S2-13: The Short Review
Niall Harrison
thoughts. Be gentle, people...
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The episode is called 'Happy Anniversary'
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Let's face it, from the moment they decided to introduce the
Host as a recurring character, an Angel-Host team-up was always
on the cards. And a damn fine idea it is, too - it's just a
shame they decided to do it *now*.
'Happy Anniversary' is an odd episode. For most of its length,
it feels like a romp, and there are a lot of genuinely funny
moments. The plot feels remarkably contrivance-free, which is
impressive given how badly things usually go wrong when Buffy or
Angel attempts to deal with science (dodgy robots, anyone?).
I'm not one to be overly tolerant of technobabble at the best of
times, but somehow the writers managed to gloss over it in an
entertaining, if not convincing, manner.
Herein lies the problem, however, because just when we're really
enjoying ourselves, we get a segment reminding us that there is
- believe it or not - an ongoing story. These segments jar with
the rest of the plot, because they highlight what an
inappropriate time it is for this story. The Host's chat with
Angel in the convertible is at the same time the highlight and
the lowlight of the episode. Last episode, we were given (or
seemed to be given) the final answers about Wolfram and Hart's
motivations. This episode, it's the turn of Angel's reasons to
be given the once-over. And, the reasons we get are plausible -
as long as you don't think about them too hard.
The thing is, it's not exactly clear what Angel's state of mind
is. The end of 'Reunion' and the whole of 'Redefinition' seemed
to convey that he'd made a choice: He'd gone from soldier to
saviour. The Host says as much in this episode. For a man
who's supposed to be hunting down the guilty, however, he ain't
doing a lot of hunting. He seemed, more than anything else, to
just be in a bad mood. Which is a shame, really; there's real
potential in the idea of an avenging Angel who values the end no
matter what the means. That seemed to be what we got in
'Redefinition'; now, two episodes later, we get an Angel who
just seems apathetic - and even, at the end, regretful.
It's the speed that kills. For Angel to be showing second
thoughts now, this quickly, seems rushed; it's as though they
want to get this segment of the story out of the way as fast as
possible, in order to move on to...whatever's next. Wolfram and
Hart have, as the result of truly inspired planning, managed to
force Angel over the edge, to cut himself off from everything.
They've shown him the futility of the Good Fight, that he can't
win, and in doing so have played on fears that he's voiced as
far back as 'Blind Date'. That's not something you just get
over, and yet as things stand our hero looks to be making his
way back to the land of the living (metaphorically speaking) in
the next three or four episodes. It's going totake some damn
fine writing to convince me that the speed of that recovery is
justified.
All of which seems perhaps a little over the top for what is,
after all, only filler. There is much here to enjoy; anything
the Host says, ever, for instance, or Wesley's Poirot-esque
murder-mystery scene posturing. There's some back-referencing -
Angel's ditched the long black coat, for a shorter number, much
like the one he was wearing back in the 50's, for instance - and
what, I suspect, is some foreshadowing. But I can't help
feeling that now is the wrong time for this plot; that Angel
should be *acting*, and not reacting. Maybe I'm not being too
harsh; after all, Buffy is in what should be the filler period,
too, and yet it is managing to pull rabbits out of the
proverbial hat. The first half of Angel series two was some of
the best television I've ever seen; I'd hate to see that work
thrown away in the second half.
Niall
--
I watched the stars crash in the sea.
Stephen Walker
"Niall Harrison" <s...@tirian.magd.ox.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:9a36vl$gb1$1...@news.ox.ac.uk...
Scientist is working on extracting and preserving a piece of time. Some
demons show up and correct his formulae - as for some reason they can't
build the machine to execute the formula, although the end result (whatever
that might be) is important somehow. Scientist implements these huge changes
in the equations with a few keypresses on a computer and manages to stop
time for these mercury drops (can mercury even form drops?). He runs out of
the lab and runs to exactly where his girlfriend and lab-partner are
talking, and arrives at exactly the worst moment. He carries the huge pieces
of equipement to his home (which has a power main good enough to run a
particle accelerator) without anyone noticing, sets the equipment up to work
completely differently, getting it right first time, and in such as way as
time does not stop for the electricity powering the system. Angel stops the
disaster just before the time stopping bubble reaches the box the demons had
set up to control the situation, the demons are defeated and leave, without
ever explaining anything.
