AOQ Angel Review 2-14: "The Thin Dead Line"
Arbitrar Of Quality
episodes in these review threads.
ANGEL
Season Two, Episode 14: "The Thin Dead Line"
(or "Dead boys dead boys whatcha gonna do")
Writers: Jim Kouf and Shawn Ryan
Director: Scott McGinnis
I think we'll probably keep this one brief. Partly because I don't
have much to say, and partly because I was under the influence of
moderate-to-high volumes of beer when I watched it, so my memory of
anything that happened isn't quite what it could be. TTDL takes a
step forward and a step back as ATS continues to muddle its way through
this less than stellar mid-season period. On the plus side, this
one's fast-paced and doesn't really get boring. This may be the
booze talking, but I was more willing to sit back and let it take me
along for the ride than with the episodes preceding it. On the minus
side, it seems to have less to tell us than something like "Happy
Anniversary" about the characters, the show, the world, etc. For
better or for worse, it's a little story about zombie cops.
Disposable entertainment. An unchallenging and reasonably pleasurable
way to spend forty-four minutes. That's my impression, anyway.
This is Angel's return to running an investigation with the old crew,
albeit entirely in a watching-from-the-shadows way in which he
doesn't directly interact with anyone else in the main cast until the
end. It's a start, although the episode isn't much about him. The
paranormal occurrence this week doesn't seem connected to anything
bigger, just a standalone tale of dead officers of the law becoming
less dead and taking it out on the whole neighborhood. For the most
part, it works, especially with the help of scenes like the cop
fighting Angel calmly continuing his Miranda recitation, The swarm of
police cars surrounding the shelter is a solid moment too. In a bit
that I guess was supposed to be funny, the crew basically avoids
dealing with their more standard paranormal case and ends up getting
involved with this whole thing. I'm not sure how Anne found out
where to find Gunn without knowing the name of their agency, but
whatever.
Oh, speaking of which, I'd meant to ask in the previous review but
forgot what happened to Gunn's private little war. There was a
reference near the beginning of the season to having found some housing
for his group, but that wouldn't end the turf war with the vampires
as seen in "War Zone," especially given that they were still
working together in "First Impressions." Lately, Gunn's been
seen exclusively hanging out with Cordy and Wes, or at least being
constantly on call there. So I wasn't clear on his status. This
episode sort of answers that by having a few characters mention that he
seems to have disappeared into his new detective role. Except that
he'll still have his street cred so he can be instantly plunked back
into the position of underground leader whenever the writers feel like
doing an inner-city story. That's what I got out of it; anyone care
to help this make more sense? And who's running his empire now that
he has a day job?
There's one moment in which TTDL transcends this "disposably
entertaining" label I've been giving it throughout the review.
That's the scene in which Wesley gets shot. It's very well put
together; we're watching through a camcorder, seeing the guys having
a little fun with their dangerous but still wacky plan. Wesley wanders
into the scene uninvited, and suddenly, bang. Dose of reality. The
characters certainly won't be taking anything about the situation
lightly anymore.
I thought for a moment that the show was actually going to address some
of the racial issues inherent in an L.A.-cops-n'-shelter-kids story,
rather than dancing around them like the series usually does. Gunn's
"walking while black" line is a pretty standard joke for him (I
liked it, though), but Jackson's habitual racism and Gunn's violent
reaction to it seemed like it was going somewhere. I guess not. So
was the character of Jackson, for that matter, who makes a nice little
entrance by just kinda strolling in, confident in the fact that women
whom he outweighs by a hundred pounds aren't going to pick a fight
with the scary guy. But the episode doesn't do much else with him.
Maybe it'll be a recurring role, although I don't really see the
point.
And on the not-doing-much front, TTDL has another drive-by Kate
appearance, the first of 2001. She's in the episode just enough to
establish the new tone of her interactions with Angel, but disappears
in time to miss out on the climax. As for that, I'd describe the way
they work together here as a cold professional alliance. I'd have
expected Kate to figure him for being flaky, given the notable lack of
killing the big bad vampire chicks. We do see some disappointment over
that, but subdued given how much the job is driving her crazy.
I remember the days when Wesley was a designated comic relief character
rather than an actual character, and I didn't get the appeal at all.
Well, he's had a good few weeks for making me laugh. Denisof's
delivery is killer on the two best lines of the episode, "I don't
think I'm doing well" and "is this morphine? Well, it's bloody
lovely!"
Cordelia's resentment of Angel makes sense. It'll pass, though. I
do like the parallel to past hospital scenes.
This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
- "Oh, it's cool. It's cool. They know what's what." "What?"
- Gunn's continuing push to rename AI after himself
So...
One-sentence summary: A pretty enjoyable watch, pretty empty inside.
