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Angel
Hellbound
original air-date: 10-22-03
One can
easily assume the writers are spending so much time on Spike
in order to attract and retain those Buffy viewers
who did not also watch Angel. But why are they spending
so much time on Fred?
Perhaps
with Cordy down for the count, they think they need another
strong female character lest the show suffer attacks from
a snarling pack of demographics demons. But unfortunately
the time the writers are devoting to Fred is an exercise in
poor character development.
Unlike
last week, the exchanges between Fred and Spike now fall flat.
And the loyal fan must continue to overlook plot and character
inconsistencies. As seen in previous seasons, Wes is far more
an expert in magic, etc. Yet the writers try to establish
Fred's credentials with her statement, "I've never seen
anything like you."
Just what
has Fred seen? And even if the audience accepts her expertise
--- there are certainly enough jokes about her use of "technomagy"
jargon crowbarred into the script (no to mention the weekly
re-cap line "When we took over the most evil law firm...")
--- can they then accept that she doesn't even know the term
"shanshu?"
Fred lets
Spike in on that particularly little prophesy during her attempts
to make him corporeal before he slides into Hell. The audience
learns that someone is actually giving Spike a push. Unfortunately,
the baddie in question is about as exciting as a saltine cracker
with an bad Alice Cooperesque makeover.
As we saw recently with the
necromancer (who has power over the dead!), villains work
best when they have personality. Even the SoCal mystic brought
into consult was more interesting. Or going back to the early
days there was Phantom Dennis' mom. The single "Cask of
Amontillado" scene of her laying bricks was more creepy
than Spike's journey in this episode. The failure to create
a creepy setting ended up wasting James Marsters' talent to
convey Spike's actual fear.
Perhaps
in an attempt to set the mood and blur reality, the director
uses a very choppy editing style. But the scenes jump too
much in several places. The cumulative effect feels disjointed.
Overall,
this episode is a waste of the audience's time. Really, does
it matter what happens to Spike? Just give him a body and
move on. What are the Senior Partners really after? Surely
they didn't just send Eve to flag cost overruns. What's going
on with Gunn's connection to the White Room? (And why doesn't
Angel question it more?) How can Wes possibly be content just
being a librarian?
At least
the darkness of this week's excellent ending almost made up
for last week's
saccharine suckiness. Hopefully most viewers caught the disturbing
parallel between W&H's storage solution and that memorable
Angel - Connor fishing expedition gone awry.
The writers
will do well to remember that like Angel's soul, long term
viewers and not just Buffy transfers are also up for
grabs.
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