Angel 5.8 Destiny

[thebratqueen]

Well that wasn't as eye-stabbingly horrible as I thought it was going to be.

I don't have much by way of long and rambling comments here. Basically because the core of this ep was "Don't assume anything, you have no idea the arcs we've got going." So, you know, okay. I'm not. I suck at speculation so I cheerfully step off the podium. This ep was nothing but setup for what's to come and I don't think I can adequately comment on it until we've all seen what's coming (said the spoiler whore).

So no heavy analysis here, just comments.

Thank God they didn't spoil the reveal at the end by putting CK's name in the credits. And I can't help but wonder if this is part and parcel of why they no longer use "previously, on Angel" because previouslies would have required a Lindsey shot and I think they blew their "clever hiding of the secret guest star in the previouslies" wad back with Dru in The Trial. Of course the flip side of this is that this is a strong showing of how much they haven't abandoned the long-term fans in the name of whoring themselves to the WB. Lindsey hasn't been seen since s2, and I highly doubt anybody but die hard fans could even recognize Christian with the new hair and the five seconds of screentime. The whole moment was only a dun dun DUNNNN if you've been around for a few years. Fans who only came over because of Blondie Bear are left scratching their heads.

So yay, Lindsey. Or somebody who looks a lot like him. And to think that's only the November reveal of the big bad. Imagine what we'll find out come Feburary.

For those not in the know, Alexis was on his honeymoon while all this was shot, hence Wesley's "sabbatical". Though unlike the forced Cordy vacation of s3 which was done because of Charisma's sudden need for - *cough* - personal time, Alexis's wedding was known well in advance, so I've got to imagine that Wesley being away at a time when Angel would need him most (both for the prophecy translation and for the final talk at the end) isn't a coincidence. Eve herself mentions the robots as part of the whacky hijinks. I suspect in the long term we'll find out that the whole point of the robot attack wasn't about kidnapping Angel and trying to exploit Wes's vulnerability but forcing Wes into a situation where he had to take the time off to recover.

Likewise we at least happily discover (Finally) that yes, Eve isn't the sexy little seductress that the scripts kept insisting she was but, in fact, somebody who actively tries to push her cute as a button innocent act right down your throat. To which I can't help but wonder if Gunn's insistance that Eve is secretly a monster will turn out to reveal that no, she's just a twenty something girl (after all, other than last season, the big bads on Angel are always human beings) or if the neck wound is foreshadowing that it's Lilah in disguise, which would go far to forgive the dialogue of 5.1.

On the other hand, I don't care what her motivation is stop making her use the damned nicknames! It's annoying. We get it, she adopts a chirpy attitude. Can we all sign a petition that swears we grok the concept and therefore she never has to do it again? It was constant to the point of distracting. I started to wonder if she spent her non-talking times reviewing which ones she'd used already to make sure she didn't repeat the cycle too often. This is starting to become a walking talking drinking game. Cut it out.

Speaking of drinking, my GOD my eyes. This is what I get for asking the universe "No, seriously, what could be more unsexy than a shot of Fred's unass?" Eve is a girl who needs to explore the concept of wearing as much clothing as humanly possible. And as pretty as Sarah T might be in her face (though, again, I've got to be shallow and beg the girl to try a cream rinse and some volumizing shampoo) watching her strip felt like kiddie porn. Ew.

I'm sure a thousand people have already commented on the Angel(us)/Spike "It's not text it's Queer As Folk." aspects of the show. I'll let the diehard Angel/Spike shippers have their day with this one since I'm sure they can talk about it better than I can and Lord knows they've earned it. I'll just say I'm amused that the Couch of Gay apparently goes back in Angel's history for hundreds of years, and it's also endearing to watch Angelus ask "Do I look gay in these pants?"

David was lilting in a few of his present day scenes. Deliberate choice or just hard to shake the brogue? You make the call.

I liked how the Gunn scene at the end, though clearly the Wesley "Are you all right?" moment, wasn't done by shoving Wes's dialogue into Gunn's mouth. Gunn tried to touch base - as he's done before - but couldn't do it like Wes could. My shippiness aside, I can't help but feel that Wes would have immediately understood the implications of Spike winning the fight, much as he immediately understood the implications of Angel's encounter with No 5. And, as I said, I don't think it was a coincidence that Wes wasn't there to support Angel in this moment when he's falling into despair again.

What else, what else - oh yeah, I don't mind Spike being able to beat the crap out of Angel because they already established in the show that he won because he wanted it more, plus who's to say that the flashy box of solidtude didn't add strength as well?

And once again hi Lorne, bye Lorne.

Shame there's no new ep next week.