Chief Seattle review of Angel S4 E6
Linda
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EPISODE 4.06
SPIN THE BOTTLE
Written by: Joss Whedon
Directed by: Joss Whedon
Spin the Bottle
I have commented before on the very effective use that ANGEL as a series
makes of titles. They are often clever, sometimes have dual meaning and are
never less than appropriate. Having seen "Spin the Bottle" for the first
time I was, therefore, a little puzzled by its title. Of course there was
one obvious explanation. The central event in the episode was the spell
that was intended to restore Cordelia's memory. That spell was cast by the
act of spinning a bottle. But that surely would be too superficial an
explanation for the title to be satisfactory. Besides why did the writers
choose to feature a spinning bottle in the episode at all? The answer to my
puzzle came when I remembered a game which features a spinning bottle -
Truth or Consequences. The object of this game is to force those chosen by
the spin of the bottle to reveal something about themselves, the more
embarrassing the better. And in effect this was what we saw in this episode
as each of our protagonists, through the reversion to their teenaged selves,
unwittingly reveal something about themselves. And in discussing these
revelations who better to start with than the intended beneficiary of the
spell - Cordelia.
The Center of the Universe
The 17 year old Sunnydale Princess is, of course, no stranger to viewers of
seasons 1 to 3 of BUFFY. I loved the way that her reaction on first seeing
TeenLiam here ("Hello, salty goodness") exactly matched her reaction on
first seeing Angel in the BUFFY episode NKABOTFD. But the old Cordelia was
a fairly complex character. From season 2 of BUFFY onwards she was
certainly more than the self-centered materialist. She was first and
foremost a girl who has a very hard, practical streak in her. This Cordelia
wasn't much of a philosopher and didn't concern herself overly with
abstractions such as the difference between good and evil. She was far more
concerned with the day to day task of living and making life as comfortable
for herself as possible. And it was I think largely in this context that we
got the "I speak the truth and I don't care what anybody else thinks"
Cordelia. But equally the way she would blurt out what she saw as the truth
regardless of the way that looked to others was an indication of her
fearlessness, physical as well as moral. And certainly she was a brave and
loyal friend. We do from time to time get the odd glimpse here and there of
these different aspects of Cordelia. The re-emergence of her old line in
invective was so refreshing. I loved:
Wesley: "There is no call to be snippity, Miss."
Cordelia: "This is a clarion call for snippity, Princess Charles."
And when threatened by TeenLiam she never lost her composure. But there can
be little doubt where the real focus of the writers' interest was here.
Almost everything that Cordelia said or did in "Spin the Bottle" was about
her. For example, it seemed to her entirely believable that the Government
would engage in a conspiracy to ruin her hair. But the best example was
when TeenLiam ran out of the hotel and Wesley was worried about his safety,
Cordelia was shocked because he left her:
"Excuse me? Did I just get the brush off? Did a guy just bail on me? There
really is some sort of horrible spell."
And when he returns because of the "demons" outside she is relieved:
"Yep. I still got it."
The concentration here is on her self-centeredness. The extent to which
Cordelia had been transformed into Saint Cordelia in the course of season 3
has been a topic for some debate. Allow me, however, to refer to my review
of "Tomorrow". There I suggested that deep down inside Cordelia has always
believed that she was someone special, destined for higher things. In
Sunnydale she thought of that as marrying someone fabulously wealthy like
the frat boy she had her eye on in "Reptile Boy". Later, in LA she thought
of it as becoming a rich and successful actress. And even inheriting Doyle'
s visions doesn't seem to have made much of a difference to this basic
orientation. In "Birthday" what prompted her to give up the visions was the
idea that she was weak and valueless to Angel. What changed her mind was
the idea that she was the most important thing in his life. And that meant
more to Cordelia than the needs of strangers. That is not to say that she
did not genuinely want to help others or that she did not make sacrifices to
do so. What it does mean is that she sees herself and what is important to
her as having a "special place" in the Universe. In this she really is the
same Queen C that she was in Sunnydale High. Her self-centeredness was not,
therefore, something that belonged to her dead past but a living force
inside her now. With everything she had gone through - especially the
transforming power of the visions - the way she responded to this feeling
inside her changed. But what we are being reminded here is that the basic
impulse did not.
