Board 8 > SeabassDebeste finishes Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff [spoilers]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Another vote for a watchthrough topic, though you've already decided the way I wanted anyway. =P
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It is fitting, Whedon and all.

Trying to think of even shorter stuff.
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If you're looking for something to binge, I just finished The Good Place, a 12 episode comedy starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson that just wrapped its first season.

It's about the afterlife, where people who've lived exceptionally good and positive lives go to a wonderful paradise to live out eternity - except Kristen Bell, who was a terrible person, gets sent there by mistake.

If you are a fan of either of those two I highly recommend!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29iKAAeRvI4


I came for Kristen Bell, but I stayed for Ted Danson. I've never really clicked with him in other stuff like Becker or CSI, like he was fine, but holy fuck is he on point in this show.
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Oh by the way, in regards to bumping. any time I look in my active messages posted page and see this or the Avatar topic are more than 1 day behind without a post, like if I looked today on the 28th and saw the most recent post was the 26th at 11:50pm, I automatically make a post.

This has saved the topics a lot, but it's not foolproof. The purge is typically around a day and a half, so this means I catch a lot of topics this way, but if I don't check until a day and three quarters.... I might have missed it. Like if the last time this topic had a post was the 26th at 7am, it might have purged by now.


I lose topics I want to save *all the time*. I'm incapable of making myself check and post every single day. So I'm not gonna be 100% reliable to keep these topics alive. But I'll be doing my usual check, so if other people are checking it for the next two weeks too, we should hopefully make it!
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I'm not a fan of Danson or Bell, sheerly due to lack of familiarity. But I figure Veronica Mars might someday make a good watchthrough topic (I'm devious, I know).

Settled on Jane the Virgin. It's always paired hand-in-hand with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as a "poorly named CW show about a girl that has received critical acclaim despite its network," and I loved S1 of CXG.

Also, in case you're curious avout the purge - the purge happens at 7AM EST sharp, and it eats specifically topics that have gone 36 hours without a post. So if you hit your bump just right you can go almost 60 hours (7:01 PM on 1/28 to 6:59 AM on 1/31) between any two bumps, and if you bump at 10 PM always, then you only need to bump every 48 hours.

Of course, daily bumps are simpler and thus safer. I'm planning to archive this topic today anyway.
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free wifi, plus such solid inflight entertainment it's thus-far rendered binge-watching/battery life a moot point! so far so good... but then, the longest leg is still ahead
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Have a good trip!
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thanks, so far so good
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so good so far
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Safety bump!
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... bollocks
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Mildly drunk and for some reason thought to bump this...bump
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Saturday morning bump too.
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sunday evening
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hello angel-faithful

we are about fourteen hours, one more hour, and two more hours from your faithful correspondent returning to his viewing and writing abode

no guarantees on a writeup being produced then, but the probability of its being posted will increase quadratically from there
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It better.
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oh 'harm's way' i get it
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SeabassDebeste posted...

oh 'harm's way' i get it

It's very subtle.
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ANGEL - Season 5, Episode 9

Recap: Harmony feels undervalued at work, alienated by her receptionist colleagues and ignored by Angel despite her best professional efforts. An additional source of stress comes when she notices Angel executing murderous employees... and then personally discovers a dead human in her bed after a night at the bar. It turns out she's been set up by a jealous rival vamp employee, but she manages to stake Tamika.

This episode kicks ass. It's astounding how much better Harmony is in freaking Season 5 of Angel versus how she's always been. Traditionally, Harmony has one highly exploitable dimension that would quickly its appeal after a few minutes - minimizing her screen time seemed to be the best way to maximum her enjoyability.

The version of Harmony in Angel S5 loses none of that dumb-blonde Harm-Charm, but circumstances bend her character into much more explorable territory. The most powerful circumstance here, of course, is her role itself: a soulless vampire with no military-imposed restraints choosing quite voluntarily to work for the good guys. I'm pretty sure that the track record of such characters is... well, non-existent. As she notes, the fact that she doesn't have a soul is a handicap when she's trying to be a good guy. Harmony's sociopathy was what enabled the hilariously quick shrug-off of Cordelia's death earlier. Here, it's what lets her dump Fred the moment she's got a lead on her man and what enables her to KO the test-administrator, Lorne, and Fred in hilariously quick succession while covering for herself.

