That Was Species-ist of Me

Episode 1.19: Sanctuary. Original Airdate: 5.02.00

“Angel attempts to reform Faith as Kate, the Watchers Council, and even Buffy Summers pursue her.”

Daniel’s Thoughts:

• Angel & Faith.   Riding down and elevator.  She looks absolutely gutted.
• Angel acting like a total big brother giving her a blanket and helping her sit on the bed. It’s really sweet.
• This little fantasy in her head, attacking Angel, proves she’s not all of a sudden better now.  She still has these psychotic tendencies. But not acting on them proves that she wants to get better.
• I really love this Faith arc.  Through the episodes of Buffy and now here, they’re really working through her issues.
• Omg, I forgot Buffy was actually in this episode.
• And now Cordelia and Wesley commiserating. 
• “I do not, however, understand why the woman who brutally tortured me last night - this morning - gets pastries.”
• Wes & Cordelia can’t understand why Angel wants to help Faith.  It’s because Angel can relate.  Wes & Cordelia can’t.
• “People always get a little funny right after they’ve been sadistically tortured.  Well, you’d know.”  Ooh, harsh.  But fair.
• Detective Kate!  
• Fugitive from Sunnydale, she says.
• “Everyone knows you’ve gone all Scully.”  “Scully’s the skeptic.”  DUH
• Faith’s awake.  Angel, “Faith, I have doughnuts.”  - Good start, Angel.
• Ooh, she has a knife.  Eliza is totally scary here.  But she hands him the knife.

• Wolfram & Hart!  Lilah informs Lindsey the status of where Faith and Angel are.
• “Rumor is he used to date [a slayer].”  heh.
• Faith is thinking how she killed Allan - which is what spiraled this whole thing in the first place.   She feels guilty which shows empathy which is a plus.
• Wes is trying to get over it by drinking and playing darts.  Oh no!  Fellow watchers!  They are not Gileses though.  You can tell because they’re all wearing leather jackets.
• They want Wes to come home….but there’s a catch.  They want him to get Faith.
• “So how does this work?” Angel goes off on a monologue about how hard it is to change.  She was talking about the popcorn maker.  And that’s what I love about Joss’ writing. (And Tim Minear who co-wrote this episode.) There’s always room for humor.  Humor breaks up the tension.  It’s important.  And then suddenly it gets back to that tension when Faith realizes that she has to atone to/for Wesley.
• Aww, Angel realizes Buffy is dating someone new.
• Oh man, Lee’s injuries.  I’d feel bad if he wasn’t evil.
• “That was speciesist of me.”
• Zoom in on the demon: 

Puppy!

• Wesley’s protectiveness of Angel is nice.
• Oh shizznit - Demon crawling on ceiling.
• “You’re safe here.” Cue demon dropping in on them.
• Faith kills it, which of course is triggering. 
• It has red blood, which I think is unusual for a demon.
• AND ENTER BUFFY.  (THE VAMPIRE SLAYER). 
• Buffy still doesn’t remember that perfect day that they had when Angel wasn’t a vampire.
• “So you decided to punish her with a severe cuddling.”
• “You apologize to me, I’ll beat you to death.”  I love this side of Buffy.
• Oh shit,  Angel and Buffy punched each other.
• Lee: "This is getting ridiculous. The first assassin kills the second assassin - sent to kill the first assassin, who didn't assassinate anyone until we hired the second assassin to assassinate the first assassin" [One plus one plus two plus one. - Z]
• Oh wow, and Wes was pretending.  He’s actually helping Faith. “It wasn’t for her.  It’s because I trust you.”
• Oooh Lindsey comes to Kate.  Kate knows about Wolfram & Hart.
• Lindsey and his cool hair convince Kate by pretending they’re on the same page about the supernatural.
• Buffy/Faith showdown. Buffy - “I gave you every chance.”  

The line. The reaction.  Everything about this.

• And in the end, Buffy saves Faith from the machine guns because that’s who she is.
• Omg! A helicopter!  They must have been saving a large part of their budget for this episode.
• And Wesley shows his darts prowess from earlier by throwing the needle into one of the Watcher’s necks.
• Angel’s got vamp face on climbing the helicopter.
• And Kate and the cops have arrived.  She asks Angel where Faith is and when he doesn’t answer, she arrests him.
• Buffy & Wes follow close behind
• But Faith is already at the police station.  She’s turning her in.  And she’ll be in jail until season 7 of Buffy.
• “Buffy, this wasn’t about you.”  THIS IS MY SHOW.
• Wow, how Angel is drawing the line, now.  
• “I have someone in my life now - that I love.”  Harsh.
• “Go home.” -  ugh, this is all so gut-wrenching.
• Ok, Faith is in jail.  Buffy has gone home to Sunnydale. Can Cordelia come back now?