The Truth Is Out There (Sort Of)
Unlike Cordelia, we have no idea what Fred was like before her time in
Pylea. Admittedly we don't get an awful lot here but what we do get is very
telling. First of all she is a conspiracy theorist. The fact that she
found herself alone in an old hotel with a bunch of strangers didn't seem to
surprise her very much:
"Don't y'all think this is some kind of government conspiracy? 'Cause my
friend, Levon, says the government's always taking kids and experimenting on
them. Did anybody else have to take a personality disorder test recently?
They ask you about politics and your bowel movements and if you want to be a
florist."
The thing about these people is that their theories do not depend on logic
or reasoning. Indeed, Fred herself switches effortlessly between different
and contradictory theories, as her speculations about Lorne later on show:
"I just don't think we should be ruling out the idea of aliens. I mean, he
is a greenish sorta fella. And his being asleep all that time. I mean, think
about it a minute. They could have been doing Heaven knows what. I can just
see myself lying on a table - no clothes, no will - while they probed and
explored and did whatever they wanted to my naked, helpless body. It's
horrible."
Certainly the circumstances in which she found herself in the lobby of the
Hyperion were peculiar. And the sight of Lorne complete with green skin and
horns was also very odd. But she evidently also thought that the world was
already so odd that she was readily able to accept what was happening to
her. But the point was that her imagination took these circumstances and
built them into something for which she had no basis in fact. If anything
the reality of what was happening wasn't nearly as odd as her imagination
led her to believe. It was also much more benign. Fred's explanations
about what was happening may have varied but the common thread was that
"Someone out there" was doing bad things. In this context, her obsession
with pot was also interesting. Despite the fact that she didn't know any of
her companions she was quite open about getting and using it, even though it
was blatantly illegal. In contrast to the unseen (and non-existent) evil
outside she trusted those inside, even though she knew nothing about them.
It was I think no coincidence that Lorne managed to put an end to the fiasco
by reaching her, even persuading her to ingest some strange potion, in spite
of her fears about him being alien and carrying out experiments on her.
The picture we have of Fred is of someone whose imagination is powerful
enough to distort her view of reality. Hence perhaps her ability to create
the "fairy tale" for herself to cover the grimness of Pylea. This is also
someone who harbors very real fears about evil in the world. But at the
same time she is also someone who is naďve and perhaps just a bit gullible
when it comes to people she knows. On the one hand she sees evil in the form
of government conspiracies and evil aliens. On the other she is quite
willing to believe some half-baked nonsense spun by her friends. Hence the
difficulty she had in dealing with what Wesley did in "Sleep Tight", with
Connor in "Deep Down" and Professor Seidel in "Supersymmetry". In both of
the earlier cases she wanted to believe the best of those she saw as
innocent and seemed to prefer the more comfortable picture created by her
imagination than the harsher reality. But when reality broke through, her
reactions to Wesley, Connor and especially Professor Seidel went to the
opposite extreme. This isn't someone with much room for shades of gray. As
we saw in "Supersymmetry" her view of Gunn was idealistic and she went for
help to Wesley rather than him because she thought of Wesley as morally
compromised. At the start of "Spin the Bottle" we see her struggle to
overcome the legacy of what Gunn did in that episode. His actions not only
shattered her view of what he was capable of but created a huge problem
about how she could now relate to him. I think Fred was serious when she
said Gunn's moral outlook was part of what she loved in him and now that she
saw he was capable of acting wrongly she cannot see him any longer in the
same way. Hence the tension between the two of them at the beginning of
this episode. So, again what we see here is how Fred's whole outlook in
life was formed by the age of 17 and the way that outlook affects her
relationships with others even now.
Whose in Charge Here?
I next turn to Wesley and Gunn as a pair (if not as a couple) because this
episode suggests even more strongly that their fates are somehow linked
together. They first forged a friendship out of shared adversity and a
mutual respect for one another's qualities. That friendship was first
compromised and eventually broken, partly because of their shared attraction
to Fred and the rivalry that engendered. But Fred is not a factor between
them now. Yet still they fight.
Wesley: "Well, lets get the lay of the place."