But beyond that, Harmony's fun because she's got a goal - trying to do her job well. It's endearing to watch her in her daily routine (that includes a brushing of her vamp-face teeth and heating a '#1 Boss' mug of blood) and her attempts to better herself (reading up on demon customs to contribute during staff meetings). The ending of the episode reveals that as usual Harmony is being super-whiny about a really enviable situation. The thing is, everybody feels undervalued - so of course Harmony's going to focus on the disrespect she gets from her boss and coworkers instead of realizing just how good she has it. It's a testament to the power of POV that we sympathize with her throughout the episode!

Oh, and the plot and action of the episode are of course hilarious. One of the best parts of 'day in the spotlight' episodes - the trivialization of a seemingly dramatic 'A-plot.' Here, a demon gang war would (in fact, does) seemingly suck up the attention of an episode devoted to the main charaters. The victim is introduced as a demon rights activist and is stated to be the only one capable of getting the two sides to reconcile. In a more serious episode, his death is stupidly predictable as a source of drama. However, because we're told the story from Harmony's POV, we just get glimpses of shit going madly awry, and the inevitable death is a source of humor. The biggest set piece of the episode features two female vamps wielding DUEL CHOPSTAKES and the line 'To make it look like you did.' It's a wonderfully silly and makes for a glorious climax to the episode. And hey, Spike's right - it proves someone does care about Harmony.
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* Dat commercial - 'That's right. No more employee sacrifices!'

* 'Sorry, wrong extension - you need 529 for curses - foiled again, huh.'

* 'He dismembered virgins in his free time.' / 'Oh. Well, a person's religious belief is no cause for -' / 'He did it for his own amusement.'

* Hilarious bit of gossip when Harmony tries to explain that Wesley's crushing on Fred... and she gets told, 'Mr. Wyndham Pryce? Every know he's -'

* Fred is a master at being a girlfriend to girls this episode.

* 'I just wish I were more like you! Except the part about being really into science and not having a whole lot up front.' / 'Yeah. I mean, no! I don't know!'

* 'Just since I got vamped at my graduation I've had trouble connecting with people!'

* 'Lots of women hang out here, you should mingle!' / 'They're all straight.' (stare) 'Non-vamps.' (stare) 'I... gravitate more toward the undead variety.'

* Harmony checking under the sheets and facepalming is a hilarious lasting image.

* 'And the police called you because...' / 'Apparently, we own them.'

* 'The size and depth of the wound indicate a female vampire.' / 'OR GAY!!!'

* Harmony's external monologue this episode is hilariously unjustifiable, but does it need justification?
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harm is the best vampire now

sorry spike
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SeabassDebeste posted...

* Harmony's external monologue this episode is hilariously unjustifiable, but does it need justification?

No it does not.
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no need to be sorry to spike, he had his chance and he decided to stop tapping that
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Welcome back!
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thanks! the trip was much better in terms of activities than i'd expected, and about equal in terms of socialization
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*falls out of trash chute and right onto pavement*
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this continues soon - more jetlagged than i'd realized
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cant revive the undead bump
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Thanks everyone. Been a rough week back.


ANGEL - Season 5, Episode 10

Recap: Eve infects Angel with a big-ass bug that leaves him bedridden with paranoid visions. Lindsey works Spike as 'The Whistler.'

The Angel-Spike relationship is explored only from Angel's perspective this episode, and that's just typical TV writing: the more 'interesting' side of a relationship is the one where the angst is. Overcoming Angel, for Spike, feels cathartic - and at least for now, he's able to put it behind him.

On the other hand, Angel continues to be tormented by what this means. He's perhaps the most insecure character on his own show, and this is a show where you've got Cordelia and Wesley. But it's not that he doesn't know what he is - Angel is aware of his identity, but he feels that it's tenuous and easily threatened. Like Buffy, he's got self-loathing and egomania tied up in a lovely melange. The difference is that Buffy can question her Slayer identity and feel a sense of freedom from her responsibilities - take away the Chosen stuff and she's, in the words of someone wiser, 'a hot chick with superpowers.' For Angel, on the other hand, losing his unique vampire-with-a-soul Shanshu schtick makes him... a monster who raped and killed across Europe for a hundred years and has now been cursed to suffer the guilt for eternity. Oh, and yeah, he 'wants a normal life.' But as the vision with Wesley proves, he still desires to be special: the killer line in that one is that you're 'finally coming to grips with the truth... that you're irrelevant.'

