The title of the episode is “The cautionary tale of numero cinco”, which is far too long to put in the thread title.
I dunno. I’ve been wary this season, but liked last week’s ep. I can go for whimsical, but there has to be a limit. Sure, pro-wrestling was around 50 years ago, but I didn’t get what they tried to achieve this week. Five Mexican brothers in masks as pro-wrestlers, to the soundtrack of Mariachi music…?
I thought it was ridiculous, but if it was played as whimsical, I didn’t laugh, and two comedic episodes after another… Not good, IMO.
If it was played straight, then it utterly failed, because my suspension of disbelief was stretched beyond the breaking point. And this from a guy who last year didn’t mind the big monster in the recycled ‘Monster of Black lagoon’ costume. I mean, a 70 year old, former pro wrestler being able to through ngel across the room?
Also, since it’s produced in SoCal, one would think that the writers and producers are aware that people from Mexico don’t all listen to mariachi music and talk like Speedy Gonzalez. The stereotypes got to be a bit heavy handed.
Considering the title of the ep, I guess it’s meant to be juxtaposed against the quest that the MoG have. That didn’t work either.
About the only redeeming thing was the little scene with Angel and Wes, that tied in Wesley not knowing anything about Connor.
It’ll be a couple of more episodes before I put my little ><))))))*> ascii shark in the thread title, but if they keep this up, it’ll soon reach the realms of Charmed and the likes. So ‘I’ll be going through the motions’ and keep dl-ing, but the urgency is gone.
Also, we’ve seen it all before, both on BtVS and Ats.
Second the motion. I would love to see an ep where they kill the MoTW in the bit before the credits and the rest of the ep is devoted to character-centric stuff. As I’ve said many times before, the MoTW is getting old.
The good: Fred slowly becoming badass, Gunn becoming a badass in new and interesting ways.
The eh: Angel and Spike. Both of them are becoming kind of eh. Spike’s a lot better than he can be (and was, as some points). The brooding is just getting old, though.
The bad: Well, damn. How much of badass Westley have we lost? Come to that, assuming that W&H used the same grep Jasmine used last season, at what point did we get retconned to? Presumably, Darla never became pregnant, so that’s a baseline. It would be nice to have a set event which is the latest thing everyone can remember.
Huh, I quite liked this one. It was much better than last week at least.
The thing I’m missing most as the season goes on is Cordy. I think the cast is way too dull/broody without her spark. Her character did suck last season, but they had a great arc to compensate. Without her or something to keep them focused it all seems a bit blah.
I too would like to know how/what they remember from the past two seasons.
Wow. Just… Wow. Easily the best episode this season. I’m still all giddy from watching it, but this might be one of my favorite Buffy-verse episodes ever. The humor was pitch perfect. Menocchio, you’ve got to add “Hermanos!” to the beginning of your sig! I was just thinking, “Did he say, ‘the devil has built a robot?’” when he asks Angel “Have you never heard of the Devil’s Robot?” Then later, when Wes says, reverently “El Diablo Robotica” I was half out of my chair with laughter. Hell, just the image of the guy wearing a suit and a mask, smoking while lifting weights and hitting on a girl was one of the funniest things I’ve seen on TV this year.
Number Five was great. He looked just like my Uncle, assuming my Uncle were wearing a Mexican wrestler’s mask. I’m glad they didn’t take the mask off at the end, but I still would love to see what the actor’s face looked like. Anyone know who it was, and if that was his actual voice?
Two things: I wonder if Wesley is going to start researching “The father will kill the son” again. Also, name on the business card the faceless W&H gave Number Five in his flashback was (if I saw it correctly) “Harold Manners.” Wonder if that’s a name we’re going to be seeing again.
Wes (in a tone of hushed awe) “El Diablo Robotico.”
Brilliant.
Not an earth-shaking ep, but a solid one. I liked the fact that they finally got around to explaining what the guy in the Mexican wrestling mask has been doing hanging around the office. I really enjoy that aspect of the show; they don’t feed us everything all at once, they let us get curious first.
I loved last season; it was shockingly good. The story arc was intense, and unexpected. And I suspected it of shark-jumping in the midst of even that. (Remember Connor/Cordy? Or has that been wiped, mercifully, from our collective memory?) A show this far out has to continue taking risks, or die. Some of the risks work, some don’t. I wasn’t looking for this episode to shake me like last season did, so I was amused.
