Yes, that’s right kids. America’s new dream team of Faith the Vampire Slayer and Wesley W-Price, the sidekick who’s more over the top than she is.
Further spoiler-esque comments attached.
Faith and Wes are such a powerful couple, in terms of their chemistry and actions, that any time they weren’t on screen, I wanted to return to them. Gunn and Fred are building bridges to each other? So what? Conner ponders his possible demon heritage? Big deal. Cordy displays the disconcerting ability to talk like a constipated FM DJ long distance? Who cares? Let’s go back and find out what the Nick and Nora Charles of the psycho demon hunter set are up to.
The sheer dynamics of the two of them helped to cover that fifteen minutes worth of plot was extended to an hour. See Angelus threaten. See Angelus jump. See Angelus trade barbs ad nauseum with Cordy who’s apparently carrying Rosemary’s Baby (making this, what, the second time Cordy’s been pregnant with an unnatural child in three and a half years?) See Angelus continue not to murder people. He could have snapped Wes’ neck in half a second. Yes, Cordy appears to be in possession of his soul, but hey…you never know. Granted, Faith appears to be in trouble, but we assume she’ll recover. Still, if she dies, however briefly, then one of the Killmore girls back in Sunnydale will get activated (my money’s on the Sunnydale High student). That puts three Slayers on the playing field.
All I know is that next weeks BTVS is a rerun and Angel is original, and if I had to pick which one I wanted new next week, it’d be “Angel.”
Oh…one day to the announcement. I’ll put it up around noon on Friday.
PAD
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I kept expecting Angelus to make a comment about the Great And Powerful Oz.
Wes really needs to read up on his Nietzche, specifically the bit about whomever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.
I note that an advantage of having your Slayer as a guest star, and not the title character, is that said Slayer can get pounded on a *lot* more.
And did anyone else want to title that last fight scene act “Crouching Faith, Hidden Angelus”? Then again, I kept waiting for the Psycho music to cut in during Faith’s shower scene.
Peter, with regards to your announcement could you try to make it a little before noon (I’m assuming NY time) as that’ll make it 5pm here (dublin) and i’ll be leaving work about then and i’d hate to have to wait until Monday to find out what this news is!
Cheers Buddy!
Funzo!
Not as big as the past several episodes have been, but still worth the time.
I like Wes being tough and confronting Faith about who she was.
Eliza Dushku is a great actress. Too bad Faith won’t be taking over BTVS next year.
Ðámņ, but that was a good episode. I agree that Faith & Wesley do make for a helluva team. Who would have ever thought when they were first together on Buffy way back when.
Wesley’s being thrown from tall places is starting to become similar ro Giles constantly being knocked unconscious.
heh.
Conner’s part demon? Was this a shock to anyone? He’s the child of 2 demons. Duh!
Still, pound for pound, this is an excellent show.
Bobby
Bobby Nash
Writer @ Large
Just a thought… anyone think maybe it’s Cordy’s baby that’s the cause of all this? If Connor is of demon heritage, and Cordy is part demon, maybe that did something to make the fetus something… different. Maybe it’s running the show, so to speak, and is able to control Cordy.
Well I sorta hope not. When I type that, it sounds kinda lame.
Good comment about the Nick and Nora chemistry. My favorite of The Thin Man movies is “Another Thin Man,” and that was the last one that was plotted by Dashiell Hammett. Those were great films.
Probably the worst part about this is that next week will be Faith’s LAST appearance on the show – there won’t be anymore Wesley/Faith action. Hopefully we’ll see smack the cast of “Buffy” around – whip them into shape, ’cause watching THAT show has been the pits.
Why do I keep expecting Peter to start singing:
“One day to a new beginning–raise the flag of freedom high…
Every man will be a king…
Do you hear the people sing?”
One day more…
JSM
I felt bad for Faith. On the Buffy series, she gets griped at for not giving a dámņ about people..now on Angel she gets griped at for giving a dámņ about people. She just can’t win.
She needs to go to Sunnydale and whip that team into shape and then send B to LA to deal with Angel.