Compare to Spike, who has basically everything going for him. Like Angel, he's done better dead than alive for sure. Unlike Angel, he got over his issues with the whole being a fucking monster thing by being insane in the basement for a few months. Spike has never wanted to be normal - the vamp-strength and immortality are pretty great! - but he does enjoy the normal pleasures in life a lot more. He's able to knock down his past demons systemically - he's gotten the chicks he couldn't in life, he's overcome the trauma of Mommy Dearest, and now he's even beaten down Big Brother, Prince of Darkness. So sure, he'll enjoy helping the helpless and all that, but he's got it made.

Another reason the change of scenery has being amazing for Spike: his swagger works so much better on Angel. Spike always walks and talks like a badass, but on Buffy, he was proven an ineffective villain as early as his first appearance, and it was really his wits and charisma that made him special. Here, Spike hasn't been emasculated nearly as many times, and the Slayer isn't all up in his ass all the time, so he's much more believable as the Baddest Man in the City. The camera gives Spike the Buffy/Angel treatment for perhaps the first time in six seasons this episode, as he beats and stakes two vamps in slow-motion with fancy choreography. The fanciness is obviously intentional; this is the way Lindsey wants Spike to frame himself to stoke that conflict.

Is Lindsey telling the truth about having sent the trinket? What's his endgame, and what are his powers? We know he's not working with the Senior Partners, but how did he come across the MacGuffin? If he didn't, then how does he know about its powers? How did he manage to recorporealize Spike? Do I even care about the answers to this if the action is satisfactory? Lindsey's best line this episode by a country mile: 'Hey, Spike - get any interesting mail lately?'
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* Loving Angel's look in a suit.

* 'It's Matchabelli, Einstein, and it doesn't come in a can.'

* Yet another completely inconsequential W&H subplot this week! This time, there's a question of whether to play the game of thrones among demons or to use assassination. Angel's response - which keys us into his mental state - 'WHY DON'T WE JUST WIPE THEM ALL OUT?' I love that he's had a whole episode since the fight to stew out of the focus of the camera - the Harmony episode is perfect in that sense.

* Spike's reaction to vampire dust is incredible. Also love his callous treatment of the woman he saves.

* 'Think someone won't notice us firing a sci-fi death ray from outer space?'

* Lindsey's left hand is completely intact. This wasn't the case in his last appearance in S2, where he rejected the hand because it was turning him evil, right?

* I've mentioned the increase in Fred's role. Seems pretty evident this episode that it's largely in part because she's the only 'main' chick on the show now. Her sex appeal has been played up to go with her rise to prominence over the non-vampire characters.

* I didn't comment too much on Angel's hallucinations, but the best one has to be the one where Spike saves the world and everyone is incredibly sugary and happy.
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Yeah I am not sure what the deal with his hand is/was
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*shame bell*

it's his right hand that was sliced before.
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Lindsay totally made peace with his evil hand when they had that incredible board room good bye scene together.

Charlie!
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evil hand hype
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ANGEL - Season 5, Episode 11

Recap: A traumatized girl breaks out of a mental asylum and starts going ham on the world. Angel and Spike move to contain, only to find that it's not demonic possession - but a newly awakened Slayer. They contact Team Buffy and are sent Andrew as adviser. After a bizarre memory in which Spike - killer of Slayers - is conflated with the traumatizer, the Slayer is captured. Andrew, flanked by a dozen other Slayers, takes her away from Wolfram and Hart.

I'm so happy that I wrote what I did about Spike the previous episode. This is Year 5 of the Spike-is-great era (dating back to his getting a chip), and finally - finally - he can have an honest reaction to his monstrous days.

And you know what? I'm really, really happy with the results. The reason why Spike has been able to act all high-and-mighty after getting his soul back (minus the month of being insane in the basement)? Dude just never really thought about what he was doing. The acts of evil were externalized, and the one time it looked like he might have to confront his pre-chip days, it was with a gigantic douchebag in Robin. Even here, it's fascinating to see the way that Spike takes responsibility for what he's done: when Dana is channeling the two Slayers that Spike killed, Spike owns right up to it (and indeed, he brushes off Angel's claim that it was murder). Just what soulless demons, do, right?

Only when bound and very literally disarmed does Spike finally think about what it means that Dana is coming after him. He pleads his innocence of this crime despite having killed two past Slayer incarnations and having done far worse to more people than her parents. And it's the arbitrary nature of his 'innocence' that really does him in at the end. Who is he to declare himself not guilty, when he's compartmentalized his crimes for over a year now?

