Angel & Smallville
Feb. 5th, 2004 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
Smallville
- Wasn't going to watch the ep, and didn't even have a tape set up, but then![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
akscully's short but sweet LJ post made me curious.
- Of COURSE it ended up having more Lex/Lana than we've seen, like, ever. :-l I wonder if it's just a fluke, or if they're finally going to do something w/ it. The thing w/ Lex's concern for Lana is that ... he doesn't get anything out of it, as far as I can see. He just gets to help her. Maybe it was Clark-related at first, but it hasn't felt that way in awhile. Unless his motive is to have teh sex w/ her, in which case, I take it back.
- Lex and Lana have chemistry. And I don't know if they're really writing them purposely that way, or if it's MR's giant dorky crush on KK coming through. Either way, it's entertaining. :D
- Mostly I want L/L to happen because it would make Lana SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING. She's so freaking lame now, and Clark isn't helping matters. Lex is where it's at.
- The only good thing about the Adam character is that they're apparently attempting continuity now. It's a little bit painful to watch them struggle through it, but at least they're trying. I guess.
- Jonathan Kent is so not dead. There was a time when Jade and I wished for his demise on a weekly basis, but now he's just there. Jonathan and Martha used to be a lot more interesting.
Angel
- On a scale of 1-10, yadda yadda, I'd give this ep a 6 - and then, probably only for Charisma Carpenter's guest role. I was not v. impressed with it. The plot was really simplistic - inappropriately so, considering what all had to be done - and trite. I felt zero suspense about it all. I mean, I knew it was probably CC's last ep, but they knew we knew that, and this is a show I expect to overcome my expectations. This ep sooo didn't.
- Maybe it's just David Fury. Apparently, I can't stand his writing. I didn't even know he wrote the ep until afterward, but it was so not a surprise to discover this was his work, given the extremely lukewarm-to-disgust feelings I had about it in general.
- There were some good parts, but it wasn't enough to lift the episode above bad/cheesy dialogue, the really weak plot, and the less-than-stellar conclusion.
The Good:
- Cordy and Wes's conversation. Probably the most moving part of the entire episode.
- The Colin Farrell reference, which was so appropriate given he was nowhere a year ago. Perfect way to illustrate how long she's been gone. Oh, if Cordy only knew, she'd have taken up on Lorne's offer so fast... (Ooh, Jade, however - this puts a crimp in your "theory" that only a couple of months have passed since Cordy's been in a coma.)
- Eve possibly being gone for good. But the universe probably won't be that nice to me.
The Good, with Caveats:
- The Cordy/Angel interaction in general, although I thought the kiss at the end was unnecessary and kind of cheap. They knew it wasn't going to go anywhere, so they threw it in. Blah. I thought their conversation was far more meaningful than a forced smooch. What happened to Cordy is basically what happened to Will on Alias -- they had to either get rid of the obstacle or go all the way w/ a pairing they never really wanted, so they did the former.
- Theoretically liked the idea of all this Lindsey stuff culminating in Cordy helping Angel to find himself again and beat it back, but it also felt really anticlimactic in terms of the Lindsey resolution. Lindsey came back for this?? So who/what's the Big Bad this season then?
- Spike playing w/ an Xbox. Except from the sounds it was making, it sounded like my 8-bit Nintendo I got when I was 8.
- All the Angel/Lindsey UST. Last I checked, Lindsey was not as in-love-with-Angel seeming as he was in this ep.
- Well, we knew one of two things had to happen: Cordy was either going to die, or she was going to leave. Of the two, death was definitely the preferred option, as it would be less a disservice to the growth of her character. HOWEVER, I was really hoping for magic option #3, in which ME came up with something extremely cool for her I couldn't have predicted. Of course, for that to happen, they should have gotten DeKnight or the good Drew to write it. Jade and I came up w/ our own satisfying scenario: Connor is in trouble (threat from demons, perhaps, while he's away at college), so he needs a protector without knowing it. Since Cordy is the only one who remembers him, she's sent to watch over Angel's son for him, and gives reports from on the road. (Or maybe Cordy and Lindsey should have run off together. I've always held a little guilty flame for that ship.)
The Bad:
- Convoluted plot that ended w/ Cordy pressing some buttons to save the day, with most of the action centered around some not-very-impressive, melodramatic slow-mo fighting by Angel and Lindsey.
