Angel - Season 3 impressions (episode 17)
Mar. 25th, 2006 01:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thalia_seawoodForgiving
For a summary click here.
- Everybody's confounded why Wesley acted the way he did and looks for explanations. Only Angel isn't concerned about the whys, he's out for revenge. Even when he knows about the prophecy, he doesn't reconsider his course of action.
- Angel: "She'll be back soon. And when she does she'll have presents, for Connor. - - And he's gonna be here so she can give them to him, okay?"
Fred in a whisper: "Okay."
Angel looks around the office.
Angel: "I'm sorry."
Fred: "No."
Angel: "This - this isn't working. Forget about all this. I gotta go."
I liked this scene, as it shows us an emotionally vulnerable Angel which gave me the chance to connect to him again. I've realised that when he gets too frantic, I sort off disconnect. I don't dislike Angel, but I view him with a lot of distance whenever he becomes to obsessed/unreasonable.
- All in all, Angel reminds me strongly of Willow in this episode. Like her, he has lost what he loves most. Like her, he's willing to do *everything* to achieve revenge. It's just pure luck that at first he doesn't have to go to the utmost extreme: He's willing to torture Linwood, but Linwood caves beforehand. He's willing to kill Lilah, but the "White Room Girl" stops him. He throws Linwood down the stairs and it's pure chance Linwood doesn't break his neck.
Like Willow he uses dark magic without any regard to the consequences.
The monster he unleashes, runs rampant in the city. Ironically, some other man blames himself for Sahjhan's victims. Angel tells this man he's not to blame - which is a neat twist of the forgiveness. Since he doesn't give the man any details, it's doubtful the man can grasp Angel's absolution.
- Justine: At this point, it has become clear that she's in way over her head. Initially, she joined Holtz's gang in order to kill demons, now she has to realise that she went too far when she tried to kill Wesley.
She's clearly disillusioned, especially when she has to realise that Holtz just used her as a tool in his battle.
We rarely see any physical wounds after a fight; usually the characters take incredible punches and later on haven't got a single mark. Justine is one of the big exceptions: She looks like someone who was beaten up severely which shows how much she has been through.
Despite this, she can still be remarkable strong. Without her intervention Angel and probably Gunn and Fred wouldn't have survived this episode.
- The W&H elevator is a fascinating thing. I love the idea of the White Room and the girl who answers Angel's question. So this is the W & H version of the Oracle...
- Lilah has an interesting part in this episode. My favorite scene for her is when Linwood is convinced that she will use his blood to summon Sahjhan, but then uses her own blood instead.
- The full plan comes to the light and we learn that the prophecy was falsified by Sahjhan. We also learn that Angel was never Sahjhan's aim, he always tried to achieve Connor's destruction. Holtz, of course, followed his own agenda all the way, i.e. to hurt Angel and then have him destroyed.
- The final scene was very powerful:
In the beginning of this scene, I was disappointed. I just didn't buy that Angel would forgive Wesley like that. Seeing how far he went in this episode, it just didn't seem right. Good thing the writers saw it the same way.
Angel (like Holtz) knows how to set up his revenge: He first appears to offer forgiveness -- and then strikes. You can see the gratitude on Wesley's face when he still thinks that Angel does understand and forgive what he did.
It's fascinating how Angel states clearly that he's Angel and not Angelus - and then attempts to smother Wesley with a pillow. He wants to make sure Wesley gets that it's not an evil demon who's out for his blood, but his former friend Angel.
Angel: "Hey, Wes. I just - I want you to know I understand why you did it. I know about the prophecies and I know how hard it must have been for you to - do what you did. You thought I was gonna turn evil and kill my son. I didn't. It's important you know that. This isn't Angelus talking. It's me, Angel. You know that, right?"
Wes blinks his eyes once.
Angel: "Good."
Angel suddenly pulls the pillow out from under Wes' head and pushes it down on Wes' face.
Angel: "You son of a bitch, you're gonna pay for what you did! You took my son! You son of a bitch! You bastard!"
Gunn and Fred's heads jerk up out in the waiting room as a heart monitor alarm goes off and orderlies run past them to reach Wes' room.
Angel: "You think I'd forgive you?! No! Never! You're gonna die! You hear me? You're gonna pay!"
Yes, I realise there are still several episodes of Angel I haven't yet covered, but I was going through the episodes 17 - 19 today and managed to type up my impressions immediately afterwards. I do plan to cover Angel's season 3 episodes 7 - 16 eventually.
In other news: I find it easier to write about Angel in season 3 than about Buffy in season 6. Buffy makes me want to really analyse every tiny detail right now which means it takes me ages to type up my impressions.
For a summary click here.
- Everybody's confounded why Wesley acted the way he did and looks for explanations. Only Angel isn't concerned about the whys, he's out for revenge. Even when he knows about the prophecy, he doesn't reconsider his course of action.
- Angel: "She'll be back soon. And when she does she'll have presents, for Connor. - - And he's gonna be here so she can give them to him, okay?"
Fred in a whisper: "Okay."
Angel looks around the office.
Angel: "I'm sorry."
Fred: "No."