Gunn: "Don't be given me orders. I run my own crew."
Wesley: "I'm sure your seafaring adventures are very interesting. But I have
experience in things you couldn't imagine. I'm not head boy for nothing."
Gunn: "You're about to be headless boy if you don't get out of my face."
Wesley: "Intimidation. Points for effort. Perhaps a little Karate technique
will put you in your place."
As this little exchange between them suggests, the reasons for their
conflict lies principally in the way that very similar insecurities rub up
against one another. Those insecurities are reflected in the way they vie
with one another over Fred but ultimately go much deeper. This is perhaps
made most explicit in the case of Gunn. When he finally realizes that Fred
had gone to Wesley to help her kill Seidel, he jumps to the wrong
conclusion:
Gunn: "So I'm the muscle, huh?"
Wesley: "Sorry?"
Gunn: "Angel's the man on the card. It's his world. I'm not a leader no
more. I don't have that champion's heart like Cordy, and the brains, why
that was you. So that leaves muscle."
Wesley: "What about Fred?"
Gunn: "Well, that's the question, isn't it? She's pretty brainy, too. Maybe
you two are kindred souls. Maybe that's why she went to you for help getting
revenge on that professor. Killing takes brains."
Gunn concludes that Fred went to Wesley because she thought Wesley was
smarter than Gunn. We know that isn't the real reason, but Gunn is so
convinced that Fred's actions reflected an implicit lack of faith in him
that he didn't even ask her. And his insecurities go even deeper than this.
His anger with Wesley leads him to threaten him
Gunn: "I'm gonna say this once. You move on Fred and I will put you down
hard."
Wesley: "I'm glad to see you have such faith in your relationship."
Wesley is quite right. Gunn's behavior here is a sure sign that he doubts
that Fred really loves him and this distrust is clearly traceable back to
Gunn's own lack of belief in himself. Why should she love him, he reasons,
when all he is has to offer is brawn.
His insecurities on these subjects are even more clearly revealed when we
see TeenGunn's reaction to TeenWesley, not because of any jealousy over Fred
but because of his sensitivity to TeenWesley's claims. As we have already
seen, the issue of leadership is an important one. TeenWesley and TeenGunn
have their first big clash on the subject of who gives orders. And as
TeenGunn later says:
"The day I take orders from guys like you is the day I... Not even gonna
happen."
TeenGunn was also the one who yanked TeenWesley's chain when he seemed to
want to show he knew much more than everyone else. He insisted on getting
in first with the "Vampires are real" revelation and made a fool of
TeenWesley by showing he was just making things up when he identified which
species of demon Lorne belonged to. It is interesting that questions about
Wesley's intellect and Gunn's abilities are precisely the same issues over
which AdultWesley and AdultGunn had their earlier confrontation and shows
clearly how central those issues are to the gulf between them.
Even more interesting is the fact that Gunn's concerns reflect his inner
uncertainties rather than the reality of his qualities. Gunn may never have
had Wesley's book learning but he was always the shrewdest member of Angel
Investigations. Remember, for example, how in "Reunion" he was the one who
worked out how to find Darla. More to the point, he also managed to work
out from a very brief conversation what actually did happen between Wesley
and Fred in "Supersymmetry". He also had a very good idea of Wesley's
motives in that incident and realized that the old Wesley he used to know
wouldn't have behaved that way. Hence his question:
"What happened to you, man?"
As for his leadership skills, as we have seen the way he exposed Wesley's
lack of knowledge and generally cut through some of the more ridiculous
ideas that surfaced:
Wesley: "Perhaps the whole point of this experiment is hair!"
Gunn: "I vote he's not in charge."
And certainly when it comes to organizing a search party, Gunn's tactical
knowledge and physical courage are evident in the way he decides to split
the group into two and himself takes the lead of one of them. Indeed his
very belief that being muscle is inferior to having brains or being a leader
is itself indicative of someone who is more than "just" muscle. If he
really were no more than a dumb bully, he would hardly admit to feeling that
physical strength was not enough.
Knowing All the Answers
But Gunn's insecurities are in turn more than matched by Wesley's own. The
first time we see him the word "insecurity" appears hopelessly
inappropriate. He expertly tries out the new weapons he has just bought.
