This is what happens when you air a series one episode after the other and let it build a head of steam. As opposed to UPN's treatment of BTVS in which any dramatic headway bangs into reruns, reruns and more reruns. "Countdown to Buffy's final episode! Rerun! New episode! Another rerun!" Geeez...
The "Bodysnatcher's" flavor of the current storyline continues. Again, there was a sense of padding (for instance, there was no intrinsic reason that Fred couldn't have simply run into a demon who immediately attacked her instead of just sitting around and extending the sequence, particularly considering the whole point was to make the blood connection.) Still, a lot of stuff was just too cool to crab over. Her maneuver for revealing the truth to Angel was exceedingly clever.
At first I balked over the concept that Fred and Angel had to physically see Jasmine before the spell snapped, whereas the others got the idea just from the blood transfer. But perhaps Cordy's blood, being the source, was more powerful. Or perhaps it had something to do with the whole psychic link thing. Anyway, I simply decided not to let it bother me, because Jasmine would have wanted it that--damn!
You had to love the frustration each of our heroes felt after they were severed from Jasmine. You almost wish Glory was still around. Be interesting to see how she and her minions would fare against Jasmine. A number of great lines ("I ate them." "Cool!") and increasingly building tension as we wonder how our heroes will break Jasmine's spell. Pour Cordy's blood into the LA water supply?
PAD
Posted by Peter David at April 17, 2003 01:12 AM | TrackBack | Other blogs commentingI was wondering if Cordy's blood might have worked because she was the original host for the consciousness of Jasmine.
I was presuming Connor's nil reaction was due to his parentage of Jasmine.
With both shows Fox productions, crossover logistics were not a problem. But being rival networks, obviously UPN and the WB are not cooperating with each other.
UPN naturally wants to save the Buffy finale to make the most of the May sweeps, but so will the WB with Angel.
So who airs which first? Which one is supposed to be first? Will it matter if they're out of order?
I know the above is stating the obvious, but it had to be said just to get it out of the way.
However, (I REALLY hate to say this and hope I'm wrong) I don't think the WB will renew Angel. Besides not being the great ratings producer it was hoping for, Wheddon did not endear himself to anyone at WB between Buffy moving to UPN as well as the crossovers now. Will the WB really want a sequel/continuation of a rival network's program even if a couple of Buffy characters do go over to Angel?
Like I said, I really hope I'm wrong about this.
(Besides, whatever happened to the Giles spin-off?!?)
Yep, occured to me when they brought him in the room that Connor was also Jasmine's parent. But I thought that might mean another blood source rather than denial (but then, as we've seen, Connor's just darn good at being controlled).
My vote for gratuitous scene goes to the Fred and Angel kissing scene. I mean, it didn't even work for a minute in terms of distracting the Jasminites and in retrospect almost seemed to be there so they could stick it in last week's Coming Attractions.
Also, I'll cut Fred slack and assume she was suffering from serious lack of sleep that prevented her from trying even in the slightest to disguise herself/change her appearance. On the other hand, Connor the great tracker's pretty lame if he can't tell Angel's in the same room as he is, within about 5 feet. Yeah, Angel's leftover scent should've been in there, but what he picked up should've been *much* stronger than that.
In the "If I Were The Evil Mind-Controlling Goddess" category, my strategy right now would be twofold; 1) call every female in Los Angeles to surround me. All of them having seen what Fred looks like. For bonus points, all of said females wear at most a bikini and all the anorexic ones (OK, in LA that might significantly reduce the number) are excluded. Let's see Angel, Wes, Lorne, and Gunn get through 1,000,000+ bodies to get at Jasmine or Cordy. Females in skimpy outfits only to prevent disguises, of course.
Meanwhile, 2) Everyone else is out after AI, with Connor doing the tracking thing. For bonus points, go to 3); Jasmine and a small but tough cadre sneak out in the opposite direction that AI takes off from the hotel in, while setting up the army surrounding the hotel. Jasmine goes to the airport and relocates to Washington D.C., or possibly NORAD as Cheyenne Mountain is closer. Angel and Co. are still in LA, not knowing she's gone...until the several nuclear bombs are dropped, killing them all. Then she goes to Sunnydale, takes over Buffy, Willow, and Faith, and sends 'em on a demon killing spree ala LA. I'll assume she and the First can settle any jurisdiction arguments somehow. :-)
You know what really got me? The shooting Angel through Jasmine after Jasmine said that there was only one shooter for Kennedy. You see, for the one bullet theory to work, it had to go through the other guy in the car and hit Kennedy.
