Episode 5.2

Yep, I am not liking the direction of the show, no one seems to do anything. The pop cultural, self-referential jokes in the beginning were okay, plus getting to see Buffy in HDTV 16x9 was a nice bonus, but the rest of the episode was lackluster and tired.

I liked the interaction between Spike and the rest of the cast (Angel especially).

I don't have any problems with how they've brought him back- yet. I hope his ghost-like state doesn't last all season.



Did Angel even turn into a vamp this episode?

So far it seems like they're going back to the monster of the week type storytelling. I hope they realize that's when the show wasn't that good.

I liked the back and forth btwn Spike and Angel and Spike and Harmony but that's about it.

Hopefully we'll get some kind of story arc soon.

That was lame.

It was all about Spike. Spike would not shut up. I don't like Spike. This whole episode was a character I do not like talking constantly. And his lines weren't even particularly well-written or delivered (The accent seemed way off, and Marsters' acting style doesn't mesh well with the rest of the cast.) And, I swear: We get it. Spike died to save the world. You even played a really, really cheesy clip of it happening. He probably didn't need to bring it up repeatedly.

If they do not dial back the Spike in upcoming episodes, I may actually jump ship to Jake 2.0.

On the bright side, I'm missing Cordy, Connor, and Lilah less. The cast is already bloated as it is, and I guess it's better to have the characters gone instead of really underused.

Also didn't really enjoy this episode too much, and I am a big Spike fan. I miss season 2-4 Spike. I guess the direction they are going to take now is that he really does have to atone for his sins or risk going to hell.

The show just seems off; it doesn't feel like Angel. The writing isn't as crisp, and the jokes aren't playing. I hope this is just a result of the complete change, and that they will be able to find their groove within the next few episodes. Also, can someone please fix Angel's hair already? He looks like he put on 20 pounds and aged 10 years since last season.

Connor?

Well, I think these last two episodes have been all about exposition -

Conviction: who they are, how they got to where they are now, setting up the backdrop of the whole season

Just Rewards: Establishing Spike's new status quo, how he'll interact with the rest of the cast

Things should pick up a bit in the upcoming episodes. Personally, I loved tonight's episode - The dynamic between Spike and Angel is fantastic. Joss and crew are really trying to go a bit more lighthearted with Angel, which can't hurt after last season - I'm not dogging S4, either - It was the breakout season for this show. So much cool stuff!
TK

Given how much needs to be set up with this new direction, there's no way I can judge the shift in just 2-3 episodes.

I'll be watching no matter what.

A post on TWoP compared Spike in this episode to Poochie from the Simpsons...a pretty dead-on analogy.

good episode.

Not overly fond of it, but I'll certainly wait it out and see where it's going. Marsters was very vocal at Dragon*Con about how he thinks the interaction between him and the cast really sizzles, and to this point I agree. While they story isn't there yet, he and Angel are great together.

Pretty pissed that they tried to pull a fast one with Spike's final moments with Buffy:

Buffy: I love you.
Spike: No you don't, but thanks for saying it.

They snip that from the scene and then play it like Spike and Buffy were in love, and he has to get back to her immediately.

Harmony's just annoying. I know a lot of people like her, but she's only sometimes annoying in a funny way; most times she's just annoying in an annoying way, and a lot of her dialogue breaks the flow of scenes in harmful ways.

Guess I'm still on the fence with this season. Hopefully they'll find their rhythm soon.

das

Liked the episode myself. I will say that they need to do more with Spike than make him comic relief and have him bicker with Angel all the time; that will get old real fast.

anyone else think that the change of the show to bring in new viewers will eventually chase away all the loyal ones and actually hurt the show more?

While I wasn't a big fan of Harmony going into this season I'm actually enjoying her scenes. If she's used to bring comic relef into serious scenes then I think she'll work out quite nicely. An added bonus is she is looking hot now, I never noticed before.

I agree about Harmony. I was actually a little disappointed that in this episode, she didn't seem to have as many one-liners as she did last episode.

It'll be interesting to see how the Spike storyline plays what with what's actually happening combined with his attitude towards angel. After that last scene with Fred, I can understand more of why he said all those things about retribution int he beginning.

Was it just me, or did all of Spike's lines sound like they were dubbed in later? The sound was weird.

And I agree about Angel-- he needs to lay off the donuts and do some sit-ups. That scene where he was shirtless, he looked almost paunch-y.

• Quoth Jadzia •<HR SIZE=1>Was it just me, or did all of Spike's lines sound like they were dubbed in later? The sound was weird.<HR SIZE=1>

Not just you. I was watching the lips trying to find timing errors but didn't see any, but it did sound weird, especially when Spike had his back to the camera. Maybe they had to change a lot of dialogue that we couldn't see, and they had to reprocess all his dialogue to keep it from sounding out of place?

das

I could swear that I did see timing errors when Spike was speaking once. I though that my local affiliate had screwed something up, but it sounds like that wasn't the case.

I actually really enjoyed this ep. And the last one. I think Spike is interacting well with the cast. I really liked that Angel summed up part of his problem with Spike right away:

"I spent a hundred years trying to come to terms with infinite remorse. You spent three weeks moaning in a basement and then you were fine. What's fair about that?"

Also, it was funny the way things about Spike being good kept turning up and Angel had to explain why he didn't mention them.

Another good line that I liked:

Angel: "I'm from Wolfram and Hart"
Spike: "I'm his date"

And Harmony, who I'm not the biggest fan of, was so cracking me up this ep.

"Preaching to the horse's mouth" had me LMAO.

Looking forward to seeing what comes.

X

I really loved the last two seasons of Angel. This new direction is a little lost on me. I do agree that they need a little time to set things up, but it does seem like nothing is happening. I think they will give us a major arc over the next two seasons about the higher up partners at Wolfram and Hart & why they really brought Angel and Co. in but they need to get all the (hopefully) new viewers aquainted with how things work. Hopefully then we can get back to the core Angel crew kicking ass and taking names. I'm gonna stick around though since this is one of the few shows I look forward to.

On a side note, I hate the new Gunn. Hate him! They just totally killed that character for me. I really wish they made him a stronger fighter (even if that would be kind of redundant with Angel, a corporeal Spike, and all the resources of Wolf & Hart) or something else. Also I really miss the hotel.

"Casper!"

You guys aren't the only ones I noticed it, too.

Since I just started watching this show halfway through last season (and I only watched Buffy sporadically during the first few seasons) I wasn't too familiar w/ the good Spike. I enjoyed last night's ep - thought it was quite funny. Spike, Angel and Harmony were killing me w/ their back-and-forth dialogue.

Maybe that's Spike's new ghost voice modulation... I still haven't figured out why we can hear Spike's footsteps, or his voice.

or why he doesn't fall through the floor when he can walk through walls and stuff?

Since Spike isn't corporeal, doesn't that mean that sunlight can't hurt him either?