Zelda’s Thoughts:

• Daniel and I are both just yelling the word “sanctuary!” at each other before we hit play.
• Faith and Angel, subdued and covered in scabbing cuts, as they ride the elevator down to his apartment. He wraps her in a fleecy blanket I want to steal, then covers her lower half in a woven throw blanket I also want to steal. I like blankets.
• Woof, Faith’s still imagining striking out at Angel, destroying him. She’s not doing it, but we can see the struggle to try to let herself be quiet, but the resistance to spend any time with the quiet. When you’re quiet it’s easier to remember what you’ve done.
• Oh boy, Cordelia with her massive bruise, Wesley with his cuts and bruises. And Wesley, even though he dropped the knife instead of killing Faith, is not inclined to forgive and forget this time. It’s not an Angel/Angelus separation, after all. Faith is still the person she was yesterday.
• “I do not, however, understand why the woman who brutally tortured me last night, this morning gets pastries.” The bitter twisting tinge. “I believe in helping people. I do not believe in coddling murderers … there is evil in that girl, Angel … you set her free, she’ll kill again.” And Wesley leaves.
• And after Cordelia gets Angel to sign her three paid vacation checks, she leaves too. Helping Angel on his overarching mission, sure, but neither is willing to help on this particular mission.
• Which I get; we don’t see this amount of compassion extended to any other murderers they encounter on this show. The differences are she’s a Slayer, and she used to be on our team. Angel, more than anyone, knows about the stony road to redemption. But I think if he hadn’t recognized how broken Faith was, how hell-bent she was on her own destruction, he wouldn’t show this compassion.
• And maybe Cordelia and Wes, who haven’t reached the lows that both Angel and Faith have reached, can’t recognize the desperation to escape from it, by death or in this case, recovery and repentance.
• Last episode, you could see the dissociation in Faith’s eyes and she brazenly challenged and attacked. Here, you can see how much she wishes she could still dissociate. She’s sunk into herself, the last place she wants to be.
• Damn, Lee Mercer’s jaw is wired shut.

• Faith’s flashing back to her first murder, the moment that, she thinks, separated her irrevocably from the hero mission: when she killed Deputy Mayor Finch and, when Buffy tried to make her confront it, retorted “I don’t care.”
• Nice touch that Angel’s and Faith’s wounds are already fading, faster than either Wes or Cordy could manage.
• DB’s monologue … so much less effective acting than ED just listening. He challenges her, she punches him, he takes it, and she pauses. “Help me?” // “Yeah.”
• Oh right, the stupid collection team from the Watchers Council. Ugh gross make them go away. Oh look, one of them is smoking in a non-smoking restaurant. Evil or about to die? I guess it’s not as clear cut here in LA than Sunnydale (the creeper Faith mugged at the bus station, too), where all morality is greyer and sometimes demons can be right, giants can be good, etc etc. But smoking is definitely still a sign of unlikeability.
• And Wes won’t turn Faith over to the Council, even on the promise of his being reinstated as Watcher. He learned from the last time he did that.