- Resolving poor Cordy's storyline in one episode. What, they couldn't have made this a two-ep arc, so as to make it less rushed, and do more for both Cordy and Lindsey? Unless it was CC who refused to do more, and really, who can blame her, in which case, I'll take this one back. But it still should have been better. And not written by David Fury.
- Cordy's reception after coming out of her coma. I liked that it was just Angel and Wes there to greet her, but I can't believe that Gunn, Lorne, and especially Fred did not insist at least on going along. And then when Cordy showed up at W&H, they all greeted her like she'd just come back from a vacation, instead of being in a LIFE-THREATENING COMA. 8-| Fred, in particular, should have been faaaaaar more welcoming, given how much Cordy did for her, and how much they went through together. I mean, the only reason Fred is as well-adjusted as she is now is because of Cordy. Same thing w/ Gunn - they went through so much, and it was like 'we all know you're not really staying, so see ya.' So yeah, poor, poor, lazy writing here. Even Harmony greeted her w/ more warmth! Only Angel - and possibly Wes - responded appropriately, imho.
- The anvil-like clues showing us that Cordy knew she wouldn't be sticking around. The worst trespass was Cordy watching the video of Doyle (that gets me choked up every. time.) and saying something like, "Doyle gave himself up so that you would keep fighting, Angel. I never understood that until now." Gee, could you be thinking of doing the same thing, Cordy?
- I almost felt like the guest star was Charisma's breasts, rather than Charisma herself. Every time we saw her, one more button on her shirt was undone. What was with that?
- I was really liking Angel's identity crisis up to this point. IMHO there shouldn't have been a "magic" episode where he just finds his way again, no matter how theoretically nice it is to think it was Cordy who helped him achieve that. It just seemed so easy and convenient. His identity crisis was far better handled in S2 ... or was it S1? Whenever it was. So yeah, in a 42-min episode, we closed: 1) Lindsey's business, 2) Cordy dying and ending a 6-year stint w/ the Whedonverse, and 3) Angel's identity crisis. Um, a little ambitious, don't you think? Is probably why it was so unsatisfying.
- So Lindsey's purpose this whole time was to destroy Angel? WHY? I mean, yes, there is an obvious answer to that, but it's kind of stupid and uncreative. When he left, he and Angel had an understanding, even if they didn't like one another a whole lot. Lindsey had a great exit from AtS - and they brought him back with such a lame premise??? :-l, ME. :-l.
- This ep might have redeemed itself if it had turned out that all the things Eve and Lindsey were doing to make Angel & Team respond a certain way was on purpose. That everything they thought they were doing to salvage the situation, was part of Lindsey's plan all along. I suppose that still might be true, but I'm not holding my breath.
- The explanation - if you can even call it that - for why Lindsey tapped Spike in the first place is flimsy in the extreme. I think it was far more dangerous of him to even make himself known to anyone in Angel's periphery. And why call himself Doyle? Did he expect Spike to know who that is? Actually, if Spike had known, he probably would have been suspicious. So that Angel would believe even more that he was being ousted by the Powers? That makes no sense, because even he would be suspicious (as he was) by another Doyle claiming visions. So yeah, THAT MADE NO SENCE.
Okay, I'm done.
- Wasn't going to watch the ep, and didn't even have a tape set up, but then
akscully's short but sweet LJ post made me curious.- Of COURSE it ended up having more Lex/Lana than we've seen, like, ever. :-l I wonder if it's just a fluke, or if they're finally going to do something w/ it. The thing w/ Lex's concern for Lana is that ... he doesn't get anything out of it, as far as I can see. He just gets to help her. Maybe it was Clark-related at first, but it hasn't felt that way in awhile. Unless his motive is to have teh sex w/ her, in which case, I take it back.
- Lex and Lana have chemistry. And I don't know if they're really writing them purposely that way, or if it's MR's giant dorky crush on KK coming through. Either way, it's entertaining. :D
- Mostly I want L/L to happen because it would make Lana SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING. She's so freaking lame now, and Clark isn't helping matters. Lex is where it's at.
- The only good thing about the Adam character is that they're apparently attempting continuity now. It's a little bit painful to watch them struggle through it, but at least they're trying. I guess.
- Jonathan Kent is so not dead. There was a time when Jade and I wished for his demise on a weekly basis, but now he's just there. Jonathan and Martha used to be a lot more interesting.