Having a conspirecy loving teacher back in high school pays off once and a while.
There are several reserviors serving the Los Angeles area. Each one filters and cleans the water before sending it out to homes and businesses. (During the 1994 Earthquake, certain areas of Los Angeles had to use bottled water for cooking and drinking because the water system for those parts of town was uncertain.)
So the blood in the water concept is dead in the... water.
Hurricane Heeran
Hurricane... I don't they'll stick to reality THAT close.
It can be read in the preview for the next episode that
Connor finds out Cordelia is missing. I think it's a very distinct possibility that Angel and the gang took Cordy's body and will indeed use her blood for water. I like that theory!
The crossover question is not really a problem. Angel's season finale is May 7, Angel will be in the last two Buffys, as I understand it, which will be shown on May 13 and 20 respectively.
ncc71877
Well...last week's episode I enjoyed. It gave a very creepy vibe to the whole Jasmine/love conquers all sort of thing.
But what's the first thing they do this week? Take the creepiness and weirdness and turn it goofy. The entire fellowship hall segment sucked any creepiness the storyline had going right out.
For me, this was an incredibly padded episode. It accomplished two things: 1) figuring out the cure, and 2) curing the group. EVERYTHING else was padding.
I didn't understand folks complaining that last week's episode was padded...but this one definitely felt that way.
The transition from creepy paranoia to wacky hijinks pretty much wiped out most of the building tension for me.
Regardless, my current hope for the last few minutes isn't that Connor is still under the spell, but that he's NEVER been under the spell. He made a decision a couple of weeks ago to sacrifice the virgin...and it would make perfect sense that he's desperately clinging to Jasmine being right because of the wrong he's committed.
Anyhow, my overall feeling was that what was accomplished in this episode could have been done in the pre-credit sequence for the next episode. It really felt that padded.
Very disappointing for me.
D. Eric Carpenter
"You see, for the one bullet theory to work, it had to go through the other guy in the car and hit Kennedy."
Wasn't that exactly the point? The "magic bullet" passed through Jasmine and into Angel?
At the end, if Connor had blown an actual whistle, it would have been a great nod to the Sound of Music. Pity.
Yeah, I agree -- this episode and last could have been one, with the removal of the padding (especially the "everyone loves Jasmine" routine -- yeah, yeah, we get it).
I have a suspicion that the cure did work on Connor, and he just didn't care. He seemed genuinely deflated once they mixed his blood, and I don't think he knew enough to act in that certain way to deceive them.
I'm getting a little tired of Connor always being against the rest of them. I've only been watching since the Angelus arc started, and it's already gotten old. I'm beginning to wonder why they even bother anymore. (Yeah, he's Angel's son, but he's turned on them more times than he's been there for them. After this incident, at least, I would hope they remember that from now on.)
I enjoyed this episode immensely. Unlike last night's Buffy, this one had the right blend of humor, suspense, and creepiness. I loved the open-mic testimonials to Jasmine's greatness, especially the bittersweet undertone to Angel and Connor singing together. It took an evil goddess's powers to bring these two together as father and son. At this point, I'd be surprised if Connor survives this season. He's made his choice. It would probably take Faith to scare him straight now.
It also occurred to me that Glory's storyline on Buffy would have been a lot more interesting had it used the format for Jasmine's takeover. Both entities are described as goddesses. In much fiction, including PAD's own, gods and goddesses only have power when they are worshipped. It was fine and dandy for Buffy to tell us that Glory was a goddess. What it came down to though was just another Big Bad who could give Buffy a decent fistfight.
The thing I found to be great was when Jasmine realized what it was that broke the spell. I remember after last week, people were asking why she'd allow for people to touch her after she was bleeding - the obvious answer being that she didn't know.
The look on Jasmine's face when she came to that realization was great - as was the poor guy who owned that bookstore. "Should I just stay here then?"
Great episode.
One additional
COMMENT: Having been raised a Southern Baptist, the fellowship hall testimonials and the tables laden with food struck a chord with me. It was a very, very familiar setting, so I found it inherently creepy that the object of devotion was this demon goddess.
But Matt, Glory's aims were the exact opposite of Jasmine's. Glory wanted to leave our world and return to her dimension, while Jasmine wanted to leave her dimension and come to our world.
Ha! I knew from the moment he helped "Cordy" kill that girl that Connor was lost to the dark side.