Contrivance?
Just as well I viewed that entire plot as incidental to the fact that this
was an episode about Angel's character, his behaviour, how he feels. The
scientist plot was a blunt tool used to put the Host and Angel together and
crack open Angel's character.
> Herein lies the problem, however, because just when we're really
> enjoying ourselves, we get a segment reminding us that there is
> - believe it or not - an ongoing story. These segments jar with
> the rest of the plot, because they highlight what an
> inappropriate time it is for this story. The Host's chat with
> Angel in the convertible is at the same time the highlight and
> the lowlight of the episode. Last episode, we were given (or
> seemed to be given) the final answers about Wolfram and Hart's
> motivations. This episode, it's the turn of Angel's reasons to
> be given the once-over. And, the reasons we get are plausible -
> as long as you don't think about them too hard.
I think the talk in the car is a crucial part of the episode, if you view
the A plot as being Angel and the scientist as a prop for that plot. I think
maybe the writer/director etc were not sure if they were doing an arc
episode or a Jane Espenson style "wackiness ensues" type episode (Band
Candy, Superstar, Guise...).
This was the first of the four February sweeps episode from the U.S. They
need to get on with the big storylines to boost ratings and increase their
advertising fees.
> All of which seems perhaps a little over the top for what is,
> after all, only filler. There is much here to enjoy; anything
> the Host says, ever, for instance, or Wesley's Poirot-esque
> murder-mystery scene posturing. There's some back-referencing -
> Angel's ditched the long black coat, for a shorter number, much
> like the one he was wearing back in the 50's, for instance - and
> what, I suspect, is some foreshadowing. But I can't help
> feeling that now is the wrong time for this plot; that Angel
> should be *acting*, and not reacting. Maybe I'm not being too
> harsh; after all, Buffy is in what should be the filler period,
> too, and yet it is managing to pull rabbits out of the
> proverbial hat. The first half of Angel series two was some of
> the best television I've ever seen; I'd hate to see that work
> thrown away in the second half.
>
Five episodes ago Glory was impatiently waiting for the news of where her
key was. She can only have been waiting a couple of hours at most when we
get:
GLORY: (angrily) "Ohh! Everything takes time! What about my time? Does
anyone appreciate that I'm on a schedule here? (Dreg nods nervously) Tick,
tock, Dreg! Tick frickin' tock! "
She then vanishes to make way for Joyce's tumour, Riley's departure, and a
wacky troll episode. Maybe the reason that Buffy can pull rabbits out of
it's hat at the moment is that it hasn't pulled so many out yet. I'll agree
with you that the huge build up of the first half of Angel S2 has not paid
off yet, but there is still plenty of time to go. With Angel, I get the
impression that the arc is constructed reasonably well, and that later
episodes can reveal extra depths of the earlier ones (AYNOHYEB as an
example). Buffy seems to be lurching from story to story without a lot of
continuity. What happened to the Slayer roots stuff? Why is Dawn at home and
going to school so shortly after Glory's threats in Checkpoint, which caused
Buffy to hide her family in Spike's crypt?
I've rambled a lot more than I intended to. The episode was a mixture of
funny and annoying, but I think it managed to move the characters into
positions ready to launch new storylines.
Stephen
Niall Harrison
>> The plot feels remarkably contrivance-free, which is
>> impressive given how badly things usually go wrong when Buffy or
>> Angel attempts to deal with science (dodgy robots, anyone?).
>> I'm not one to be overly tolerant of technobabble at the best of
>> times, but somehow the writers managed to gloss over it in an
>> entertaining, if not convincing, manner.
>
> Scientist is working on extracting and preserving a piece of time. Some
> demons show up and correct his formulae - as for some reason they can't
> build the machine to execute the formula, although the end result (whatever
> that might be) is important somehow. Scientist implements these huge changes
> in the equations with a few keypresses on a computer and manages to stop
> time for these mercury drops (can mercury even form drops?).
