AOQ Angel Review 2-13: "Happy Anniversary"
Arbitrar Of Quality
episodes in these review threads.
ANGEL
Season Two, Episode 13: "Happy Anniversary"
(or "Caught somewhere in tiiiiime")
Writer: David Greenwalt; story by Greenwalt and Joss Whedon
Director: Bill Norton
On a superficial level, "Happy Anniversary" is yet another side
story, a day in the life of the series post-"Reunion." There's a
new threat to the world from a new character and a new kind of source,
and Angel has to avert an apocalypse. Rather slowly. I've mentioned
a few times that the series has a tendency to plod, and this is one of
those episodes. There's not really a whole lot to say about the life
and times of the world-changing grad student. I have few praises or
complaints because it doesn't inspire many feelings. The character
motivations generally make sense, and a little bit of how sad the story
is comes through. The reason for that vibe is also its biggest flaw,
though; Denise is right about Gene being pretty hollow, if this is the
moment that he wants to hold onto forever. Ergo, it's difficult, to
misquote the Frantics' "Bill From Bala" sketch, to care about
watching this stupid little story about stupid little people and their
stupid little lives. The effect is sorta like building a whole episode
around the case that Angel got so bored with in "Dear Boy." Only
with more HOTT!! LIBRARY-SEARCHING ACTION!
Just a few more comments about that before we move on to the more
interesting stuff:
1} Putting Gene in a relationship in the first place after introducing
him as a standard geek type, and them making it a tepid one, is kinda
playing with form.
2} Glad to see that occasionally someone will overhear a whole
conversation, not just selected parts.
3} I kinda like the phrase "sympathy bone."
4} For a show that cracks jokes about _Star Trek_, there's sure a lot
of fake science blather.
Okay, that's it.
More to the point are the interactions between Angel and the Host, who
shows up to spur him into action and occasionally reflect things onto
another relationship that couldn't stay the same forever. I'm not
so wild about the Host as a plot device; I'm fine with him nudging
events along, but he shouldn't be the one to ultimately break Angel
out of his funk. The opening-scene banter is pretty good, as Angel
expresses just about the correct level of annoyance with the character
proportionate to what he deserves.
Getting back to the point I was making, the exchange in the car is the
central moment of the story for me. The Host makes a start towards
getting him to think straight, yeah, whatever. I'm more interested
in Angel's outburst at the end, and the new light in which it casts
the last few episodes. Taken on its own, "Blood Money" plays as
Angel orchestrating a convoluted game in an Angelus-esque way, getting
into his enemies' heads. But then this shows how little in control
of things he is. What has he really accomplished in the last few weeks
while running solo? The episode starts with our hero alone in the
hotel, trying to sleep. It proceeds with him ranting about how much
the endless supply of lawyers are getting to him. He's talking about
killing Darla and burning down W&H and so on. But has he gotten any
closer to final victory since getting his former employees out of the
way? Episodes like BM are thus re-cast to seem more like a confused,
quixotic kind of war.
Also, the last act in Gene's apartment works way better than it
should, by all rights, in tying things together. "Well, the guy is a
disaster at love, and nearly destroyed the world. I can relate."
And it even has time to throw in a surprisingly effective simile:
"It's like a song. Now, I can hold a note for a long time...
actually I can hold a note forever. But eventually that's just noise.
It's the change we're listening for. The note coming after, and the
one after that. That's what makes it music."
Meanwhile, the patheticness that is Wesley's group continues at first
as they set up a weak imitation of shop. I was still questioning what
they're doing on the series, although by the end of the episode that
made more sense. Still, their comedy act is basically fun this week,
but seems a little out of place. My main goal with B-stories like this
is to enjoy the good parts without thinking too hard about them and to
let the rest slide past. So although it does kinda cross the border
into hurting the show's internal consistency for the sake of a gag,
there's nothing to do but laugh at Wesley's Sherlock Holmes
routine, which Denisof pulls of with flair. I mean, "then we have
the footprints in the soft soil under the widow outside the solarium -
far too small and not webbed to belong to this demon!" Can't argue
with that. There should've been a reference to someone being
left-handed, though.