By the way, Boreanaz said in an interview this week that we're going to see characters (plural) die at the end of this season. I'm still betting that Connor will be among the casualties. He's willingly sided against team Angel too many times to ever be trusted by them again.
I agree with the comparison of Jasmine to Glory. Glory was just a brainsucking powerhouse. Jasmine's ability to make everyone instantly love her is just downright creepy. Fred's question "how do we fight anything this big?" felt more omninous than any of Buffy's "some of you are going to die, so let's work together," speeches so far this season.
I loved the open mike testimonials. It really reinforced the creepy devotion everyone has for her, especially the old woman with 37 cats and the deaf woman signing about how she'd like to rip apart Fred's brain.
You know, I hope someday Whedon explains Angel's obsession with Barry Manilow and the song "Mandy."
Actually, the song Mandy was perfect for the plot.
"Oh Jasmine when you kissed me and stopped me from shaking, but I sent you away, oh Jasmine..."
Jasmine came into their lives, and brought peace and stability where there was none. Now they regrettably have to send her away, cuz she's like, evil and stuff.
Spiking L.A.s water supply would never work. You'd have to spike the various bottled waters at their source.
However, you could cure most of L.A. by spiking the Diet Coke supply.
No ne saw that Connor was holding Jasmine's bloody and burnt hand earlier during the find fred scene?
My guess - he got some of her blood on him and he knows. He just doesn't care.
RabidWolfe: No ne saw that Connor was holding Jasmine's bloody and burnt hand earlier during the find fred scene?
Yeah, but their blood has to mix for her control to be lost. Connor wasn't bleeding, therefore no mixing.
Nat Gertler: Spiking L.A.s water supply would never work. You'd have to spike the various bottled waters at their source.
However, you could cure most of L.A. by spiking the Diet Coke supply.
Actually, I was expecting Lorne to take the blood and spike all the food that was laid out for the True Believers. That way, you'd be able to affect large quantities of the people at the same time.
Ah, but that wouldn't have created as much dramatic tension...
Actually, I was expecting Lorne to take the blood and spike all the food that was laid out for the True Believers. That way, you'd be able to affect large quantities of the people at the same time.
That might have worked, except that the meal was over before Lorne was freed. Gunn and Wes were cleaning up and stacking chairs when he lured them upstairs.
Actually, the song Mandy was perfect for the plot.
Maybe, but this isn't the first time Angel's been shown to either sing or listen to that song.
I thought it was another great episode, and that as good as BUFFY has been, ANGEL may be even better...
But...
I've been the whole day with "Mandy" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (from the opening sequence of last night's episode) stuck running unrelentingly through my head. It just won't stop.
And I'm ready to smack the ME gang a good one just for that, on GPs.
Hi Dave,
Its true that Glory just wanted to get back to her homeworld, but wouldn't that have been a lot easier with the entire population of the city under her thrall? (Not saying that she had that power, of course, just that they could have set her up with a similar power).Buffy would face the choice of wounding and possibly killing hordes of innocents working for Glory versus killing herself or Dawn. Might have added even more of an edge to Buffy's sacrifice at the end of season 5. Maybe not. In any case, I find Jasmine creepy and powerful. Glory just never clicked for me as a villain.
Matt
What if Connor was immune to Jasmine's mass hypnosis the whole time? After all, he allowed an innocent woman to die for Jasmine's birth. Perhaps he would let even more people die. Connor may see Jasmine simply as his daughter. And like many parents, he may be refusing to see the negative side of her, even though it's in plain sight. Connor is still glowing with that fatherly pride.
I see the season ending one of two ways. Either Connor wises up and kills Jasmine, which would take a lot of strength of character--strength that I'm not sure Connor has. Or Angel and the gang kill Jasmine, forever making an enemy of Connor.
Or maybe something surprising will happen. Maybe Cordelia will wake up and set Connor straight.
Or maybe Connor's being set up for his own spin-off: "Connor Kills the Buffy/Angel Universe."
Favorite scene: Angel sneaks into Cordelia's room, trips, and falls. This is more like the Angel from season 1, who jumps in the wrong car while trying to save the damsel in distress. That's funny stuff.
Hey Guys...
I Don't know if anyone else is reading Goyer and John's JSA, I just read #45 and #46 yesterday. The funny part is I don't know why Jasmine's conception , kind reminds me of how they're showing how Mordru manipulated Hector and Dr. Fate, and that whole Forces of Order and Chaos, so he'd get a new body.