Sad bit, read somewhere that the WB hasn’t committed to next season yet.
Coupla things–
Is anyone else slightly puzzled by Wesley’s change of heart? In last week’s episode he specifically springs Faith knowing that she’d never kill Angel because he never gave up on her so she won’t give up on him. Now Wes is practically demanding she be prepared to kill Angelus. The scenes were intense and well-acted, but the contradiction seems odd. My roommate figures he’s doing it to “psyche” Faith up, but I don’t see it.
Cordy-as-villain is a great idea with horrible execution. I agree that this was definitely the Faith-and-Wes show because every other part was either half-as-interesting or, whenever Cordy was on screen, utterly boring. Maybe Charisma just doesn’t have the, er, charisma to play a convincing villain. Maybe the writers just aren’t being as creative as they could, but her scenes just strike me as uninteresting and a waste of time–we know she’s bad, we know there’s going to be a big reveal, why delay it when doing so creates absolutely no tension?
(And am I imagining things or did last week’s preview show an Angelus and Cordy meeting face to face?)
Faith’s story, on the other hand, is wonderfully intense. I think the show is spot-on when it comes to her, and Dushku is phenominal in the part. I truly fear what will happen when she heads over to BUFFY, because I don’t think that show’s writers are up to carrying over what’s been done on ANGEL.
Kurt: I had the same thoughts about Cordy’s fetus. IIRC, when Angel asked where the voice was coming from, didn’t it reply something like “someplace warm and wet,” which would be the perfect description of a womb.
Great episode. They had me going. I really thought Faith was going to bag Angelus and drag him back to the hotel this week. Seeing him turn the fight around and leave us with the possibility that Faith won’t make it was a nice twist.
Of course, we know she’s scheduled to reappear on BTVS, so she’ll make it. If she does die briefly, my money is on Willow’s new gal pal as the wannaslayer who gets “called.” Especially since Buffy made her chief cadet or whatever.
Anyone notice that Angelus mentioned fire from the sky and the earth shaking? There’s also be no shortage of blood this season. That’s all three signs that the hamburger gave Wes from the prophecy.
Something hit me this week: The prophecy said “And the father shall kill the son.” What if Conner isn’t the son, but the father?
I think it’s pretty likely that the Beast’s Boss is planning on taking up permanent residence in Cordelia’s Baby. What did it say when Angel asked where it was? “Warm and soft?” (Or was it “Warm and dark?” Either way, c’mon…) Especially because it’s growing so quickly (thus answering a question left open from last week).
Kind of unsure what they might have in mind for Faith next episode. The line from the preview about “while Faith loses her soul” is probably hyperbole. I’ve never been sure if it’s even possible to sire a Slayer; when Dracula tried it on Buffy the First Slayer power kicked in and protected her, but that was after she’d specifically called on that power so I don’t know if it’s a general thing or not. (There’s nothing that says Wes can’t recover and help her out before the process is completed.) I like the idea that this’ll be the cause of another Slayer activating–they’ve done too much with that not to have it happen somehow. (I assume that nothing too permanent happens to Faith, or they wouldn’t have considered her for a spinoff.)
Let’s go back and find out what the Nick and Nora Charles of the psycho demon hunter set are up to.
Hey, is that a “Free Enterprise” reference, because that movie kicks ášš.
Totally right about the Faith and Wes show. All of the sudden, it’s season two of Buffy, redux, with Angelus lurking around as the Big Bad (who yeah, isn’t really bad).
And is the “Angel” contribution to the Buffy mythos going to be not only an over-arching theme of struggling for redemtion & acceptance, but a lot of really high jumping?
I think Wes is trying to push Faith hard to try to get her to that breaking point to see if she goes, “You’re right, I am a killer!” or, like last night, backs down, cools off and goes, “No, you’re wrong. I’m better now.” Granted, I’m not sure what he’d do if she did snap and pistol whip him into oblivion, but I guess he’d know Faith needs some time back in the hole.
I like the controlling fetus theory. Those of us who have lived with pregnant woman can attest to the mighty and terrifying hold the fetus can have on its, er…host?