I don't see any reason why mercury shouldn't be able to form drops; but
then, I don't know much about mercury. I'll agree that the demons not
being able to implement the machine themselves is pure contrivance, but I
got the idea that the changes they made to his formulae were more
calibration changes than a drastic reworking of the basic theory.
> He runs out of the lab and runs to exactly where his girlfriend and
> lab-partner are talking, and arrives at exactly the worst moment.
Standard TV plot device. Which doesn't mean that it's excusable, but
does mean that it comes in below the detection threshold on my
contrivance-ometer. :-)
> He carries the huge pieces
> of equipement to his home (which has a power main good enough to run a
> particle accelerator) without anyone noticing, sets the equipment up to work
> completely differently, getting it right first time, and in such as way as
> time does not stop for the electricity powering the system.
These are plot holes, not contrivances!
> Contrivance?
OK, yes, there are contrivances. But, like I said, I was enjoying myself
quite a bit, so they didn't really register with me.
>> The Host's chat with
>> Angel in the convertible is at the same time the highlight and
>> the lowlight of the episode. Last episode, we were given (or
>> seemed to be given) the final answers about Wolfram and Hart's
>> motivations. This episode, it's the turn of Angel's reasons to
>> be given the once-over. And, the reasons we get are plausible -
>> as long as you don't think about them too hard.
>
> I think the talk in the car is a crucial part of the episode, if you view
> the A plot as being Angel and the scientist as a prop for that plot.
I agree on both counts. It's just not an entirely *convincing* part of
the episode.
>> Maybe I'm not being too
>> harsh; after all, Buffy is in what should be the filler period,
>> too, and yet it is managing to pull rabbits out of the
>> proverbial hat. The first half of Angel series two was some of
>> the best television I've ever seen; I'd hate to see that work
>> thrown away in the second half.
>
> Five episodes ago Glory was impatiently waiting for the news of where her
> key was.
[...]
> She then vanishes to make way for Joyce's tumour, Riley's departure, and a
> wacky troll episode. Maybe the reason that Buffy can pull rabbits out of
> it's hat at the moment is that it hasn't pulled so many out yet.
Don't get me started. I'm enjoying S5 Buffy on an episode-by-episode
basis, but you're damn right that it doesn't hang together too well. And,
with the exception of 'Fool For Love', it hasn't produced an episode I
feel the urge to rewatch, yet, whereas I'd be quite happy rewatching
almost anything from Angel.
> I'll agree with you that the huge build up of the first half of Angel S2
> has not paid off yet, but there is still plenty of time to go.
Yes, I know. I don't really doubt that the writers can pull it off if
they put their minds to it, I'm just impatient, I guess. And getting very
nervous about the rumours surrounding the Angel series finale. :-(
> With Angel, I get the
> impression that the arc is constructed reasonably well, and that later
> episodes can reveal extra depths of the earlier ones (AYNOHYEB as an
> example).
Yes. Without a doubt. And I wouldn't be surprised if the same happens
with this episode.
My current policy on spoilers is that I read rumours about eps before they
air in the states, and then avoid any other information about them. I've
also been spoiled for the end of reprise/start of epiphany (although
without any other details about those episodes). It did occur to me that
part of 'Happy Anniversary's plot seemed to be partly foreshadowing those
events.
Niall
--
If you die you do so at your own risk.
natalie
> thoughts. Be gentle, people...
aren't we always?
any standalone episode seems a little out of place now - 'first impressions'
managed it without seeming too out of place. GWBG also to an extent, but
after that we were plunged into darla-ness and beige-ness - so these
episodes really stick out.
>
> 'Happy Anniversary' is an odd episode. For most of its length,
> it feels like a romp, and there are a lot of genuinely funny
> moments. The plot feels remarkably contrivance-free, which is
> impressive given how badly things usually go wrong when Buffy or
> Angel attempts to deal with science (dodgy robots, anyone?).
> I'm not one to be overly tolerant of technobabble at the best of
> times, but somehow the writers managed to gloss over it in an
> entertaining, if not convincing, manner.
for my part, it felt like the whole science, freeze time plot was very much
in the background which might sound a little odd. then again it might not.
who knows. but, it was never the focus of the episode for me - my attention
instead being drawn to the host intentionally niggling away at angel, and
the fortunes of the gang.
had it been in the foreground, i'd have loathed this episode - but it was
just a way to allow us to get into angel's head (via the host) so i can deal
with it.
in fact i think i pretty much ignored the technobabble to be honest.