Liked both this week's ANgel and Buffy. This season's ANgel is really great and way better than I ever expected, specially because I hated last season (3rd season)I consider it one of the worst seasons ever.....
By the way, PAD, I also read Supergirl's last issue last night, nice ending, is somewhat a decent closure. It's a shame we won't see more of Linda and ther adventures.
Great episode-- but I do agree that there was far too much padding.
I find it very weird that I am liking Angel so much more than Buffy now... but when I think back, I guess I've felt that way for over 2 years now.
I take offense at the comments about spiking L.A.'s Diet Coke supply...
...Some of us L.A. denizens actually drink Diet Pepsi (and some of us transplanted Southerners spice up the mix with a little Diet Mountain Dew)! :)
D Eric Carpenter said:
"The entire fellowship hall segment sucked any creepiness the storyline had going right out."
What? You DON'T find Boreanaz and Kartheiser's singing creepy?
Drinking is not necessarily the problem.. probably could get the water infusion in baths/showers... but then there's those that don't bathe or shower...
I'm betting on Lorne to be the one dead by the end of the season... which blows since I really like him...
They won't get rid of Wes... but I think it will be Lorne...
and you now do not need Cordy's blood... since all of them are "infected" by her blood, so are theirs... one will give up his/her life to save them all. Sorta Doyle-ish...
or at least that's the way I see it happening
Travis
Angel's appreciation of "Mandy" was explained the first time it was referenced, when he sang it at Caratos (sp?): In addition to already knowing the words, "I just think it's pretty."
Drinking is not necessarily the problem.. probably could get the water infusion in baths/showers.
Well no, since apparently you have to get the blood mingled with yours.
but then there's those that don't bathe or shower...
Jasmine's taking over France now? :)
I'm betting on Lorne to be the one dead by the end of the season... which blows since I really like him...
Andy Hallet finally got promoted from recurrent character to regular castmember for the back nine this season, which tells me that Whedon is planning on keeping him around for the (still unconfirmed) next season. I still think Connor will make a grand sacrifice to finally redeem himself or Angel will be forced to live out the prophecy.
and you now do not need Cordy's blood... since all of them are "infected" by her blood, so are theirs... one will give up his/her life to save them all. Sorta Doyle-ish...
I don't know if it works that way. Maybe you still need the "source" blood to break the spell. Even so, one person probably doesn't have enough blood in his body to free all of Los Angelos.
Andy Hallet finally got promoted from recurrent character to regular castmember for the back nine this season, which tells me that Whedon is planning on keeping him around for the (still unconfirmed) next season.
Not to make fun of this theory, but that sure as shooting didn't work for Amanda Benson. She finally got a regular cast credit and *bamn.*
Hmmm...maybe that was a bad choice of metaphors...
//Not to make fun of this theory, but that sure as shooting didn't work for Amanda Benson. She finally got a regular cast credit and *bamn.*//
True, but Hallet's recent interview on scifi.com seemed to indicate that he expects to be back next year.
Then again, I thought Tara was a boring character and didn't miss her at all.
Just for the record: that's AMBER Benson, not Amanda. And her one-episode addition to the credits was meants as a thank you for years of playing the character in a "guest" role.
Only one person mentioned the deaf woman. That sucks, I thought that was so great and funny. Nice to see Terrylene show up. (Y'all should recall her from Beauty & the Beast.) And you know what else? Nobody interpreted for her! I figure the whole Jasmine connection was working so all the followers knew what she was saying. I didn't need the subtitles anyway, I'm deaf.
That's pretty much my highlight of the show. While I'm kinda on the topic-
PAD- what made you do that Supergirl issue featuring that school for the deaf? (#65) I thought it was very well done (artistically and storywise) and accurate (although the fingerspelling chart in the back was French, I believe). Sorry for OTP question.
Uhmm - the camera seemed to think her bloody and burnt hand neing in Connor's was nessecary to focus on - and what if the heat burned his hand as well, causing their blood to mingle?
I think Connor has known for awhile, but doesn't care.
I wouldn't normally display such Major Comic Book Geekness in a public forum, but since this is PAD's site and Johny's already referenced the JSA and Mordru — what the heck.
When Jasmine looked through the eyes of the entire population of LA to search for Fred, I was reminded of Mordru's use of the same trick to locate a fugitive band of Legionnaires in a Jim Shooter-scripted issue of Adventure Comics from the 60s. (Pretty creepy concept when you're eight years old.)
