Angel 5.18 Origin

[thebratqueen]

I'm sorry, I'm dead from an orgasm. Please come back later.

How much did I love this ep? I loved this ep. I so loved this ep. I loved this ep so much I want to have its little babies. And not just because Illyria did that total shout-out to me.

Let's begin.

Ultimate Drew kicks it out of the fucking park with the writing, and then mega props go to Terrence for kick-ass directing. Know how it was different? Gunn, though he was also detached from everyone, still felt like he belonged in the episode. Unlike Wes and Illyria last week who felt spliced in and awkward. Yeah, Wes and Illyria were detached from the rest of the group, but they're not supposed to be detached from the show. Gunn? So much better.

Damn. You know the whole thing to me felt like a movie. Which yet again makes me mourn my dead gay show. Even the things they had no budget for ("Uh... our danger room comes equipped with cool stuff. You won't actually see it, but it's there, promise.") felt spot-on. And the emotions were just amazing. From throwaway moments like Wes casually walking in the second Spike hits the wall, to the intensity of the look that Angel and Wes share when the memories are restored.

I go back and forth on the memory restoration and Wes's motivations. On the one hand I roll my eyes at yet another plotline revolving around the assumption that Fred was that damn important to life, the universe, and everything (to Wes, yes, but to Wolfram & Hart as Wes was seeing it? Really not so much.) but on the other hand I've always been sitting here in the background saying that chances are Wes wouldn't be pissed about the memory wipe if all it hurt was him. I originally assumed it would be Wes being angry at Angel stealing his memories of Lilah, but once that was disproven I suppose Fred is all that's left. So here's me being torn. I do that sometimes.

Still - Alexis was amazing. And thank God for a director that made Illyria interesting again. See, none of the Illyria lines this week were per se any different from the humor that was being attempted last week. But this week actually had good rhythm and delivery on them. Last week not so much. So you can see why I'm more inclined to blame the failures of last week on strangely bad directing instead of on the script.

And can we talk about Connor?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

(And if I'm that bad, imagine what ros_fod is like at the moment. Come to think of it, has anyone tried to revive her yet?)

Vincent and David continue to have terrifyingly good chemistry together. Vincent's casting was - this bears repeating - sheer genius and I stand by my belief that years from now he's going to be a truly hot shit actor where people go "Damn, he was on Angel?" in the same way people are amazed that Brad Pitt once guest starred on thirtysomething. And his acting this ep was incredible. Loved his entirely new body language, and the way he reinvented Connor's voice - a voice which stayed that way until the end when hints of old Connor snuck up to the surface.

And David - you know, anyone these days who says David can't act needs to shut up and go watch something else. Boy was amazing. What he did with tiny looks and gestures and his mannerisms - from the inner turmoil that was reaching the boiling point at his first sight of Connor to the fatherly bonding he couldn't help but do to the desperation of trying to keep Wes from breaking that box. A-frikkin-mazing.

You know, the ep broke my heart. The moment that box smashed I was dying for Angel and Wes both. Wes who yet again was acting with noble intentions but poorly researched goals, and Angel who was watching the full horror of the lies he told unfold. He shouldn't have gone into this by shutting his friends out, and he's got only himself to blame when Wes ends up acting on limited information. Breaks my heart.

Guh. I just... guh. Episode good. Tree pretty.

Msc wrap-up:

The spoilers for this ep were the ones that convinced me that the show was being cancelled prior to the announcement of the cancellation being made. Dunno how many of you recall that I did a post in my LJ saying I had a bad feeling the show was coming to a close and then later that night the news came down. This was the ep that did it. It was the Sahjhan aspect that gave it away. I knew in my heart of hearts they wouldn't tie up a plotline like that unless the end was nigh. Sadly I was right. Damn it.

Still, nice to see Sahjhan again, especially with his snark intact. Sure his plans were way too Rube Goldbergian, but his dialogue always kicked pretty hard.

Speaking of Sahjhanesque humor, when Hamilton asked that demon to take a break from torturing Gunn I half expected him to smoke a cigarette or make some microwave popcorn. Not saying I'm disappointed he didn't do that, just that it wouldn't have surprised me if he did.

Interesting flip on Ultimate Drew's other famous ep, Lineage. In that we start out with Angel and Wes decidedly not being friendly to each other, but Angel making overtures to that at the end. Here we start with Angel reaching out to Wes and ending with an unfortunate distance between them.

Speaking of which, (paraphrased) top line of the ep: "We'll have Spike do it." "Good."

Possibly the line of the ep: "I have a thing for older women." "They were supposed to take care of that."

How much did I want to have an orgasm when Angel came swooping in and kicked serious ass to save his son? Dude, it wasn't want, I had an orgasm.

What would have made me come harder? If Connor had bitch-slapped Illyria across the room as part of discovering how strong he was. It's not that I hate Illyria per se, it's that Connor bitch-slapping her like he was Wesley infected with demon blood would've rocked so hard.

La la la, not commenting on hints of things to come, la la la...

And finally, because I must join the hoards of people that are undoubtedly saying this: One of the most powerful demons and wizards in all of California and not even he can give Connor good hair. Poor kid.

I love my dead gay show!

Now to go revive Ros....