Patman

Finally we are treated to a full episode featuring Stephen (Connor). The action was pretty good (though the slow-mo was over-used which made the stunt men stand out more in some shots).

Besides Stephen's first night in L.A., it was a low-energy episode, but at least Angel came to grips that Stephen was not going to accept him in one day, and let him go. Sort of like that adage "if you love someone, set them free, and if they don't come back, go and hunt it down."

CaptainMarvel

Interesting episode, but it felt a little uneven at times. A few things:
1) I thought Grue's grumpiness just feels forced and out of character. He's been so lighthearted, and now he's grumpy over... nothing.
2) So Connor can kick Angel, Gunn, and Grue's butts at fighting (even when they have axes, swords, etc), and he dispatched that giant demon from last episode with one blow, but he gets rough housed by 3 or 4 regular thugs? Very awkward portrayal of his abilities.
3) Holtz. I actually hadn't thought about him aging at all. I wonder if he came through the portal while Cordy and Grue were knocked out. And if not, when?
4) Where was the dimension lady when Angel was trying to get into the demon dimension?

Patman

Stephen wasn't getting the full "kick his butt" treatment by Angel and company (they sort of held back on the lethal force), but Tyke and company had felonious assault and intentions in mind in their fight with Stephen (still 5 on 1, Stephen did as well as he could have done).

Adam Tyner

I meant to watch the credits to verify, but was that Anthony Starke as the drug dealer?

clemente

Its concievable that Lorn didn't want to tell Angel of her because he knew too well of the dangers of "primordial forces"

It seems Angel had some extra film left at the end of there run and decided to crank the cameras up a few frames per second. I didn't mind, I'm actually quite a fan of well used slow-mo. Good fighting sequences this week.


Nice to see Erika Thornahelm getting some airtime outside of Saturday morning TV.

Overall, a decent episode, but one that ultimately only serves to get us to next week's episode which should be good.

CaptainMarvel

I know Angel was holding back, but Grue threw a battle axe at Connor. It's a long way between batting flying axes aside with a flick of your wrist and letting a regular person walk up to you and whack you on the head with a crowbar. At times, Connor was far more than human (dropping from the bridge about 60 ft, catching up to a bus and springing on top of it, and the entire fight), and just letting somebody walk up and hit you on the head with a crowbar doesn't fit in too well with that. He knew they were there.

I'm sure it doesn't really mean anything. It happened right before they went to a commercial break, so I'm sure they were just trying to have a mini-cliffhanger, but it just bugged me.

Edit: I may need to reset my "normal" standards, after seeing Spider-Man this weekend. Maybe seeing him trounce 5 people in 10 seconds makes these guys look a little weak by comparison. But during the whole first 5 minutes, my impression was "Damn, this kid is tough. Holtz REALLY taught him how to fight." Then that scene comes up and it's "Wow. Maybe he just gets weaker in the sunlight."

Patman

Pure conjecture:

nny

This had by far the best action sequences on TV ever and was definitely the best episode of Angel yet. I keep running that opening shot over in my head. I love slow motion and considering they almost never use it in Angel, I didn't think it was overused. It'd be different if they used slow motion every week. I can't understand why people never complain about slo-mo in the Matrix. I thought there was only one good action sequence in that movie and I didn't even like that scene that much because the whole scence was done in slo-mo.

CaptainMarvel

I'm very interested to see what effect Connor's return will have on Wesley (whether Angel will forgive him or become even more pissed for not having a chance to raise his son, how Connor will treat Wesley for delivering him to Holtz, albeit unexpectedly, etc).

I'm also curious if Wolfram and Hart are caught unaware of his return. No mention was made.

It's interesting to think what would happen if the two casts ever got back together. Angel now has a child that's close to Buffy's age.

CaptainMarvel

The Invincible Iron Man? He wasn't listed in the credits. Only Holtz was.

Possible spoiler about next week from the promo:

Snake Plissken

Good episode. The slowmo action scene in the teaser was excellent. btw, can't Angel's vampire strength punches kill a human?

Here is TV Guide's description for next week's episode. SPOILERS, of course.



Also, here is the description for Angel's season finale on May 20th. SPOILERS

Adam Tyner

Close, but this guy was who I had in mind. I did a quick search on Google, and it seems that 'tis indeed him.