Then, per the end of the episode and next week's teaser, you suddenly have your band of stalwart heroes forced to flee from an entire mind-contolled population under the thrall of a blood relative of one of their allies. . .
Which is pretty much the set-up from Shooter's Universo storyline from that same 60's run of Adventure Comics — right down to the signature visual of the heroes hiding out in the sewer.
So it's probably just my Inner Geek shining through, but, knowing that Whedon is a comic fan, the juxtaposition of those two plotIines makes me wonder if he's familiar with Shooter's highly-regarded Legion stories — and maybe that's influenced (either consciously or unconsciously) the current Angel storyline.
Now that I've put everyone to sleep, I'll shut up.
Wow, Lar, now that you mentioned it, yeah. Big Legion fan here.
Anyway, back on topic, I wanna toss my agreement in saying that Conner doesn't care and he's probably not gonna survive this season. Which is fine, because he's NOT my fave character. Though, I think Lorne might be :) He's just really fun!
Introducing Connor, the world's greatest minion.
He follows Holtz, he follows evil Cordy, he follows Jasmine. After reading what you said, I've gotta agree that he probably doesn't care anymore. He probably knows the truth, but wants the easy answers that Jasmine is offering.
The thing with the bullet was great. The open mic night thing was hilarious. I'm really just surprised that they were able to get the rest of the team back on their side so quickly. If anything, I expected them to get maybe one back and then another back in another episode. Oh, well.
It's probably just me, but the whole group mind thing reminded me of The Borg from Star Trek or the Phalanx from X-men only without all the cybernetic/techno-organic gobbledy gook.
"When Jasmine looked through the eyes of the entire population of LA to search for Fred, I was reminded of Mordru's use of the same trick to locate a fugitive band of Legionnaires in a Jim Shooter-scripted issue of Adventure Comics from the 60s. (Pretty creepy concept when you're eight years old.)
Then, per the end of the episode and next week's teaser, you suddenly have your band of stalwart heroes forced to flee from an entire mind-contolled population under the thrall of a blood relative of one of their allies. . .
Which is pretty much the set-up from Shooter's Universo storyline from that same 60's run of Adventure Comics — right down to the signature visual of the heroes hiding out in the sewer."
they did something simlar during the mordru/dark circle storyline also
"When Jasmine looked through the eyes of the entire population of LA to search for Fred, I was reminded of Mordru's use of the same trick to locate a fugitive band of Legionnaires in a Jim Shooter-scripted issue of Adventure Comics from the 60s. (Pretty creepy concept when you're eight years old.)
Then, per the end of the episode and next week's teaser, you suddenly have your band of stalwart heroes forced to flee from an entire mind-contolled population under the thrall of a blood relative of one of their allies. . .
Which is pretty much the set-up from Shooter's Universo storyline from that same 60's run of Adventure Comics — right down to the signature visual of the heroes hiding out in the sewer."
they did somthing simalr during the mordru dark circle storyline also
All I can say for sure? I knew for certain that Jasmine was evil when Angel and Conner sang karaoke. For them to do that and have no one complain? That HAS to be strong mind control.
I actually found the ep to be hilarious. Gina Torres seems to have found the inspiration for her characterization of Jasmine via Faye Dunaway in "Mommie Dearest"
Why didn't Connor regain his free will at the end of the episode? because he hasn't had free will yet this season, and therefore has no free will to regain!
"Favorite scene: Angel sneaks into Cordelia's room, trips, and falls. This is more like the Angel from season 1, who jumps in the wrong car while trying to save the damsel in distress. That's funny stuff."
I noticed that too. Angel seems more like his old self than the "happy" Angel we've seen since Epiphany.
As for Connor, I bet they're going to have him finally reform at the end of this year. If there's a theme to this season, it seems to be his flip-flopping. They're making a lot of comparisions between father and son (both sing Mandy horribly).
Connor is just as rebellious with his father as Angel was with his. Which is probably why Angel is so forgiving.
Say what you will about the WB, but it has scheduled episodes of "Angel" quite well.
Seven straight new episodes ("Deep Down" to "Apocalypse Nowish"). We then got a month-long break, but "Apocalypse Nowish" had a nice "cliffhanger" ending to bring us back (Cordelia and Connor sleeping together, the rise of the Beast).