Den: I thought the same thing. But then again, didn’t that demon who brought back Holtz falsify that prophecy?
I realize it’s not earth-shattering or anything, but did anyone else find the scene with Connor trying to “vamp-out” absolutely hilarious?
Good call on the womb-thing. I don’t neccessarily like the idea of the Uber-Fetus from Hëll, but it makes the most sense at present, especially taking that line into account.
Den: Something hit me this week: The prophecy said “And the father shall kill the son.” What if Conner isn’t the son, but the father?
Which I said earler…. but, maybe the demon did falsify it, but I think the main thing is that the talking hamburger order stand said yes… it would come to pass. And who do you believe? A demon or a hamburger stand?
Hmmm?
Travis
As far as the Prophecy is concerned. As I recall, Sahjhan stated that he manipulated the writing of the prophecy, not that he made it up.
And the funky thing about prophecies, whether manipulated or not, is that they have a way of coming true…in the end.
And let’s not forget what the Loa told Wes before the kidnapping:
Wesley: All right, then when? When will this happen?
Loa: The first portent will shake the earth. The second will burn the air. The last will turn the sky to blood.
You can take the simple thought that all these things happened already…or you can look at the Earthquake (which happened right before this clue was given) as the first, the arrival of the Beast as the second, and we wait on the third.
“And who do you believe? A demon or a hamburger stand?”
Is there any doubt.
Hamburger stand.
I woudl agree ME is going the “Fetus of Evil” route as it stops them from regurgitating the “Dark Willow” storyline from Buffy.
I loved Cordy’s line from next week. “Great, Glenda’s here.”
I’d go for the controlling fetus theory except for the penchant the “Voice” had for calling Angelus affectionate names, like, “my pet”. The first time I heard that I figured either the “Voice” was female or gay.
This has easily been the best season of Angel to date. The Wes/Faith show has been fantastic. They have so much history between them. In a way, they are both very much responsible for what the other has become.
As far as Cordy, I have a theory I haven’t seen voiced here yet. I suspect that the “real” Cordy is still a celestial being looking down on all the action. There still hasn’t been any explanation as to how she came back. And she didn’t have any of Cordy’s memories until Lorne gave them to her with a spell. Maybe that’s because she wasn’t really Cordy to begin with.
I too have wondered about that pesky prophecy. I figure the baby has to be evil. There’s no way they are going to have Angel’s grandchild running around next season.
The other problem with the controlling fetus theory is that Cordy and Connor didn’t have sex until after the Beast showed up and started the rain of fire. So unless we’re positing an evil long-distance controlling sperm or egg, it needs to be something else.
My version of the theory is that the Big Boss is not *currently* the fetus but is planning to use it as a host when it’s born (or that it started out in Cordy but migrated there once it was conceived). It’s hard to be sure without knowing exactly what Cordy is right now, however.
I must say that I hadn’t thought about the possiblity of the baby being the reason why Cordelia’s acting all “evil”, but didn’t if the Beast appeared well before Cordy and Connor “got it on” and everything the Beast did was according to some “Master Plan”, then it kind of puts a hole in that theory.
Something that occurred to me a while ago was that I don’t recall any particular episode that stated the “Powers That Be” were a benevolent force in the universe. I thought that the characters assumed they were because they helped Angel and Co. against Wolfram and Hart. But I was wondering that if they were the opposite of Wolfram and Hart (which was implied to be Satanic in nature), then why are all of their minions, like Whistler, Doyle, Chip (Skip?), Angel and Cordy all demons? The Beast kinda looks like Chip\Skip to me, though from what I read in the last Buffy Magazine, it seems like a coincidence. Perhaps when Cordelia went away to join “The Powers”, she went a little nutty. Also, if it was a matter of “The Powers That Be” vs. Wolfram and Hart for the Earth, it could explain why the Beast felt the need to slaughter Wolfram and Hart down to the last employee before going after the demon-girl.
Admittedly, I haven’t seen a lot of the episodes from the first season, though I’ve read a number of summaries of each episode from different sources. The topic may have been mentioned briefly. I’m going to have to save up for the DVD set.
