Angel - Season 2 impressions (episode 4)
Dec. 26th, 2005 02:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thalia_seawoodUntouched
For a summary click here.
- The interaction between Darla and Lilah in the beginning of the episode is fascinating to observe. Lilah is dangerous in her own right, but next to Darla she comes across as an innocent.
Darla is just so pleased to know Angel's dark side and you know that she wants "her boy" back.
Lilah sneaks into Lindsey's dark office at Wolfram & Hart and starts to look through the papers on his desk.
Darla: "Exciting, isn't it?"
Lilah jumps and drops the papers she was holding.
Lilah: "Darla. - I didn't see you."
Darla: "Going through their things, all the little pieces of themselves locked away, given you a naughty little thrill of control."
Lilah: "I just like to keep abreast of his latest project. He's probably in my office right now trying to find out about mine. That's just how it works at our firm."
Darla sits on the edge of Lindsey's desk and pours some dark blue powder into the palm of her left hand.
Darla: "Hmm, all you busy little worker bees, plotting your little schemes.
Lilah looks at powder: "Calynthia powder? Is that how you keep Angel sleeping - when he's with you?"
Darla: "There is nothing so lovely as dreams. Everything is in them, everything hidden. Open those chambers and you can truly understand someone - and control them."
Lilah with a slight smile: "And what's hidden in Angel's secret chambers?"
Darla: "Horrors."
- The friendship between Wesley, Cordelia and Angel is lovely to watch once more. Wesley and Cordelia bitching at one another and Angel telling them to stop it... He's so playing the father part here, while Wes and Cordy have taken up the roles of bickering siblings.
In particular this scene made me smile. Angel is so close to laughing here.
Angel: "Hey! How about we pretend that you work for me?"
Cordelia: "You are really unpleasant when you…"
Angel: "Then why don't we pretend that you don't."
Cordelia: "You can't fire me. I'm vision girl."
Sticks her tongue out at him.
Angel sticks his hands into his pockets and tries not to smile.
I've also noticed that many little touches occur between Angel, Cordy and Wesley at this time. Nothing erotic, just friendly little touches that show how close they have become to another.
To bad their happy family union will be broken up soon. The first cracks are already showing.
- Wesley is once again astute when it comes to understanding Angel. He inquires after Angel's dreams, but is interrupted by Cordelia having a vision.
- I think Darla appearing in Angel's dream was inspired by the succubus myth. She appears in his dreams, they even have sex in his dreams and she saps away his strength. All succubus features.
- Darla and Angel(us) make the screen sizzle in the dream/flashback sequence.
Small wonder fandom loves writing vampire sex. There's enough canon information to get it right. :-)
- Bethany's story:
Now sexual abuse is a very difficult subject to handle in a TV show. Bethany turning from victim to someone who has enough strength to control her powers, to protect herself and to not kill her father happens very quickly, of course, but all in all the plot worked for me. I also liked how they shot the flashback scene where Bethany's father comes to take her down from the attic. Nothing overt is shown, but you just know what is going on.
- Interesting that Wesley figures out what's going on so quickly. He definitely knows what it's like to have a violent father. After this episode, I wondered how far the abuse in his own past went.
- The scene where Bethany visits Angel in his bedroom was intriguing. Especially this line:
Bethany: "Oh, right. You love the people. (Gets up) Love them so much, you got a hundred rooms to be all alone in. - I'm thinking maybe you're not exactly qualified to help me with my problem."
- It seems Darla isn't only visiting Angel in his dreams any longer, but has really started to sneak into the Hyperion hotel.
- Lilah has a hard time in this episode. Being a professional evil doer isn't all that easy after all...
Nice final scene between Bethany, Lilah and Angel. It's neat that Bethany is totally unfazed by Angel being a vampire. And Lilah can't stop herself from dropping some hints.
Lilah: "Our-our firm doesn't want to lose a... you're not... (Points at Angel) He is a vampire, you know."
Bethany looks at Angel: "Weird."
She leaves.
Angel: "Looks like you're gonna have to find someone else's brain to play with."
Lilah smiles: "Yeah, we have someone in mind."
Angel: "Good night, Lilah."
Lilah steps out into the hall to watch Angel open the outside door at the bottom to the steps for Bethany.
Lilah: "Sweet dreams."
For a summary click here.
- The interaction between Darla and Lilah in the beginning of the episode is fascinating to observe. Lilah is dangerous in her own right, but next to Darla she comes across as an innocent.
Darla is just so pleased to know Angel's dark side and you know that she wants "her boy" back.
Lilah sneaks into Lindsey's dark office at Wolfram & Hart and starts to look through the papers on his desk.
Darla: "Exciting, isn't it?"
Lilah jumps and drops the papers she was holding.
Lilah: "Darla. - I didn't see you."
