So, who can tell me what just happened?
Please?
Yeah, what she said. Definitely a WTF?! moment.
Angel thrust once and lost his soul. Poor guy, even in his fantasies he can’t last longer than 10 seconds.
The whole episode was a dream. It was Angel’s perfect day culminating in Angel’s Perfect Happiness so that Angel would become Angelus and fight the Beast. Remember last week, Cordy said that Angelus knew something about the Beast that Angel did not.
What happened was a really nice fake-out on the part of Mutant Enemy and company. Here’s the gullible audience sitting around thinking “A magic sword? This is too easy. And now Angel and Cordy are getting cuddly. Oh, yuck!” And the whole thing was an illusion, leading Angel towards that moment of perfect happiness – the Beast defeated, everybody back together, not too mention sex with the lovely Charisma Carpenter.
I was really getting irritated because too many story threads got resolved too easily. I got suckered but good.
Right, so the shaman caused him to have this dream in order to give him perfect happiness. Okay.
I hate to sound like a harping 'shipper, cause I hate that, but… he said “Buffy”!
Where/when did he say “Buffy,” LaurAnge?
Yeah, totally faked me out. I was thinking the whole ending was so anti-climatic until the very end. Great twist ending.
Right the second he was losing his soul. Unless I’m crazy…
Yeah, he said it. I personally think it was a cruel joke David Fury inserted because of all the fanmail he gets that says “Buffy+Angel=4eva”.
Seriously though, in the shooting script, the context is very clear. *Angel is reacting with horror because of what happened last time with…“Buffy”. * We had that spoiled nearly a week ago, and hoped it would be cut because it probably wouldn’t come across on screen as it did in the script. Judging from the reactions on various boards, we were right.
If you are interested in the exact wording of the shooting script, I can try to track it down.
That was fun! I should have known the whole thing was a fake, starting with the cult member that suicides to keep a secret but has it WRITTEN ALL OVER his body. That and my man Wesley saying the word “sorry.”
I was ticking off all the things going on during the episode that would resolve things and allow Angel to have his moment of perfect happiness. Wes and he having their little moment, Cordie’s love, resolving things with Conner, killing the Beast, even Wes and Conner doing a high five, then sex with Cordy. I knew something was up, but didn’t quite pull it all together. Nice job by Joss.
The demonic laugh at the end was the only cliche that I could have done without. Everyone notice that in the scenes for next week the title was “Angelus”?
It’s sad that the laughter lasted longer than the sex…
Damn that was good. Throughout the fake part I was waiting for someone to come to their senses about Angel and Cordy, especially Cordy. Then the Moment. So so great.
I liked the laugh.
I liked the Indiana Jones nods for getting the sword, “Why’d it have to be wood?”
Very well done episode.
On preview: Yes I noticed the next week title and think it was a pretty nice touch. I thought the laughter had the quality of laughing at a joke that’s been played on you and that’s why I liked it.
I think, instead of the laugh, Angelus should have said “I had the most wonderful dream…!”
I too, got caught, even though I was spoiled! I kept waiting for Angel to reveal that the shaman really had removed his soul, and that he had been faking the whole time. Biting Cordy, something like that. They totally had me going “Damn, the beast dead with NO resolution of it’s history, it’s purpose, ANYTHING?” and “Cordy, you’re a freaking moron: you can’t be happy with him and tell him how happy everything is and then have sex with him!!!”
Oh, they got me good…
I’m glad I wasn’t spoiled for this episode. The ending certainly had me and I thought Uh-oh, now you’re gonna lose your soul for having sex with Cordy. And yes, he did.
The things listed above did indeed bother me and I was close to getting annoyed, but in the final context, it all made sense.
Good ep. Very good.
I LOVED the end of this episode, what a great fake out! Everything came together a bit too easily, Angel and Connor and Cordy, even Wes and Gunn. I was so disappointed when the Beast was defeated, and I thought the ‘energy release’ was pretty wimpy.
After seeing the ‘defeat’ of the Beast, I can’t wait to see it all over again!
Hey there, he’s only gotten laid twice in the last hundred years…I think she’s lucky he didn’t erupt all over her before engaging in the act. 
I don’t know…I kept waiting for the scenes that they showed in the previews last week. The maniacal laughter, Cordy say “Angelus” in breathy little voice. When I didn’t see any of that, I started getting a tad suspiciouse…and at the very end, where everything was sunshine and happiness, I just knew something was wrong.
You know, one of the things that I got a kick out of was the trailer for next week’s Angel. Instead of saying “Angel” it said “Angelus”. I thought that was clever.