Angel - Season 3 impressions (episode 5)
Feb. 12th, 2006 12:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thalia_seawoodFredless
For a summary click here.
- This is an episode to which I was looking forward as it promised to give some more insight into Fred. I have to admit that the episode did not fulfill my expectations; it's not a bad episode as such, it's just rather mediocre. There were several moments when the actors' performances didn't convince me. Also the final plot twist felt extremely contrived. Despite this there are scenes I really enjoyed and I will focus on them.
- Love Cordelia and Wesley slipping into the roles of Angel and Buffy in order to explain their tragic love to Gunn and Fred. Of course, it's always nice to see that under Wes' proper behaviour a snarky sense of humor is hidden.
Cordy: "Oh - Angel! I know that I'm a Slayer and you a vampire - and it would be *impossible* for us to *be* together - *but!*"
Gunn laughs at Cordy's act.
Wes stands up: "But!"
Cordy turns to look at him. Wes pulls his glasses off and lays them to the side.
Wes: "My gypsy curse sometimes prevent me from seeing the truth. Oh, Buffy!"
Cordy: "Yes, Angel?"
Wes: "Oh, I love you so much I almost forgot to *brood!*"
- In Life Serial, Buffy refused to give any details regarding her meeting with Angel. Like her, Angel doesn't want to talk about the meeting - the contrast in their friends' reaction is quite interesting, however.
In particular, Willow and Dawn really want to know the details from Buffy: They feel excluded from Buffy's life and hope that things will get better when Buffy opens up to them. Buffy wants to keep her distance as part of her still feels resentful for being brought back. Because of her feelings (resentfulness mixed with guilt), she doesn't quite know how to refuse giving any details and refuses to tell more in a rather awkward way.
For Angel, the entire situation is a lot easier. For one only Cordelia is openly curious. Fred doesn't see herself as in a position to ask any questions, Gunn is probabyly not interested enough and Wesley is too tactful. As for Cordy, her curiosity isn't pressing. Sure, she'd love to know more about the meeting, but she doesn't feel excluded when Angel doesn't want to talk about this.
Cordy: "Now we'll never, ever know."
Angel off screen: "That's right."
- Oh Wesley... *g*
"You know, back in my days as a rogue demon hunter I once used that very spear to pin down what I thought was a small Rodentius demon - of course the poodle's owners weren't very happy."
- I have a deep love for all the complexities of Angel's personality. One pattern I noticed is that Angel when he's relaxed and content, behaves a lot like his human self, Liam. Funnily enough, the Liam part of Angel's personality is a lot closer to pre-Sunnydale Angelus, e.g. these personality parts are able to really enjoy things, they get a kick out of action and adventure and love to brag.
Angel: "Wait til you guys hear what happened at Haagen Dazs! Ordinarily these things don't put up much of a fight, but this one? Hoo! I think I'm gonna have it..."
Angel walks into the office, carrying the Durslar's severed head. Sees Fred's parents.
Angel: "...mounted. - Hello."
- Fred's parents:
I was glad that Fred doesn't have bad parents (as so many other characters in the Jossverse), but that she's avoiding them due to more complex reasons.
Now I didn't much care for the reunion scene. Amy Acker does a good job, but I just didn't get into the performances of the actors who played her parents.
What I did enjoy were the interactions of Trish and Roger with the other members of the AI Team. In particular, I was intrigued by the reactions of the AI Team just after Fred and her parents had left. Particularly, the reactions of Gunn and Wes tell a lot about them: Gunn obviously has very positive memories of his parents wheras Wes' experiences are extremely negative.
Cordy: "Actually I was gonna say her parents. - Is that wrong."
Angel: "I don't think so. They were very - nice."
Cordy: "Nice? - They weren't just nice, Angel. They were..."
Gunn: "Parents."
Wes: " They loved her. - Supported her. - Didn't grind her down into a - tiny self-conscious nub with their constant berating. Their never ending tirade of debasement, and scorn and..."
Wes trails off as he notices that all of the others are looking at him, makes as if to say something else, but then just stays silent.
- The ending tries to be meaningful: We see Fred repainting the walls in her room which shows that she has become more stable and is able to face the world again. When she paints over the drawing that shows Angel rescuing her ("handsome man saved me from the monsters), we see that she's able again to live in the real world.