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
9) "The Trial" - Excellent
10) "Reunion" - Good
11) "Redefinition" - Decent
12) "Blood Money" - Decent
13) "Happy Anniversary" - Decent
14) "The Thin Dead Line" - Decent]
* rating changed from original review
Don Sample
"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
> episodes in these review threads.
>
>
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 14: "The Thin Dead Line"
> (or "Dead boys dead boys whatcha gonna do")
> Writers: Jim Kouf and Shawn Ryan
> Director: Scott McGinnis
>
> I think we'll probably keep this one brief. Partly because I don't
> have much to say, and partly because I was under the influence of
> moderate-to-high volumes of beer when I watched it, so my memory of
> anything that happened isn't quite what it could be.
I think maybe you should rewatch, under the influence of less beer.
This episode moves several of the season arcs forward, and sets things
up for a some important future developments.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
Apteryx
news:1151904653.9...@j8g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
> episodes in these review threads.
>
>
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 14: "The Thin Dead Line"
> (or "Dead boys dead boys whatcha gonna do")
> Writers: Jim Kouf and Shawn Ryan
> Director: Scott McGinnis
>
> I think we'll probably keep this one brief. Partly because I don't
> have much to say, and partly because I was under the influence of
> moderate-to-high volumes of beer when I watched it, so my memory of
> anything that happened isn't quite what it could be.
Must try that approach on some episodes I have in mind...
>
> This is Angel's return to running an investigation with the old crew,
> albeit entirely in a watching-from-the-shadows way in which he
> doesn't directly interact with anyone else in the main cast until the
> end.
His old technique of course, from BtVS 1. Worked well enough then...
> involved with this whole thing. I'm not sure how Anne found out
> where to find Gunn without knowing the name of their agency, but
> whatever.
I think these days, Anne knows her way around. She'd know a guy who'd know a
guy who'd know where to finf Gunn.
> Oh, speaking of which, I'd meant to ask in the previous review but
> forgot what happened to Gunn's private little war. There was a
> reference near the beginning of the season to having found some housing
> for his group, but that wouldn't end the turf war with the vampires
> as seen in "War Zone," especially given that they were still
> working together in "First Impressions." Lately, Gunn's been
> seen exclusively hanging out with Cordy and Wes, or at least being
> constantly on call there. So I wasn't clear on his status. This
> episode sort of answers that by having a few characters mention that he
> seems to have disappeared into his new detective role. Except that
> he'll still have his street cred so he can be instantly plunked back
> into the position of underground leader whenever the writers feel like
> doing an inner-city story. That's what I got out of it; anyone care
> to help this make more sense? And who's running his empire now that
> he has a day job?
He seemed pretty clearly on the outer with his old gang now. They were
eventually willing to work with him because he's a regular caste member and
bigger than they are. But an empire is never going to lack for an emporer.
> There's one moment in which TTDL transcends this "disposably
> entertaining" label I've been giving it throughout the review.
> That's the scene in which Wesley gets shot. It's very well put
> together; we're watching through a camcorder, seeing the guys having
> a little fun with their dangerous but still wacky plan. Wesley wanders
> into the scene uninvited, and suddenly, bang. Dose of reality.
Yep, that certainly persuaded me it had to be taken seriously.
> I thought for a moment that the show was actually going to address some
> of the racial issues inherent in an L.A.-cops-n'-shelter-kids story,
> rather than dancing around them like the series usually does. Gunn's
> "walking while black" line is a pretty standard joke for him (I
> liked it, though), but Jackson's habitual racism and Gunn's violent
> reaction to it seemed like it was going somewhere. I guess not. So
> was the character of Jackson, for that matter, who makes a nice little
> entrance by just kinda strolling in, confident in the fact that women
> whom he outweighs by a hundred pounds aren't going to pick a fight
> with the scary guy. But the episode doesn't do much else with him.
Well, it shows him unreformed by the whole thing. Still evil as Spike would
say. Not necessarily unreformable, but certainly unreformed.
> I remember the days when Wesley was a designated comic relief character
> rather than an actual character, and I didn't get the appeal at all.
> Well, he's had a good few weeks for making me laugh. Denisof's
> delivery is killer on the two best lines of the episode, "I don't
> think I'm doing well" and "is this morphine? Well, it's bloody
> lovely!"
Yep. All told, this episode would be pretty flat with Wes.
>
> One-sentence summary: A pretty enjoyable watch, pretty empty inside.
>
> AOQ rating: Decent
You maybe liked it a little better than me (the beer perhaps), but I'd agree
with Decent. It's my 87th favourite AtS episode, 22nd best in season 2. But
it's low placement within the season isn't really indicative of anything I
have against it - it's a lot better than most Buffyverse seasons' worst
episodes.
