Angel
Inside Out
original air-date: 04-02-03
How come
the Fang Gang is clever enough to figure out Cordy isn't Cordy
and to set a trap, yet lacks the simple foresight to plan
for Connor's involvement?
Certainly
the audience knew he'd swoop in for the rescue, and that's
exactly how things got going in this very uneven episode.
It is also questionable that Connor would defeat everyone
so handily.
At least
Charisma Carpenter does snide much better than seductive.
The second use of the Magic Eight Ball, however, was a classic
case of one joke too many.
After
this disappointing opening, Gunn takes down the "Gwen
Fishing" sign and returns to the hotel just in time for
a useful, but somewhat heavy handed flashback montage that
details Cordevil's treachery (tonight on Fox: Secrets of Big
Bads Revealed!)
The episode
then jumps back and forth a few times between the good guys
(Angel and company) and the bad guys (Cordelia and Connor,
a.k.a., C&C Evil Factory. OK, that's a lame reference
in there for the over thirty set). Unfortunately, this leads
to yet another series of repetitive, drawn out Cordevil-Connor
scenes.
One has
to wonder at this point if Connor goes along with her evil
plans just to shut her up! And it is still difficult to believe
that Connor would be that stupid (sure the public schools
in Quartoth probably suck, but Holtz might have home schooled
more).
While
Lorne queries the black market for helpful pan-dimensional
texts (like The Dummies Guide To Big Bads), Angel seeks info
for those elusive and seldom helpful Powers That Be (the PTB;
he might get more help for the PTA).
Here the
episode gets a bit wonky. It turns out that demon Skip, who
many fans had come to love, is really a bad guy mercenary
working for whatever power that has been orchestrating just
about everything in order to create a new order with itself
at the top. Hmm...While this twist may be something the writers
have planned since day one, it comes across more as a cheap
ploy.
Many viewers
will likely have a hard time swallowing the "it's all
been a big plan" plot while other viewers may feel somewhat
cheated; i.e., why did they bother watching the earlier seasons
if it was all just a pre-programmed prelude?
But most
of all, many viewers will simply be angry that the writers
have taken away Skip as a good, fun character. In the past
Skip's quips were always refreshingly light amidst the dreariness.
Importunely, evil is not a good look for Skip (outward appearances
aside), and here his banter wears thin quickly. The audience
had plenty of bad guy sarcasm with Sahjahn.
Meanwhile,
Connor has a conversation with dead mother Darla or some good
power taking on her form (the First Good?). In either case,
she implores him not to aid Cordevil's current plan, which
involves spilling the blood of a virgin (talk about cliché!).
Darla's
appearance doesn't really make a lot of sense. Why does this
good power decide to appear now? Why the wait? And why can't
Darla tell him more? If it really does come down to Connor's
choice, shouldn't that be an informed choice? The entire event
seems pointless.
Clearly
this episode will result in a lot of audience head scratching.
One of the big questions at this point is if the entire PTB
has really been evil the entire time, or whether Skip's employer
is the head of a breakaway faction or some outside threat.
At least
given the ending, the audience won't have to endure any more
Cordevil Connor exchanges. And at least "she" did
not turn out to be Alanis Morisette. Phew!
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