For some strange reasons I'm not completely happy with the ending. Don't know why. though. Maybe because I'n wondering it the writers will still remember Fred's traumatic experiences on Pylea in future episodes.
For a summary click here.
- This is an episode to which I was looking forward as it promised to give some more insight into Fred. I have to admit that the episode did not fulfill my expectations; it's not a bad episode as such, it's just rather mediocre. There were several moments when the actors' performances didn't convince me. Also the final plot twist felt extremely contrived. Despite this there are scenes I really enjoyed and I will focus on them.
- Love Cordelia and Wesley slipping into the roles of Angel and Buffy in order to explain their tragic love to Gunn and Fred. Of course, it's always nice to see that under Wes' proper behaviour a snarky sense of humor is hidden.
Cordy: "Oh - Angel! I know that I'm a Slayer and you a vampire - and it would be *impossible* for us to *be* together - *but!*"
Gunn laughs at Cordy's act.
Wes stands up: "But!"
Cordy turns to look at him. Wes pulls his glasses off and lays them to the side.
Wes: "My gypsy curse sometimes prevent me from seeing the truth. Oh, Buffy!"
Cordy: "Yes, Angel?"
Wes: "Oh, I love you so much I almost forgot to *brood!*"
- In Life Serial, Buffy refused to give any details regarding her meeting with Angel. Like her, Angel doesn't want to talk about the meeting - the contrast in their friends' reaction is quite interesting, however.
In particular, Willow and Dawn really want to know the details from Buffy: They feel excluded from Buffy's life and hope that things will get better when Buffy opens up to them. Buffy wants to keep her distance as part of her still feels resentful for being brought back. Because of her feelings (resentfulness mixed with guilt), she doesn't quite know how to refuse giving any details and refuses to tell more in a rather awkward way.
For Angel, the entire situation is a lot easier. For one only Cordelia is openly curious. Fred doesn't see herself as in a position to ask any questions, Gunn is probabyly not interested enough and Wesley is too tactful. As for Cordy, her curiosity isn't pressing. Sure, she'd love to know more about the meeting, but she doesn't feel excluded when Angel doesn't want to talk about this.
Cordy: "Now we'll never, ever know."
Angel off screen: "That's right."
- Oh Wesley... *g*
"You know, back in my days as a rogue demon hunter I once used that very spear to pin down what I thought was a small Rodentius demon - of course the poodle's owners weren't very happy."
- I have a deep love for all the complexities of Angel's personality. One pattern I noticed is that Angel when he's relaxed and content, behaves a lot like his human self, Liam. Funnily enough, the Liam part of Angel's personality is a lot closer to pre-Sunnydale Angelus, e.g. these personality parts are able to really enjoy things, they get a kick out of action and adventure and love to brag.
Angel: "Wait til you guys hear what happened at Haagen Dazs! Ordinarily these things don't put up much of a fight, but this one? Hoo! I think I'm gonna have it..."
Angel walks into the office, carrying the Durslar's severed head. Sees Fred's parents.
Angel: "...mounted. - Hello."
- Fred's parents:
I was glad that Fred doesn't have bad parents (as so many other characters in the Jossverse), but that she's avoiding them due to more complex reasons.
Now I didn't much care for the reunion scene. Amy Acker does a good job, but I just didn't get into the performances of the actors who played her parents.
What I did enjoy were the interactions of Trish and Roger with the other members of the AI Team. In particular, I was intrigued by the reactions of the AI Team just after Fred and her parents had left. Particularly, the reactions of Gunn and Wes tell a lot about them: Gunn obviously has very positive memories of his parents wheras Wes' experiences are extremely negative.
Cordy: "Actually I was gonna say her parents. - Is that wrong."
Angel: "I don't think so. They were very - nice."
Cordy: "Nice? - They weren't just nice, Angel. They were..."
Gunn: "Parents."
Wes: " They loved her. - Supported her. - Didn't grind her down into a - tiny self-conscious nub with their constant berating. Their never ending tirade of debasement, and scorn and..."
Wes trails off as he notices that all of the others are looking at him, makes as if to say something else, but then just stays silent.
