Am I the only one who would like to bìŧçhšláp whoever the idiot is at the WB that came up with “a fresh episode.” What, “new” wasn’t a good enough word? These are TV programs, for crying out loud, not produce.
Anyway, onward. Spoilers abound so, y’know, if you’re in England, don’t come whining to me about it because I just warned you.
SMALLVILLE: The continuing (albeit somewhat endless) subplot with the Indian caves takes an interesting turn as a superpowered dagger falls into the hands of a poor schmuck who fancies himself his people
• 
As far as Smallville and Angel goes, last Wednesday night was the worst night ever in the History of the series!
First Smallville:
I think they should rename the series. Yeah, why not! Let’s call it Fawcettville!
See that cave? It has nothing to do with Krypton! (or the Fortress of Solitude!)
That’s the Rock of Eternity!!!
The paintings on the wall? Magic!
The way they move around… Magic!
How they got there… Magic!
The way the key disappeared… Magic!
How it showed up in Swan’s hands… Magic!
How Pa’Kent got Powers… Magic!
The knife… Magic!
How it pierced Clark’s abdomen… Magic!
How Pa’Kent healed him… Magic!
The reason Kryptonite didn’t work against the bad guy… Magic!
Do I need to go on? Fine, I will…
THAT’S NOT JOR-EL! That’s the WIZARD SHAZAM!!! (after all, he is omnipresent, he gives powers, he takes powers and he lives in a cave!)
Lex Luthor? I’m thinking Sivana!
(At least that way you can justify the villain knowing Billy Batson is really Capt.Marvel; because after all is said and done with this series how can Lex Luthor not know that Clark Kent is Superman? Concussion number 257, perhaps?)
Perry White? More like Uncle Dudley (if you remember the drunken Ordway version!)
More Proof?
Fine, next week MARY MARVEL shows up!
‘Nuff said!
Angel:
This should’ve been (and stayed) the long lost episode that only the die hard fans who bought the Box set got to see.
I liked the episode, honest I did; but ultimately it was a waste of film. And it knocked the wind out of the series sails. With only two episodes left, I’m sure there were plenty of other things they could’ve covered, loose threads that they could’ve tied. Instead they give us an episode that centers around a character that isn’t there, that can’t show up… that won’t show up! So I have to ask? Why bother? Why set your self and your audience up for clear and utter disappointment? Didn’t they learn from watching the last season of the X-Files?
Hëll, even B5’s old Sinclair tape would’ve been better than doing an episode that yanks your audiences chain from begining to end!
Hëll I’ll just say it! This episode cut Angel’s Balls!!!
It cut Angel’s balls from begining to end and they knew it! And they knew they were doing it, and did it anyway!
This episode showed how little faith Mutant Enemy has on Angel as its own independent franshise, that at the end of the series, they still had to tie it to Buffy; only they couldn’t because the actress wasn’t available, but they did anyway.
And if that weren’t enough, they proceeded to emasculate the characters on film too!
Was it funny? Yes. But it was innately unnecessary.
Angel moved on. He did so in season 3. He was done with Buffy, he knew it couldn’t be. To claim now that it’s her who doesn’t want anything to do with him just to get a few laughs is one of the vilest diservices to the character (and tritest plot twist) that I’ve ever seen since the series started. Angel has never backpedaled from his decision to move on. He even refrained from saying hi, at season 4’s Thanksgiving Dinner. They even had conflicting viewpoints regarding the Faith situation. At this point they are more colleages than they are exes.
And Spike? Well, he chose to stay. He CHOSE to let Buffy think he’d died. He could have left for Rome any time he wanted. In fact, it was encourage that he leave. So this latest turn was just plain stupid. An excuse to get a few laughs at the expense of the character’s emasculation.
Anyways, here are some other notes…
Wouldn’t Angel or Spike take offense at being called Americans?
Andrew you are gay!
Funny, I always thought the offices of Wolfram and Hart would be near if not in the Vatican.
Andrew you are still gay!
Anybody around here thinks that Buffy would run away from a Bar Brawl involving two Vampires and several demons?
As matter of fact, how many people think that Angelus would’ve slayed every woman that’d ever slept with the Immortal as opposed to trying to have a chat with him?