To employ one of my frequently-used phrases, I think I love the idea of
the this season's story arc more than I'm enjoying actually
watching it. In the context of its place in ATS, HA moves things along
well, so it's a shame about the dullness factor. Post-"Reunion"
ATS makes me wish I hadn't already used up my
good-stuff-slowed-down-to-33-rpm analogy. Unlike the case with Season
One, we have that same quality as in BTVS where no episode is ever
truly a throwaway. This one is leading to something, and in the
immediate sense, that something is the money moment of the ending, with
the AI crew celebrating a profitable day. "Which one of you is
Angel?" "It's just a name." Huh. That hurts a little bit. I
mean that in a good way.
This Is Really Stupid But I Laughed Anyway moment(s):
- "Dead plant... not symbolizing our future! Really!"
- "Can you just get to the point already? "Yes, I can, if you'd
let me get a word in edgewise."
- The way the Host's explanation for the mascot thing; "not for
*your* school, silly," so quickly shuts the guy up.
- "So! If Kevin was to have control of the money, who would have
control of Kevin?" "[pointing at empty tray] Are there any more of
these little..."
- The fact that the anniversary dinner appears to be package macaroni
and cheese
So...
One-sentence summary: Okay for what it is.
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]
* rating changed from original review
Apteryx
news:1151649030....@b68g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
> episodes in these review threads.
>
>
> story, a day in the life of the series post-"Reunion."
I'd say 95% of it is in fact another side story. The 5% that's not show how
easy it is to advance the season arc with just a few lines added to what is
essentially a standalone story. That's why whether or how much an epsiode
advances the season story line isn't a significant factor in how I rate it -
its too easy to do.
> and times of the world-changing grad student. I have few praises or
> complaints because it doesn't inspire many feelings. The character
> motivations generally make sense,
I had a little quibble, though maybe not important from the point of view of
Angel's advance here. Gene sets up his time-freeze machine to freeze him and
Denise in the act. But thinking and feeling take time, so they won't be
doing any of that will they're in the bubble. And he doesn't intend the
time-freeze to effect the whole world, so sooner or later, someone is going
to come along and find them frozen by the machine. They'll be concerned
about them and will turn the machine off to "save" them. From the POV of
Gene and Denise, that moment will be the next they have experienced since
they were frozen. So from their POV, what he has done is to actually
guarantee that someone will walk in and interupt his sympathy boner. How
smart is that?
>
> More to the point are the interactions between Angel and the Host, who
> shows up to spur him into action and occasionally reflect things onto
> another relationship that couldn't stay the same forever. I'm not
> so wild about the Host as a plot device; I'm fine with him nudging
> events along, but he shouldn't be the one to ultimately break Angel
> out of his funk.
I don't think we can be picky about that. Darla's not going to do it. He's
rejected his gang. And Buffy's busy right now.
>
> Also, the last act in Gene's apartment works way better than it
> should, by all rights, in tying things together. "Well, the guy is a
> disaster at love, and nearly destroyed the world. I can relate."
> And it even has time to throw in a surprisingly effective simile:
> "It's like a song. Now, I can hold a note for a long time...
> actually I can hold a note forever. But eventually that's just noise.
> It's the change we're listening for. The note coming after, and the
> one after that. That's what makes it music."
That is a great scene. But there's not much of it.
> Meanwhile, the patheticness that is Wesley's group continues at first
> as they set up a weak imitation of shop. I was still questioning what
> they're doing on the series, although by the end of the episode that
> made more sense. Still, their comedy act is basically fun this week,
> but seems a little out of place. My main goal with B-stories like this
> is to enjoy the good parts without thinking too hard about them and to
> let the rest slide past. So although it does kinda cross the border
> into hurting the show's internal consistency for the sake of a gag,
> there's nothing to do but laugh at Wesley's Sherlock Holmes
> routine, which Denisof pulls of with flair. I mean, "then we have
> the footprints in the soft soil under the widow outside the solarium -
> far too small and not webbed to belong to this demon!" Can't argue
> with that. There should've been a reference to someone being
> left-handed, though.
