Oh, sure, like death actually means anything on this show. 
My new VCR didn’t do what I told it to!! Could someone please post a recap of last night’s episode??? Please?
DeVena, excellent recaps are available at http://www.angelsacolyte.com.
I wonder if we’re going to see more of the “Evil Hand”.
Don’t forget the Television Without Pity recaps and boards.
First things first: LINDSEY!!! squeeeeal I saw two real hands on him, too – if you’ve taped it, you can go back and see his real right hand when he drapes his arm around Eve. (Die, Eve.)
What the heck was in Spike’s box? A spell? A…what? I don’t get how it could be so easy and simple to make him corporeal, knowing what grief Fred and her lab went to to build that machine in the Pavayne episode. Was it, like, a really magic box? It seemed like lazy writing.
I think the Angel/Spike conflict would be much more effective if Spike hovered around the level of menace he had when he first showed up on Buffy, and didn’t act like such a goof. This would have made the flashback scenes even more effective. As it is, the only difference between Spike and William the Bloody is that the latter doesn’t employ sarcasm. Feh.
I really enjoyed the ep - but for 2 things.
First, the sex was pretty much as far as I want to go in a show I watch with my 3 kids aged 12-16. Call me a prude.
Second, the resolution was INCREDIBLY lame. “Oh yeah - that thing that was tearing the universe apart? The senior partners fixed it.” At least I got to discuss deus ex machina with my kids. Boo-hiss.
Fighting note - when I used to stick fight, I had a couple of pieces of rebar I used for conditioning. My goodness it would be hard to manipulate a 6 foot hunk as a full staff! Don’t know why, but that impressed me more than the outrageous leaping. The repeated telegraphed haymakers to the face get boring.
I’m excited that Lindsey is back too. Or I was, once I realized it was him in that bed, not Tommy Lee. 
And Eve became more interesting by merely being aligned with him. I don’t know why, but there’s something I like about her, even if she’s not on the side of good. Then again, I’ve loved Spike since his first appearance on Buffy, so liking the badies isn’t new for me.
And I’m with Skipmagic about Lilah, we know that death is a fluid thing in the Angelverse (and X-files, and Buffy and…), so she could be back. I hope I hope.
Got to remember, Eve and Lindsey arrainged the whole thing, apparently. No surprise that it got resolved by the Senior Parners, E&L probably engineered it that way. Did they seem terribly disappointed that the partners stopped it?
Dinsdale, I think the final scene with Lindsey and Eve did a fairly good job of resolving the plot this ep. It left doubts in my mind about whether the Senior Partners were involved as anything but spectators- Eve could very well have been lying about that, about Spike’s recorporialization being the cause of the universe-unbalance thingy, and a whole bunch of other stuff as well.
I’m predicting that Spike being corporeal again will bring about a big improvement for the character I thought bringing him back as a ghost was a very bad idea. It turned a fascinating but very physical character into an annoying impotent whiney butt. Now that he’s all flesh-having again and able to impact the world around him, he’ll probably be back to the soul-having Spike that was finally starting to shine toward the end of S7 of BtVS.
I loved the Spike/Angel fight, too. Spike’s insight into human nature as a weapon was back in form. Also, just loved seeing him open up a can o’ whoopass on Angel-cakes. (Actually, I never watched AtS until last season because on BtVS he was, well, obviously a plot device, not a real character, and I found him boring, but I’m really starting to like the guy.)
But the best, the very best part of the episde…
OK, given Spike’s taste for punk rock, I figured sooner or later ME would have a scene with a Dead Kennedeys song in it, but Too Drunk to Fuck…
That was just priceless.
But all of the other characters seemed to simply accept it as a sufficient explanation.
Gotta catch up on all the previous seasons I missed…
Still don’t like Eve as a character. The “kiddos” remarks have long since fallen flat, she’s just not interesting enough as a bad ass. Now, as a tool of Lindsey she has more promise, so I’m holding out some hope. She still comes off as a kid playing with the adults, maybe it’s supposed to be an act?