Compare to Angel, who as mentioned earlier, has a crippling sense of self-awareness. He's still extremely bothered by Spike this episode, and you can see it from the beginning when he's using his ultra-cultured approach - comprehending Romanian - versus Spike's instinctual method of 'follow your nose.' But my favorite moment here is the absolute glee in Angel's eyes when he realizes that Spike has finally discovered guilt. This might be Step 1 of Angel coming to accept Spike somewhat - it's laid bare in 5x02 that Angel is perturbed by Spike's relatively carefree ensoulment.

It's also a moment where Angel gets to be the fully realized Angelus-with-a-soul. Finally seeing Spike as a peer, he opens up. It was always about the evil for Angelus. 'It was art... the destruction of a human being. Guess I would've considered Dana a masterpiece.' There's a gleam in his eye that leans heavily against the bullshit 'two different characters' interpretation of Season 4. What's making this season so great - Spike is bringing out Angel's pettiness, while Los Angeles is giving Spike a much more interesting space to flourish.
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Andrew is the third most important character in this episode and he's pretty hilarious - most notably, his introduction is fantastic - Rupert Giles has allegedly sent his 'top guy.' Aside from his first mention of vam-pires - which gets Angel caught on it, to his embarrassment - the best part of Andrew's ridiculously out-of-place expositional role is the way others react to him.

He begins to explain Slayer lore. 'In every generation, one is chosen,' Fred notes. 'Yes, attractive, slender woman,' Andrew agrees. Fred's eyes widen in a WTF, unsure whether to smile or speak up. Angel complains that they know this already. 'You think you know, my good man. You think you know.' At this point, Andrew smugly lights and tokes on his pipe. Cut to Gunn, whose eyes widen in another WTF. And of course, Wesley surmises with this new knowledge that Dana is having trouble distinguishing flashback from present. 'My hypothesis exactly, Pryce. I see Mr. Giles may have been wrong about you.' Everything that goes into Wesley's WTF face might make it the best of all.

Even Spike isn't immune to Andrew's charms. 'Andrew double-crossed us?... that's a good move.'

Here's to hoping the second half of this season is as great as the first.

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* The episode opens with Gunn, and early on, he repeats his love for the job and what's become his mantra - that working at Wolfram is allowing them to get a lot of good done. I actually expected this episode to be Gunn-centric - I think that the effects of Gunn's mental rewrite will be really interesting. 'I liked you better when you just wanted to hit people,' Angel grumbles. 'Rational thought. It's an acquired taste.'

* 'Real finesse job,' Angel explains, regarding the case. Cut: twin elevators open, and Spike is exiting at the same time as Angel. The best. 'Shouldn't you be out in the streets, protecting the city from... people like you?'

* 'May I suggest you stop your friend? If he finds Dana, he's just gonna wind up dead like the others.' / 'Yeah, but he'll just end up coming back...'

* It's a pretty badass moment when Angel's voiceover finally confirms what's becoming apparent: 'She was yelling about being chosen... She's not a demon, Wes. She's a vampire slayer.'

* 'Six months ago, Buffy, vampire slayer extraordinaire, had her lesbian wish make with a beaucoup de magie.'

* 'You should let it go, mate. It's startin' to make you look old.' This comment isn't that notable, but Marsters seems to have aged much more than Boreanz over the run of the show, possibly because Spike is made up so aggressively/flamboyantly.

* 'Let's get Andrew in on this. See if he knows... anything.'

* In non-Andrew WTF faces, a realtor is extremely perky to Angel and friends. His psychic intones, 'The walls scream with the blood of the innocent.' The realtor makes a face worthy of having heard an Andrew-comment. 'I'll be in the car if you have any questions!'

* Angel versus Dana is short but really sweet.

* The fact that Andrew (and by extension, Giles and Buffy) doesn't trust W&H is some pretty rough indictment.

*

Spike: She's one of us now. She's a monster.
Angel: She's an innocent victim.
Spike: So were we, once upon a time... once upon a time.

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Great writeup for a great episode


Remember back when you thought Andrew sucked and we were all like "nah man we love Andrew =)"
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SeabassDebeste posted...

Here's to hoping the second half of this season is as great as the first.

Don't you worry
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excellent...
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i'm being trolled by the end of this cold open, aren't i.

someone tell me i am so my hype boner goes away and i don't get rekt
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5x12 such a phemonal episode.
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our rats are low
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Oh main you're at that point. (Not just 5x12, but a couple coming up soon as well.)
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You're welcome.
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Did you call me a tit?
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up
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You must've really hated the episode if you still haven't posted about it
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he's obviously devastated
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butt devastated
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