• “She has power and the willingness to use that power for evil. She must be stopped.” Take out the evil part, and honestly that’s still the Council’s raison d’être half the time. They want to use the Slayer as a tool but can’t let her fully recognize her own power. So you give her a test when she turns 18 that is nearly impossible to win. So you withhold information she needs to save the world (again). So you chain her to a rock and try to destroy her. So you destroy her until the next teenager is called for you to control.
• “How do you say, gee, really sorry that I tortured you nearly to death.” … “Are you? Sorry.” // “And what if I can’t say it? There are some things you can’t just take back.”
• “You’ve been doing this for a hundred years. I’m not gonna make it through the next ten minutes.” // “So make it through the next five, the next minute.” A lot of language you hear from addiction recovery, from trauma recovery. This is Faith’s own self-inflicted trauma.
• Blurgh I’m not interested in Angel being butt-hurt that Buffy’s dating someone new. He’s already had a couple run-ins with other romantic options this season. Didn’t he leave Sunnydale for the express purpose of giving her a chance at a normal life? Mission accomplished?
• The W&H Trio are hiring some kind of demon assassin to go after Faith. Meanwhile, it seems like Wes may have come around to helping the Council apprehend Faith for her “rehabilitation.” On the condition that Angel is unharmed.
• Ugh this demon on the ceiling is giving me Queller flashbacks.
• Ah yes, the ironic juxtaposition of Angel assuring Faith she’s safe right before a demon attack.
• And as he comforts Faith after the attack, of course, Buffy walks in.
• Oh right and his shirt’s unbuttoned because recent shower.
• Buffy: “Giles heard that she tried to kill you.” Me: “He got better!”
• And Buffy, even more so than Wes or Cordy, has no room in her heart for forgiveness for Faith. She tried so many times to save her, and now she’s written her off. “Buffy, I’m so—“” // “If you apologize to me, I will beat you to death.” // “Go ahead.” It’s interesting, right, because if you’re only watching Angel, it seems like Buffy comes in here in full vengeance villain mode, with very little nuance. You have to have seen her entire arc with Faith on her own show to realize how long it’s taken her to get to this point with Faith. Even after Faith tried to kill Angel, and Buffy tried to kill Faith right back, Buffy saw Faith, vulnerable and comatose in the hospital, and still loved what good remained in her, and kissed her on the forehead.
• I do like this acting moment between SMG and DB, the horrified realization of what it means, for Angel to punch Buffy.
• Lindsey’s epiphany of how to handle both Angel and Faith: “We’re lawyers. It’s a mistake for us to work outside the law.” aka TIME FOR A LAWYERED EX MACHINA.
• “I know Faith did some bad things to you.” // “You can’t possibly know.” // “And you can’t possibly know what she’s going through.”
• Oh good, Wes didn’t turn, I’d forgotten this bit. He lied to the Council, with the goal of protecting Faith from them. I know there’s some problematic stuff with Wes, but god I love him right now. “It wasn’t for her.” // “I know.” // “It’s because I trust you.”
• I do really like that this episode is tying together so many major players from this season: the W&H Trio, Kate and her conflicted bond with Angel, Faith, even Buffy. You can tell we’re getting close to the finale. Sure, this arc is separate from the finale, but it’s no longer time to spin wheels on inconsequential monsters of the week.
• And Lindsey, without naming names, lets Kate know that Faith’s with Angel.
• Faith to Buffy, on the roof, vulnerable and genuine, “Just tell me how to make it better.” And somehow that’s enough, in all of this, for Buffy to stop and hear, and help Faith escape from the Watchers both on the roof and from a helicopter okay then.
• Wes, showing off his dart skills (thoughtfully planted by the writers earlier in the pub scene), tranqs one of the Watchers by throwing the syringe. Then he punches him out for good measure. I guess now he’s popped his tortured cherry, Wes gets to be badass?
• And Faith. She turns herself in to the police. “I’d like to make a confession.” Because while it’s true that prison couldn’t hold a Slayer determined to escape, if Faith goes by choice, it’s the only way she can think to begin to make amends. To fully return to the rules of humanity, and serve prison time for crimes committed.
• I know Buffy’s pretty antagonistic this episode, but dang her curls are shiny shiny.

imagine if hair like this existed in the wild. IMAGINE.

• “Buffy, this wasn’t about you. This was about saving somebody’s soul.”
• Wow, is this the first time Buffy’s said she loves Riley? Saying it to Angel and not to Riley himself? We know that Riley’s first time saying it was to Faith-in-Buffy. Honestly, if Riley ever found out about this, it would add more fuel to his big issue, that she doesn’t open herself to him the way he needs.
• “Faith wins again,” Buffy says as she leaves and I just … listen, I love Buffy, I really do, but what the hell is that. In what world is Faith the reigning queen of winning? Buffy put her in a coma. Buffy has friends and family, a life lived out in the sunlight. Buffy’s come out on top in every fight she’s had with Faith. There was literally a half-episode where Buffy was jealous of Faith, and then we found out Faith was on the run and her Watcher had been murdered in front of her. Faith’s never won.
• Anyway, I love this episode for the Faith arc of it and thought Eliza did a great job, and I’m so proud of how far Faith’s come, and that she will recover, will redeem herself. I love that we’ll get to see that (spoilers).

  

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: Lee: "This is getting ridiculous. The first assassin kills the second assassin - sent to kill the first assassin, who didn't assassinate anyone until we hired the second assassin to assassinate the first assassin."