Did the CEO of Rome branch of Wolfram & Hart say I should keep her breasts? (I swear she did!)
Anyways, this episode was stupid. I blame Gypsies! Ptui! We shall speak of this no more!
Ciao!
Ciao!
Ciao!
Ciao!
Ciao!
Tim,
Re: The Italian mama being hot
Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
But, beyond nearly bursting out of her dress 9you make this sound like a bad thing!), what I found attractive about her was :
1.)Her lips
2.) Her attitude
3.) Her accent (mama mia!)
4.) Her curves ( I don’t go for the “leggy” supermodels
5.) She had something to “hold on to” ( I definitely don’t go for “supermodels” where you can see their ribs! Infinitely unappealing to me!
6.) She was in a position of authority
7.) She was funny
8.) She was sultry
It should always be remembered that even the greatest villains in the world don
“The paintings on the wall? Magic!
The way they move around… Magic!
How they got there… Magic!
The way the key disappeared… Magic!
How it showed up in Swan’s hands… Magic!”
I flip a switch and light appears in a room? Magic!
A box in the room receives images broadcast invisibly through the air? Magic!
I type my comments and they flow across phone lines into some sort of ether where everyone can read them? Magic!
Any sufficiently advanced form of science will seem like magic.
Besides, c’mon–the show’s protagonist shoots heat beams out of his eyeballs. Buy the premise, buy the bit.
PAD
red-Ricky,
I think Lex is a little tall to be Sivanna, don’t you? 🙂
A quick question for Mr. David.
I was reviewing some of the comments that I have made on this site and was struck with this thought.
It’s very easy for a comment to evolve across the internet. It might go something like this:
So and so posting at the Peter David site thinks that the writing on Angel was good if flawed.
It says at the Peter David site that the writing on Angel isn’t good.
Peter David at his site says that the writers on Angel stink.
Having recalled that Mr. David has suffered in the past from comments being taken out of context, I was wondering if he might prefer a bit more judicious editing on our parts before posting.
pgavigan:
>>Having recalled that Mr. David has suffered in the past from comments being taken out of context, I was wondering if he might prefer a bit more judicious editing on our parts before posting.
While this is very considerate in concept, I’d guess that PAD would be abhored at the idea of the posters feeling that they needed to edit their feedback, thoughts or reactions anymore than to be considerate and respectful to others.
Just my immediate response to reading this…. although I’m only guessing as my psychic link with him was broken at some point during his Supergirl run.
Any sufficiently advanced form of science will seem like magic.
Besides, c’mon–the show’s protagonist shoots heat beams out of his eyeballs. Buy the premise, buy the bit.
PAD
I am buying the premise, and the premise is supposed to be Superman. But every week I get hit with these deus ex machina solutions… and I’m starting to lose faith in the series (and the writer’s abilities to resolve them). If the premise of the series were Shazam I’d be on board. But as it stands, I think the writers are using shady science (or magic) to hide sloppy writing.
Sure the protagonist shoots beams out of his eyeballs, but the context as to why and when this happens has been set in stone. If Clark were to start shooting freeze rays out of his eyes ’cause it’s convinient at one point, wouldn’t you complain too?
The knife, I’m thinking, was magical. And since Superman is vulnerable to magic, it fits with the mythos. If it was supposed to be just a knife, from Krypton, someone should explain to the writers what a periodic table is, how it works and what kind of “elements” they could expect to find on other planets. You see, I don’t buy the crutch that everything from Krypton is indestructible (from clothes to feathers) because the current concensus is that the Sun is the source of Superman’s powers and not Krypton. And yet we see how Jor-EL is able to give Jonathan superpowers, and heal Clark through him, and teleport things from one place to another…
And I’m left to wonder, gezz Jor-El if you are so EFFING smart; how come you are dead? (Or at least don’t have a body!)
I mean, why didn’t you give yourself powers? Why didn’t you heal the planet? Why didn’t you teleport Lara somewhere safe? (Maybe one of those Space cruisers your father used to strand Kryptonians on Earth.)
Anyways, all I’m saying is that if we are talking about advance science (and if the caves are a well concealed machine or phantom zone gateway) that at some point before the series ends, they come out and say it. But it seems highly unlikely as the writers don’t seem to sweat the details.
