Angel 10/15/03 - Unleashed

Cafe Society
#1

Hey where is the Angel thread for this week?

Anyway, I liked tonight’s episode, mostly because it was nice to see more of Fred, Wes, and Gunn. Also I thought the werewolf effects were well done, specially the way they represented the heightened senses. Good costume also – previous attempts at portraying a werewolf on Buffy left something to be desired.

Anyone else think it was odd how totally misrepresented tonight’s episode was in last weeks preview? Speaking of preview, next week’s episode looks… intense. :eek: runs for protection from the inevitable onslaught of female fans hoping to see Spike with “partial nudity”

#2

Whataya mean “female” fans? Besides, there’s only so much more of Spike to be seen and somehow I doubt we’ll be getting a shot of the spectral pickle.

Let’s see, if I had to sum up this episode in one word, that word woud be…

BORING!

I didn’t care about any of it. Didn’t care about the girl, didn’t care about the possibility Gunn was some sort of double agent (he probably isn’t or else there wouldn’t be speculation), didn’t care about Spike’s snarking from beyond (although I did like the “Angel killed him with a pen” line to shut him up).

I didn’t even care that Angel didn’t seem to mind that the scientist guy was up for hitting the menu next month and what it says about ANgel’s eternal struggle against the dark side or whatever.

So, to sum up…BORING!

#3

Ok, that’s it, I think there is something seriously wrong with Angel. I think after the Jasmine thing, he just gave up–and now he’s just going through the motions. I mean, I haven’t always been the man’s biggest fan, but even I know he basically had a “No killing humans” policy, and he’s pretty much blown that now.

#4

I want to like Angel (the show)–I really do–but it is boring.
David Bore-whatever has all the acting ability of a plank of wood.

Since they brought Spike on the show this season to spice things up–it’s time now for him to quit his bitching and moping. That was getting old last season, when he was on Buffy.
He needs his fangs back.

The truth is, I’ve never been much of an Angel (the character) fan. I watched last season and some of the season before and I’m watching now, because there is no more Buffy.

But Angel (the show) is…glum.

#5

Maybe Spike will finally leave the Buffy/Angelverse.

#6

I liked it. Not phenomenal, but decent. Finally, they got a werewolf that looks halfway decent. If she’s going to be a re-occuring character, I hope (as I eternally hope) that this might lead to a possible Oz cameo.

As for the scientist guy, technically, he’s not human anymore, is he? He’s a werewolf, and he’s evil even when he’s human…

But, actually, the guy isn’t dead. They can’t kill the guy until the next full moon, and when they’re back in Angel’s penthouse that evening, they say they’ve shut down that guy’s monthly banquet permanently. Letting them drag the guy away was just a ploy to get out with the girl. Hell, they probably didn’t even fire the guy: they need to keep him close at hand so he doesn’t hurt people when he wolfs out.

#7

Well, at the end of the episode they said pretty clearly that they shut down the monster bistro. So the guy from Enterprise is still safe and sound, presumably, albeit he’s a werewolf. It was just a ruse to get free of the guy’s guards.

That doesn’t explain away the body count Angel’s been racking up this season, but whatever. Who needs continuity, anyway?

I don’t know whether to respect the next-week teaser at the end of the episode, or just to shake my head at it. They disguise it as a “viewer discretion” warning, but of course it’s clearly just to drive up viewers. I mean, not just graphic scenes – graphic scenes and partial nudity!

#8

I thought the promo was rather clever. Especially since when I read the sides, it made me wince.

#9

Tonight’s girl was cute, though. Couldn’t fault that.

As for Spike: I like how they’ve brought him back. I may not like his lines and his acting all of the time, but I like that they didn’t bring him back as human or full-fledged vampire. It was a twist I wasn’t expecting, so I hope it all plays out well. And next week’s episode (partial nudity on someone’s part (or of someone’s part) aside) sounds fairly interesting.

But I’m easy: I’ll give it a whole season before I condemn this year. :slight_smile:

#10

The wolf-girl was really cute.

And Fred has been just darling this season! Whoever’s been in charge of costuming her, I hope they keep it up. I particularly like the skirts we’ve seen Fred in: short, but not tarty.