>
> Herein lies the problem, however, because just when we're really
> enjoying ourselves, we get a segment reminding us that there is
> - believe it or not - an ongoing story. These segments jar with
> the rest of the plot, because they highlight what an
> inappropriate time it is for this story. The Host's chat with
> Angel in the convertible is at the same time the highlight and
> the lowlight of the episode. Last episode, we were given (or
> seemed to be given) the final answers about Wolfram and Hart's
> motivations. This episode, it's the turn of Angel's reasons to
> be given the once-over. And, the reasons we get are plausible -
> as long as you don't think about them too hard.
angel referred to his 'crew' though. did Db pick up gunn's lines by
accident?
i have nothing else to add because i agree :)
<snipped more stuff that i agree with
>
> It's the speed that kills. For Angel to be showing second
> thoughts now, this quickly, seems rushed; it's as though they
> want to get this segment of the story out of the way as fast as
> possible, in order to move on to...whatever's next.
there is that over-riding feeling that they don't want to take dark/beige
angel any further and are trying to wind that whole part of the arc up. or
maybe once he was dark/beige they just didn't have any good ideas where to
go from there.
>Wolfram and
> Hart have, as the result of truly inspired planning, managed to
> force Angel over the edge, to cut himself off from everything.
> They've shown him the futility of the Good Fight, that he can't
> win, and in doing so have played on fears that he's voiced as
> far back as 'Blind Date'. That's not something you just get
> over, and yet as things stand our hero looks to be making his
> way back to the land of the living (metaphorically speaking) in
> the next three or four episodes. It's going totake some damn
> fine writing to convince me that the speed of that recovery is
> justified.
oh wait and see. we have a tim minear double bill coming up - that's got to
be good right?
and i'm shutting right up because i'd lack to mention a spoiler here but i
won't - rest assured that it's very relevant to what you said. if that
helps.
>
> All of which seems perhaps a little over the top for what is,
> after all, only filler. There is much here to enjoy; anything
> the Host says, ever, for instance, or Wesley's Poirot-esque
> murder-mystery scene posturing.
you liked that? i wasn't sure about it myself. i'm not sure why - i think i
needed the episode to have been super wacky for me to like it. as it was, it
just seemed odd to me.
>There's some back-referencing -
> Angel's ditched the long black coat, for a shorter number, much
> like the one he was wearing back in the 50's, for instance - and
> what, I suspect, is some foreshadowing. But I can't help
> feeling that now is the wrong time for this plot; that Angel
> should be *acting*, and not reacting. Maybe I'm not being too
> harsh; after all, Buffy is in what should be the filler period,
> too, and yet it is managing to pull rabbits out of the
> proverbial hat. The first half of Angel series two was some of
> the best television I've ever seen; I'd hate to see that work
> thrown away in the second half.
to be positive, you could try and balance it out. think how many good
episodes we've had - it couldn't last forever.
hmm. that seems quite a bleak way of looking at it.
good review btw niall :-)
natalie
Niall Harrison
> "Niall Harrison" <s...@tirian.magd.ox.ac.uk> wrote in message
> news:9a36vl$gb1$1...@news.ox.ac.uk...
>> Ooh look, an actual review from me, instead of just random
>> thoughts. Be gentle, people...
>
> aren't we always?
Can't hurt to remind people. :-)
Very true. Also, I like both those episodes more now that I can look back
and see their place in the arc; maybe the same thing will happen with
these eps.
>> 'Happy Anniversary' is an odd episode. For most of its length,
>> it feels like a romp, and there are a lot of genuinely funny
>> moments. The plot feels remarkably contrivance-free, which is
>> impressive given how badly things usually go wrong when Buffy or
>> Angel attempts to deal with science (dodgy robots, anyone?).
>> I'm not one to be overly tolerant of technobabble at the best of
>> times, but somehow the writers managed to gloss over it in an
>> entertaining, if not convincing, manner.