Moreover in his dealings with the agent of the manufacturer, he is clearly
in charge, laying down the terms on which he is to buy them:
"Tell Emil if it tests alright in the field he'll be hearing
from me again."
And when agreeing to take part in the memory restoration spell, he is the
very personification of rationality and authority in dealing with a very
excitable Lorne:
"Yes. Lorne. I said yes. I'll be there right away. If it works it's worth
doing."
And in his confrontation with Gunn in the Office, it is clearly Wesley who
has the upper hand. Without ever raising his voice or losing control he
pushes enough of Gunn's button to snap his rather brittle temper and then
forces him to back off. But even in this confrontation we get a clue to
Wesley's real problems. Of his part in "Supersymmetry" he said to Gunn:
"I did what you weren't prepared to do."
And asked why he continued to come back to Angel Investigations, he said
that it was
"because you keep needing my help."
But the most telling moment of all came when he was asked what caused his
changed behavior. His answer was:
"I had my throat cut and all my friends abandoned me."
At best these statements were a very partial truth. As Gunn hinted, he was
prepared to do almost anything to help Fred. She didn't give him the
opportunity. Fred was the real reason why Wesley was so eager to maintain
his connection with Angel Investigations. And it will be enough for me to
point out that Wesley's account of his part in the events of "Loyalty" and
"Forgiving" left one or two little details out. Wesley had clearly
created for himself a storyline in which he was always right, always to one
to ride to the rescue (for entirely unselfish reasons) but always surrounded
by people who did not understand or appreciate him.
And this is where the counterpoint between AdultWesley and TeenWesley really
works. What we see are the surface differences between the two of them.
TeenWesley comes across as a pompous know it all. He is keen to impress
everyone with who he is and what he has achieved:
Wesley: "I am from the Watchers Academy in Southern Hampshire. In fact, I
happen to be head boy."
Cordelia: "Gee, I wonder how you earned that nick name."
Wesley: "A lot of effort, I don't mind saying."
He is also keen to show everyone his fighting skills (hence to reference to
karate technique) and knowledge. He wanted to be the one to tell the others
that Vampires really existed and was put out when Gunn beat him to it. And
when confronted by Lorne, he pretends to know more than he actually does:
Wesley: "It's - a demon. Probably of the Karathmama-nyung family. You see?
Some of us have slightly broader experience..."
Gunn: "How do you kill it?"
Wesley: "Well, I know this breed is.nocturnal and feeds on roots,
or.possibly human effluvia and, ah..."
Of course the reality is very different from the theory. When he tries his
"karate technique" he makes a complete idiot of himself. In stark contrast
to the way he faced down Gunn earlier with a very controlled use of his
hidden weapons, he forces his opponent to back off again because he has no
control over his weapons. Far from being in control of the situation, he is
jumpy and frightened. His claim to knowledge is a sham. At each step of
the way he tries to convince the others that he knows things or is clever
enough to work them out, yet clearly he is as much in the dark as everyone
else. He asserts that the door is locked because that is what his theory
calls for. Yet he doesn't even take the elementary step of checking to see
if the assumed facts do conform with that theory. And Gunn is quite right
when he says of Wesley's claims to know who Lorne is:
"You don't know Jack."
Indeed if he had known as much as he claimed he would have realized that the
Cruciamentum test was for slayers. Wesley is claiming competence and
knowledge he desperately wants, not for their own sake but because he wants
to feel valuable, respected and to be able to help. Take when TeenLiam is
unmasked as the vampire he threatens Cordelia and Fred. Gunn is out of
action and Wesley is left alone to face the danger. He doesn't hesitate but
stands his ground so that the women can escape. This is not the action of
someone who is venial or self-centered; but rather someone who clearly wants
to do the right thing at whatever cost to himself. The implication of his
earlier behavior is that Wesley does not think that he would be respected or
valued unless he boasts of his achievements, claims to be skilled at karate
or possess specialist knowledge. This is indicative of someone with more
than his fair share of insecurities.