Regarding the timing of the whole Cordy-Connor sex/arrival of the Beast/Uber Fetus thing:
Perhaps the true Big Bad existed in non-corporeal form, summoned the Beast, took control of Cordy, and THEN set up physical residence in the unborn child. It needed Cordy and Connor to give it corporeal existance, but it was “alive” well before that.
I think it’s Cordy’s demon half, sentient and completely distinct from her, assuming full control of their “merger”. Now it wants out and a physical body of its own.
I still think that Cordy is an imposter, simply because of two facts: 1) As noted above, she started manipulating events, starting with sleeping with Conner, not because of it. Remember that Angel’s memory and all records of the Beast were erased before she got knocked up. and 2) She hasn’t had a real vision since she returned from floaty land. Still no explanation for how she returned, either. Remember in the Vegas episode, she couldn’t return, then suddenly, she’s back.
I like the idea of the big bad planning on using the baby as it’s permanent host. Well, maybe it’ll all sort out soon.
Lorne’s powers have been basically useless all season and still no explanation.
As for the prophecy, the demon did say he manipulated it, but the fact that the hamburger confirmed it independently makes me think that it has some truth to it. This show has been driven by secret prophecies from day one and hints that things are coming to a head are getting a little obvious now.
SPOILERS FOR NEXT WEEK
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All the clues were there in this week’s episode. Wes has injected Faith with the drug that the backroom vamps love so much. He wanted Faith as “New Faith” as she could be so when angel taunted her she wouldn’t crack. Angelus gets kinda ticked at Faith’s new outlook and decides to vamp her. (If Faith went on a killling spree, even killing just Wes, and was re-souled, she would be a brooder like Angel was/is)
Angel tries to vamp her and the drug kicks in. That is why Wes didn’t get up from the fall.
Okay, I have one more theory. What if the Fetus child is actually possessed by the essence of the Little Demon Girl from Wolfram and Hart?
After all, she saved the team from destruction by the Beast for no obvious reason. What if she really wanted to leave the White Room but needed a way to do it? Perhaps her original intent was to possess Cordelia, but opted for the Fetus instead and remains in control of Cordy.
Just a thought. And remember what I said about the “Voice” being female or gay? Well, I was thinking mainly of Cordy when I suggested that, but Cordy doesn’t talk like that, and let’s face it, the little girl IS female. And had reason enough to want to get rid of Lilah, who knew what was taken from Cordy’s head.
Dear God, somebody please explain to Thacher E. Cleveland who Nick & Nora Charles are…
…no? OK, I’ll give it a shot:
The comment from FREE ENTERPRISE (which is indeed an excellent movie) alludes to characters from the classic series of THIN MAN movies, which started waaaaay back in 1934 and featured William Powell and Myrna Loy as the titular husband and wife detectives. The series lasted until 1947, and has been spun off/remade countless times. It was even brought to the Broadway stage in an ill-fated musical starring Barry Bostwick and (I believe) Joanna Gleason.
As for ANGEL, good stuff! But my guess is that Faith will come out of things OK. It is definitely too bad that Eliza Dushku would rather do a lame-sounding FOX pilot than stick around the Mutant Enemy universe, though…
Well, I distinctly recall seeing a bizarre pause when the Beast emerged from the asphalt in front of Connor and Cordy. Cordy had been knocked back onto her butt, and the Beast sorta knelt/leaned over her. Granted, I have a very dirty mind, but that bit struck me as sexual. He placed his big ol’ rocky hand over her abdomen.
Even then, I had been thinking “hey, are they doing the typical “hide the actress’s pregnancy” shots?” and later found out C. Carpenter was indeed pregnant. I started waiting for it to be incorporated in the storyline and finally, last week.
To wrap it up- perhaps Cordy/Cordy Clone/Cordy’s Body was ALREADY pregnant before she slept with Connor, and she’s just using him as a pawn. OR the Beast’s action was just foreshadowing/an acknowledgement to the Big Bad Master, OR the Beast is the daddy, or one of them. Hey- the Beast could be Greg Evigan!
eddie wrote: Hey- the Beast could be Greg Evigan!