Angel
- On a scale of 1-10, yadda yadda, I'd give this ep a 6 - and then, probably only for Charisma Carpenter's guest role. I was not v. impressed with it. The plot was really simplistic - inappropriately so, considering what all had to be done - and trite. I felt zero suspense about it all. I mean, I knew it was probably CC's last ep, but they knew we knew that, and this is a show I expect to overcome my expectations. This ep sooo didn't.
- Maybe it's just David Fury. Apparently, I can't stand his writing. I didn't even know he wrote the ep until afterward, but it was so not a surprise to discover this was his work, given the extremely lukewarm-to-disgust feelings I had about it in general.
- There were some good parts, but it wasn't enough to lift the episode above bad/cheesy dialogue, the really weak plot, and the less-than-stellar conclusion.
The Good:
- Cordy and Wes's conversation. Probably the most moving part of the entire episode.
- The Colin Farrell reference, which was so appropriate given he was nowhere a year ago. Perfect way to illustrate how long she's been gone. Oh, if Cordy only knew, she'd have taken up on Lorne's offer so fast... (Ooh, Jade, however - this puts a crimp in your "theory" that only a couple of months have passed since Cordy's been in a coma.)
- Eve possibly being gone for good. But the universe probably won't be that nice to me.
The Good, with Caveats:
- The Cordy/Angel interaction in general, although I thought the kiss at the end was unnecessary and kind of cheap. They knew it wasn't going to go anywhere, so they threw it in. Blah. I thought their conversation was far more meaningful than a forced smooch. What happened to Cordy is basically what happened to Will on Alias -- they had to either get rid of the obstacle or go all the way w/ a pairing they never really wanted, so they did the former.
- Theoretically liked the idea of all this Lindsey stuff culminating in Cordy helping Angel to find himself again and beat it back, but it also felt really anticlimactic in terms of the Lindsey resolution. Lindsey came back for this?? So who/what's the Big Bad this season then?
- Spike playing w/ an Xbox. Except from the sounds it was making, it sounded like my 8-bit Nintendo I got when I was 8.
- All the Angel/Lindsey UST. Last I checked, Lindsey was not as in-love-with-Angel seeming as he was in this ep.
- Well, we knew one of two things had to happen: Cordy was either going to die, or she was going to leave. Of the two, death was definitely the preferred option, as it would be less a disservice to the growth of her character. HOWEVER, I was really hoping for magic option #3, in which ME came up with something extremely cool for her I couldn't have predicted. Of course, for that to happen, they should have gotten DeKnight or the good Drew to write it. Jade and I came up w/ our own satisfying scenario: Connor is in trouble (threat from demons, perhaps, while he's away at college), so he needs a protector without knowing it. Since Cordy is the only one who remembers him, she's sent to watch over Angel's son for him, and gives reports from on the road. (Or maybe Cordy and Lindsey should have run off together. I've always held a little guilty flame for that ship.)
The Bad:
- Convoluted plot that ended w/ Cordy pressing some buttons to save the day, with most of the action centered around some not-very-impressive, melodramatic slow-mo fighting by Angel and Lindsey.
- Resolving poor Cordy's storyline in one episode. What, they couldn't have made this a two-ep arc, so as to make it less rushed, and do more for both Cordy and Lindsey? Unless it was CC who refused to do more, and really, who can blame her, in which case, I'll take this one back. But it still should have been better. And not written by David Fury.
- Cordy's reception after coming out of her coma. I liked that it was just Angel and Wes there to greet her, but I can't believe that Gunn, Lorne, and especially Fred did not insist at least on going along. And then when Cordy showed up at W&H, they all greeted her like she'd just come back from a vacation, instead of being in a LIFE-THREATENING COMA. 8-| Fred, in particular, should have been faaaaaar more welcoming, given how much Cordy did for her, and how much they went through together. I mean, the only reason Fred is as well-adjusted as she is now is because of Cordy. Same thing w/ Gunn - they went through so much, and it was like 'we all know you're not really staying, so see ya.' So yeah, poor, poor, lazy writing here. Even Harmony greeted her w/ more warmth! Only Angel - and possibly Wes - responded appropriately, imho.
- The anvil-like clues showing us that Cordy knew she wouldn't be sticking around. The worst trespass was Cordy watching the video of Doyle (that gets me choked up every. time.) and saying something like, "Doyle gave himself up so that you would keep fighting, Angel. I never understood that until now." Gee, could you be thinking of doing the same thing, Cordy?