And although AdultWesley has in many ways attained the level of competence
and knowledge that TeenWesley could only aspire to, it seems plain that
these problems haven't gone away. They simply manifest themselves in
different ways. He feels as though Angel Investigations in general and Fred
in particular really need him but far from recognizing that fact they ignore
what they owe him, misunderstand him and mistreat him. AdultWesley's
idealization of himself means he cannot or will not face the reality that he
helped Fred not for her good but for his own selfish ends, the reality that
his enmity with Gunn relates to her choice of him and finally the reality of
his part in Connor's kidnapping and everything that flowed from it. To do
so would involve an admission of fault on his part and that is something he
is quite unable or unwilling to face. No-one who is truly secure in
themselves will refuse in such an absolute way to deny their own mistakes.
So, while the superficial differences between TeenWesley and AdultWesley
might indicate what a long way the latter has come, a comparison between the
characteristics of both indicates how much of the teenagers insecurities
still remain. We see the reality behind the façade of the teenager easily
and that helps reveal the truth about the much more complex individual he
becomes. The Jesuits have a saying "Give me the boy until he is seven and I
will give you the man." Allowing for a rather different age framework it is
this principle that underlies "Spin the Bottle". In the case of each of our
protagonists it is clear that they basics of their personality, and
particularly the nature of the personal demons that haunt each of them, are
set by the age they are 17. As they go through life, gain in experience and
knowledge or suffer the hard knocks that come with their chosen territory
the way they respond to these demons will change. As teenagers they do not
have the same frame of reference to judge the world and other people; they
lack judgment and perspective. Their feelings about themselves and their
place in the world and how they relate to others are therefore so much more
keenly felt and obvious. So, what we see in the their teen versions is very
much the raw state of the same people. And as we have seen what works so
well here is that we can compare this raw state to the people that they have
become and see not only the differences but the similarities. We can pick
out the influence of the same traits in both. The greater sharpness of the
problems we see in the teenagers not only allows us to see more clearly the
problems and difficulties that the adults have to cope with but also to
understand how fundamental they are to them.
Father, Dear Father
We see the same structure used in the case of Angel. In TeenLiam we see
his raw anxieties. And what comes across very powerfully here is his
feeling of being worthless, a victim of people and forces beyond his control
and someone who was powerless in the face of those people and forces. We
also get the sense of isolation that such feelings instill in him. As the
members of Angel Investigations adjust to being teenagers again they
naturally start trying to get to know one another. Angel, however, is
different. He wanders off on his own. In part this can be explained by the
fact that to TeenLiam his surroundings are so much stranger than they are to
anyone else. But there is more to it than that. They are all trying to
work out what happened to them. Talking to each other is the way the others
do this. Angel sits by himself. Of course like the others he interprets
his surroundings on the basis of his own experiences. So while Fred sees a
conspiracy and Wesley a test by the Watcher's Council Angel jumps to the
conclusion that it was all the Devil's doing:
"My father said that I was a sinner, that I'd come to a bad end. Now I've
come to Hell."
He was being punished because he was bad, something he seems to accept. He
admits to a fondness for drink:
"I tell ya, I get through this I'm gonna have me a great cup of ale. (Sits
down) I don't care what my father says is does to you."
And of course his intentions with Cordelia were strictly dishonourable:
"Truth to tell, I'm not much for fighting. I'd rather be satisfying my
sinful urges with the Chase girl."
In all of this he does seem to accept that the way he likes to behave is
wrong. But he won't or can't change. And here we come to the most
significant single issue for TeenLiam - his view of himself as victim,
someone not in control of his own destiny. In his own life it is his
fondness for drink and women that dominate. He clearly hates and resents
his father but the only thing he can do about it is whine:
"Says one thing then... 'be good. Fear God. Do as you're told.' And all the
while I know good and well he's had his share of sinning."
Or, on hearing Wesley's accent, Liam shows the bitterness he would have felt
at being treated as a second class citizen, subject to foreign rule in his
own county :
"I'm not your friend, you English pig. We never wanted you in Ireland. We
don't want you now."
But, of course, he never actually does anything to stand up to Wesley when
he tries to take charge. Instead when Gunn takes Wesley on he cheers him
on:
"It's about time the English got what's coming to him. I'm rooting for the
slave."
That is very weak. Then when he discovers he is a vampire his immediate
thought is:
"They're gonna kill me."
