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Angel
Origin
original air-date: 04-21-04
One time
in high school I went to see one of my favorite English teachers,
Mr. Sexauer (really!) in a community theater production of
The Real Inspector Hound. After the performance, I
accidentally offended him when I innocently said that I saw
a lot of his personality (which I admired) in his character.
But even
that simple incident exemplifies an ongoing question involving
the professional actors who portray Fanboy favorites as well
as the hated: How much is due to the character, and how much
is due to the actual performer underneath?
Such is
the case of Connor. Is the character just that annoying, or
is there something inherently unappealing about Vincent Kartheiser?
In either case (or perhaps both) it is certainly appropriate
that Connor return for the series end because one can argue
strongly that the series is ending because of Connor. For
when the adult Connor first popped through a portal (the #4
express from Quartoth) and aimed his silly spike launching
wrist rocket at dad, the wheels began to come off the bus.
Don't
believe it? How about those all too frequent and all too long
Connor-Cordelia scenes with so little chemistry, they made
The English Patient look like hardcore porn? How about
the ridiculous "I've been pulling the strings all along"
Jasmine plot that also took one of most beloved minor characters,
Skip, from the hearts (and eyes) of the fans?
An arc
so bad, it took a mindwipe to undo it.
Oh sure,
there are fans who think VK is "dreamy" and/or even
like the Connor character (just like there are misguided reviewers
who like Eve). But no doubt many fans are a little apprehensive
to see Connor return in this episode. At least they might
get to see some resolution on the mindwipe issue.
In fact,
that is the crux of the episode: Mr. Mindwipe, a warlock name
Cyvus Vail, needs Connor to kill Sahjahn, who was last seen
"summering" in an urn. If Angel doesn't help, Vail
will wipe the wipe. Meanwhile, Spike is testing Illyria and
the ever-suspicious Wes smells a rat with Angel's handling
of the Connor situation when his "parent" comes
looking for help.
Overall,
Connor is more palatable than before, but that's still not
saying much. Fortunately there are a few choice scenes, one
at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end. The
beginning scene, when Angel first hears Connor, has a certain
enjoyable creepiness. The middle scene starts with some fun
banter between Connor and Angel before offering up some amusing
moments with Illyria (really, if you were having a party and
could only invite Fred or Illyria, who would it be? No contest!).
But it's
the end scene, which closes the episode, that really shines.
Here VK deftly displays an ambiguity that pairs well with
some solid writing that leaves fans guessing yet satisfied.
It's always good to leave on a high note.
The ending
really is terrific, but the rest of the episode just doesn't
have as much snap as the recent offerings. Fortunately, there
are some very strong supporting characters to keep the ship
afloat. One is an old enemy, Sahjahn (one of about twenty
spelling variants). His wit may have grown tiresome just before
his "bottling," but here it's welcome and fresh
(BTW, the idiots at the WB might want to consult a dictionary
about that particular word: "another fresh episode"
?!). The other is a newcomer, Hamilton, who so far is a lot
of fun to watch. Part of his appeal is likely the contrast
between his power and his polish. Mr. Hamilton is particularly
skilled at sudden switches in dialogue and/or emotion.
Unfortunately,
the interspersed scenes with Gunn don't add much (other than
giving us one more opportunity to enjoy Hamilton). Worse,
they result in two really weak moments. The first moment is
the use of some truly awful special effects (think early 80s
sci-fi TV) to show the healing of Gunn's chest. Why even bother?
Fans already know what happens in the cellar. The second moment
is Gunn's response to Hamilton's offer. Hello? At least hear
it out to gather some intelligence. Or maybe Gunn just assumes
he won't remember anyway one he puts the amulet back on. Except
that he does remember about the amulet, so there is precedence
to remember pre-amulet memories. Hmmm...
Next up:
All about Illyria. Maybe the writers will surprise us with
Wes and Illyria showing up on a episode of Springer. Now that
would be fresh...
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