- I almost felt like the guest star was Charisma's breasts, rather than Charisma herself. Every time we saw her, one more button on her shirt was undone. What was with that?
- I was really liking Angel's identity crisis up to this point. IMHO there shouldn't have been a "magic" episode where he just finds his way again, no matter how theoretically nice it is to think it was Cordy who helped him achieve that. It just seemed so easy and convenient. His identity crisis was far better handled in S2 ... or was it S1? Whenever it was. So yeah, in a 42-min episode, we closed: 1) Lindsey's business, 2) Cordy dying and ending a 6-year stint w/ the Whedonverse, and 3) Angel's identity crisis. Um, a little ambitious, don't you think? Is probably why it was so unsatisfying.
- So Lindsey's purpose this whole time was to destroy Angel? WHY? I mean, yes, there is an obvious answer to that, but it's kind of stupid and uncreative. When he left, he and Angel had an understanding, even if they didn't like one another a whole lot. Lindsey had a great exit from AtS - and they brought him back with such a lame premise??? :-l, ME. :-l.
- This ep might have redeemed itself if it had turned out that all the things Eve and Lindsey were doing to make Angel & Team respond a certain way was on purpose. That everything they thought they were doing to salvage the situation, was part of Lindsey's plan all along. I suppose that still might be true, but I'm not holding my breath.
- The explanation - if you can even call it that - for why Lindsey tapped Spike in the first place is flimsy in the extreme. I think it was far more dangerous of him to even make himself known to anyone in Angel's periphery. And why call himself Doyle? Did he expect Spike to know who that is? Actually, if Spike had known, he probably would have been suspicious. So that Angel would believe even more that he was being ousted by the Powers? That makes no sense, because even he would be suspicious (as he was) by another Doyle claiming visions. So yeah, THAT MADE NO SENCE.
Okay, I'm done.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
The most random comment left. ever.
Date: 2004-02-05 11:04 pm (UTC)THEN, I saw that there was the new layout and that to leave a comment you snog Draco. Ehem, snog Draco silly. Well Then I really couldn't resist :D.
So yes that was my reason for leaving a comment. I would be worried/shocked if you could find any way to reply to this :P.
Re: The most random comment left. ever.
Date: 2004-02-05 11:10 pm (UTC)Re: The most random comment left. ever.
Date: 2004-02-07 12:17 am (UTC)But don't discriminate against massive font. For remember the age old and wise saying; size does matter. *g*
Ahem.
Date: 2004-02-06 12:53 am (UTC)MR really has a crush on KK? That's so dorkily sweet.
Re: Ahem.
Date: 2004-02-06 01:10 am (UTC)As for MR, he used to. I'm not quite up on the Smallville gossip mill these days, but I went and dug up a couple of things he's said in interviews (because of course, we used to archive this type of thing):
From "Watch with Wanda":
Q: What do you think about a hookup between Lex and Lana?
A: I think she's absolutely extraordinarily beautiful and smart and nice. I'm speaking about Kristin Kreuk, here. As for the characters, I don't think Lex would do anything, because it would interfere with his and Clark's friendship. And that's not something he wants. It's not worth it to him.
Q: How about any prospects for some lovin'? Maybe with Lana?
A: I wish. She's too young. I mean, they can't have a 21-year-old character--or however old I am--and Lana, who's now in high school. I just don't think you can go there. But if I were the writers, I'd be writing it in. That's for damn sure.
There were other things, but I can't find them now. He blabbed about it freely.
OMG I totally forgot about this ... Zap2It actually mentioned The Talon here (http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,274|80183|1|,00.html), calling it a "cyberspatial anomaly." We were v. proud to have it confirmed in print what we'd known all along. But honestly, L/L is all over the place now. We were pioneers!
no subject
Date: 2004-02-08 07:42 pm (UTC)(Although, I still liked it, because they hit me right in the heart. Wah.)
But yeah. The Lindsey. WTF? Makey no sense, considering the way he left; if he'd had a really bad time of it the last couple of years, was down and out and that was the root of his fixation, well, it would've only taken a couple of lines to make that clear to us. Sigh.
Anyway. I'm going to interpret this ep in line with her theory, and say that it's not *supposed* to make sense. It makes me feel better.