Zelda: “I hope she is strong enough to make it. Peace is not an easy thing to find.” // “She has a chance.” – Wesley/Angel

Arc/Continuity:

Recurring: Detective Kate Lockley, Lindsey McDonald, Lee Mercer, Lilah Morgan, Faith, Buffy Summers

Buffy Crossover: Faith, Buffy Summers, Collins, Weatherby, Smith, Deputy Mayor Allan Finch (flashback/archive footage)

Whedonverse Hat Trick: Jeff Ricketts (Weatherby on Buffy and Angel, also Spider Monster on Angel, Man (Blue Hands) on Firefly)

Stats:

Cordelia’s Hair – headband over messy bun

Dead Humans – 0

Dead Undeads – 1

Dead Flashbacks – 0

Dead Lawyers – 0

Cordelia Has a Vision – 0

Wesley Prat-falls – 0

Lawyered Ex Machina – 1

Evil Reveal – 0

Unevil Reveal – 0

Shenanigans Called – 0

Apocalypse Called – 0

Prophecy Called – 0

I'm Evil! I'm Bad! I'm Evil!

Episode 1.18: Five by Five. Original Airdate: 4.25.00

“Fed up with Angel meddling in their affairs, Wolfram and Hart hire newly arrived Faith to take him out.”

Zelda’s Thoughts:

• FAITH FAITH FAITH IT’S TIME FOR THE (first) FAITH EPISODE.
• So to catch us all up, over in Sunnydale Faith woke up from her coma, stole Buffy’s body, wreaked some havoc, but had to stop some vamps from terrorizing a church because it’s wrong, and then after Buffy undid the body switch, Faith skipped town.
• And now we have three demons chasing down some rando, but we also have Angel (and Wes) chasing down the demons.
• Random guy at the bus station lights a cigarette. He’s either evil or about to die. Those are the rules of television for teens.
• Well he’s a creeper at least, and Faith takes him down and robs him. Is he dead? I forget if he’s dead.
• Oh a flashback to Romania. Dammit we’ve got Angelus’s stupid stupid accent. But we also have Darla! I think we’re in the lead up to Angel’s resouling.
• Why is Angelus so turned on that Darla got him a Romani woman? What makes her more special than everyone else he slaughtered? (I have learned the error of my ways and won’t use the G word, even if he does)
• Dang, he drinks from her inner thigh. This sure isn’t high school Buffy anymore.
• Cordy: “Generally speaking, you don’t change a guy. What you see is what you get. Scratch the surface, and what do you find? More surface.” // Wes: “One could have said the same about Angel.”
• Cordy and Wes are here to set up the motif/question of the Faith arc: are people capable of change, of growth? Or are they who we think they are when we meet them? Is Faith someone we can rescue?
• I do like that they’re pairing her introduction to the show with the flashbacks to Angelus turning to Angel, to make it clear why he is the right person to help facilitate her reform: the one who can see the good in her, under the miles-deep tiers of damage.
• Also lookit Faith just starting a fight in a club and dancing away.
• Ahhhh, that’s why Angel rescued the rando from the demons. He wanted to tear apart the case that Lindsey(!) and Lee Mercer (!) are working on.
• Lindsey glares at him, all:

Hey, didn't you throw my client through a window seventeen episodes ago?

• So we track Lawyer Ex Machina … is this Angel Ex Machina? Anti-Lawyer Ex Machina?
• Hey y’all Lilah’s here too. Man, W&H’s set is pretty utilitarian right now. Don’t worry, they’ll make it more fun eventually.
• “You can always tell if he’s happy. His scowl is slightly less scowly.” Omg are Angel and Raymond Holt kindred spirits?