And so,
The origins of the knife will remain unexplained. So will Jonathan’s healing powers. And if the premise of the series were “…with one magic word: Shazam!”; I would actually think it’s within context. As it stands, advance science is becomming too big a pill for this primitive mind to swallow. Deus Ex Machina on the other hand, fits the bill just right.
I think Lex is a little tall to be Sivanna, don’t you? :)–Posted by: David Hunt
Yes I do. And my comment was a jab, in jest, but nonetheless a jab at these little miracles that the writers seem to pull every now and then.
I don’t think I’m the only one that’s noticed also. In fact, someone pointed out that the supermanhomepage keeps track of all KO’s and will start keeping track of the miracles too.
Sorry I went coccoa puff.
“It’s very easy for a comment to evolve across the internet. It might go something like this:
So and so posting at the Peter David site thinks that the writing on Angel was good if flawed.
It says at the Peter David site that the writing on Angel isn’t good.
Peter David at his site says that the writers on Angel stink.”
Peter David says angels suck!
Peter David is an atheist!
They fired Peter David from “Fallen Angel” because they say his writing stinks!
There’s a huge protest rally against “Fallen Angel” because of David’s hatred of angels!
(Let’s see – how much farther can we take this?) 🙂
Jerome Maida :on the italian mama being hot.
RIGHT ON BROTHER!Could not have said it better myself.There was a lot to like there:)
DeanO,
Absolutely! A LOT to like. MM-MM good!
As for those who don’t think so, everyone’s entitled to their own taste and opinion, but…
Ptui! We will discuss them no more:)
All this talk about Fred/Illyria reminds me (due to the way i have always thought about Illyria) that today’s “Studio Briefing” on IMDB.com says tghat a British actress has been cast as Jadis, the White Queen/Witch in the Narnia film beginning production soon.
Apparently one or more American actresses had been trying for the part…
Thank Ghu!
TOTALLY agree with all those who have been impressed with Amy Acker the last few episodes…never thought the woman had it in her, to be honest!!
The dynamic between Wesley and Illyria is just brilliant, and Alexis Denisoff is also deserving of kudos.
I found the “Butch and Sundance” show extremely funny; the only thing that irritated me was that SMG refused to replay Buffy Sommers–seems to me, from what I’ve read, that the girl–she isn’t a woman to me–is just plain immature. Remember the issue of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY which covered the announcement of the end of BTVS? Appeared in February last year, I believe. Anyway, it turned out that the rest of the cast had no idea that SMG was not going to continue on the show, and only found out about it from reading the article. What does that say about SMG? (And Wheedon, for that matter–why didn’t he say anything to the cast about their future being up in the air…unless
SMG didn’t say anything to him, either!)
Anyway, the fact that it was some extra in a wig playing Buffy did annoy me…and I wonder how much better the episode/arc would have been if Miss High-and-Mighty had agreed (as David Boreanz did for BTVS) to help ANGEL bow out with a flourish.
Mindy
NO! I can’t believe you chastised Angel for being irrevelently creative and fresh, and praise for what has become the absolutetly worst show on television, stringing along craptacular plotlines and unimaginably boring acting.
My biggestgrip with Smallville? Why don’t these children smile? They are teenagers! Can’t anyone ever smile or joke or play? They did on Buffy? And they saved the world, not just a hick filled small town.
Mindy,
Yes, I remember that issue of Entertainment Weekly well, both because the announcement broke my heart and because I somehow received two issues in the mail!
Anyway, since you were wondering, the EW announcement by SMG came as a surprise to him as well. She did NOT consult him. The reason for this is she felt if she had to talk to Joss/ writers/ cast members they would try to talk her out of it. Once she made it public, there was no putting that genie back in the bottle, so to speak. In my opinion, it really was a cheesy thing to do.
Three things that stick out in my mind from the issue:
1.) SMG realy didn’t like the dark tone of the sixth season, which I thought was fresh and a natural evolution. Joss had said the season was supposed to be aan analogy to growing up and the uncertainty and hard choices you face when you decide to do so, and she wasnt happy with it. She liked the “Scoobies” schtick.
2.) She STILL was upset over moving to UPN
3.) She actually said, “Teachers get sabbaticals…actors don’t.”