Then five straight episodes -- now on a new night -- that end with Angelus escaping, his soul missing, Lilah dead, and Cordelia revealed as the Beast's boss -- again, another great cliffhanger (plus the promos promised us the return of Faith in three weeks).
Then, nothing but new episodes until the season finale.
Compare this to UPN and "Buffy":
The first rerun is during the week of Halloween (no Halloween episode, which sucks). We hadn't been introduced to the Big Bad or to much of anything yet, so the rerun derailed any momentum the season had.
The another four new episodes. The reruns. Then *one* new episode in December, then reruns. Then two new episodes in January. Then four straight new episodes for Sweeps but that ends with "Storyteller" of all episodes (practically a comedy, yeah, that'll bring us back for the new ones). Oh, and *one* new episode in March ("Lies My Parents Told Me"), then "Dirty Girls," a rerun, and then the last four episodes limp across the finish line.
The idiocy of this sort of programming is that viewers like myself get bored with reruns, new episode, then reruns and just stop watching (especially when not much happens during those new episodes). Meanwhile, "Angel" was broken up into three definite arcs that left viewers wanting to come back and, most importantly, maintained momentum with a string of new episodes (no one new show a month nonsense).
No wonder UPN is last place.
You're spot-on with your assessment about UPN's crappy scheduling, Stephen. One thing I will defend, though:
The first rerun is during the week of Halloween (no Halloween episode, which sucks).
This is SOP for the show, actually. They only do Hallowe'en episodes in the even seasons (2, 4, 6), with the odd seasons picking up the previous season's rerun for the week of Hallowe'en.
Other than that, though...yeah, UPN kinda screwed the pooch.
I actually got to watch angel last night (I just moved and we have no WB now so I have to watch the show the next day on our local pax station).
I'm kinda leaning on the conner never was under Jasmines spell. I think conner is trying to figure everything out, you could almost rationalize that from his perspective everyone has flip-flopped with him so thats just how people act. And with this "what is good and evil" thing floating in his mind who knows.
But I did notice that in the early part of the episode connor said something to the extent of "I wish I could see what you see" and was looking right at the guy jasmine was talking too. Now while the most probable explination is he was wishing to see what jasmine saw in the guy, but maybe he was wishing he could see what the guy saw in jasmine. Maybe he has seen her as this maggoty being the entire time (truly a face that "only a parent could love" :)) then when angel was free conner asked him "what do you see" and angel never explained.
Or maybe Im looking for subtle clues where there is none.
The "I ate them"/"Cool" thing kinda throws the theory on its side though.
I'm kinda leaning on the Conner never was under Jasmines spell.
I agree with you Andrew. I just watched the ep last night and was thinking Connor grew up in the Hell Dimension so couldn't he appreciate Jasmine's maggoty-self. We keep seeing him say how beautiful she is. Since Cordy's blood allows people to see because she's the ma why wouldn't Connor be able to see as the pa?
We still don't know what Cordy sees because she's been 'out!'
Personally Connor could die and I wouldn't blink. I'd probably cheer. I've been wondering when Joss might clean the house of all actors. Hopefully the show gets renewed. It's one of 3 TV shows I watch and the other's Buffy (which should probably go because it going down fast) so I'll be down to 1 if Angel goes. I'll be bummed.
BTW, OT-Gotta love the ST:NF series. PAD-It's a gas. I'm on Fire on High and loving every minute of it.
ANGEL on Pax? Now that's just wrong and strange, especially given the current storyline and Joss Whedon's professed atheism.
The LSH parallels are great -- can't believe I didn't see them before. And of course, ANGEL has its very own "Lightning Lass" in Gwen... gee, at this rate, it's going to be like SMALLVILLE -- most of SMALLVILLE's first season villains had clear connections to Legion of Super-Heroes members.
I've been iffy on the "Connor was already seeing Jasmine's true face theory," but Tobin has a great point: after being raised in a hell dimension, who knows what Connor's conception of beauty is?
Yeah angel on pax was kinda humorous.. Well all it is is they play the previous nights WB primetime at 6 and 7. They've been doing it in this area for along time. It gets kinda odd having to remember that all the ads for "the WB Wednesday" mean I watch it on thursday.
But back when I had a WB channel too it was pretty cool to be able to watch smallville and angel on the same night (7 on pax, 9 on wb).
Does anyone remember the exact wording of the parent/child doomsday prophecy which has been propelling events in "Angel" for the last two years?
