A good step up from last week's IMO. I really do think this series deserves some kudos for maintaining a single story line for almost two years as opposed to doing one with occassional filler eps. (Buffy?)

As for the show itself, as someone who was once majorly involved in a campus ministry organization, I can say this had a rather eerie ring of truth to it. While somewhat amusing at first, I was genuinely creeped out by the end (and it wasn't the shot of Angel and Conner singing, though that about did it). The final scene seemed very reminiscent of Invasion of the Body Snatchers IMO.
Question: why doesn't Fred just run to Sunnydale? Surely Buffy and the gang would give her protection and help her out. Then again, who's to say Slayers are immune?

Great episode. It was very creepy, funny, and interesting watching our heroes become slaves to this beautiful enchantress. Gina Torres is wonderful as Jasmine, and I loved Fred and that final shot. Do you think that this evil is somehow related to that of the evil on Buffy???

I thought this episode was really eery. I enjoyed the tone of it, and I was really creeped out seeing that guy's face.

For some reason I really didn't think this episode was that great. It really didn't do anything for me for some reason. Maybe because the entire cast was acting like a bunch of sappy morons the whole time. I don't care if it went along w/ the story, it was really obnoxious.


And the preview of Connor and Angel singing next week made we want to hurl - I was thinking, "what is this? Boston Public?!".

I heard that they were cousins on the mother's side.

They've been hinted at the connection between Angel's big-bad and The First for a while now.

Do we have to wait until the season finales to finally find out the true connection???

I didn't really get into this ep that much. I liked the closing shot but other then that I thought it was a pretty average episode.

I was thinking the same as Dr. DVD Why doesn't Fred run to Sunnydale? This whole episode creeped me out. What exactly is Jasmine? A rotting corpse?

Does Fred even have a car? What makes you think she can get there?

She was driving an SUV in the episode to at least get to the hospital...the one Wesley usually tools around in.

I really liked this one. Highly creepy, and Gina Torres was just amazing. The final scene was nicely done, complete with random guy walking up to the window, peeking in, and going down on his knee.

If Fred doesn't have any allies by the end of the next episode, she should run to Sunnydale for help (or, more specifically, to Willow; I don't think she's ever met Buffy). As it is, I can buy that she's too crushed to think straight. She idolizes Angel, but he's taken in by the woman. Wesley betrayed her because of the woman. Fred herself was one of the worshipping followers. She probably thinks she's half crazy by now.

This show was better than the previews hinted at. I was really creeped out by Jasmine even before they showed her true face. Having to depend on Fred to save the day seems kind of scary, they are all doomed! hehe

Wow, this is a lot of people who liked this episode.

I actually thought it was easily the worst episode of this current season and one of the worst of the show period. The writing was absolutely terrible, and even the creature effects on Jasmine were amateurish.

As for Gina Torres, I don't know what the big deal is. All she does is smile in the camera and speak innane dialogue about how everything will be all right... Gimme a break. Vanna White could do the same thing.

I'm glad Fred realizes the truth, but come on. The dude that she disfigured saw Jasmine for what she was right away. How come it took Fred over an hour (apparently) to see it? What's the trigger?

Thank goodness for the preview for next week, and someone else to help her. This episode was terrible.

I didn't catch this myself, but had it pointed out to me. I'm spoilerizing it out, just because it wasn't flat-out stated in the episode. It appears that the trigger is


Which, if true, is very subtle, very cool, and meets my standards for a decent reason why Fred is the chosen one.

I know, it was almost like she was a religous leader or something...hmmm wait a minute!

My girlfriend caught the same spoiler Jlbkwrm. I totally missed it..

Gina Torres =

I, too, was waiting for Fred to pass a "Welcome To Sunnydale" sign in that SUV.

Question...which season finale will air first..? Buffy's or Angel's?

Angel's season finale(entitled "Home") airs May 7. Then there are two more episodes of Buffy. "End of Days" on May 13 and "Chosen" on May 20.


[Edited to insert spoiler tags. D-]

I completely agree with you. After seeing the preview for this episode last week I had a feeling it wasn't gonna be that good and I was right. I don't know what it was about this episode but it just didn't have that Angel feel to it. Definitely the worst episode of the season so far and one of the owrst of the series.

Last night's episode was bad and oh so boring. I fell asleep and had to watch it later (via ReplayTV) once I woke up in the middle of the night.

Okay, I did enjoy the fight in the bowling alley. That was about it.

I thought the episode was a major snoozer. Absolutely nothing going on. I hope they end this storyline quickly.

One question: were Angel and Co. really killing vampires and demons? Part of me thinks that they were killing someone/thing else. People, perhaps? Non-believers?

And Jlbkwrm, I'm not so sure about that speculation.

Did anyone catch the significance of Jasmine always carrying/wearing jasmine flowers? Jasmine flowers are a natural odor counteractant and are commonly used to cover up strong odors...like rotting flesh.

I'm with those who hated the episode. I'm all for Fred showcases, though...I think Amy Acker is easily one of the most attractive women on television. Much moreso than Gina Torres, and maybe that's why I had a hard time buying into part of the episode...

Oh come on now.. If there is one that watching tons of films has taught me. It would be that it is perfectly safe for a pretty girl to just hitch hike some where! heh

as for this ep of the show.. I did not like it that much being they spent too much time looking to drive home how everyone fawned around --whatever it is-- and it really seemed, to me, that they were pushing filler to just get to the end of the ep.

Loved the very end of it as far as how it worked out but this was a 35-40 min ep they stretched to fill the whole hour.. IMO

I have mixed feelings about this episode. I somewhat like what they're trying to do, but much of the execution just didn't work. I did like how everything was well-lit for the episode, and Angel and Co. were all wearing bright and happy shirts; Angel's yellow and white number was the best. Iwas waiting for Landru to show up ... "FESTIVAL!!!"

Ugh ... not sure what to think about this show right now.

das

That's exactly how I felt. My impression was that they had certain plot points to get through during this episode, and they did that with very little entartainment value. There seemed to be way too many scenes of the gang talking to each other about how wonderful Jasmine was, and little else going on other than that. I think we got the point everybody was under some kind of spell pretty early on, but they just ran it into the ground.

yeah, i thought that was a little weird too.

the episode did set a nice mood of creepiness and eeriness. I found myself constantly switching to the Twolves/Sonics game as Jasmine was talking. I was a little disappointed that there was hardly any good dialogue except for possibly the clorox line.

But next week should be interesting as