Angel
Orpheus
original air-date: 03-19-03 (re-running 03-23-03)
This episode
was the first of hopefully several Angel-Buffy crossover
events before the latter series wraps up at the end of this
season. Basically, Willow showed up at Fred's request to help
restore Angel's soul.
Accomplishing
that task turns out to be more complicated than usual, if
there is a usual, for two reasons.
First,
it turns out that Faith had injected herself with Orpheus
(a kind of mystic opium) before Angelus fed on her at the
end of last week's episode. That sends both of them into a
comatose state complete with a shared hell. For Angelus, this
means watching Angel's do-good attempts at redemption throughout
the 20th century (complete with absurd 70's hairdo). For Faith,
this means having to watch Angel's failed attempts and, more
painfully, putting up with Angelus for that long.
The second
obstacle is, of course, Cordelia-but-not-Cordelia (or Cordevil,
as some fans like). She still has plans for Angelus and doesn't
appreciate Willow's interference.
Whereas
Cordy's scenes with Connor continue to lack any chemistry,
her scenes with Willow are fun to watch. Still, overall Ms.
Carpenter does not make a very good big bad.
Good and
bad moments come with the Willow scenes. Her initial arrival
has her too out of character, i.e., when did Willow become
such, well, an asshole?
Fortunately,
she settles down quickly, and her trademark yammering becomes
much more enjoyable. Her chemistry with Wes is also good,
not surprising, given their real life engagement.
One has
to wonder, though, why her use of powerful magic here is so
easy, whereas each spell back in Sunnydale has been fraught
with the risk of her going evil again. The interaction with
Fred is both cute and annoying. One question: Why didn't even
Fred react at all to Willow's "I'm seeing someone"
at the end? Not even a "huh?"
The Angelus
and Faith adventures in hell scenes are surprisingly dull
despite their continued good chemistry. Maybe because we've
already heard so much about Angel having to eat rats, etc.
Even the
Angelus vs. Angel fight, something that sounds really cool,
is nothing that spectacular.
A much
better fight, though disappointingly brief, involves Faith
stomping on Connor. Sure, he grew up in a hell dimension and
all, but is this kid a complete moron?
And speaking
of disappointment, the preview for the next episode was pathetic.
Previews are a fair teaser between spoilers and not knowing
anything. If the preview shows absolutely nothing, like this
one, it is worthless.
The preview
did suggest that Cordelia-not-Cordelia's deception continues.
Yawn... Enough already. The audience needs to know more of
this being's endgame at this point. Hey, writers, get on with
it!
Everyone
else, make sure to tune into Buffy to see more fun
Faith action!
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