I never begrudge anyone for getting what they’re worth on the marketplace, be it Barry Bonds, Tom Cruise, PAD or SMG. But I absolutely HATE when they publicly whine. This is what ticked me off about David Duchovny as well.
As for SMG, well, I interviewed Joss last week, and he says right now he sees no way for there to be a Buffy movie since “she has shown no interest in reprising the character, even for a guest-spot on “Angel”. Joss did his best not to sound annoyed, but I think he was.
And for the record, SMG says she would have been available for the finale. But seeing as how the show spent years in buffy’s shadow, and that they had been trying to get her to guest-star for FEBRUARY sweeps and now the last few episodes, Joss felt it wouldn’t be fair to the “Angel” cast to have their SERIES finale dominated by a guest-star. And rightfully so.
“1.) SMG realy didn’t like the dark tone of the sixth season, which I thought was fresh and a natural evolution. Joss had said the season was supposed to be aan analogy to growing up and the uncertainty and hard choices you face when you decide to do so, and she wasnt happy with it. She liked the “Scoobies” schtick.”
I read an interview with SMG that her biggest problem with season six was the violent sexual relationship with Spike. She felt very uncomfortable with those sex scenes and didn’t like doing them.
Anyhoo I think SMG gets a bad rap sometimes and as a viewer who felt that, aside from a handful of episodes, seasons six and seven of Buffy were a total mess, I have to agree with her that it was time to hang up the stake and put the show out of its misery.
For those interested in the Charisma Carpenter PLAYBOY photos — which is quite a few people here, I’d imagine — go to http://www.digitalstar.com/DMan3/?Album=Charisma+Carpenter where the pics are posted. Yowza! Abd much as I love seeing her nekkid, the June 2003 had a very nice pictorial on the actresses from BTVS, including Charisma in a tight black bustier and Charisma, topless (facing front, dámņìŧ) in white panties and a white top hat. Insert sound of Jim drooling like Homer Simpson here…
Anyway, the fact that it was some extra in a wig playing Buffy did annoy me…and I wonder how much better the episode/arc would have been if Miss High-and-Mighty had agreed (as David Boreanz did for BTVS) to help ANGEL bow out with a flourish.–Mindy
I wonder how the fans would’ve reacted if Kristy Swanson had done the cameo instead of an extra.
And you know, since they were playing it for laughs, I think it would’ve worked just fine for me. I can see it now…
Angel: “Buffy???”
Spike: “You’ve… you’ve GROWN!!!”
Red Ricky,
Re: Kristy Swanson doing the cameo.
What an inspired idea! You should be an assistant to Joss!
Thanks!
Jerome
James Lynch,
Thanks for the web address, although I got to see Charisma in all her glory the old-fashioned way. (No, Charisma didn’t visit me at my apartment. If THAT had happened, judging from the photos in the issue alone, I would still be unable to type on this keyboard or perform any other motor functions. I would be in a perpetual state of absolute bliss!”
No wonder Angel and Cordy never hooked up (except for the goodbye kiss). She definitely would have made him “perfectly happy”, and we al know what happenes then!
Derek,
I get what you’re saying, I really do.
1.) I like SMG a lot. Honest. I just feel the WAY she left was poor. That and her whining (“teachers get sabbaticalls…actors don’t”) just hit me the wrong way is all. She may never have a vehicle to showcase her talents like this again. Sure, she may become George Clooney (movies success-wise), or even Laura Linney, bur right now Eliza Dushku has a better movie resume (sorry, and before I get blasted for saying that because “Soul Survivors” was one of the worst films ever, it’s true. She was part of an ensemble in a cheerleader film like “Bring It On”, played a decent role in a Kevin Smith movie (“Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”, was in a vastly unapreciated comedy (“The New Guy”), and was even the star of her own horror film (“U-Turn”).Sure “U-Turn” didn’t blow away the box-office, but the fact she can get a movie made (something VERRRRY few actresses can do) already bodes well for her future. Oh, and she already got to star in another TV series (“Tru Calling”) which again is impressive whether it gets cancelled or not.
SMG? “Cruel Intentions” was really cool, but she can’t keep playing high schoolers forever. After that, she has two “Scooby Doo” films and two horroe movies (one in which she only appears in briefly) to her credit.