I’m pretty tired of all the wire fights, but Angel-Spike was pretty good. There’s still no rhyme or reason to how hurt they get and how sometimes they brush it off, but I’m willing to ignore that for now. Didn’t anybody think the setup of the Columns in Death Valley was just a bit too obvious? Why didn’t anyone on the show think it was a trap?
The discussion between Spike and Angel during the fight was good, highlighting the different paths they took and what it means to be a Champion. Still, in the end, actions, not intentions define it for me. Spike, while a Champion deep down, has the same self-centered personality he had as William and William the Bloody.
Lindsey, finally a decent foe. No obvious connection to the cyborgs, but it’s a possibility. He reminded me of “Cape Fear” with the tatoos. A legitimate bad ass, proven in the past, back with an agenda and an attitude. That’s a good development.
I missed Wes this week. Gunn wasn’t thinking like a lawyer with respect to the prophecy, there were lots of legal interpretations he could have applied. I like his friend of the Conduit role.
The box making Spike corporeal was just too big a plot hole to gloss over. I really hope they return to it in the future, where did Lindsey get such big mojo? And was cutting off the senior partners needed to do something while they weren’t in contact?
originally posted by Telemark
**
You have to remember, Spike has over a hundred years worth of reasons to hate Angel, not the least of which is that while Angel had his soul forced on him, he seems to get all the breaks, but Spike suffered to get his soul back and all it seems to have earned him is a season-long round of Kick the Spike. Angel’s refusal to acknowledge that Spike’s having a soul means anything, not to mention the whole sacrificing himself to save the world thing doesn’t help matters. So it isn’t surprising that being around Angel would bring out the worst in Spike.
Probably not likely; in fact, I’d be surprised if we did see any reference to the hand other than a verbal barb or two regarding the time when Angel cut the first one off.
The hand’s “donor” died at the end of 2nd Season’s Dead End. The only reason the hand was constanly writing “kill” inthat episode was that the donor wanted someone to kill him–he was in that much misery. Once the donor died, the involuntary actions disappeared (or so that’s what it seemed like they wanted us to think) and Lindsey got his new hand free of any, well… lien.
Regarding Wesley’s absence: I’m guessing Alexis Denisof was given this episode off so he could marry Alyson Hannigan.
But of course, this is only happening in some other dimension. In this reality, AH is on her way here and will ring my doorbell any minute, asking me to marry her.
Damn his pierce brosnany ways of snaring the world’s funniest and sexiest woman… :grumble, grumble, grumble:
You know, I–
Hold on a second. Someone’s ringing the doorbell. I’ll be right back…
I heard that Wes was gone becasue of AD and AH’s honeymoon. Can’t say I blame the guy.
I’m glad Lindsey’s back. I was hoping to see him again. And the fact that he’s doing things behind the SP’s backs (I’m betting that’s what the runes are for), makes me wonder if he’s not a good guy. Remeber Eve’s comment “I’m not the bad guy”. Could Lindsey think Angel’s gone evil, now that he’s running W&H, or maybe Lindsey’s aware that Angel’s playing right into W&H’s plan? Why did Lindsey want Spike back? Did he really want him to kill Angel?
So many questions. Too bad there are only three new episodes between now and February sweeps.
**Telemark[/b} opens the door and is disappointed to find James Marsters on his doorstep. JM asks for directions to my place…
Yes, and we all know how incredibly difficult it is to fool this group of incredulous and skeptical super-geniuses. Please. Eve was lying her pert little butt off: the Senior Partners had nothing to do with resolving this ep, and I didn’t need the scene with Lindsey to prove it. I was yelling “Liar!” at the screen while they were all sitting around in the office.
My guess? The fake cup wasn’t so fake after all, and Spike drinking from it is what fixed everything. Sure, it wasn’t really “The Cup of Torment,” but I’ll bet the struggle to see who gets to drink from it had legitimate mystical significance. It was the drinking that was important, not the drink. Did anyone else hear a subtle mystical whooshing noise when Spike took his sip? I think the Opera house was what Sirk said it was, more or less, although Sirk’s motives for sending them there are obviously questionable.
I buy your theory Miller.