[muppet] Angel 5x14 - Smile Time - 02/18/04 - WOW!

Cafe Society
21

I thought it was cute, but aside from the “and my nose comes off” bit, I didn’t find it uproarioulsy funny… I think it’s because of all the main characters, I’ve always found Angel himself to be the least interesting. Can’t help it. I find Angel himself to be so darned dull, that a parody of his dullness, just wasn’t bitingly funny enough to me.

But let’s consider the alternatives:

A Spike puppet swilling beer (or trying ot but finding that it gets absorbed into his stuff), saying “Sod, off, Captain forehead!”, pining for Buffy, would’ve killed me.

A Gunn puppet would’ve been great - here’ you have a guy who has so much anxiety about not carrying his weight that he would go to the dark side to maintain his lawyer powers – that’s insecurity you can milk! Seeing him as a little bald puppet, utterly horrified by his predicament, trying to be intimidating and maintain credibility as “the lawyer with brawn” would’ve been a howler.

Fred wouldn’t have been overly funny as a puppet, unless it was in the “this is a signal” Fred/Wes context. Puppet Fred hitting on Wes who’s always loved Fred… but when she finally shows interest she’s a puppet! Ewwww! Laughter ensues.

Lorne puppet?.. Somehow that feels like it would be redundant. I dunno why.

A Wes puppet?.. Um, he would be Scooter from the Muppets.

22

I was worried, but it turned out to be a great episode- and it even had some major plot payoffs (Fred-Wes after a long bit of pining). I loved how Wes was making fun of Angel for missing the signs while doing so himself with Fred. I loved Fred’s Gordian Knot solution to getting Wes’ attention. She would have got mine with that mini-skirt!

The slow puppet walk was great, and was vamp face puppet Angel- that was a treat. I sooooooooooooooooooo want one!

yosemitebabe, the first 3 seasons of Angel are out on DVD, I highly suggest you add them to your netflix list. By the time you’re done with those, Angel season 5 will be out of DVD- and that will blow you away.

:slight_smile:

23

My only complaint was my wife and kids were laughing so damn hard I almost missed some of the lines!
Question - who was the towel-head in front of the nest egg?

24

I loved it. I laughed very hard at all the puppet scenes, with Spike and the big fight at the end. Taking his nose off killed me.

“Let’s go kill some puppets.” Classic.

25

I spent most of the episode wondering if there was going to be a vampire-faced version of the puppet, and lo and behold, we got one! That made the whole thing worth it for me. Well, that and the “wee little puppet man” line. :slight_smile:

Gods, those puppeteers must have had an absolute blast with that.

My friend and I spent the commercials discussing what might happen with the cancellation. She is of the belief that the fans will never be happy unless the series ends with Angel being made human again. I disagree somewhat, but ME can’t end the series without a big ol’ Apocalypse. Seeing that next week’s episode was written and directed by Joss Whedon usually means that we’re looking forward to a big story push … I’m just really hoping it includes an army of slayers and the destruction of all of L.A., but I always want what I can’t have. :slight_smile:

26

Oh, and DeVena, I taped it, so if you still need a copy, let me know!

27

While ‘surfing’ I happened to notice the puppet, and luckily I recognized the one person from Angel that would make me realize what show it was (the blonde guy).

I never watched the show, but I had to watch where they went with the whole muppet thing.

It was well done.

A Non-Watcher, Phil

28

Just gotta say, this was the first episode of Angel I’ve ever watched, and I regret not being there for the first 4 seasons now. I hereby swear to watch Angel until it’s cancelled!

What? Dang.

29

Oh yeah - also loved the reference to Happy Days jumping the shark!

30

I thought it was the “meat puppet,” i.e. the show’s creator.

Great episode. Particularly liked Angel and Wesley’s conversation in the beginning about signals, and the running theme of the boys being oblivious to the signals that the girls are keenly attuned to. (And who would have thought from Buffy Season 3 that Angel and Wes would ever be best buds?) I agree with petelin that the Wes/ Fred hookup is a precursor for something bad happening to Fred.

31

Well, I wasn’t too impressed. Sure, it was funny and all. But the plot was just so generic. You need a really strong plot for something like this and it just felt like an excuse to play with the puppets rather than a something that really justified what they were doing. Wasn’t Angel turned into the Felt Avenger by, you know, accident??

Still, a few funny bits and some self-parody. T’was OK.

On a related note, just before the show last night we gat a little promo voiceover. Something like: “This is Spike and you’re about to watch an all new episode of ‘Angel’”.

What?? Is James Marsters having an identity crisis now so that he actually thinks he’s Spike? Does my local WB affiliate think that I’ll believe they’ve got a fictional character doing promos? Puh-leeze.

32

Hm. You’re right. Hard to find a justification for that one.

I agree with the previous post that it was the “Jim Henson” guy. Only because of the watch on his wrist and the way his arms twitched.