Angel: "This - this isn't working. Forget about all this. I gotta go."
I liked this scene, as it shows us an emotionally vulnerable Angel which gave me the chance to connect to him again. I've realised that when he gets too frantic, I sort off disconnect. I don't dislike Angel, but I view him with a lot of distance whenever he becomes to obsessed/unreasonable.
- All in all, Angel reminds me strongly of Willow in this episode. Like her, he has lost what he loves most. Like her, he's willing to do *everything* to achieve revenge. It's just pure luck that at first he doesn't have to go to the utmost extreme: He's willing to torture Linwood, but Linwood caves beforehand. He's willing to kill Lilah, but the "White Room Girl" stops him. He throws Linwood down the stairs and it's pure chance Linwood doesn't break his neck.
Like Willow he uses dark magic without any regard to the consequences.
The monster he unleashes, runs rampant in the city. Ironically, some other man blames himself for Sahjhan's victims. Angel tells this man he's not to blame - which is a neat twist of the forgiveness. Since he doesn't give the man any details, it's doubtful the man can grasp Angel's absolution.
- Justine: At this point, it has become clear that she's in way over her head. Initially, she joined Holtz's gang in order to kill demons, now she has to realise that she went too far when she tried to kill Wesley.
She's clearly disillusioned, especially when she has to realise that Holtz just used her as a tool in his battle.
We rarely see any physical wounds after a fight; usually the characters take incredible punches and later on haven't got a single mark. Justine is one of the big exceptions: She looks like someone who was beaten up severely which shows how much she has been through.
Despite this, she can still be remarkable strong. Without her intervention Angel and probably Gunn and Fred wouldn't have survived this episode.
- The W&H elevator is a fascinating thing. I love the idea of the White Room and the girl who answers Angel's question. So this is the W & H version of the Oracle...
- Lilah has an interesting part in this episode. My favorite scene for her is when Linwood is convinced that she will use his blood to summon Sahjhan, but then uses her own blood instead.
- The full plan comes to the light and we learn that the prophecy was falsified by Sahjhan. We also learn that Angel was never Sahjhan's aim, he always tried to achieve Connor's destruction. Holtz, of course, followed his own agenda all the way, i.e. to hurt Angel and then have him destroyed.
- The final scene was very powerful:
In the beginning of this scene, I was disappointed. I just didn't buy that Angel would forgive Wesley like that. Seeing how far he went in this episode, it just didn't seem right. Good thing the writers saw it the same way.
Angel (like Holtz) knows how to set up his revenge: He first appears to offer forgiveness -- and then strikes. You can see the gratitude on Wesley's face when he still thinks that Angel does understand and forgive what he did.
It's fascinating how Angel states clearly that he's Angel and not Angelus - and then attempts to smother Wesley with a pillow. He wants to make sure Wesley gets that it's not an evil demon who's out for his blood, but his former friend Angel.
Angel: "Hey, Wes. I just - I want you to know I understand why you did it. I know about the prophecies and I know how hard it must have been for you to - do what you did. You thought I was gonna turn evil and kill my son. I didn't. It's important you know that. This isn't Angelus talking. It's me, Angel. You know that, right?"
Wes blinks his eyes once.
Angel: "Good."
Angel suddenly pulls the pillow out from under Wes' head and pushes it down on Wes' face.
Angel: "You son of a bitch, you're gonna pay for what you did! You took my son! You son of a bitch! You bastard!"
Gunn and Fred's heads jerk up out in the waiting room as a heart monitor alarm goes off and orderlies run past them to reach Wes' room.
Angel: "You think I'd forgive you?! No! Never! You're gonna die! You hear me? You're gonna pay!"
Yes, I realise there are still several episodes of Angel I haven't yet covered, but I was going through the episodes 17 - 19 today and managed to type up my impressions immediately afterwards. I do plan to cover Angel's season 3 episodes 7 - 16 eventually.
In other news: I find it easier to write about Angel in season 3 than about Buffy in season 6. Buffy makes me want to really analyse every tiny detail right now which means it takes me ages to type up my impressions.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 06:12 am (UTC)At the end of the episode, though, he has realized he won't get Connor back, and that is where you see Angel out to hurt just for the sake of revenge. And it's a great storytelling choice on the part of the writers to make it absolutely clear (as Angel does) that this isn't some demonic part of Angel, it's the utterly human man who has lost his son who reacts this way.
(When I'm back in Munich, I'll give you a link regarding that final scene as well.)
Something else: Because of her angry outburst at Wesley in Double or Nothing, it often gets forgotten that it's Fred who during Forgiving tries and tries and finally succeeds in finding out just why Wesley acted the way he did.
Lilah: loved that scene, too.
Lastly: Forgiving along with the two proceeding episodes were ones I saw quite differently the first time and the second time I watched them. The first time, my sympathies were utterly with Wesley. The second time, after knowing the rest of the story (and the long term results of his actions), they well, weren't. I still feel sorry for him. However, I feel sorrier for Angel and Connor. As this is the result of having seen the rest of the show, I don't expect you to share the sentiment.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 02:22 pm (UTC)