He then tries to flee the hotel only to be driven back by what appear to him
to be even more frightening demons. Poor TeenLiam is alone, surrounded by
dangers and is utterly incapable of dealing with them. He plans nothing, he
never takes to lead and he looks to others for reassurance. Even when as a
result of his superior strength and speed he defeats Wesley and Gunn and
chases Cordelia, his moment of triumph is short lived. Her resistance is
little enough but it pulls him up short. And when he confronts Connor he
clearly gets the worst of it at the start. But, then his feelings of
resentment and bitterness do spill over - into violence. He says that he is
tired of being bullied and at the same time starts to fight back with a
vengeance. He defeats Connor in the end quite comprehensively and crowns
his triumph by saying:
"I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to be attacked. I didn't ask to be a
freak. Hell, I didn't even ask to be born."
As with Wesley, Gunn and Cordelia we are not I think intended to conclude
from this that all of these problems TeenLiam had have simply gone away.
Angel's isolation from humanity was a constant theme for the character both
in BUFFY and earlier seasons of ANGEL. So too has his feeling of victimhood
a long history. It was weakness in the face of Buffy's determination that
led to the disaster in ""Surprise". He was the sacrifice made in "Becoming"
. It is also implicit in "Amends" that he was too weak to take ultimate
responsibility for his own action. And of course "Prodigal" was an episode
in which the writers explored the idea that Liam's original fault was his
weakness of character and showed how that weakness has hugely
disproportionate consequences for him. Finally, when faced by the malign
hand of fate Angel does have a history of letting his anger spill over into
violence (as in "Reunion"). We have of course seen his greater connection
with humanity (the central theme since "Epiphany"), his increasing command
of himself and his destiny and his greater self-control (as for example in
"Deep Down"). But we are reminded here that these are examples of his
success in dealing with his feelings, not evidence that they have gone away.
They haven't because they are too deep seated, too fundamental to the person
that he is.
But this is not the only way in which the writers make use of the
introduction of Angel's teen persona. Perhaps the real point here is not
allow us to compare it with what Adult Angel is but to see what AdultConnor
can become. As I have already said, the fears and insecurities that
teenagers have are exaggerated in comparison with those of most adults
because the former lack the experience and perspective that the latter
brings to bear. But in this episode we not only see and understand the
Adult members of Angel Investigations through the prism of their Teen
selves, we get to look at someone who really is a teenager. By comparing
the problems he has as such to the problems that Angel in particular had at
a similar stage in his life we can ourselves put those problems into
perspective. So, at one point Lorne comments on Angel's realization of his
vampiric nature in the following terms:
"Is there anything worse than feeling like you're all alone, like you're the
only person in the world who thinks the way you do, and if anyone else found
out they'd drive a pointy wooden thing through your heart?"
Angel felt all alone, alienated from his father by the gulf of understanding
between them and separated from the others in the Hyperion not only by his
vampiric nature but also his own fears and insecurities. Connor too feels
alone. His isolation from his father precisely mirrors TeenLiam's own
feelings. To Connor his father is a self-righteous bastard who has done his
fair share of sinning but assumes an air of moral superiority with him. And
as we see in the opening shot of him, the way he bulldozes his way through
the streets shows how isolated he is in a crowded city. But perhaps above
all, there is a sense of being patronized and unappreciated just because he
is a kid. Even when he rescues a woman from a vampire gang, that is how she
dismisses him. All in all, Connor's sense of being an innocent victim of a
malign universe is every bit as powerful as TeenLiam's. And just like
TeenLiam his reaction to it is to complain about how unfair everyone is to
him. But perhaps the fault really lies not in his stars but in himself.
Another point of comparison between himself and TeenLiam of them is their
attitude to Cordelia. TeenLiam as we have seen is only after one thing.
And even Connor's attitude to Cordelia (though he may delude himself on the
point) has more to do with lust than love. The parallel encounters between
himself and the prostitute and himself and Cordelia make this clear. In
both cases his attitude is "I do something for you and you do something for
me." Hardly the right attitude that. Finally both Connor and TeenLiam find
outlets for their frustrations in violence. We have already seen the way
TeenLiam's resentments boil over. Connor's charge along the mean streets of
LA is itself an expression of anger while he describes his attack on the
vampires as a product of his own bad mood. But most tellingly of all
whatever motives he started out with when he attacked TeenLiam, their fight
soon became very personal indeed.