- The ending tries to be meaningful: We see Fred repainting the walls in her room which shows that she has become more stable and is able to face the world again. When she paints over the drawing that shows Angel rescuing her ("handsome man saved me from the monsters), we see that she's able again to live in the real world.
For some strange reasons I'm not completely happy with the ending. Don't know why. though. Maybe because I'n wondering it the writers will still remember Fred's traumatic experiences on Pylea in future episodes.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 02:22 am (UTC)There was a Fred analysis that I did read somewhere, which characterized Fred as a survivor. That does not mean that she object to be protected by a lover, but if Fred feels that said lover, can not protect her, will she do, whatever that is necessary for her to survive without looking back. The next episode on your list is “Billy”, that is a much more interesting episode when it comes to Fred. Season four have more episodes that develop Fred character especially the episodes “Supersymmentry” and “Shiny happy people/The magic bullet.
Do you by the way, have any idea of why your posts, does not get updated to my friend list?
no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 09:10 am (UTC)Do you by the way, have any idea of why your posts, does not get updated to my friend list?
That's odd. What I did change is that I created an entry for 01/01/2007 where I list which episodes I've already seen. As a result, I now have to click "backdated" whenever I post another entry. Am pretty sure that this must be the reason for LJ's behaviour. I'll try to work out another solution. - Thanks for letting me know!
no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 02:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 05:27 pm (UTC)In any case: Fredless is okay, with some nice moments, but no more than that. My two favourite Fred episodes are both in season 4, and Amy Acker's outstanding moments as an actress come in season 5, she says cryptically.
Now we've had the occasional single nice parent (like Joyce), but I think Fred is the only one with both parents being nice and reliable. Well, except for... but that is different. (Again with the cryptic.)
no subject
Date: 2006-02-16 03:43 pm (UTC)Hmmm, curious now. *g*
I guess it's more interesting to show dysfunctional families on TV. I got the feeling the writers didn't really know what to do with Fred's perfectly nice parents... (Oddly enough her parents reminded me of Bashir's parents; I don't think I would be surprised if it turned out they had turned their daughter into genius by having her genetically altered. *g*)
no subject
Date: 2006-02-12 06:23 pm (UTC)Depends on the writer and the episode . . .character continuity re: Fred comes and goes.
this one is fairly forgettable, other than the Wes/Cordy scene you mentioned (and I use that slash advisedly *g*; it's one of the main scenes that makes me 'ship them).
I really don't think we learn that much about Fred in this one; maybe the writers don't know how to make a happy family work! Partly I think it's just not that convincing that she wouldn't want to go home at least for a while. I mean, there's no reason she should STAY with her parents; she's an adult and she had already moved to L.A. But why not let her go home for a while in between episodes, the way that Angel presumably goes to see Buffy?
Back to that Wes/Cordy scene -- I have NO idea if this is true, but I have kind of a suspicion that the actors improvised it at some point and then they wrote it into an episode. Actually, I prefer to believe that Alexis & Alyson Hannigan (his RL-significant other) improvised it. I just enjoy that thought.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-16 03:49 pm (UTC)Feels like the opposite of Star Trek where you know that new and sometimes interesting characters will *never* stay with the crew. Love interests are either doomed to die or the characters will realize in one single episode it will never work out. It's always odd when characters or situations remain strangely static - either because there's now place for a new regular or the writers inadvertently fall into the "static trap". ("Fred is a regular character. Therefore she will not go back to her parents' home, even if only for a week.")
Actually, I prefer to believe that Alexis & Alyson Hannigan (his RL-significant other) improvised it. I just enjoy that thought.
Oh, I didn't know they are a couple in RL. Interesting tidbit.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-16 04:16 pm (UTC)Though someone should talk to him about that shirt.
Interesting point re: the Star Trek comparison. I do think the Buffyverse is a bit extreme about isolating its characters. I mean, what the hell ever happened to Willow's parents?
It wouldn't take much to drop a few lines and suggest some of these characters have outside lives. There's a particularly weird circumstance re: Fred's parents, much later on, but I'll save that --
no subject
Date: 2006-02-23 09:00 pm (UTC)Regarding parents:
Also did Amy's father never enquire after her?
Do Cordy's parents never phone her?
Sometimes they feel so isolated it's surreal.