Darla: "Going through their things, all the little pieces of themselves locked away, given you a naughty little thrill of control."
Lilah: "I just like to keep abreast of his latest project. He's probably in my office right now trying to find out about mine. That's just how it works at our firm."
Darla sits on the edge of Lindsey's desk and pours some dark blue powder into the palm of her left hand.
Darla: "Hmm, all you busy little worker bees, plotting your little schemes.
Lilah looks at powder: "Calynthia powder? Is that how you keep Angel sleeping - when he's with you?"
Darla: "There is nothing so lovely as dreams. Everything is in them, everything hidden. Open those chambers and you can truly understand someone - and control them."
Lilah with a slight smile: "And what's hidden in Angel's secret chambers?"
Darla: "Horrors."
- The friendship between Wesley, Cordelia and Angel is lovely to watch once more. Wesley and Cordelia bitching at one another and Angel telling them to stop it... He's so playing the father part here, while Wes and Cordy have taken up the roles of bickering siblings.
In particular this scene made me smile. Angel is so close to laughing here.
Angel: "Hey! How about we pretend that you work for me?"
Cordelia: "You are really unpleasant when you…"
Angel: "Then why don't we pretend that you don't."
Cordelia: "You can't fire me. I'm vision girl."
Sticks her tongue out at him.
Angel sticks his hands into his pockets and tries not to smile.
I've also noticed that many little touches occur between Angel, Cordy and Wesley at this time. Nothing erotic, just friendly little touches that show how close they have become to another.
To bad their happy family union will be broken up soon. The first cracks are already showing.
- Wesley is once again astute when it comes to understanding Angel. He inquires after Angel's dreams, but is interrupted by Cordelia having a vision.
- I think Darla appearing in Angel's dream was inspired by the succubus myth. She appears in his dreams, they even have sex in his dreams and she saps away his strength. All succubus features.
- Darla and Angel(us) make the screen sizzle in the dream/flashback sequence.
Small wonder fandom loves writing vampire sex. There's enough canon information to get it right. :-)
- Bethany's story:
Now sexual abuse is a very difficult subject to handle in a TV show. Bethany turning from victim to someone who has enough strength to control her powers, to protect herself and to not kill her father happens very quickly, of course, but all in all the plot worked for me. I also liked how they shot the flashback scene where Bethany's father comes to take her down from the attic. Nothing overt is shown, but you just know what is going on.
- Interesting that Wesley figures out what's going on so quickly. He definitely knows what it's like to have a violent father. After this episode, I wondered how far the abuse in his own past went.
- The scene where Bethany visits Angel in his bedroom was intriguing. Especially this line:
Bethany: "Oh, right. You love the people. (Gets up) Love them so much, you got a hundred rooms to be all alone in. - I'm thinking maybe you're not exactly qualified to help me with my problem."
- It seems Darla isn't only visiting Angel in his dreams any longer, but has really started to sneak into the Hyperion hotel.
- Lilah has a hard time in this episode. Being a professional evil doer isn't all that easy after all...
Nice final scene between Bethany, Lilah and Angel. It's neat that Bethany is totally unfazed by Angel being a vampire. And Lilah can't stop herself from dropping some hints.
Lilah: "Our-our firm doesn't want to lose a... you're not... (Points at Angel) He is a vampire, you know."
Bethany looks at Angel: "Weird."
She leaves.
Angel: "Looks like you're gonna have to find someone else's brain to play with."
Lilah smiles: "Yeah, we have someone in mind."
Angel: "Good night, Lilah."
Lilah steps out into the hall to watch Angel open the outside door at the bottom to the steps for Bethany.
Lilah: "Sweet dreams."
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-26 03:53 pm (UTC)Wesley's reaction to Bethany, along with the "stairs" comment in "Under My Skin," is one of the main sources of the fanon that he was an abused child --at the very least, it supports that he's willing to think bad things about fathers.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-26 09:23 pm (UTC)She's has a hard time in this episode. By the end, she sports several bruises and her plan has failed. Despite her evilness, part of me wants to make hot chocolate for her. The bigger part of me, just wants to stay out of her way though. :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-12-27 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-26 04:22 pm (UTC)Lilah trying to make a supernaturally gifted angry girl into a W&H assassin reminds one of Faith in "Five by Five", where it was Lilah, too, who made the original contact.
Yes, the sexual abuse theme was well-handled. Also, observe that as opposed to certain fanfic clichés, where sexually abused characters usually get "healed" by having spectacular sex with the character the writer wants to pair them off with, it's made clear here that Angel can only help Bethany while not having sex with her.
Yes, Darla is really in the Hyperion. But won't be "undercover" for much longer...
no subject
Date: 2005-12-26 09:05 pm (UTC)Yes, I actually pitied her in that scene with Holland. She looks like a lost little girl who tries to get her daddie's approval.