All of these are signs of immaturity, that we have caught father and son at
stages of their life before they have grown up. But just as AdultAngel is a
very different person to TeenLiam - largely because of his willingness to
learn from his mistakes and to in effect grow up - so we can believe that
Connor has the capacity to be better than he presently is. He isn't bad,
just hurt, angry and resentful and very young. Put it another way he is a
normal teenager who will - if he gets the chance - mature and learn to deal
with his own demons in the same way that his father did.
One thing that I have always appreciated about ANGEL is the care and
attention that the writers have traditionally given to characterization.
This has many advantages. First of all there is real pleasure in just
seeing something done well - for fictional characters to come to life
because of believable and consistent characterization. Secondly in the main
the characterization has been inherently interesting. Angel has always been
the focus of attention and his collection of obsessions, fears and ambitions
has proved a vary rich mine. Wesley too has never been less than
interesting, especially since "Loyalty". Cordelia had started to worry me
but I am more convinced than ever that the writers do not want to show in
her a "moral center" but someone with her own share of failings. I do not
know where they are going with her here but the emphasis on her
self-centeredness is for a purpose. Only Gunn and Fred have consistently
disappointed me and even with them I am at last beginning to feel that in
the way they react to the events of "Supersymmetry" we are seeing something
worthy of attention. So, although "Spin the Bottle" is clearly a character
as opposed to plot driven episode our interest never wanes. We get to see
what makes people tick and why the act in the way they do and such is the
strength of the characterization this is itself interesting. But the
episode has one other thing to recommend it. A heavy emphasis on
characterization can be a mixed blessing. As I have tried to suggest, what
we see here is in many ways a logical continuation of the existing
characterization of our heroes. This is in one way a tribute to the
consistency and believability of the writers' work. But at the same time
there is a danger that familiarity with these matters will itself lead to a
loss of interest. So what we have here is a new perspective on old issues.
Allowing us to see new and unusual aspects of our heroes in the form of the
teenage selves casts a fresh light on those old issues, thus helping
maintain interest in them.
Plot
These considerations lead neatly on to the next issue. Because there is
such strong characterization in ANGEL, plot developments can be directly
related to our heroes' particular outlook on the world or on their
colleagues. The "Angel goes beige" or the "Wesley goes dark" arcs would
never have made sense without very careful preparatory characterization.
And it is here that not only does the strength of the characterization but
also its nature pay dividends. I have said it before and I will say it
again one of the reasons why this series hold interest for me is that we do
not see morally superior people riding to the rescue of lesser beings.
Rather we get deeply flawed individuals for whom the struggle against evil
is in large measure a struggle against their own baser instincts. And "Spin
the Bottle" is a wonderful example of this philosophy in action. The
situation created was one where there was no evil present. Nor did the
individuals concerned have any memory of the reasons they have all built up
for hating or distrusting one another. Each was, to the others, a blank
page. Even so they came very close to bringing disaster down on their heads
because of their own selfishness and insecurity and the way they responded
to those rather than properly listening and talking to the others. Wesley
and Gunn were each out simply to prove their own points. Cordelia was too
concerned about herself to pay attention to what was really going on and
Angel's was driven by his own sense of victimhood. No-one tried to
understand any one else's point of view. No-one seemed willing even to
communicate in any meaningful way. Indeed it was only when Fred was
persuaded to put her own fears to one side and actually listen to Lorne (the
creature she convinced herself had all sorts of nefarious designs on her)
that the situation was rescued. But this was more than a morality tale.
The concentration on characterization and the way that the internal demons
of the members of Angel Investigations nearly drove them to self destruction
suggest that this episode is intended to serve as a set up for the arc to
come. And this feeling was strongly reinforced by the framing device -
Lorne's cabaret act played, as it turned out, to an empty room. Here he
acted as something of a Greek Chorus, commenting knowingly on events within
the episode. But more importantly from time to time he hinted at events to
come - and what he was hinting at wasn't very pretty. So, at one point we
get Lorne in the Hyperion all excited about his spell:
Lorne: "No pain, no side effects. I'm telling you, swingers, there is no way
this can fail."