--
Apteryx
One Bit Shy
news:1151904653.9...@j8g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 14: "The Thin Dead Line"
> I think we'll probably keep this one brief. Partly because I don't
> have much to say,
God, you really didn't have much to say, so I think I'll just make a few
independent observations and leave it at that.
A) The He Who Won't Be Named Agency of castouts comes crashing down here.
So much for their giddy sense of triumph in the last couple of episodes.
Gunn goes lone wolf for a bit. Wesley nearly dies. The sense I get is that
their dedication alone doesn't make them up to the task. They really do
need Angel. (I got a kick out of Cordelia describing Gunn's idea of
planning as learned at the feet of the master in bad planning.)
B) Wesley shot is a real shock. Nothing like a hole in the belly to impart
a sense of personal urgency.
C) I rather like the zombie cop story. And the police chief with his
zombie workshop. The final attack isn't staged very well, but still caries
the idea of the story along quite well. I was a little suprised to see Anne
again. I thought of her prior episode as a one off. I was a little put off
by her Angel remark though. Yes, Angel played a scam on her. But that
story didn't end there. There's the little matter of 2.5 million dollars.
It seems to me that she would be a tad more charitable towards him.
D) Angel starts by throwing things around the hotel lobby. (Notable in
itself is how messy the place is - not what one expects from Mr. Neat
Freak.) Add in the remarks from Merl (who has his best performance yet and
may be slowly redeeming himself from his earlier awfulness), his watching
over the old gang - and it appears that the idea introduced last episode
that he's coming to regrest casting the old gang out is taking on tangible
form. In this episode he sets aside his larger vendetta and actively works
to help them out - albeit quietly in the background.
E) The episode's big moment I think is Cordelia's rejection of Angel at the
end, even though he shows at the hospital when Wesley gets hurt. Finally we
have some parallelism going on in the two group's story that provides its
own tension. Wesley and company had been positively mired in their yearning
for Angel, but gradually move away from that, to the point of hardening
their feelings against Angel. Now, when they actually need him, and he may
actually be available, they reject him. Angel, meanwhile, initially pushes
them away as a problem, gradually comes to realize how much he needs them,
but when he finally goes to them, he's rejected and must now face the
consequence of his own earlier rejection of them. All of which occurs in
classic greek tragedy fashion with a background of Angel actually having
saved all of their lives - but none of them knowing that. They all,
including Angel, think that he let them down.
F) Kate's part I'm unsure of. With so little of her this season, it sure
does feel drive by. But Kate keeps changing her state of mind. That moment
of sharing her fears with Angel at her father's grave and her reverting to
the old manner of accepting Angel dropping in at work with a new case... In
some fashion she seems to be thinking at least a little well of Angel again.
With all the filler episodes available to work with this season, it seems a
shame not to have had one devoted to expanding on her story. We've been
stuck with seeing a lot of changes without a lot of substance behind them.
I guess we just have to infer. It is curious that she may be the closest
thing he has to a friend right now.
In the end there seems to be a fair amount of interesting tidbits here, but
ultimately a pretty lightweight, albeit entertaining, episode. I think the
Decent rating is appropriate. It would seem to set Angel up as trapped in a
hopeless mental state. Blocked from the needed support of his friends, no
longer believing quite so much in his war.
OBS
mariposas rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges
> have much to say, and partly because I was under the influence of
> moderate-to-high volumes of beer when I watched it, so my memory of
> anything that happened isn't quite what it could be. TTDL takes a
> step forward and a step back as ATS continues to muddle its way through
> this less than stellar mid-season period. On the plus side, this
maybe the writers are not working to the goal youre assuminh they are
arf meow arf - nsa fodder
ny dnrqn greebevfz ahpyrne obzo vena gnyvona ovt oebgure
if you meet buddha on the usenet killfile him
Mel
One Bit Shy wrote:
>
> E) The episode's big moment I think is Cordelia's rejection of Angel at the
> end, even though he shows at the hospital when Wesley gets hurt. Finally we
> have some parallelism going on in the two group's story that provides its
> own tension. Wesley and company had been positively mired in their yearning
> for Angel, but gradually move away from that, to the point of hardening
> their feelings against Angel. Now, when they actually need him, and he may
> actually be available, they reject him. Angel, meanwhile, initially pushes
> them away as a problem, gradually comes to realize how much he needs them,
> but when he finally goes to them, he's rejected and must now face the
> consequence of his own earlier rejection of them. All of which occurs in
> classic greek tragedy fashion with a background of Angel actually having
> saved all of their lives - but none of them knowing that. They all,
> including Angel, think that he let them down.
>
The last time I watched the series (on its own, all the way through)
this stood out as the moment the character of Cordelia just stopped
working for me. I didn't really understand why at first, but to explain
further would be spoilery and I don't feel like starting a rot-13
discussion right now.
Mel