AOQ Angel Review 2-8: "The Shroud Of Rahmon"
Arbitrar Of Quality
episodes in these review threads.
ANGEL
Season Two, Episode 8: "The Shroud Of Rahmon"
(or "Do you know... Lat Pack?")
Writer: Jim Kouf
Director: David Grossman
This is the first all-out Ominous Foreshadowing Open in some time.
TSOR begins with Wesley hunched over a desk, things having gone somehow
wrong, and a flashback of a grinning Angel with a bloody vamp-face.
It's attention-grabbing. It's also misleading - not just because
of the manipulation of audience expectations, but because it sets a
different mood than the rest of the episode does. It's like
they're trying to use portentousness to fool us into thinking this
week will be more important than it actually is. So, is it effective?
To use a trite expression, yes and no. Yes in that it does make indeed
make things more interesting on first viewing. And no because of the
moment at which the viewer realizes that this isn't going to shake
the foundation of the series, it's just going to be a standard heist
story with magic. That's disappointing. Inevitably so.
So things seem to be going cool places at first. Although they'll
end up detracting from more than adding to the later parts, Cordy and
Wes are more entertaining early on with their off-screen party. Her
new hairstyle looks great (I'm assuming she didn't have it ten
episodes ago with me being too wrapped up in myself to notice, but
it's possible). Also like both the off-topic rant about virgins and
dominance, and how quickly it gets shrugged off.
After that, our actual storyline kicks into place. Here's where the
misdirecting teaser adds the most to the appeal, as the sense of dread
transforms the early Angel/Gunn/Lester conversation from something
routine into something that inspires the viewer to fear the worst.
Will Angel really end up killing? And given that Kate's in this one,
might she be the victim? On an entirely unrelated note, can I mention
again that J. August Richards is fucking huge? Seeing Gunn and Angel
side by side is always a little jarring for that reason, especially in
the scene in which the latter is slouching. Come to think of it, that
actually strengthens the bit in which Angel starts giving orders that
he expects to be followed, and even Gunn is for the moment left to just
stand and stare after him.
Angel soon learns that he'll have to blend in, and the episode has
fun setting up the obvious joke and then subverting it by having him
blend in just fine. I'd been wondering during the scene-transition
whether they'd remember how well he can play a character. Boreanaz
doing his caricature of a Vegas wise-guy type is enjoyable for the ten
minutes or so that it's relevant.
Around here, though, it gets clear that TSOR isn't actually going to
develop towards the level of the major event suggested by the teaser.
Most of the rest of the episode is spent with a bunch of people in
monster makeup staggering through the museum and arguing a lot, both
with and without the influence of the shroud. Not terribly inspired,
and not nearly as much fun as some of the 'verse's other occasional
forays into this kind of story. Should we blame any heist movies that
were out at the time for this one? The Shroud whispers to people (now
there's a device we haven't seen recently on this show at all) and
makes them... act strange in a nondescript way. I don't really see a
rhyme or reason behind how people react; Wesley responding by getting
goofy and forgetful kinda contradicts most of the theories I can come
up with.
Although I'm pretty adamant in classifying this one as light fare,
even with the intensity of the Angel/Kate scenes, there's a little
depth to it. For instance, if one is into dissecting which of the
statements made while in-character and/or under the Shroud's
influence are based on real feelings, the episode should provide a
decent amount of fodder. I don't want to get too deeply into it, but
one thing I'm thinking about some of the many confrontations between
Gunn and our hero. "You know, I'm getting pretty tired of this
'vampires killed my sister so now I'm all entitled' song." The
mistrust from Gunn is interesting, but so's Angel's issue with
Charles, who's never treated him as an enemy because of his sister.
Whereas there's another character on the show who's more prone to
that kind of behavior. Some displacement involved, and it gives us a
sense of how much it bothers him.