>
> for my part, it felt like the whole science, freeze time plot was very much
> in the background which might sound a little odd. then again it might not.
> who knows. but, it was never the focus of the episode for me - my attention
> instead being drawn to the host intentionally niggling away at angel, and
> the fortunes of the gang.
I think that was intentional, and I think it's a big part of why the dodgy
science didn't really bother me.
>> This episode, it's the turn of Angel's reasons to
>> be given the once-over. And, the reasons we get are plausible -
>> as long as you don't think about them too hard.
>
> angel referred to his 'crew' though. did Db pick up gunn's lines by
> accident?
lol :-)
>> It's going to take some damn
>> fine writing to convince me that the speed of that recovery is
>> justified.
>
> oh wait and see. we have a tim minear double bill coming up - that's got to
> be good right?
I'm sure it'll be good. But will it be good *enough*? Will everything
make sense? I want to know now, dammit! :-)
>> There's some back-referencing -
>> Angel's ditched the long black coat, for a shorter number, much
>> like the one he was wearing back in the 50's, for instance - and
>> what, I suspect, is some foreshadowing. But I can't help
>> feeling that now is the wrong time for this plot; that Angel
>> should be *acting*, and not reacting. Maybe I'm not being too
>> harsh; after all, Buffy is in what should be the filler period,
>> too, and yet it is managing to pull rabbits out of the
>> proverbial hat. The first half of Angel series two was some of
>> the best television I've ever seen; I'd hate to see that work
>> thrown away in the second half.
>
> to be positive, you could try and balance it out. think how many good
> episodes we've had - it couldn't last forever.
Why not, eh? That's what I want to know. :-)
> hmm. that seems quite a bleak way of looking at it.
I know. The review came off a bit harsher than I intended, seeing as how
despite all the flaws I can find with the episode, I can't deny that I did
rather enjo it.
> good review btw niall :-)
Damn. That means I should make an effort to keep doing them, right?
Niall
--
Despair could never touch a day like this.
Debra
I am not sure Angel knows his state of mind or that he is showing
second thoughts of the path he has chosen in his 'pushed over the
edge' persona. All that seemed to happen here that could anyway
be described as the way back is that he acknowledges that his
actions re the gang have left them on their own - something a
rational humane Angel would have known at the time. There wasn't
really anything, other than exposition of the respective positions of
the PTB and Angel, that suggested that Angel was now thinking
that he should change his current approach to destroy evil, rather
than help the hopeless. He came to understand tonight that that
path does not preclude human interaction and perhaps that is the
start of a way back but he is not yet prepared to give up his goals
re D&D and their ilk and W&H.
Debra
'Angel, you should lighten up. You should smile. You should wear a nice plaid.'
Sierro
was:
>And, with the exception of 'Fool For Love'
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>it hasn't produced an episode I feel the urge to rewatch
But you just said it has :)
--
Sierro
http://www.zirconix.co.uk
icq #7362367
sie...@zirconix.co.uk
Niall Harrison
wrote:
Erm, that's what 'with the exception of' means, isn't it? Or am I
missing some really clever joke here?
Niall
--
Bursting out from the white noise phase.
Niall Harrison
[...]
>>It's the speed that kills. For Angel to be showing second
>>thoughts now, this quickly, seems rushed; it's as though they
>>want to get this segment of the story out of the way as fast as
>>possible, in order to move on to...whatever's next.
[...]
> I am not sure Angel knows his state of mind
That's not really an excuse for not explaining it to the audience, though,
is it?
> or that he is showing
> second thoughts of the path he has chosen in his 'pushed over the
> edge' persona.
He definitely showed some regret for his actions, even though it was
retrospective regret. That could be the start of a recovery.
> There wasn't
> really anything, other than exposition of the respective positions of
> the PTB and Angel, that suggested that Angel was now thinking
> that he should change his current approach to destroy evil, rather
> than help the hopeless.
Fair enough...
> He came to understand tonight that that
> path does not preclude human interaction and perhaps that is the
> start of a way back but he is not yet prepared to give up his goals
> re D&D and their ilk and W&H.
...but if you can't infer the one conclusion, then you can't infer the
other. It just wasn't clear what his next move would be from the end of
the episode.