A pretty good scene. I like Wesley unleashing his inner Poirot (or indeed
Holmes)
> To employ one of my frequently-used phrases, I think I love the idea of
> the this season's story arc more than I'm enjoying actually
> watching it. In the context of its place in ATS, HA moves things along
> well, so it's a shame about the dullness factor. Post-"Reunion"
> ATS makes me wish I hadn't already used up my
> good-stuff-slowed-down-to-33-rpm analogy. Unlike the case with Season
> One, we have that same quality as in BTVS where no episode is ever
> truly a throwaway. This one is leading to something, and in the
> immediate sense, that something is the money moment of the ending, with
> the AI crew celebrating a profitable day. "Which one of you is
> Angel?" "It's just a name." Huh. That hurts a little bit. I
> mean that in a good way.
Another good moment in a (mostly) insignificant episode And the advances in
Wesley's story do seem more earned than those for Angel's
>
>
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: Okay for what it is.
>
> AOQ rating: Decent
Decent for me too. There's certainly some good stuff there, and my rating is
certainly closer to Good than to Weak, but it just doesn't engage me as much
as the better episodes do. It's my 54th favourite AtS episode (so just in
the top half), and 18th best in season 2
--
Apteryx
One Bit Shy
news:1151649030....@b68g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 13: "Happy Anniversary"
> On a superficial level, "Happy Anniversary" is yet another side
> story, a day in the life of the series post-"Reunion." There's a
> new threat to the world from a new character and a new kind of source,
> and Angel has to avert an apocalypse. Rather slowly. I've mentioned
> a few times that the series has a tendency to plod, and this is one of
> those episodes. There's not really a whole lot to say about the life
> and times of the world-changing grad student.
I've got virtually nothing to say about the guy who couldn't finish his
sentences.
When Denise said, "The post-sympathy-bone-walk-out is you're only escape
hatch now," all I could think was that the show had sunk to doing Seinfeld
impressions. Yet, that strikes me as the clear high point of Gene's part of
the story.
Well, I'll make no bones about it. If this was the whole episode it would
get a flat out Bad rating from me. One geek devoid of personality and a
girlfriend filled with the kind of passion that makes one want to watch
paint dry and a whole bunch of yee-haw science. Yep, I'd vote to end the
world too.
Fortunately there were other things in the episode.
> More to the point are the interactions between Angel and the Host, who
> shows up to spur him into action and occasionally reflect things onto
> another relationship that couldn't stay the same forever. I'm not
> so wild about the Host as a plot device; I'm fine with him nudging
> events along, but he shouldn't be the one to ultimately break Angel
> out of his funk. The opening-scene banter is pretty good, as Angel
> expresses just about the correct level of annoyance with the character
> proportionate to what he deserves.
I haven't much cared for the Host character previously. And there are
places that remind me of that here too. (Like the Sea Breeze bit.) But
mostly he's way better than I've seen before. (The echoing Star Spangled
Banner is a vast improvement on Lady Marmalade.) Like it or not, he
provides most of the fun this episode. I rather enjoyed the bit where he
gets the bartender to sing For He's A Jolly Good Fellow. "And you keep
plugging away on that novel, F. Scott. Art is its own reward."
So, anyway, having him annoy Angel into self reflection works for me. We
know how cranky Angel gets when he's nagged. Now he finds out that firing
his team not only doesn't stop the nagging - it makes it worse. Wesley and
Cordy must seem positively sober companions by comparison.
I liked the look of the Lubber demons too. The way they approached the car
from all directions was actually kinda creepy. Not too much - what with all
the comedy bits running around like the Hosts ear splitting high note - but
kinda.
