try to pay attention to. Like
the awkwardness in the showdown with Angelus in Release so that the truth
can be revealed in Orpheus. Or possessed Cordy acting non-possessed in
places where that doesn't make sense to better assure the surprise of the
revelation.
> Season Four, Episode 21: "Peace Out"
> If nothing else, PO will be remembered for finally (hey, it feels like
> a long time) getting rid of Jasmine and using the averted apocalypse
> as another narrative springboard, to spin off into something totally
> different. And along the way, as it turns out, there are some good
> showpiece scenes, a commanding performance from Gina Torres, and a
> killer ending to ease the ride.
Why did Jasmine kiss Angel?
> As in Season Four of that other
> vampire show, we're left walking blind into a season finale that could
> go anywhere. It turns out that Connor will be that link. One of the
> things I'd meant to think about while re-watching is viewing his
> behavior in light of the revelations from his confession to Cordy in
> "Peace Out." Then I went ahead and completely forgot about it until I
> got to the Jasmine arc again. My original review didn't show the
> proper appreciation for what I at least recognized (with help) as what
> I called an "I want to believe" mentality. My revised opinion is that
> PO accomplishes a lot for Connor's portrayal. Think of what's made
> explicit here -- the child abuse victim who's lost his ability to
> believe in truth or genuine happiness, choosing to go along with the
> lie that seems least unpleasant and trying to convince himself he'll
> be able to buy into it. Now watch the season again and see whether
> you can see that developing. Like I said, I don't know, since I kinda
> forgot to do that prior to "Shiny Happy People." My hunch is that
> it's there well before. If so, that's just *neat*.
I think Holtz's manipulation of Connor in S3 is more interesting and does
the heavy lifting for this season. But yeah, I think the whole season is
in
service of developing the Connor we see here. The obsession with deceit
at
every turn and in every way ultimately centered onto Connor alone. But
just
as Connor's hopes are perpetually dashed, so are they perpetually raised.
There's as much confusion as hurt. I don't think it's just not believing
in
truth - it's Connor unable to distinguish truth. (Connor's developed
inability to recognize truth when it's in front of him I think is much of
what frustrated Angel into the beating of him in the prior episode.) I
think it all comes to fruition pretty well here and in the next episode,
but
there's too much artifice and unspecial ideas (like Cordy's, "Good,
evil-they're just words," speech to Connor) for my tastes.
Still it's a quite a relief to finally find a true center to the season
and
to recognize that it's pretty much always been there. (Even though
Connor's
job generally is to be helplessly buffeted about or act out as the
ultimate
teenage nightmare.) I often find myself comparing this story to Dawn's
year
as The Key, when she too became the object of everything. This story very
much becomes about Connor, however, while the BtVS story was never really
about Dawn. Ultimately that allows for a much stronger concluding
characterization for Connor. I'm not so sure it works that well for the
series though. With Dawn, most everybody's hopes, fears and tensions get
focused through Dawn. Not just Buffy vs. Glory. There's Spike's duty to
protect Dawn that will define his nightmares. There's the way that
Buffy's
devotion to Dawn is used to illuminate for Willow what her devotion to
Tara
demands. There's the seed planted for a Buffy/Giles split as they argue
over Dawn's very life. There's Joyce's charge to Buffy to protect Dawn
that
resonates from Joyce's grave. And so on.
With Connor, the only one who's really invested in him is Angel. The rest
of the AI team is left in the dark about Angel's obsession the last two
episodes and then have their memories taken away to boot. We're told
Jasmine cares, but we never get an explanation of why. She might as well
eat him along with all the others for all that we're really shown.
Cordelia
hasn't truly been in the picture since she ascended. What's remarkable is
how little he actually matters to anybody by the end except Angel. I
suppose that perversely makes the memory wipe a kind of truth.
> Stephen pointed out something about Angel's gesture in offering
> Jasmine a place in the new world (it's almost heroic enough to
> transcend being stupid); the next deposed hell-god they'll run into
> actually will join the team. So maybe it was a reasonable suggestion.
Gods are people too.
> Rating: Good
A low Good for me. There's a lot of filler and a few pretty good moments.
Still, a lot comes together and the acting is strong - especially Jasmine
and Connor. The clincher may be the amused recognition of how the death
of
The Beast, Skip, the clacking demon & Jasmine all connect.
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