But as for those intense Angel/Kate scenes, they're the best part of
TSOR for me, in part because of what they mean for the rest of the
episode. That bit of misdirection works in a way that's not
objectionable; like the people who work with him, we're ready for
Angel to go dark at the drop of a shroud, and he proves to be less
susceptible. Recasting everything in this light, we see the
Shroud's effect on him amidst the tension of the situation. Namely,
he may have a moment of momentary weakness, but he beats the baddies,
destroys the Shroud, and prevents any human deaths. In particular,
think of the moment in which, influenced by both emotion and magic,
enjoying sweet sweet A-positive for the first time since Buffy, he
stops drinking. That's quite a triumph. So an episode that seems to
be about our hero's vulnerability to being "turned" ends up being
about exactly the opposite. And then we throw in the closing scene's
suggestion that having won this battle may ultimately make the war
tougher...
I still say Kate's dad isn't shrine-worthy. Just one man's
opinion, though. Sticking with the series' standard modus operandi,
we end a Kate episode with her pondering, keeping everything to
herself. She doesn't forget, so Angel's involvement in this
operation in the first place, the way he talked before attacking,
(especially "that is *my* girl." I see now why she had to be a
blonde), and his protecting her should be enough to keep her busy. At
least for another two months or however long it is until the character
stops by again.
I don't generally like to do pointless scenes the dignity of
acknowledging their existence, but I really have no idea what they were
trying for with Cordelia's part. Most museums that I've been to
employ a strange and wondrous invention called the glass box to keep
their jewelry and such safe. She still seems to be wearing the
necklace at the end after "returning everything."
This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
- "You know, not that I'm prejudiced. I just hate vampires."
"You're enlightened, I can tell." "See? See how they do? See, man?
They mess with your mind, man!"
There's really been a lot of talk about the idea of Angel going evil
this year, hasn't there? Between Darla and general
post-"Eternity" worries, the idea of him finding ways to keep the
Angelus in him under control but not allaying anyone's fears gets
repeated a lot. What is it that it usually means when Joss and company
repeat something?
So...
One-sentence summary: A lightweight with delusions of grandeur.
AOQ rating: Decent
[Season Two so far:
1) "Judgment" - Weak
2) "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?" - Decent
3) "First Impressions" - Good
4) "Untouched" - Excellent*
5) "Dear Boy" - Good
6) "Guise Will Be Guise" - Decent
7) "Darla" - Good
8) "The Shroud Of Rahmon" - Decent]
* rating changed from original review
sienamystic
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>
> But as for those intense Angel/Kate scenes, they're the best part of
> TSOR for me, in part because of what they mean for the rest of the
> episode. That bit of misdirection works in a way that's not
> objectionable; like the people who work with him, we're ready for
> Angel to go dark at the drop of a shroud, and he proves to be less
> susceptible. Recasting everything in this light, we see the
> Shroud's effect on him amidst the tension of the situation. Namely,
> he may have a moment of momentary weakness, but he beats the baddies,
> destroys the Shroud, and prevents any human deaths. In particular,
> think of the moment in which, influenced by both emotion and magic,
> enjoying sweet sweet A-positive for the first time since Buffy, he
> stops drinking. That's quite a triumph. So an episode that seems to
> be about our hero's vulnerability to being "turned" ends up being
> about exactly the opposite. And then we throw in the closing scene's
> suggestion that having won this battle may ultimately make the war
> tougher...
This is one of those eps that really felt fragmented for me - as you
point out, the Kate and Angel interaction is really intense, and has
all these ramifications that could be poked at, but the overall episode
is so fluffy and relatively forgettable that the two different moods
don't seem to mesh very well at all.
I'm having slightly more trouble getting into Angel than I was for
Buffy (I'm also a new watcher of both series). Angel has so much
potential, but until the Darla arc, that potential was so unfocused. I
liked the characters, and I liked the overall stories, but the
execution and the writing (especially of the secondary characters) was
kinda poor.
Genevieve
Mel
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
> episodes in these review threads.
>
>
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 8: "The Shroud Of Rahmon"
> (or "Do you know... Lat Pack?")