Morf

1) I'll give you that.
2) It looked to me more like Connor was genuinely caught off-guard when he was struck, but it didn't hurt him. He just faked being hurt on the ground long enough for them to get closer, then he whomped up on em.
3) Yep, I think it's clear that Holtz came through when Cordy and Gru were knocked out.
4) Even the demon lady said that there aren't any portals to that demension, so she couldn't have opened one. She made mention that something 'punched its way through', causing a rip, not a portal. She was only good at closing the tear.

Morf

Hey, I thought I recognized him! It's Jimmy from Seinfeld! Jimmy makes the shot!

RaraFemina

I was thinking that myself.



I really hope you understood that. I tend to ramble on when I get an idea like that. LOL

Mark Holtz

Ever heard of playing possum? Make the enemy think that you're weak so that they let down your guard, then stike ferociously.

CaptainMarvel

Yeah, I've heard of it. I don't think it includes getting hit with a crowbar, and then punched 7 or 8 times. That's a little bit much. But again, only my opinion.

spainlinx0

I thought the episode was interesting, but man the bus ride was PAINFULLY bad FX. Normally I'm not one to complain but holy crap, if you don't have the budget, don't do the shot. I don't want to come off as negative, but I felt I had to mention that as it really caught my attention. Interesting, but still side with the people who say that Buffy is still better than Angel. I love them both, but for different reasons. They really have grown into two completely different shows. I like that, but I prefer Buffy. I think because I have known the characters since I started watching when the pilot first aired.

Slumbering Fist

It does seem awkward. Connor is all peeved at Angel being a vamp, being less than human, yet the kid scrambles up the side of a moving bus and jumps off a bridge, landing on concrete without a scratch? I think- key word think- the kid may be more than human and now that he’s around average folks he’ll realize this, perhaps helping him bond with Angel? But who knows. I think its safe to say the show wont be adding him as a cast member so I bet his days are numbered.

Gru’s sudden Angel jealousy, likewise, I bet, is just part of setting the stage for his exit. I doubt he was intended to be added as a regular, so they have to start hinting and planting the seeds for his departure.

And I love slo-mo. Well done, better than the blurry[ action we all complained about early in the season.

Morf

This isn't why Connor is upset. He's upset because Holtz, the man he calls father, raised him to hate Angel, the demon that killed his family. Not because he is different. I think it's expected that Connor would be a tad abnormal: both of his parents were vampires. He is undoubtedly somewhat superhuman because of this.

Slumbering Fist

Yes I know, that is partly what I was talking about. He has been taught to hate Angel (for all the Holtz business), and probably all vampires/demons as well, yet it seems that he is less than human himself. Its just another twist they could throw in, having him realise this fact.

Patman

I think it's kinda cool that Stephen is a daywalker (a la Blade).

Morf

Except for the fact that he's not a vampire. He's human.

writteninstars

Well, I found this to be a definitely superior episode of "Angel". I will agree w/ whoever said the ride atop the bus was "painfully bad FX", but other than that, I enjoyed every aspect of this episode. First and foremost, I think Mutant Enemy should send David Boreanaz's acting coach a fruit basket or something. His acting skills have improved tenfold over what they were when he was on BtVS. I was actually moved by both of his conversations w/ Connor in the squatter's apartment and on the street.

As for the action sequences...I really got into them. I don't think they should be overused, but they were great for this ep. I also felt that Connor should have been able to handle Tyke's henchmen a bit quicker, but it didn't annoy me.

I absolutely love that Groo is jealous of Angel. I think it does make sense. Yes, he has always been very pleasant and cheerful, but he is acclimating to this world (his use of the word "man" ) and in doing so his eyes are opening. He can't always be in a positive place and with his "Princess" yammering about Angel all the time, he is finally seeing that her feelings for him do not equal his feelings for her. I loved his snarky comment about Angel being their leader

One more thing I want to touch on...Lilah (maybe that was a bad choice of words . At any rate, this woman is *hot*. She has chemistry with every man on this show. She must exude some righteous pheremones I think her scene w/ Wesley (the sadly, but understandably underused Alexis Denisof) was my favorite of this ep.

I love "Angel" this season. It rocks my world.

cooper2000

I liked the show and its kicked Buffys ass in quality this season. I have been involved with these characters and care about them much more than the messy writing on Buffy.

Things I am not liking are the Gunn/ Fred pairing. They have no chemisty and I dont believe that these two would fall for each other.
Like the kid but the whole vengence thing is old. I hope it plays out better than it looks.

Love Lilah. Now if they would just bring back Lindsay!