33

That bugs the shit out of my wife, and every time it comes on she yells at the TV, “No, it’s NOT Spike doing the promo, it’s James Marsters, you idiot!”

It’s pretty funny.
Daniel

34

I loved the episode and am so upset that they are cancelling the show. They let it hit the 100 episode and then screw ME over. Bastards. As with Buffy, I think the fact that ME is never really sure about how long the show will be on the air is a major contributor to some of the less than stellar shows and plot lines. The whole Angel crew getting Wolfram and Hart seemed, at the time, to be more of an ending because they weren’t sure it was going to get picked up again. Now they finally start getting to work out the kinks of the new situtation, only to have it cancelled. The quality of both Buffy and Angel suffered more from their insecurity than from anything else, and for that I will forever hold a grudge against the WB and UPN.

That being said, I laughed so hard watching the show last night I woke my kid up. “Wee little puppet man” and Angel turning into vampire puppet was hysterical. And they mixed it perfectly with the grimness of the plot. I can’t be the only one who was seriously creeped out by the little boy’s twisted body and freaky grin. And more kudos for the writers for their reference to Batman’s Joker to explain it. So cool.

I also really appreciate that the show is also filled with some serious subtext about the possibility of Angel being a puppet for the Senior Partners or for the Powers that be, Gunn’s search for his identity, and the addiction to television. Good Stuff.

Shame to see it go.

Next week: written and directed by Joss himself, so you know I’ll be glued to my television again. Maybe I’ll even approach my television, stick my hands on it, and give over my life force to him.

35

You’re not… shudder

36

Goddamit! My wife was watching a tape last night, so I missed everything before the title sequence. Can someone please spoil me?

37

Good episode, but not great (certainly not up to the standards of the previous week). The werebabe seemed to come out of nowhere; I’m surprised she hadn’t been introduced earlier.

Still, the vampire puppet Angel was truly hilarious. I hope Joss is smart enough to start marketing them.

38

Seriously they’re canceling this show? “Dickwads”

This episode was a great example of what good writers and actors can do when they don’t have to pander to the lowest common denominator. My wife and I loved the show, laughed till we cried.

Angel gets staked but Faith and Hope lives on? It’s an unreal business.

39

She was in an episode earlier this season. She was bitten and starting to turn into a werewolf. She worked out the Oz-like arrangement with Angel at the end of that episode.

40

I liked everything about this episode. I loved when Wes went off on Angel. “Why are you yelling at me?” Heh. I loved that he trained himself to ignore all of Fred’s signals. I read a pretty good analysis of why Fred “suddenly” wants ol’ Wes. She wants a big, strapping guy who can protect her and who would lay down his life for her. Gunn’s not interested and Knox doesn’t fit the bill. Wes is interested and fits the bill. Plus now she can comfort Wes since he went through the trauma of shooting robo-dad.

It makes sense. Of course, I really don’t care what the reasoning is because I’ve become a big wes/fred shipper. One of like, five, in my circle of fandom. heh.

I was laughing so hard at David Fury as the puppetmaster that I nearly choked to death. Gotta love meta humor. And when he said “I disagree”? Bwaaahahahahhahaah. Ok, maybe you have to know something of the Spike fan’s tulmultuous history, and love/hate relationship with Fury but that was so…something we’ve heard before. Hee, Fury’s also the executive producer now…I guess it’s Joss Whedon’s hand up his ass if we examine the metaphor.

My favorite part of the Spike scene was at the very, very end when Angel said off-screen, “Spike needs a car.” And I howled during the fight especially with “Hey, now, that’s enough.” I thought the general lack of Spike this episode was good because of what I know of the upcoming arc. I’ll go into depth of that next week after the next episode airs so I don’t spoil anything this week.

Of course, ME did what they do best inthis episode. They used a metaphor for something truly ugly/monstrous in our society. Sometimes during BtVS S6 and S7 I wondered if ol’ Joss forgot what a metaphor even was. But this one was good. Not the most subtle thing in the world (“Go on and touch it. You know you want to.” Stealing their innocence. etc.) course, that put a damper on the humor somewhat. Though Wes fighting the big purple puppet was rather funny in a surreal sorta way.

I think the reason we never saw Nina between ep 3 and now was because we couldn’t really see a blooming relationship while Cordy was in a coma…also, I don’t think there was time. I’m trying to think of when they could have fit her in…of course, I suppose they could have mentioned her at least. Also, i think they were waiting for word from ol’ cookie dough…SMG has made it pretty clear she won’t be playing Buffy. And i hope she stays far, far away…

I was also thinking last night about stand alone episodes vs the arc, and I realized there hasn’t been a single stand alone episode this entire season. Everything fits in with what I now think the theme and general arc is…I’m going to have to think about that some more, though I can’t think of a single exception.

Re: Promo
Can’t wait to see Spike and Angel working together. I love that friendship nearly as much as I loved the Buffy/Spike 'ship.