She may have wanted the exposure of a TV series for another year or two, because in Hollywood you ca go from hot to a “Where Are They Now?” feature very quickly, and out of sight is out of mind.
Oh, and a lot of the “mess” in Season Six was due to Joss getting “Firefly” off the ground and leaving Marti Noxon with more input and final say on scripts. Big mistake. Noxon has been quoted in interviews saying she drew upon her own experiences in bad relationships that she knoew were BAD for her to write a lot of the Buffy/Spike scenes. I agree that a lot of the violent sex scenes were unnecessary. It went against everything that had been established about Spike truly having affectionate, caring feelings for Buffy, from comforting her on the porch when she found out her mom was sick, t taking the torture from Glory because if he revealed Dawn was the Key it would destroy her.
Noxon even said she wrote the attempted rape scene at the last minute to pretty much beat viewers who were enjoying the Spike/Buffy relationship over the head with the idea that Spike was BAD for her.
Again, there were some pitfalls, but I really think a lot of viewers, like they do a lot on TV, simply didn’t want the characters and their relationships to change. They wanted Buffy to kick butt and be with Angel and have Giles as her Watcher and still have Willow have a crush on Xander.
The show took chances the last couple of years, and IMO, many (especially the musical episode) worked. So, IMO, it had no “misery” to be put out of.
I tend to overlook actors whining about how tough they have it, if I didn’t I’d never be able to watch tv again.
“Oh, and a lot of the “mess” in Season Six was due to Joss getting “Firefly” off the ground and leaving Marti Noxon with more input and final say on scripts. Big mistake. Noxon has been quoted in interviews saying she drew upon her own experiences in bad relationships that she knoew were BAD for her to write a lot of the Buffy/Spike scenes. I agree that a lot of the violent sex scenes were unnecessary. It went against everything that had been established about Spike truly having affectionate, caring feelings for Buffy, from comforting her on the porch when she found out her mom was sick, t taking the torture from Glory because if he revealed Dawn was the Key it would destroy her.
Noxon even said she wrote the attempted rape scene at the last minute to pretty much beat viewers who were enjoying the Spike/Buffy relationship over the head with the idea that Spike was BAD for her.”
I always felt the attempted rape was unecessary just because an out to the Spike/Buffy relationship was already established. While we were shown that Spike fell in love with Buffy, for the longest time we were also shown that Buffy didn’t share those feelings. At most Spike was on par with Anya and at worst Buffy was using him because she knew she could. The entire relationship was warped ( from Spike’s stalking her to Buffy using him to punish herself) and it was only the fans who created the great love between the two. In my estimation Spike was no more or less important to Buffy than Riley. Which made him secondary to Angel in her heart.
I don’t think the attempted rape was only about showing how bad the relationship was for Buffy, as it was also the impetus for Spike to go questing to get his soul back to prove himself to her, something that’s driven his character ever since. It was a (very ugly and horrible) natural extension of Spike’s character and their overall relationship at the time.
Through the whole relationship Buffy kept telling him that she didn’t want him, but then kept returning to him for sex, as that was all she could feel with him. That, combined with the complete lack fo self control and conscience all vampires have, led him down the path of reasoning that, now that she’s trying to pull herself away from him completely, him forcing himself on her sexually would bring her back to him. It was completely horrible, of course, which is what finally snapped him onto the path of trying to get a soul so he could connect with her for real, but it was only a reasoned conclusion to their relationship up until then.
Here are select ratings from the week of April 26 – May 2 as reported in the May 3, 2004 issue of TelevisionWeek.
WEDNESDAY
Smallville 2.8/5 2.9/5
Enterprise 2.2/4 2.2/4
Angel 2.7/4 2.6/4
THURSDAY (season finale)
Tru Calling 2.9/5 2.9/5 2.8/4 2.9/4
SUNDAY
Charmed 2.5/4 2.6/4
Enterprise was the lowest ranked program in its time slot. Smallville was second lowest ranked program.
Enterprise does however continue to be the highest ranked -scripted- series on UPN. (Which doesn’t say a lot for the rest of the line up)
Tru Calling was the lowest rated series on Fox that week. It did beat Harvey’s Big Time and Jamie Kennedy on the WB.
The ratings above are in: household ratings/share for ecah half hour. A rating is the percent of households watching a program. A share is the percent of households watching television that are watching that program.