Niall
--
When the air is sunshine.
Debra
>Date: 04/04/01 13:58 GMT Daylight Time
>Message-id: <9af5q1$j0d$4...@news.ox.ac.uk>
I suppose it is if the intention is to try and take the audience along with the
state of muddled confusion that he is in. One approach is - here
is the right road, that is clear, specific and the audience knows it so
when their flawed hero strays from it, the audience know he is wrong
and wait for him to realise his mistake. Another approach is - here is
the hero who, through recent experience has decided that maybe that road is
futile and not getting the job done and he needs to rethink
where he is going and the audience should not be shown the final
destination of that journey until the hero works it out.
>> or that he is showing
>> second thoughts of the path he has chosen in his 'pushed over the
>> edge' persona.
>
>He definitely showed some regret for his actions, even though it was
>retrospective regret. That could be the start of a recovery.
>
I agree that he showed retrospective regret for the effect of what he
had done on his friends. What I didn't see, or haven't seen yet, is
anything that says he is having second thoughts about following the
path he has chosen - eliminating evil. And that was why I was
challenging (too strong a word but you know what I mean) your
comment that this was all too soon.
One point of the car conversation, coupled with the beige aura, may
have been to make clear that Angel is not totally uncaring of people,
even with his obessession intact. I think this episode may have told
us that if, 10 minutes after firing the others, Angel had seen a child
in the middle of the road about to be mown down by a car, he would
had made an effort to save the child. That's something we could not
have been sure of after Reunion and Redefinition and could only
speculate on after he gave the money to Anne in Blood Money.
>> There wasn't
>> really anything, other than exposition of the respective positions of
>> the PTB and Angel, that suggested that Angel was now thinking
>> that he should change his current approach to destroy evil, rather
>> than help the hopeless.
>
>Fair enough...
>
>> He came to understand tonight that that
>> path does not preclude human interaction and perhaps that is the
>> start of a way back but he is not yet prepared to give up his goals
>> re D&D and their ilk and W&H.
>
>...but if you can't infer the one conclusion, then you can't infer the
>other. It just wasn't clear what his next move would be from the end of
>the episode.
Oh yes I can! But I know what you mean and would say it's all just
speculation based on what I saw mixed with what I understand of
the characters as they've been written so far. I do agree that it is
not clear what the next move is. If I am right that he has not given up
the path he's on, then I expect him to continue fighting evil with
scant regard (although more than previously) to the effect that may
have on the innocents around him. If on the other hand, this is the
start of his climb back to the PTB path, then I would expect him to
make a move to rejoin the others. Roll on Friday night.
Debra
I don't dance
Niall Harrison
>>>>is.
>>
>>[...]
>>
>>>>It's the speed that kills. For Angel to be showing second
>>>>thoughts now, this quickly, seems rushed; it's as though they
>>>>want to get this segment of the story out of the way as fast as
>>>>possible, in order to move on to...whatever's next.
>>
>>[...]
>>
>>> I am not sure Angel knows his state of mind
>>
>>That's not really an excuse for not explaining it to the audience, though,
>>is it?
>
> I suppose it is if the intention is to try and take the audience along
> with the state of muddled confusion that he is in.
Hmm, yes, good point. That does seem to be what they're trying to do.
And I'm pretty sure it will all make more sense when looking back on the
whole arc...but that doesn't stop it being frustrating right here, right
now.
>>> He came to understand tonight that that
>>> path does not preclude human interaction and perhaps that is the
>>> start of a way back but he is not yet prepared to give up his goals
>>> re D&D and their ilk and W&H.
>>
>>...but if you can't infer the one conclusion, then you can't infer the
>>other. It just wasn't clear what his next move would be from the end of
>>the episode.
>
> Oh yes I can!
:-P
> But I know what you mean and would say it's all just
> speculation based on what I saw mixed with what I understand of
> the characters as they've been written so far.
And very informed speculation it is, too. Makes a lot of sense.
> Roll on Friday night.
Yes please.
Niall
--
Go Bug Jack Barron!
Sierro
/me reads post
/me reads again
/me grins sheepishly
I'll get back to you on this one... :)