Angel 5.11 "Damage" (Plus a Wonderfalls note)

[chicken]

More back-reviews of older episodes, during this awfully long hiatus.

BTW, I didn't like Friday's Wonderfalls as much as the first two eps, but it was still a strong one, still funny and engaging.

I also just read that Fox went out of its way to tell the Wonderfalls crew "no lesbian kissing on-screen". What the BLEEP!?! Stupid homophobic network.

I'm not using a cut tag here because "Damage" aired quite a long time ago. Sorry, tannymonster and maryavatar and all who are not in the U.S. -- just squint yer eyes. :-!

---

Andrew in Season Seven said "You're barking up the wrong asparagus net".

Let's just apply that to Spike in this episode: part of his undoing was jumping to conclusions, barking up the wrong asparagus net, and getting caught.

But it all made for a very interesting scene with Angel at the end, which I really liked.

Question: do some stores really sell guns in the open like that? Whoa. Never seen that here on the east coast (although, vague memory of seeing such a thing at a Walmart in Colorado, they do love their stupid guns there).

Dana was such an interesting character, and it makes you think there must be other slayers like her, or with different but equally nasty situations that make their new powers take on rather un-anticipated twists.

Favorite funnies:

Spike and Angel emerging from separate elevators at the same time -- what a great shot set-up by the cinematographer there.

Andrew, of course. "He's alive, Mr. Frodo, he's alive!" and "Price, I see Mr. Giles may have been wrong about you" and of course "82% more manly ...", splat, scream. And so much Spike/Andrew slashiness as to be nearly overwhelming. And the little brown lunch bag and ridiculous suit. Oh, wait, and the taste of blood. He just HAD to lick that coin. Heh heh.

Spike/Angel snarkage.

Of course the best thing of all was seeing Andrew (and by extension Giles and Buffy) stand up to the W&H gang/Angel. The Fang Gang has really been barking up the wrong asparagus net all season, and Spike's horrible loss gave us a scary, Titanic-iceberg glimpse of just how much one can lose when going down a murky moral slippery slope.

Comments

[maryavatar.livejournal.com]

No worries, 5.11 showed over here last week :)

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Really? It Did? Good. But Australia is further behind.

[tannymonster.livejournal.com]

it's ok Chicken, I haven't really been watching Angel S5 anyway...been on something of an anti-TV kick at the moment...

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

No big ... there are always DVDs.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

I'd have to rewatch the episode to look at the guns. But at stores that do sell guns, they are behind glass casing, much like expensive jewelry.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Yes, but what mainstream supermarket-type place would be silly enough to actually sell that guns? Just curious.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Wal-Mart and Fred Myers (though I think they stopped)

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

OK, well that just makes me fear them!!!

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

I went to bed and forgot to watch Wonderfalls. No lesbian kissing? Oh whatever.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

The lesbian ep. is next week, and they moved it to Thursday night. Temporarily.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Uh oh, schedule changes this early. That doesn't sound good.

[keever.livejournal.com]

And I'm still not liking Wonderfalls. I keep watching, though, waiting for it to grow on me, because I never go out on Friday nights. Halfway through, I find myself reading and half paying attention to the TV.

It goes without saying that it's telling and angering that Ally McBeal-style "ooh, isn't girl on girl macking kinky, hey it's sweeps!" stuff flies, but that we'll never see Jaye's sister kissing anyone. It serves to keep gay and lesbian TV characters as the "other," same-sex affection appearing as freaky, and makes actual gay relationships invisible. Good job in doing all of that in one policy decision, Fox network!

I totally don't remember the asparagus line -- what the hell was that supposed to mean, anyway? I loved that Spike/Angel scene at the end, too. Well-acted and moving, I thought. I saw a really good Andrew-hugging-Spike-during-the-Frodo-line icon over at ats_icons the other day. I adore Andrew. I keep hoping that they try to find Tom Lenk a part in the Firefly movie or something.

Barking up the wrong asparagus net

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

I totally don't remember the asparagus line -- what the hell was that supposed to mean, anyway?

He said it during the scene in "Never Leave Me" in which Xander and Anya tied him to a chair and interrogated him; Anya slapped him, and Xander and Anya played 'good cop, bad cop'. Andrew kept claiming he didn't know anything. A normal person would have said "You're barking up the wrong tree", but I guess Drew Goddard wanted to up the "Andrew weird guy/geek" phraseology, so he said "asparagus net" just for funnies.

I loved that Spike/Angel scene at the end, too. Well-acted and moving, I thought.

Yes. It really reinforces the fact that these two guys have a bond and an interesting form of communication other than just snarkiness, when it really counts, and are willing to bare their souls to one another, their literal souls.

I saw a really good Andrew-hugging-Spike-during-the-Frodo-line icon over at ats_icons the other day. I adore Andrew. I keep hoping that they try to find Tom Lenk a part in the Firefly movie or something.

Thanks for the icon tip. It would be so great to see Tom Lenk in the Whedonverse(s) again. He'd be great comic relief.

I heard that Adam Baldwin might appear on Angel at some point. Don't know whether it is true or not.