I ask because I'm thinking maybe it actually applies to Conner and Jasmine rather than Angel and Conner as has always been assumed.
Also, is anyone else disturbed by the automatic acceptance of the "She's REALLY ugly, so she must be really EVIL" revelation?
Remember, Connor was told that his sole purpose for existance was to bring Jasmine into this world--this at the point in his life when he's a moody teenager without a strong purpose, He defied his 'mother' and father to bring about Jasmine's birth. He is Jasmine's right-hand-man--her 'Peter' if you will (extending the whole anti-Christ metaphor). His entire sense of worth is now tied to Jasmine--who is, remember, his daughter. All of which is to say that of course he is going to continue to follow Jasmine, free will or no.
A big theme for this season (and the series as a whole) has been redemption. Now that Connor has chosen of his own free will to side with evil, can there be redemption for him?
The Father Will Kill The Son
So Wes will have to announce that his translation was a little iffy and it should have been "child" instead of "son."
It's not so much that Jasmine is "ugly" that makes her evil. It's the fact that she turns people into brainwashed imbeciles (and, of course, is responsible for all the evil that's occurred this season).
I think the revulsion Fred and Angel had when they saw her is sort of the realization of how horrible she is and what she "truly" represents (death).
i had a few continuity issues with the ep. (I can accept the cordy having a blood link to jasmine since jasmine was in every cell of cordy's body. but it's iffy) the thing that bugs me is how the blood reacted differently for gunn wes and lorne. Angel and fred had to actually see jasmine before the spell or hold was broken. Gunn wes and lorne were freed before they could see her/it. granted they used cordy's blood not jasmines, but really the power to break the spell should be a step removed from cordy not stronger.
ah well.
The Gunn/Wes/Lorne reaction thing I interpret this way. they never show the initial reaction. Time has always passed. Perhaps Angel and Fred would have had the same reaction had they simply been told to "snap out of it... shes not what she says she is" fred didnt until she saw Jasmine because she was surrounded by people who were still feeding the lie to her. She said she still feels it in her and she wishes it were true, only now she has the ability to see it as false.
Maybe had someone walked in after fred got her blood all mingly, and said "Whats wrong with you people you are fawning over someone you just met" maybe then she would have thought "you know what your right."
Basically what I am saying is I think that all the blood really does is suspend the automatic belief in the lie, allows you to see things for what they are. So when confronted with something that doesn't mesh with the lie you re-analyze it.
So When they did lorne he still was all lovey-dovey, angel said "Lorne, think about it for a minute... I am the star of this show I can really only be bad for like 5 or 6 episodes... I mean really I wasnt evil for many more than that when I was on buffy's show...." and thats when lorne's like "yah but the kids love ya angelbaby...." Or maybe it was a more serious conversation... but either way it was off camera :)
Regarding Stephen Robinson's "revulsion of what she really is"- time to put my literature classes to work- Everyone has the image of Mr. Hyde as a monster- like in movies and comic books, he's portrayed as a hulked out beastial figure. But in Stevenson's novel, he's a short, swarthy guy who provokes a general sense of disgust for no discernible reason. Interpretations vary, but a very pat interpretation is "Mr. Hyde is evil so others feel that evil." The better way would be to say he reflects the inner primitive nature that is in all people, thus provoking an instinctual self-hatred. What does this have to do with anything? I guess I'm just saying that perhaps what we're seeing is not really what's there. I mean, there's no worms suddenly appearing on the ground as Jasmine passes by. We've been assuming Gina Torres's face isn't what is really there. Why not the other side of the equation? There's still the baby Cthulu we glimpsed at the birth.
**It's not so much that Jasmine is "ugly" that makes her evil. It's the fact that she turns people into brainwashed imbeciles (and, of course, is responsible for all the evil that's occurred this season).
I think the revulsion Fred and Angel had when they saw her is sort of the realization of how horrible she is and what she "truly" represents (death).**
I don't think it's death being represented as ugly, It's evil.
Such is the dual nature of evil, that it often hides behind beauty, love and truth. That's what MAKES evil so insidious and indeed, "evil".
"I mean, there's no worms suddenly appearing on the ground as Jasmine passes by. We've been assuming Gina Torres's face isn't what is really there. Why not the other side of the equation? There's still the baby Cthulu we glimpsed at the birth. "
I was wondering about this, too. They were fooled already, how do they know she really isn't beautiful and the blood is just making them see her as ugly? But that doesn't get around the fact that she is turning people into fanatical imbeciles. Although, the show could've played it that she did have their best intentions at heart, and didn't realize the mindless zealotry effect her beauty would have on them.