• Lilah’s picking up Faith, and Faith thinks it’s a hook up and I’d be digging the Faith is Bi narrative more if it weren’t that villains are often coded as queer and Faith is in full villain mode right now.
• But for the record, Eliza has said that she portrayed Faith as bi, so it’s still canon, fight me.
• Faith: “I don’t know jack about you.” // Lilah: “Green is my favorite color. I look good in diamonds. And I love riding in limousines.” I remember really disliking Lilah on my initial watch of this series, and I wonder if it’s attached to my resistance to, y’know, evil characters. But I know she’s a fan favorite and so far I’m at least enjoying Stephanie Romanov’s performance.
• “Not everyone screams … when you kill them. Some just stand there frozen.” It’s interesting, they don’t show us the turn from Angelus to Angel, and yes I know we had that covered in Buffy, but they’ve already reused some of the footage from his intro to Darla from Buffy in this series. Darla finds Angel, tormenting himself, the soul fresh in his psyche.
• Too bad DB is much less interesting at the tremory torment.
• Darla’s so mad at Angel’s soul and it’s amazing. “You’re disgusting.” She even aims to stake him. That’s loyalty. I was gonna carp that why doesn’t she spend any time trying to undo it but I kind of remember that she does in some future flashback, so I’ll keep quiet.
• We got the power three from W&H! Or the 3L? What should we call them? Anyway, Lindsey, Lilah, and Lee are propositioning Faith and there is so much innuendo.
• “Who am I supposed to kill?” “Please understand we would never advocate the killing of another human being. His name’s Angel.” And she agrees immediately.
• So I guess for all that the W&H Three know about Angel and about Faith, they somehow don’t seem to clock that Angel and Faith know each other because Sunnydale is a small town.
• Oh and then she smashes up Lee’s face a bunch. Just for funsies.
• Wow, Faith is so close to Angel when she aims the crossbow. She knows he’ll catch it—and he does—but this is a great opening salvo. 

• Aw, Angel called Giles … but we don’t get to have the convo. And Wes is mad Giles didn’t call him, since he was actually Faith’s Watcher. That’s … legit.
• Wes, still making his argument that Faith is savable. “She’s not a demon, Angel. She’s a sick, sick girl.”
• Oh damn, I forgot that when Angel tried to save Faith back on Buffy, bring her back from the edge, it was Wes who stymied those efforts, charging in with the Council. Damn, this is some good baggage we’ve got here. Both Angel and Wes have unfinished brokenness with Faith to wrangle with.
• Faith, dissociated crazy in her eye, tosses Angel a gun to give him a change to take her down, and he shoots immediately, but it’s got a blank in the chamber. And she’s begging him to come at her, but still smiling. She’ll keep asking him to destroy her.
• Angel strolls into W&H, all suited up, and a random suit mistakes him for I dunno, but anyway, let’s go to Lindsey’s office.
• It’s just funny to me how bland the lobby set was, considering how glam the offices are in S5. 

That security desk is made of unpainted plywood.

• Lindsey’s not even surprised to see Angel at his desk. He just smirks and shakes his head.
• Also is this the first time we know Lindsey’s name (we saw it by his office door)? He was unnamed in the pilot.
• Lindsey: “I remember you throwing one of my clients through a window. Killed him if I’m not mistaken.” // Angel: “Yes, I seem to remember. The window was just about that size.”
• Omg these two are flirting SO HARD.
• Um. Where did that security guard come from? Was there a secret extra door in Lindsey’s office? What the ? He literally just walked into frame but there was nowhere for him to have been hiding before, LIKE WHAT THE HELL IS THAT. 

• Oh man, Cordy’s trying to come home and Phantom Dennis won’t let her in.
• And they think it’s because he’s jealous of Wes. But seriously, if he was trying to protect them from Faith, why did he relent and let them in?
• Wes: “It’s not too late to let me help you.” Wes believes Faith is redeemable … though he’s also willing to punch her when she knocks Cordelia out. The problem is, though Wes may be right, he’s not the one who can save Faith.
• Flashback!Angel may be souled, but he’s still got that thirst for human blood. And this is the moment we start to retcon what he told Buffy, three years ago, that he never killed anyone after he got his soul. He done drank that lady. (okay fine, we find out in the next flashback he doesn’t kill her, but still, the retconning of Angel’s backstory has begun)
• And Faith’s got Wes beat up, gagged, and tied to a chair. It’s torture time.
• “I was your Watcher, Faith. I know the real you. And even if you kill me, there is just one thing I want you to remember … You are a piece of sh—” I guess Wes no longer thinks she can be saved?
• Oof, seeing her playing with that broken piece of glass. Chilling. Eliza’s doing great with this ep.
• Cordy’s showing off her research skills, triangulating where Faith’s violence has surfaced so far in LA. A+ Cordelia.
• “If you’d been a better Watcher, I might have been a more positive role model.” I mean, he was her Watcher for a whole five minutes, so is that really legit? Or it’s just another way for her to needle his insecurities.
• Angel shows up before Faith can start to set Wes on fire, but also how did he get into the apartment? I thought we found out that guy she beat up at the bus station isn’t dead yet, so he wouldn’t be able to just walk in. Daniel has dibs on this shenanigan, so I’ll just second his.
• We really should have tracked how many windows and doors Angel breaks on this show. Oh well.
• This fight’s going on much longer than they normally do on this show. But then, it is vampire vs slayer. And out the window they go, into the alley.
• “You’re gonna die! You hear me? You don’t know what evil is! I’m bad!” And the rain begins. “Fight back!” As Wes manages to sever his ropes and grabs a knife so he can help.
• “I’m not gonna make it easy for you.” // “I’m evil! I’m bad! I’m evil! Do you hear me?” And then as she breaks, “Please! Angel, please just do it … Just kill me.” Y’all, I’m actually crying and how many times have I seen this? It’s just so sad. She’s so broken, in so much pain, and Angel is strong enough to help carry her through this moment, as Wes drops the knife, looking on.