Considering his reaction back in Season 3 “I’m gonna go get Dru, tie her up, and torture her till she loves me again.”, Spike’s attempted rape of Buffy was perfectly in line with his established personality at that point. The fact that he just wanted to rape her as opposed to wasting time “kidnapping and torturing” her showed the affect she’d had on him up to that point in Season 6.
Actually, in Spike’s mindset, it wasn’t even really rape, it was just a sex game he was used to playing with Dru to him…Buffy’s reaction to it put him on the path to soul recovery (at the time, I thought he just wanted the demon to get the chip out so he could go evil again…)
Please do not make any assumptions about my preferences for this next statement.
Considering what we saw of the Spike/Buffy relationship, the bathroom scene resembled their usual foreplay. Please consider when Invisible Buffy began slapping Spike around and the aftermat.
Concerning the question of rape there was an actual rape commited during Season Six, not that of Warren/ex-girlfriend but of Willow/Tara. When Willow had sex with Tara when she was under the effects of the forget spell in Once More With Feeling, she took sexual advantage of a person who might have declined her advances if she had been in her normal state of mind. As I understand the law, if you sleep with an individual who you have either drugged or otherwise mentally incapacitated, that’s rape.
Let me say the sixth season of BVS almost made me stop watching the show and a good friend stop watching completely.
As mentioned by several folks it was /is in Buffy to go after the “badboys”.though she takes it to a totally different level.The whole season just left a bad taste in my mouth and i still avoid those episodes .I understand its a part of the characters developing but i just felt so dirty after watching them
On the subject of feeling Dirty i just saw the picks of Charisma.Oh My God its better than i dreamed of .I dont think she is “dirty ” for doing the pictures my thoughts while viewing them were however:)
By the way watching Angel reruns on TNT.The crew is getting the initial tour at W&H .What ever happened to Lila ?I liked her in an evil,sexy kinda way:)
Okay, so the Angel/Spike part of this episode is all hotly contested. I didn’t care for it, not because I didn’t want to see the characters like that (well, I didn’t but…) but because the characters didn’t really react right. I mean, okay it’s funny that they both left the head on the counter, but I think Mr. CEO of WRH LA would be responsible enough to just grab the bag before chasing da poossay. And there were lots of inconsistencies like that. The central story could have worked, but it felt like Spike and Angel were ineffective because the writers were too lazy to craft a better script.
I read several comments posted by the writers of TGIQ that stated how they wanted to write something that showed how love could “make shemps out of all of us”.
Someone should have reminded them that dying is easy, comedy is hard.
I’ve noticed a number of comments posted on different boards trying to explain Buffy’s seemingly out of character lack of interest in Angel, not merely the romantic but lack of interest in what was happening to him and the others during this season. There was never any reference to her or anyone from Sunnydale present for Cordelia’s off screen funeral? Granted, no one ever refered to Cordelia’s interment, but I believe we can draw from this omission the conclusion that she wasn’t there.
I would like to put forth a new interpretation based upon the old saw that “Some are born great; others achieve greatness, and others have it thrust upon them.” I propose that Buffy very definitely fell into the last catagory and now that the circumstances that contributed to her “greatness” have changed, so has she.
In the movie, Buffy was clearly a rather vapid valley girl type before the Slayer mantle fell to her. We assumed that as the series progressed that she grew as an individual, that she matured. With the resolution of the Buffy series and the awakening of the other slayers she went from being the One to being one among many. Perhaps it was the pressures of her life that made her the woman that Spike described as marvelous, and without those trials that woman has slowly disappeared.
Perhaps that image of a dancing, carefree girl, not terribly concerned with what might be happening to those lost loves half way around the world could be the true Buffy.
Pgavigan “Perhaps that image of a dancing, carefree girl, not terribly concerned with what might be happening to those lost loves half way around the world could be the true Buffy.”
Nice try to explain this out of character behaviour but in my oppion is that is just poor writing. It looks to me that although Joss Whedon /Mutant enemy writers team have a great talent for telling intressting stories but they seem to lack the talent to end a series graciously. This so reminded me of the last episodes of Buffy when she was thrown out her own house and nobody even showed any intrest to find out how she was doing or what happened to her the next couple of days.