> Writer: Jim Kouf
> Director: David Grossman
>
>
>
> So things seem to be going cool places at first. Although they'll
> end up detracting from more than adding to the later parts, Cordy and
> Wes are more entertaining early on with their off-screen party. Her
> new hairstyle looks great (I'm assuming she didn't have it ten
> episodes ago with me being too wrapped up in myself to notice, but
> it's possible). Also like both the off-topic rant about virgins and
> dominance, and how quickly it gets shrugged off.
I hate her hair in this episode. When I first saw it, my reaction was
the same as Wesley's: "What happened to your hair??!" It's looks like
Buffy's cat made a reappearance.
This is the first episode with it this short. It was the darker (black?)
color in the last 2 however.
Mel
One Bit Shy
news:1150681276.2...@h76g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 8: "The Shroud Of Rahmon"
I enjoyed the episode as a lark. Especially for Angel's terrific Vegas bit.
I also got more of a kick out of the squabbling thieves than you did. Not
great stuff, but easy to sit back and simply enjoy. I was especially amused
at how they struggled with the box that weighs a ton for most of the episode
only to rip it open to take out the the lightweight shroud when they get it
back to their lair. Boy are they dumb.
I was very amused at Cordy looking at herself in the glass and remarking on
how big her teeth were. That got a guffaw. I also found it strangely
amusing when Cordelia changed her clothes behind the front desk. And
Angel's excitement that they met Chow Yun Fat.
There are other worthy elements, but I don't feel like spelling them out.
Not terribly important.
I'm a little unnerved by Angel's warning to Kate that if she gets between
him and Darla, she's dead.
The big thing in the episode is, presumably, the biting of Kate. How it
seems to sort of reconcile her with Angel. (At least enough to burst in and
free Wesley.) The elegance of it as a solution to the crook's expectation
that Angel would kill her. And the potential impact of him tasting blood
again. That's all good stuff, and the depiction of Kate going down and
Angel with blood on his mouth is quite nice. I am, however, a bit bothered
that Kate, evidently, really was unconscious for quite some time. To me
that seems to greatly deflate the impact of his whispered instruction that
she stay down, and deflates the personal impact on Kate, who ought to wonder
how grateful to be about being saved by nearly dying.
I'm guessing that leaving her unconscious was deemed necessary to set up the
framing scenes of the blabbering Wesley getting interrogated. Which would
be a terrible shame. Those scenes might have helped ramp up the excitement
a little for otherwise fairly dull early scenes, but the interrogation
scenes themselves didn't excite me at all, and having the whole construct
turn out not to be a big deal at all pretty much wrecks them.
I don't understand Cordy's thievery either, though the necklace does look
nice on her. I'm not so keen on the hair, but that may be because I'm so
used to the old look that this feels weird.
There are some other not so great things that I don't feel like recounting
either.
So we'll keep it short this episode.
It's fun. It's OK. But not special. Decent
OBS
Apteryx
news:1150681276.2...@h76g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> episodes in these review threads.
>
>
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 8: "The Shroud Of Rahmon"
> (or "Do you know... Lat Pack?")
> Writer: Jim Kouf
> Director: David Grossman
>
> This is the first all-out Ominous Foreshadowing Open in some time.
> TSOR begins with Wesley hunched over a desk, things having gone somehow
> wrong, and a flashback of a grinning Angel with a bloody vamp-face.
> It's attention-grabbing. It's also misleading - not just because
> of the manipulation of audience expectations, but because it sets a
> different mood than the rest of the episode does. It's like
> they're trying to use portentousness to fool us into thinking this
> week will be more important than it actually is. So, is it effective?
> To use a trite expression, yes and no. Yes in that it does make indeed
> make things more interesting on first viewing. And no because of the
> moment at which the viewer realizes that this isn't going to shake
> the foundation of the series, it's just going to be a standard heist
> story with magic. That's disappointing. Inevitably so.