Besides, Mexican wrestling really does have a rich and storied history, dating back to the fifties, if I’m not mistaken.
These MotW episodes are ok, I suppose, but where is the story arc? We need some sort of long term story to build up tension and expectation. Last season I NEEDED to see the episodes because I didn’t want to miss anything. This season, if I miss one, it’s starting to feel like not such a big deal.
Miller, moriah, the name on the card was Holland Manners. I paused the TiVo to make sure.
Holland was the boss of W&H who headed the bring-back-Darla project, and who was killed in his own home by Darla and Drusilla in Season 2.
I liked this little bit of continuity. It reassures me that the show will continue to be conscious of its backstory and past, even though the network has insisted on more stand-alone stories.
In the same light, I liked the discussion of shanshu and the reference to the “father will kill the son” prophecy.
That latter exchange, combined with the knowledge that Connor will return for an episode this season indicates to me that Angel’s memory spell is going to unravel this season, with major repercussions.
I loved this episode. I didn’t think it hit a single false note.
I honestly thought this was the best episode of the season. They took a silly premise and turned into something fun and wierdly touching. It was great that they addressed the issue of “hero burn-out.”
Like others, I really want to know more about “El Diablo Robotico.” I also really dug the Fred-Lorne exchange at the beginning:
I loved this episode, too – it was my favorite of the season so far. I did think that it hada darker tone than has so far been the standard. Plus, Mexican Wrestling references is just lots of fun. Count me among the people who really wants to see El Diablo Robotico now.
I honestly thought this was the best episode of the season. They took a silly premise and turned into something fun and wierdly touching. It was great that they addressed the issue of “hero burn-out.”
Like others, I really want to know more about “El Diablo Robotico.” I also really dug the Fred-Lorne exchange at the beginning:
“I’m a lot of woman.”
“You’re all woman! You’re every woman! You’re WONDER woman!”
I loved this episode, too – it was my favorite of the season so far. I did think that it hada darker tone than has so far been the standard. Plus, Mexican Wrestling references is just lots of fun. Count me among the people who really wants to see El Diablo Robotico now.
I agree this was an amazing episode. As a stand-alone episode, the pacing and feel was very X-Files-ish (in a good way). Again, the prior themes of the nature of being a champion, redemption and being part of a family were examined. While there have been more stand alones so far, the unlike a few posters, I have seen consistent build-up towards the overall Arc of this season and strong hints at the themes to be explored.
Everything dealing with the brothers and cinco was spot on. Wes got the best line of the night, and quite possibly the season (although it might have been his delivery of it). Gunn also was amusing to watch as super-lawyer.
Although he seems to have forgotten that they did a whole lot of good including the blackout of L.A. with the rise of the vampires and demons, and the massive brainwashing and takeover of the planet they stopped. It made me wonder-- does he actually remember that? Does anyone? If so, just how much? The Wes-Angel dialog made it clear that Wes does not remember that some prophesies were manipulated in the past.
Best episode of the season, I agree. I thought the Lucha Libre stuff was spot on. It felt like the perfect mix of reverence and theater, which is perfect for the “champion” business. I’ve been seeing number 5 wandering in the background of every episode this season, I like the continuity.
I also thought that Angel’s mention of “the father will kill the son” will trigger something in Wes and this whole Conner spell will unravel. As long as they it doesn’t mean Conner back full time, I’m OK with that. Perhaps a quick resolve, combined with something to move the story arc forward.
They’ve been doing MofW but with something useful to the story arc each week. This one tied into Angel’s disconnect and his belief in the prophecies. Not bad for a funny episode. Now we need a tangible story arc to hang everything from.
I think the appreciation of this episode is directly proportional to awareness of and appreciation of Mexican wrestling (whether as profound culture or kitsch). I’m aware of Mexican wrestling and the caliber of athletes it produces (mostly because of those like Rey Mysterio, who jumped from that tradition into the American sports entertainment tradition), but as a cultural phenomenon, I’m not quite as up on it. So Jeffrey Bell’s obvious appreciation of the tradition was somewhat lost on me. I didn’t hate the episode in the same way that I hated, for example, “The Ring” in Season 1, but I didn’t love it either.