> Getting back to the point I was making, the exchange in the car is the
> central moment of the story for me. The Host makes a start towards
> getting him to think straight, yeah, whatever. I'm more interested
> in Angel's outburst at the end, and the new light in which it casts
> the last few episodes. Taken on its own, "Blood Money" plays as
> Angel orchestrating a convoluted game in an Angelus-esque way, getting
> into his enemies' heads. But then this shows how little in control
> of things he is. What has he really accomplished in the last few weeks
> while running solo? The episode starts with our hero alone in the
> hotel, trying to sleep. It proceeds with him ranting about how much
> the endless supply of lawyers are getting to him. He's talking about
> killing Darla and burning down W&H and so on. But has he gotten any
> closer to final victory since getting his former employees out of the
> way? Episodes like BM are thus re-cast to seem more like a confused,
> quixotic kind of war.
My feelings are mixed about this. Your assessment appears accurate as to
what is shown. I do appreciate the clear statement that he means to kill
Darla and burn W&H to the ground. I also like the added notion that, yes,
of course, W&H is making him nuts. They're powerful and talented and pretty
much would have to strike home with some of their blows. And I recall the
Host's own warning a long time ago that Darla was a distraction.
But I'm still not terribly thrilled with the thought of it all being reduced
to a quixotic struggle. I still want to understand better what Angel was
going for with that character that's not quite Angel nor quite Angelus. And
I really have been looking forward to further playing of the game Angel did
to Lilah in her car last episode. So I don't want everything set up with
Angel the last few episodes to just fizzle as a bad idea.
> Also, the last act in Gene's apartment works way better than it
> should, by all rights, in tying things together. "Well, the guy is a
> disaster at love, and nearly destroyed the world. I can relate."
That's good. For Angel, that is. Gene still ends up not able to complete a
sentence.
> Meanwhile, the patheticness that is Wesley's group continues at first
> as they set up a weak imitation of shop. I was still questioning what
> they're doing on the series, although by the end of the episode that
> made more sense. Still, their comedy act is basically fun this week,
> but seems a little out of place. My main goal with B-stories like this
> is to enjoy the good parts without thinking too hard about them and to
> let the rest slide past. So although it does kinda cross the border
> into hurting the show's internal consistency for the sake of a gag,
> there's nothing to do but laugh at Wesley's Sherlock Holmes
> routine, which Denisof pulls of with flair. I mean, "then we have
> the footprints in the soft soil under the widow outside the solarium -
> far too small and not webbed to belong to this demon!" Can't argue
> with that. There should've been a reference to someone being
> left-handed, though.
I would have thought Poirot myself. Anyway, there's a light goofiness to
their scenes this episode that is surprisingly winning. I rather enjoyed
Virginia breezing in with the job she found for them and a couple sly
remarks of her own.
Cordy: "We'll do it! We'll do anything."
Virginia: "Oh, that's so sad."
She's back on my good side again.
But somehow this can't last, can it? How long can we keep running Wesley's
most excellent adventures along side Angel's angst?
> So...
>
> One-sentence summary: Okay for what it is.
>
> AOQ rating: Decent
The Gene part of the story was so bad in my book that it might drag the
whole episode lower - except that it was also played as utterly unimportant
filler to be thrown away. Which I'm happy to do. The rest was good enough
to sustain the Decent rating, even though it's terribly light weight on the
whole. So, another episode we match on.
OBS
Kevin
One Bit Shy wrote:
> I haven't much cared for the Host character previously. And there are
> places that remind me of that here too. (Like the Sea Breeze bit.) But
> mostly he's way better than I've seen before.
I just want to mention what I keep forgetting to say -- I think Andy
Hallett gives a great performance as the Host, throughout the season.
He struck me as a fine actor right from the start. What the writers do
with his character may not always work, but I like Hallett a lot. I
also like the idea of a funny-lookin' green guy with horns, who's a
cool crooner and Broadway baby.
--Kevin
William George Ferguson
wrote:
>A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
>episodes in these review threads.