Then we get Lorne on the stage turning to look into the camera and
"So I'm an idiot. What are you? Perfect?"
But more importantly he goes on to comment
"Well, the fact is I had every reason to believe the spell would work. And
it did - after a fashion. What happened during it and what came after...
Ooh., I'm gonna need a bigger drink.
The final shot was of him walking out through a deserted club. Throughout
his performance on stage we had heard the audience laughing and applauding.
But here we see the chairs are empty but the tables neat and clean. No-one
had ever been there. The audience had all been in Lorne's mind, suggesting
that something was very wrong in his world. It was all very.creepy.
Of course the forgoing remained very much in the background throughout the
main storyline of this episode. And this had little enough to offer by way
of drama. The obvious initial questions were, of course, would the spell
restore Cordelia's memory or would it go wrong? For anyone who thought
there was any doubt at all about the last question all I can say is that you
obviously haven't watched many ME programs. That something would go wrong
was so inevitable that the writers even made fun of it:
Angel: "I don't know. Spells, I don't trust them."
But even when things did go pear shaped the drama was almost deliberately
downplayed. There were three set pieces which saw their potential for real
tension largely wasted. The first was the confrontation between Gunn and
Wesley. The second was Angel's discovery of his identity as a vampire and
his realization of the implications. The third was everyone else's
discovery of the fact that Angel was a vampire. All three scenes were
played for humor. In the first we had Wesley's pratfalling about which
dulled any real edge to the fight he had with Gunn. I just didn't believe
that either of them could come to any real harm. It has to be said that the
turn of events which pitted Angel against the others was very cleverly
contrived. Not least it made very good use of the Cruciamentum test to
create a realistic perception of danger where none actually existed, thus
seeming to vindicate Wesley's claims of danger while at the same showing him
as an idiot. But Angel's highly comic reaction when he realized he was a
vampire and Cordelia's outrage at the difficulty he was having in deciding
whether to after her or Fred effectively disarmed any real sense of threat.
One can only conclude that this was deliberate because when Connor and
TeenLiam fought one another there was a real edge to it. I had no difficulty
at all in believing that Connor wanted to kill his father and that the
latter in his turn was boiling over in frustration. But while in one sense
it was a pity that this level of tension was not sustained throughout the
episode there was some great comedy by way of compensation. I have already
mentioned the spectacle of our "Champion" being frightened of all the
others. I loved the way he passed the crucifix test. Then we had Wesley at
his most pompous being undermined at every step of the way. I have to
confess though I still do not warm to the slapstick element of his behavior
which I had hoped was dead and buried with "She". Fred as conspiracy
theorist pothead was simply wonderful and as I have already said the return
of the Sunnydale Princess was like a breath of fresh air. I suppose that in
these circumstances Gunn had to play the straight man but I can't help
feeling it was a pity we didn't see a little more of his comic potential.
It might have helped me warm to him - something I am still having difficulty
doing.
Overview
B+ (8.5/10) It is I suppose the fate of set up episodes that they often fail
to make a big impact themselves which helping to maximize the potential of
later episodes. That may indeed be the fate of "Spin the Bottle". There
are no big developments here either in terms of plot or characterization.
Certainly although there is much foreshadowing, nothing happens which
advances the coming Apocalypse. And the only thing that happens to
materially change the way that any one of our protagonists see themselves is
the almost throw away line at the end where Cordelia claims she and Angel
were in love - but by implication now no longer are. I am not sure what to
make of that. But the rest of the episode is taken up with a series of
reflections on the sort of people our main characters are and why this
little band might have trouble sticking together on the right path. Nothing
here is new but if, as I suspect, the issues touched on here play an
important part in future developments then reminding the audience about
their existence is surely all to the good. Moreover, it was all done in
such a new and entertaining way that I never lost interest in it. Besides,
ANGEL as a series has been so relentlessly dark that a lighter more comic
episode at this stage gives the audience a break and thereby serves more
effectively to counterpoint what I am sure will be plenty more darkness to
come. So, while I wouldn't describe the episode as outstanding it does
deserve pretty high marks.