And then the baby could come out as a cute little monkey, and Conner and the baby could travel around the country in a Semi, helping poor demons who are in trouble with a big, bad demon type.
All you need now is a theme song…
“Hey there, where you goin…”
Travis
Re: Nick and Nora Charles – There is one in-show Buffy reference to them, when Riley returned last season. Xander refers to Riley and his wife as “Nick and Nora Fury.” One of my favorite comic book references from a character dripping with them, and also a reference to a classic set of films…
And also a classic novel by Dashiel Hammett. While a total change of pace for the master of hardboiled crime fiction, this book is a lot of fun, and is apparently inspired to some degree by Hammett’s long-running (hard-drinking) affair with Lillian Hellman. Nick is Hammett – a former PI himself – and Hellman is Nora (although translating Hellman into Nora was an amazing feat.)
But I, um, get off the topic?
Not to be picky, but Nick and Nora Charles began fictional life in the novel, _The Thin Man_, which then begat the movie series. Great book, great movies.
Okay, I have one more theory. What if the Fetus child is actually possessed by the essence of the Little Demon Girl from Wolfram and Hart?
Interesting theory, but by this point: 1) Cordy had already slept with Conner by then and 2) The Beast’s reason for killing her were pretty clear in the following episode: he needed her essence to put out the sun.
Also, remember how Lorne’s “full proof” spell to restore Cordy’s memory went all fubar? I think she sabotaged it just like she sabotaged or faked restoring Angel’s soul. It did nearly result in Angel and Conner killing each other. Perhaps her original plan was to get Angel to kill Conner and then seduce him so that Angelus would return.
What would happen to a Slayer if she was turned into a vampire.. would she be a super vampire?
**Dear God, somebody please explain to Thacher E. Cleveland who Nick & Nora Charles are…
…no? OK, I’ll give it a shot:**
All I was pointing out was the line “Nick and Nora Charles of the demon hunter set” was similar to the line “the Nick and Nora Charles of sci-fi,” that’s all. Of course Nick and Nora Charles exist outside “Free Enterprise,” that’s not in question. But granted, it’s a pretty easy comparison, so I’m probably just letting my “Free Enterprise” love show… 😉
Line of the episode: “Hey, you’re preaching to the one who ate the choir.”
I laughed my butt off with that line.
My theory on Cordy: I’m operating under the assumption that, while she was with the powers, she formed some sort of bond with Angel. Didn’t she say that she saw everything he did as Angelus? Thus, because of this bond, she lost her soul at the same time he did.
I don’t think she was evil when she decided to sleep with Connor. I think I’m starting to agree more with the theory that the baby is evil. This is the second year in a row that they’re doing a pregnancy storyline, and I think it’s way, way, *way* too soon for Angel to be a granddad. (He’s only 200-something years old!) I really don’t think this kid–whatever it is–is gonna stick around.
Now it can be told! The Big Bad is–
PARANEX, THE FIGHTING FETUS!!
(Mark Evanier, Fred Hembeck and about a dozen other people are laughing out loud at this, while the rest of you scratch your heads and go, “WTF???”)
Paul
Hey all. There’s some great theories here and I just gotta add my 2
Probably way off base but Darla has a habit of turning up so maybe she’s the big boss, she’d definately want Angelus back and the new baby could be intended as a host body or something.
Also Angel hesitated in the first battle with the beast when he looked into its eyes, so he seems to have seen something there. Plus if Angelus knew the beast years ago it’s very probable that Darla might have too
Lil bit off topic but anyone got any preferences for a Buff replacement show? An anthology show of past slayers with a recurring plot thread leading to Buffy’s replacement for the finale might be cool. Or just go with the previous slayer to Buffy instead, “For one slayer to rise, one must fall” kinda tag line, coild be quite poignant at times even.