>
>
>ANGEL
>Season Two, Episode 13: "Happy Anniversary"
>(or "Caught somewhere in tiiiiime")
>Writer: David Greenwalt; story by Greenwalt and Joss Whedon
>Director: Bill Norton
>
>Just a few more comments about that before we move on to the more
>interesting stuff:
>1} Putting Gene in a relationship in the first place after introducing
>him as a standard geek type, and them making it a tepid one, is kinda
>playing with form.
>2} Glad to see that occasionally someone will overhear a whole
>conversation, not just selected parts.
>3} I kinda like the phrase "sympathy bone."
>4} For a show that cracks jokes about _Star Trek_, there's sure a lot
>of fake science blather.
Of course, the field should have collapsed when it hit the field generator
in the basement (to immediately restart after collapsing, so it would be
an oscillating field affecting the one apartment building, not an
expanding field eventually affecting the entire universe. Otherwise,
turning off the generator wouldn't have stopped it.
That's my geekery for the day.
No, actually it isn't. The weapon of choice of the time-stop worshipping
demons is called a hunga-munga. You may have noticed it is essentially
the same weapon Buffy was weilding in her 'Comrade Buffy' pose in Anne.
--
HERBERT
1996 - 1997
Beloved Mascot
Delightful Meal
He fed the Pack
A little
Xande...@gmail.com
> > Meanwhile, the patheticness that is Wesley's group continues at first
> > as they set up a weak imitation of shop. I was still questioning what
> > they're doing on the series, although by the end of the episode that
> > made more sense. Still, their comedy act is basically fun this week,
> > but seems a little out of place. My main goal with B-stories like this
> > is to enjoy the good parts without thinking too hard about them and to
> > let the rest slide past. So although it does kinda cross the border
> > into hurting the show's internal consistency for the sake of a gag,
> > there's nothing to do but laugh at Wesley's Sherlock Holmes
> > routine, which Denisof pulls of with flair. I mean, "then we have
> > the footprints in the soft soil under the widow outside the solarium -
> > far too small and not webbed to belong to this demon!" Can't argue
> > with that. There should've been a reference to someone being
> > left-handed, though.
>
> I would have thought Poirot myself.
So both you and Apteryx have mentioned Poirot. Who's he?
Don Sample
Xande...@gmail.com wrote:
Hercule Poirot. Agatha Christie's Belgian detective character, from
such books as /Murder on the Orient Express/, and /Death on the Nile/.
--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
Mel
Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
> episodes in these review threads.
>
>
> ANGEL
> Season Two, Episode 13: "Happy Anniversary"
> (or "Caught somewhere in tiiiiime")
> Writer: David Greenwalt; story by Greenwalt and Joss Whedon
> Director: Bill Norton
I'm not reading your review yet since I haven't rewatched this one
(actually, I haven't even watched "Blood Money" so I'm a few episodes
behind) but I just wanted to make a couple quick comments.
From what I remember of this one, the whole plan of geeky graduate
school guy just makes my skin crawl, right along the lines of the
stalker doctor in "I Fall to Pieces." What this guy wants to do to his
girlfriend is just disgusting. I know they play it for laughs at the end
but I really can't get over the "ick" factor.
Creepiness aside, my favorite part that I recall is the Host (has his
name been mentioned yet?) in the library. Getting mistaken for the
childrens' reader just cracks me up. And the great thing is that he was
totally into it and would probably be hilarious for the kids.
Well, with you gone for a few days (does weekend include Monday and
Tuesday, or just till Sunday????) and me finally off for a week, I
should be able to get caught up again.
Mel
Mel
Mel wrote:
>
>
> Arbitrar Of Quality wrote:
>
>> A reminder: Please avoid spoilers for future _Buffy_ and _Angel_
>> episodes in these review threads.