#11

I dunno. I’m kind of distressed with the ending where thay basically say “Well, we sure shut down Evil Rocco’s Supernatural Buffet with our new law firm.” I understand that this particular episode was about saving the girl, but when a major problem can be cleased up off screen with one line of exposition, I’m not pleased. If we’re going to do that, why bother to show us anything.

“We sure saved that poor woman with our fists and guns and mad detective skills.”

“Yup. Who wants Chinese?”

And how can I possibly conider Spike’s problem to be anything to worry about. He’s given the option of getting help from the firm’s big occult expert and he refuses because he’s embarrassed? Yeah, I guess that momentary discomfort of embarrassement is a killer compared to eternal firey torment.

#12

I heard James Marsters spent the first several weeks of the season shooting a movie in Europe, so that’s probably why most of Spike’s scenes have been with Fred: They called in James and Amy for a day or two and shot several episodes’ worth at once.

#13

A standard monster of the week episode, with a decent amount of plot advancement. I enjoyed it for what it was. 7/10.

Notes:

Nice exploration of what it means to be a “monster”.

The werewolf effects, and the increased sense effects were pretty good. A touch of American Werewolf in London was evident (which is a good thing).

It was nice to see the effect of the slow erosion of the gang’s resistance to the nature of W&H due to the shear weight of work, and the impact of failing. The Senior Partners plan may actually make sense.

Already it has been shown that they are a bit darker in some ways. Although Gunn was shown using the firm’s resources to ruin the Necromancer last week, so him doing this week made alot of sense to me, more then them “forgetting” he could do it.

Also the impact of “family” was nicely pointed out.

Finally, pointlessly snarky Spike was gone. Full range of motions Spike is back. Next week looks like a humdinger.

#14

I found this episode mostly ‘meh.’ The whole Angel finds a girl with whatever problem and instantly resolves her psycological issues by telling her he’s a vampire thing is getting tired. I did enjoy the Spike-Fred scenes, and this from a non-spike fan.

Anyone else notice how different Andy/Lorne’s makeup is this season? Did they get a new makeup artist?

#15

[sigh] Our Goddam cable was out all night, so we missed it. Do they replay new episodes sometime, like over the weekend?

#16

I liked it. I liked seeing more of Fred. I like the Spike/Fred interactions.

Who else thinks it would be cool to hang out and eat chinese with the Fang Gang?

I do have a question. After watching I assumed that Spike did lead Fred into the doctor’s office, but didn’t want to admit it to her. My sisters disagree. What do you guys think?

I also agree Angel (the person) is in a bad place, or at least headed there. He didn’t seem to mind at all when he killed the first werewolf. He’s sliding down the slippery slope of W&H corruption, in my opinion.

#17

**
Well, he’s got nothing else to do but wander about the place, so why not dig around in Dr.-from-Enterprise’s waste basket?

Maybe Angel is still all twisted up about the still-lying-in-a-coma somewhere, Cordy?

#18

Oh yeah, what was with the country music at the end? Other than making fun of such stuff, they’ve never included country music before (usually it’s just the soulful wailings of whatever band the WB is pushing that week). I’d really, really appreciate it if they avoid it in the future. :slight_smile:

#19

I can’t decide. But I was hoping for a Spike/Wesley flashback when he started spinning his “it was back when he was just a young Watcher” yarn that Fred didn’t buy, so obviously I’ll believe anything Spike says!:smiley:

#20

No, James was scheduled to go to Europe after ep 8 was shot. (They’re shooting ep 8 this week). Then ep 9, 10, and maybe 11 was going to be “Spike-lite”, like at the end of the S6 when he went to Africa. (I was always bitter that he only got like 5 minutes of the final 3 episodes–turns out he was scheduled to play the bad guy in Nemesis, but for whatever reason, he ended up not…)
But at any rate, he’s not scheduled to go Italy anymore, as far as I can tell. First a few of the major actors dropped out, and then the producers said “Guess what? We’re not going to give you any money!” and the official report is that it’s “delayed” until Spring.

ahem And that was probably way more info than needed.