Angel 5.13 Why We Fight

[thebratqueen]

Argh. So hard to talk about this ep without talking about spoilers. Suffice it to say: foreshadowing, anyone? Also suffice it to say that I'm glad they saved WWII for this ep. The things that it represents symbolically for Angel's life work so much better here than they would have in Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been? The 50s worked there, WWII works here.

I will say this: it's times like this that I'm glad I'm a spoiler whore. Because I can watch this ep and know it wasn't filler, and it wasn't a throwaway. Though frankly if you didn't realize that this was Are You Now Redux perhaps you were not paying attention ;) But, granted, it's easier to have faith when I know what's coming.

That being said, the WB promo department needs to be shot, though. First off the bit about Spike being a Nazi was misleading, but second what the Hell were they thinking by dubbing him "Hitler's secret weapon"? Look, dudes, I love my weekly dose of vampire crack as much as anyone, but you don't throw around terms like that for the sake of fluffy entertainment. Offensive much?

But the ep itself...

Like I say, gotta keep mum if we want to avoid talking about spoilers flat-out, so I gotta stick with superficial.

Had the tag team of Steve and Ultimate Drew again. Once again they bring us the nice combination of dark and funny. I think it hits just the right tone for AtS. We also had an ep with Spike in it where Spike actually worked for the story - both in the flashbacks and in the present day. Man, if they keep this up it'll turn into a habit. Took 'em long enough.

Beyond that, again ignoring spoilers, it's just a nifty ep. I have to imagine Steve and Drew were basically going "VrooooooooOOOOMMMMMM" the whole time because they actually got to play with a submarine. Yeah, it's a little plot device ex machina but whatever. Sometimes you just gotta have fun with the format. Plus I imagine they got to reuse stuff from Firefly ;)

Random comments, 'cause that's all I got:

Angel characterization was spot-on and gave me a happy. I especially loved the dialogue with him and Lawson at the beginning (er - Wolfram & Hart beginning, I should say. In Angel's office). It's the subtle stuff where Angel refuses to engage the person dicking him around on their terms. People who understand that that's how Angel works deserve pets from me.

Lotta dubbing in tonight's ep. Didn't they get the mics fixed?

ObNitpick: I get the concept of the audio cue to flashback and vice versa, but inasmuch as Lawson didn't actually have a projector with him and I assume he wasn't actually narrating all of that for the benefit of Angel who was there, they really should've mixed up his dialogue a bit more to make it sound more like he was responding to what was going on around him. Yeah, I get that he was probably still reciting when he got to "Safe and sound" and I get that "your life in the balance" was riffing off Gunn and the others, but it still came off as too prompted by the flashbacks. I would have edited that before shooting.

Fred seriously needs a copy of The Gift of Fear. Also a new wardrobe.

I find it interesting that as each ep goes by Wes becomes more and more cleanshaven yet more and more dressed down.

Angel vamping someone is seriously hot. He needs to do that more often. Also? I believe this is the first time we got to see a male vamp sire another male. Again I say they need to do that more often.

Just for wolfling: Yes, I noticed Angel's famous last words about not wanting to be left at the bottom of the ocean.

You know, I appreciate that eps like this drive people nuts with the retconning, but given that both shows made it clear that previous canon can kiss their ass I think some credit needs to be given where it's due. Case in point, there was a lapse in time after vamping Lawson to account for the need for sundown/sunrise (and no, the dirt is not mandatory and they explained that back in s2), and Angel never saw Lawson outside of those circumstances which explains why years later Angel had no idea how having a soul would affect his revamping of Darla. The Buffy canon is perhaps a bit fast and loose, but OTOH since when did they ever bother to respect School Hard as a source of legitimate history with Angel and Spike? Annoying, yes, but that ship sailed with the words "You were my sire" so what can ya do?

Yes, Wes et al. had few lines. Honestly? Get over it. I love Wes, really I do, but forcing a required amount of screentime only cripples TV shows. Any who doubt this can just check with Batman: The Animated Series back when they got told that Robin had to be in every ep and no they were not going to make an exception. I want good stories. Good story first, character choice second. Besides, it's a flashback ep. What are they supposed to do? Include shots of Wes as an egg in his mom's ovary?

Speaking of flashbacks, I love the 1940s as much as anyone but seeing Angel dressed in clothes that my grandpa used to wear almost diminishes my lust for the boy.

Almost.

ObGeek: So did they keep the names of Petrie and Fury or what? I know the wildfeed had them listed as such but last I heard they'd changed the script. Didn't see any character names in the final credit roll so anybody got the 411 on that?

Finally, let me just say this: if you didn't get the ep this time that's fine. But trust me, it wasn't filler, it wasn't a waste, and it wasn't a repeat of everything you already knew. Look at the title, look at the themes, and trust me.

ETA: (And thanks to mpoetess because I totally blanked on this) Meeting porn! They had meeting porn! I call shout-out ;)