I wasn't ever fooled (and I'm pretty easily fooled by misleads). I mean,
it's Wesley. And I didn't think they would spoil such a watershed change in
the teaser, at least not in that way. Wesley lifting his head to reveal his
face was just a first of the many minor laughs in this episode.
> Around here, though, it gets clear that TSOR isn't actually going to
> develop towards the level of the major event suggested by the teaser.
> Most of the rest of the episode is spent with a bunch of people in
> monster makeup staggering through the museum and arguing a lot, both
> with and without the influence of the shroud. Not terribly inspired,
> and not nearly as much fun as some of the 'verse's other occasional
> forays into this kind of story. Should we blame any heist movies that
> were out at the time for this one? The Shroud whispers to people (now
> there's a device we haven't seen recently on this show at all) and
> makes them... act strange in a nondescript way. I don't really see a
> rhyme or reason behind how people react; Wesley responding by getting
> goofy and forgetful kinda contradicts most of the theories I can come
> up with.
And Wesley and Cordelia were affected the moment they walked in the door,
while Angel and Gunn were only occaisionaly affected despite close proximity
to the shroud, Kate hardly at all. The crooked guard didn't seem to be
affected at all - I think he was always that way.
> about exactly the opposite. And then we throw in the closing scene's
> suggestion that having won this battle may ultimately make the war
> tougher...
Yep, just when it seemed it was all just a bit of fun, there was that final
suggestion of some courruption of Angel.
>
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: A lightweight with delusions of grandeur.
>
> AOQ rating: Decent
Agree. Except I don't think there were too many delusions of granduer. It's
my 68th favourite AtS episode, 21st best in season 2.
--
Apteryx
Elisi
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> Her
> new hairstyle looks great (I'm assuming she didn't have it ten
> episodes ago with me being too wrapped up in myself to notice, but
> it's possible).
You _like_ her hair? Seriously? One of my friends did a poll recently
and it was voted second-worst hair-do of the entire series!
Um, apart from that I've not got much... I enjoyed Angel's act, but
that's all I can remember.
jil...@hotmail.com
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
> episodes in these review threads.
This is actually one of the episodes I've never seen. Seems typical.
George W Harris
:
:Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
:> Her
:> new hairstyle looks great (I'm assuming she didn't have it ten
:> episodes ago with me being too wrapped up in myself to notice, but
:> it's possible).
:
:You _like_ her hair? Seriously? One of my friends did a poll recently
:and it was voted second-worst hair-do of the entire series!
That should be "worst hair-do of season 2,
second-worst overall".
--
They say there's air in your lungs that's been there for years.
George W. Harris For actual email address, replace each 'u' with an 'i'.
alphakitten
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>
>> Her
>>new hairstyle looks great (I'm assuming she didn't have it ten
>>episodes ago with me being too wrapped up in myself to notice, but
>>it's possible).
>
>
> You _like_ her hair? Seriously? One of my friends did a poll recently
> and it was voted second-worst hair-do of the entire series!
>
V gehfg ure tunfgyl fhcre fubeg oybaqr qb bs yngr F3 jnf #1?
~Angel
Elisi
> V gehfg ure tunfgyl fhcre fubeg oybaqr qb bs yngr F3 jnf #1?
Yup!
Elisi
Yes, but the poll was not divided up into seasons.
Arbitrar Of Quality
> This is one of those eps that really felt fragmented for me - as you
> point out, the Kate and Angel interaction is really intense, and has
> all these ramifications that could be poked at, but the overall episode
> is so fluffy and relatively forgettable that the two different moods
> don't seem to mesh very well at all.
That's a nicely concise summary of the episode.
> I'm having slightly more trouble getting into Angel than I was for
> Buffy (I'm also a new watcher of both series). Angel has so much
> potential, but until the Darla arc, that potential was so unfocused. I
> liked the characters, and I liked the overall stories, but the
> execution and the writing (especially of the secondary characters) was
> kinda poor.