Ok, I can spell poignant but not “could”…
Actually, I would like to see BTVS go off into the sunset on a “semi” high note. I don’t want to see Buffy turn into the Star Trek series manufacturing company, with a line of ever weakening series.
I love Buffy, but sometimes, a good story needs to come to a conclusion.
One minor nitpick. It’s never been established that The First Evil brought Angel back. Yes, it claimed to have. But hey, it’s evil. It can lie. Considering the fortunate snowfall that prevented Angel from getting flambe-ed (after the First was content with letting Angel kill himself if he wouldn’t kill Buffy) it’s more likely that The Powers That Be were responsible for Angel’s return from hëll.
Well for Wes’s change of heart, he couldnt save Lyla…so he HAS to save Angel. I tseems perfect to me, one crusade gone…time to pay back the man who gave him one last chance. As for Cordy…hows this one.
Cordy became a higher being… leaving her body behind..for The First to possess, lay COnner and make its own body. So Cordy’s body is pregnant with a solid form for The First…just a thought since Morphy has been silent the last 2 buffy’s and on Angel Cordy’s been talky.
Just a note:
The Greg Evigan reference was to the show MY TWO DADS, where he and Paul Reiser (MAD ABOUT YOU) weren’t sure which of them fathered (was going to say sired, then I remembered where I was 🙂 a daughter by an old mutual girlfriend who died, so they decided to raise her together.
Not the there’s anything wrong w/ BJ AND THE BEAR (never watched that show, so I’ll withhold opinion).
Great point Kalshane. I also wanted to point out that “Cordy” led Connor to his birth place at THE EXACT MOMENT the Beast appeared…coincky-dink? Not only did it start Connor on a road to self-doubt about his true nature (I think he’s essentially a male Slayer, a demon augmented human; in “Get It Done” it was established that the Slayer’s power is demonic in origin so, in Connor’s case, he got the human appearance but the supernatural abilities of his parents (and a soul from Dad). I think it’s also why the Big Bad has been after Connor all along as a stud: it’s seems that Connor’s demon genes are pretty recessive so it’d be highly likely that the grandchild of Darla/Angel(us) would inherit some of his family’s worst qualities. Add fine physical specimen and part demon Cordelia (or her body)and you’ve got one nasty bun cooking in that oven. Anyone else feel the writers are doing really well not making this storyline feel like a retread of last season?
Also, I think this is the last we’ll see of Angelus (though I think his presence will remain throughout the run of the show). The Big Bad established this episode that Angelus is trapped beneath Angel’s skin a la John Cusack at the end of Being John Malkovich. Essentially, Angelus is the Id (the Beast within)to Angel’s Superego (the Champion), and it could be argued that Liam was the Ego (Human Nature). We KNOW that Angel will be back by the end of next week’s episode (and didn’t I predict a “Cordy”/Willow Standoff folks? Woo-hoo! Just like old times…) and that he will “shansu” (become mortal and die) someday. So, hopefully, Angelus will understand that the world has moved on without him because, as a vampire, he cannot change (ditto the Big Bad in this ep), yet Angel can. And hasn’t Joss repeatedly stated that his shows are primarily about people (and demons) changing and growing?
I haven’t seen this theory anywhere, but I came up with it and I think it might make sense.
Cordy’s spell was supposed to give Angelus a soul, right? Well, how does the spell know where the soul should come from? What if it takes the *caster’s* soul? Then what happened would have been that Cordy’s soul got transferred into Angelus, leaving Cordy empty and open for any soul to possess — such as the one growing in her belly?
So, my theory is: Cordelia’s soul entered Angelus. The new Angel/Cordy realized that Angelus is still their best bet against the Beast, so he/she pretended to be Angel, and is still pretending (pending the outcome of the attack on Faith, of course). This is why Lorne would have seen what appeared to be Angel.
Whaddya think?
One more thought to add to the mix (haven’t seen it brought up yet, sorry if it has been) – Are we sure the Baby’s even Connor’s? It looked like Cordy and the Beast were getting awfully friendly before Angel staked him…How evil would that be, convincing Angel’s son to protect the Beast and the Big Bad’s baby from Angelus…