>>
>>
>> ANGEL
>> Season Two, Episode 13: "Happy Anniversary"
>> (or "Caught somewhere in tiiiiime")
>> Writer: David Greenwalt; story by Greenwalt and Joss Whedon
>> Director: Bill Norton
>
>
>
> I'm not reading your review yet since I haven't rewatched this one
> (actually, I haven't even watched "Blood Money" so I'm a few episodes
> behind) but I just wanted to make a couple quick comments.
>
> From what I remember of this one, the whole plan of geeky graduate
> school guy just makes my skin crawl, right along the lines of the
> stalker doctor in "I Fall to Pieces." What this guy wants to do to his
> girlfriend is just disgusting. I know they play it for laughs at the end
> but I really can't get over the "ick" factor.
>
> Creepiness aside, my favorite part that I recall is the Host (has his
> name been mentioned yet?) in the library.
[snip the rest]
Oops, I guess I shouldn't post about episodes I don't remember well
before I re-watch them. But I still like the library scenes, and pretty
much all the rest of the Angel/Host scenes.
AOQ, did you notice Cordy changed her hair again? Looks much better than
the black mop, but now she's going for a lighter-than-her-natural-color
look.
Mel
Arbitrar Of Quality
> AOQ, did you notice Cordy changed her hair again? Looks much better than
> the black mop, but now she's going for a lighter-than-her-natural-color
> look.
I'm not as nuts about the highlights, but they're okay.
-AOQ
~defender of the black mop~
Arbitrar Of Quality
> I've got virtually nothing to say about the guy who couldn't finish his
> sentences.
I think they were going for a defining trait. Maybe one to symbolize
his incomplete life or something. Well, we've already devoted more
space to Gene than he deserves; I didn't dislike his story as intensely
as you did, but you won't see me (or anyone else) trying to defend it
or anything.
> But I'm still not terribly thrilled with the thought of it all being reduced
> to a quixotic struggle. I still want to understand better what Angel was
> going for with that character that's not quite Angel nor quite Angelus. And
> I really have been looking forward to further playing of the game Angel did
> to Lilah in her car last episode. So I don't want everything set up with
> Angel the last few episodes to just fizzle as a bad idea.
Just a thought, but a recurring theme this year seems to be Angel
trying to reinvent himself into an image that he can't sustain. In all
the years we've seen him, he's so often playing a role or a character.
I'd say based on HA that he's trying to deaden his soul, and it's not
quite working.
-AOQ
Opus the Penguin
> Meanwhile, the patheticness that is Wesley's group continues at
> first as they set up a weak imitation of shop. I was still
> questioning what they're doing on the series, although by the end
> of the episode that made more sense. Still, their comedy act is
> basically fun this week, but seems a little out of place. My main
> goal with B-stories like this is to enjoy the good parts without
> thinking too hard about them and to let the rest slide past. So
> although it does kinda cross the border into hurting the show's
> internal consistency for the sake of a gag, there's nothing to do
> but laugh at Wesley's Sherlock Holmes routine, which Denisof pulls
> of with flair. I mean, "then we have the footprints in the soft
> soil under the widow outside the solarium - far too small and not
> webbed to belong to this demon!" Can't argue with that. There
> should've been a reference to someone being left-handed, though.
<Max Smart>
Would you believe it if I took out the part about not belonging to a
demon?
</Max Smart>
--
Opus the Penguin
The best darn penguin in all of Usenet
One Bit Shy
That's an interesting notion. I'll try to keep that in mind as we progress.
OBS
Stephen Tempest
>"Arbitrar Of Quality" <tsm...@wildmail.com> wrote in message
>> Just a thought, but a recurring theme this year seems to be Angel
>> trying to reinvent himself into an image that he can't sustain. In all
>> the years we've seen him, he's so often playing a role or a character.
>> I'd say based on HA that he's trying to deaden his soul, and it's not
>> quite working.
>
>That's an interesting notion. I'll try to keep that in mind as we progress.
>
Angel is doing exactly what Doyle warned him not to do - cut himself
off from all human ties, and become the Dark Avenger stalking the
shadows, with no human contact.
It's possible this may not be the best thing for him to be doing...
Stephen