My hunch would be that you're enjoying _Buffy_ more than _Angel_
because it's a better show, at least at this point. I'm with you on
the potential, though.
-AOQ
Arbitrar Of Quality
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> > Her
> > new hairstyle looks great (I'm assuming she didn't have it ten
> > episodes ago with me being too wrapped up in myself to notice, but
> > it's possible).
>
> You _like_ her hair? Seriously? One of my friends did a poll recently
> and it was voted second-worst hair-do of the entire series!
It was about time for a change, and short hair looks good on Carpenter.
It is good. The arbiter has spoken.
-AOQ
jil...@hotmail.com
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> Elisi wrote:
> > You _like_ her hair? Seriously? One of my friends did a poll recently
> > and it was voted second-worst hair-do of the entire series!
>
> It was about time for a change, and short hair looks good on Carpenter.
> It is good. The arbiter has spoken.
>
> -AOQ
People have an enormous problem with change. They really don't like it
when characters decide to try doing something new. You'll find they
scream "Cordy's hair's changed, MY GOD, the show jumped the shark!"
(for those who are a bit slow, this is heavy sarcasm)
You, on the other hand, didn't like it previously. Therefore you are
capable of recognising that it's a good haircut.
Michael Ikeda
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
> episodes in these review threads.
>
>
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 8: "The Shroud Of Rahmon"
> (or "Do you know... Lat Pack?")
> Writer: Jim Kouf
> Director: David Grossman
>
>
> But as for those intense Angel/Kate scenes, they're the best
> part of TSOR for me, in part because of what they mean for the
> rest of the episode. That bit of misdirection works in a way
> that's not objectionable; like the people who work with him,
> we're ready for Angel to go dark at the drop of a shroud, and he
> proves to be less susceptible. Recasting everything in this
> light, we see the Shroud's effect on him amidst the tension of
> the situation. Namely, he may have a moment of momentary
> weakness, but he beats the baddies, destroys the Shroud, and
> prevents any human deaths.
Not quite without human deaths. You're forgetting about the guard
who had his head torn off. Angel does manage to save the other
guard, the one who wasn't in on the plot. And, of course, he saves
Kate. Although he perhaps drank more of her blood than he had
originally intended.
--
Michael Ikeda mmi...@erols.com
"Telling a statistician not to use sampling is like telling an
astronomer they can't say there is a moon and stars"
Lynne Billard, past president American Statistical Association
Elisi
> People have an enormous problem with change. They really don't like it
> when characters decide to try doing something new. You'll find they
> scream "Cordy's hair's changed, MY GOD, the show jumped the shark!"
I have no problem with change. F.ex. I much prefer Buffy's hair in S5
to S3. Not to mention her wardrobe!
> You, on the other hand, didn't like it previously. Therefore you are
> capable of recognising that it's a good haircut.
And I still don't like it. That said, it's an improvement on whatever
it was she did to it in 'Guise Will Be Guise.'
One Bit Shy
news:1150803659.6...@r2g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> jil...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>> People have an enormous problem with change. They really don't like it
>> when characters decide to try doing something new. You'll find they
>> scream "Cordy's hair's changed, MY GOD, the show jumped the shark!"
>
> I have no problem with change. F.ex. I much prefer Buffy's hair in S5
> to S3. Not to mention her wardrobe!
Check out her clothes in the Replacement. You might want to reconsider that
assessment.
OBS
kenm47
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
> episodes in these review threads.
>
>
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 8: "The Shroud Of Rahmon"
> (or "Do you know... Lat Pack?")
> Writer: Jim Kouf
> Director: David Grossman
>
<SNIP>
>
> One-sentence summary: A lightweight with delusions of grandeur.
>
> AOQ rating: Decent
>
But, but, but ...
"Everybody Loves Rahmon"
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I enjoyed this on the
rewatching more than I recall caring for it first run.
I even liked Cordy's do. I was also a big fan of the Angel/Kate
dynamic.
A solid Good(+) for me.
Ken (Brooklyn)