But this episode took away any more complicated issues or stories like that, since she clearly acted more evil this time around. We definitely know where she stands now.
That's not a bad thing. I still think it was plenty good. Just idle thoughts on what might've been.
Question: Does Angel know that Spike has a soul? That "shansu" prophecy might apply to all vampires who have souls, I guess.
"Question: Does Angel know that Spike has a soul? That "shansu" prophecy might apply to all vampires who have souls, I guess. "
Nice reference... i loved that title... to shansu in la...
good question...
and if it doesn't get renewed, what a better way than for angel to get his life back :)
Travis
Connor's reaction almost certainly showed that he was never under Jasmine's control. He felt betrayed because of what Angel did, but he didn't suffer the devastation that the others did. When Connor finally has to face what he's done, I have a feeling he will be unable to handle it.
Also, I'd shocked if Angel wasn't back next year. It had its highest adult 18-49 ratings of the year last week, tying a West Wing repeat in that category while beating 60 Minutes II and the Twilight Zone (The Bachelor was first that hour, I think). It did reasonably well on Sunday and has consistently outperformed its lead-in on Wednesday. It's not a hit, but it's likely to do better than any new show WB puts in their slot, and if the WB gives up on it I'm sure UPN will pick it up. The addition of Buffy refugees makes one of these two scenarios even more likely.
Everyone seems to be focusing in on how are they going to use Cordy to break the spell over the city. I am guess they are going going to find another way to do it. After all, that guy a couple of weeks back wasn't under the spell when he saw her. So it stands to reason there is another way not to be under the spell.
Regarding several comments on the pacing of Buffy vs Angel this year and the continuous reruns on BTVS:
I don't know for sure, but can some of this have to do with the writing/shooting schedule?
It seems to me that Buffy meandered aimlessly for a large chunk of the early season because the writers were hedging on whether SMG would come back for another season. Only after it was announced that this was officially the end did the show come into focus.
So maybe they filmed and aired a bunch of the "time wasting" eps early on and now have to kind of stretch things out to make sure the final arc airs during prime sweeps time.
OH, and I thought Angel was great this week (although I wish they would of drawn out the turning the gang good again a little more). Connor had better be evil (ie he knows Jazzmine is wormface but don't care) or else he is the STUPIDEST person alive (even dumber than Buffy has become).
Best,
Chris
Re:shooting schedule affecting airdates, I do recall reading on Spoiler Slayer (yes, I read Buffy spoilers, so shoot me!) that they had to reorder some of the shooting to accommodate some of Eliza Dukshu's other commitments.
Does anyone remember the exact wording of the parent/child doomsday prophecy which has been propelling events in "Angel" for the last two years?
I ask because I'm thinking maybe it actually applies to Conner and Jasmine rather than Angel and Conner as has always been assumed.
If I remember correctly, the text Wesley translated said, "The father will kill the son." The giant hamburger, on the other hand, said something like, "That the father will devour his son is certain."
One possibility is that the text Wesley read was a fake, just as it was said to be. The hamburger's prophecy--if it wasn't also false--might have referred to Angel's devouring Connor's blood. The animal blood Angel drinks was spiked with Connor's blood for a short time.
But another possibility is that both prophecies were correct, and Angel is going to kill Connor.
--Daniel M.
Another thing to consider, this rainbow chibi-Cthulu that is calling itself Jasmine, well who is to say it even has a gender?
remember, how it felt reading comics...and a filler issue came along....hmmmm...filler episodes...filler year....bring back some excitement please
I've read lots of complaints about "padded" Angel eps, here and elsewhere, but I just don't see it. I think the pacing, and the writing in general, has been great all season, and just superb from Apocolypse Nowish on. Each episode has been riveting--funny, heart-wrenching, totally creepy, and briskly paced. Angel has managed to do what Buffy is failing miserably at--abandoning episodic TV for an extended, cinematic plot arch that grabs your nads for the large part of an entire season. Buffy has pissed away almost the entire second half of the season with meandering, shapeless eps about the Scoobies sitting around in a crowded house, having long, dire conversations about the epic war that is going on. So where's the freaking war, already? Bring it on! I'm a devoted fan, so it's been hard watching ME drag the carcass across the finish line. Thankfully Angel is consistently delivering the goods with very few missteps.