Deep Down

[thebratqueen]

I don't know that I have much to say yet with the episode just airing. I might need to ruminate before any in-depth comments come to me. That and the fact that IT WAS REALLY FUCKING HOT and MELTED MY BRAIN.

GUH!

Okay, some prelim comments then -

Alexis gets the coveted "And" credit. It's about time! He's the best actor on that show. Nice to see him literally getting credit as such. But wtf is up with no glamour shots of him? We've got glamour shots of Amy for fuck's sake!

Steve DeKnight - welcome to the writing staff! I knew he would be a great addition to the show and as always I'm happy when I'm proven right. He's got that lovely shade of dark which puts him in the beautiful unholy triad of Bell and Minear. It's going to be a wonderful thing when Jeff Bell becomes the show runner.

Noticed that Greenwalt got a consulting producer credit. Wonder if that's because they're still fleshing out plots he created.

Mega, MEGA props to our director, whose name I'm ashamed to admit I've forgotten in the beauty of Alexis's sweaty, naked chest (I am NOT made of wood people). For the first time in for fucking EVER I actually bought that Angel and Cordy were attracted to one another. Give the director a raise and lock him in a cage with a bucket so he doesn't go anywhere.

Gunn was recognizably himself. Thank the Lord. Fred is still annoying. I'm really starting to suspect that much of this is Amy's inabilty to convery the concept of falling if you shoved her off of a cliff. Fred had a lot of great material to work with here yet I was still wincing every damn time she opened her mouth because the emotions rang false. Please, PLEASE send this girl to an acting class if we're keeping her on the show.

Vincent did an amazing job. I'm loving how they're fleshing out Connor, and oh is he daddy's little boy. Lovely subtle touches on his body posture and mannerisms. He also had a similar fighting style to Angel in the hallucination - be interesting to see if that's Connor's actual fighting style (I think so) or just Angel projecting the similarity in his own mind.

And oh - hello hide in plain sight spoilers. Nice to see you again. Good to know DeKnight is as good at those as Minear is.

Wesley. Oh my GOD Wesley. Okay, first off can I just say I called it oh God did I call it? Those were written without the benefit of spoilers, I'll have you know (Well - okay, one spoiler for C&M but not one about Wesley, Angel and blood).

LOVE that they're keeping the depth and layers to his storyline. So many of his lines could have multiple meanings - how dark is he? How light? How much has he given up? What are his real feelings for Lilah? Angel? The gang? We don't know yet and we'll have to wait and see. La la la! Yay to the in-depth storylines!

And hookay - we do know how he feels about Angel. Thank GOD these people remembered that whatever you want to call it, Wes has strong feelings for the big A. Call it slash, friendship, whatever - you could tell Wes cared. This wasn't just an attempt at forgiveness. In fact I got the impression that forgiveness was maybe D on Wesley's list of priorities here - yeah it'd be nice to get a hero's welcome for what he did, but he wasn't expecting it and therefore not getting his hopes too high. And wisely not making that the reason for what he did.

Dom!Wes - GUH. Honey, I knew you had it in you (look I'm going to be smug, cope). Loved his treatment of Justine, loved how the use of a cage aside it was mostly him using his mind. And part of me can't help but wonder if this is something Angel reacted to. Yes, the big A wasn't exactly Mr. Coherent, but you could tell he was able to focus on Wes after drinking his blood [TBQ pauses a moment to wipe drool from her mouth]. Angel's always been able to key into the dark urges in people and the reasons for them - I wouldn't be surprised to find out in later episodes that he's already well on the page of everything going on in Wesley's mind. You'll notice he didn't stop Wes from leaving at the same time he later made it clear that he trusts Wes enough to act on his word.

And can I just say? Best moment of acting on the show? Alexis licking his lips after having sex with Lilah and making comments about sucking. That has now officially overshadowed the Buffybot standing up as the Best Oral Sex Reference EVER. I love when they sneak that shit past the censors. And pardon me as I yet again drool.

Lilah - love how they keep making her character stronger. Glad she's in charge now. I can't wait to see what develops with her relationship with Wes. I like how they showed that this is a bad thing for the both of them - Wes's ex-friends regard her as evil, W&H regards Wes as good. Interesting, interesting ship.

And for the record - my PDA also has that feature. Y'all keep that in mind.

Angel. Daddy's home. GOD I missed you. Not since Forgiving has Angel rang so true. Props again to our director for pulling an excellent performance out of David B. You didn't doubt for a second that this was the same Daddy who kept Dru and Spike in line - and right at the end just a faint, light touch of that Angel humor. Enough that it rang true, not so much that we're tearing our hair out over him being a dork again.

Personal thing that I loved? For all that the Angel/Cordy emotions finally rang true for me, at no time did I feel challenged as an Angel/Wes girl. You could see Angel clicking with Wes again. Nice. Can't wait to see how that develops, especially with Wes not wanting to rejoin the team (no spoiler there, I just mean he left at the end).

Wondering how symbolic the "I'm all out" line of Wes's was. Guess we'll find out.

Geez - for someone who didn't have much to say, I certainly said a lot. Can't think of anything else at the moment. Guess I can always babble more tomorrow if I want.

Mmm... Angel.