Daniel’s Thoughts:

• By the title, I already know who’s starring in this episode!
• Oh shizznit.  Demons has ripped off a guys arm. Why was he just sitting there with it?

• But don’t worry.  Angel & Wesley are on the case! And Wesley gets demon slime all over him.
• It’s Faith!
• This, of course, is right after her episode of Buffy.  She ran to LA from Sunnydale.  I keep forgetting that this is congruent to Buffy episodes. 
• And flashback Darla is in this episode too!  Whoot!
• Oooooooh, this is the story of how Angelus became Angel.
• The guy Angel saved has a tattoo tear drop on his face, and other stereotypes.
• “You’ll have to face your demons sometime.” - Theme of tonight’s episode.
• Faith is at a club doin’ what she do.  Dancin' and fightin’.
• Lindsey is back!  It’s really interesting that they liked him enough to bring him back from the very first episode.  We’ve had like 16 episodes since.
• Lilah is here too!   She calls Faith a “Rogue Slayer”.  Also Lee whom I never remember.
• “You can always tell when he’s happy.  His scowl is slightly less scowly.”
• Suddenly Lilah is walking out of the club with Faith like they're going home for a hook-up or something.  I feel like a scene is missing.  A scene I'd like to see.
• Lilah reels her in with diamonds and limos.  But we know Faith is smarter than that.  She’s feeling things out.
• Meanwhile, back in the past.
• So we’ve skipped past the whole curse thing and jumped straight into the Angel being crazy remembering his past crimes.
• So Wolfram & Hart want Faith to kill Angel.  They don’t seem to realize that Faith knows him.
• Wow, and Faith just goes right to it.  That’s pretty Faith.  Do, no plan.
• Aww, they’re talking to Giles. Wesley is pissed that Giles didn’t call him right away.  He was, afterall, Faith’s Watcher.  But how would Giles know where Wesley was? Maybe he did try to call.  Maybe he called the Watcher's Council and they were all like, he's been fired.  He's probably some rogue demon hunter, now.  And Giles was all, "What's a rogue demon?"
• Buffy is name checked a couple of times.  Don’t worry, she’s fine.
• And there she is again.  I really love that about Faith.  Just shows up.
• Tyler Christopher, one of Wolfram & Hart’s lackeys.  He was on General Hospital as Nikolas Cassadine.  And then he left.  And was recast.  And then he came back.  And then he left again. He’s recast again.  Yeah, so this is his only scene as a W&H douche.  I love how Angel plays off him, though.
• And thus begins the Lindsey/Angel banter.  If this show was better, they’d be making out by now.
• Cordelia and Wesley are going to her apartment.  Phantom Dennis is blowing the door closed. They should listen to his warnings.  It’s Faith, again.  She keeps just showin’ up!
• Faith knocks out Cordelia.  Wesley punches Faith.  Faith knocks out Wes.  Fun times!
• Oh, we’re in the past again. Angel seems to be draining someone but I think it’s a fake-out.
• So Faith took Wes.  And it’s torture time.
• How did Angel enter this guy’s apartment?  We just learned in the last scene that he's in the hospital and not dead.  Shenanigans.  
• Back to the flashback, this time where we left off.  Angel, did not, in fact, drain the woman.
• Big ol’ fight scene!
• Stunt people flying through the window!

• And we get to the point where we realize why Faith decided to take up the bounty on Angel in the first place.  She wanted to lose, though she didn’t want to make it easy - and maybe it wasn’t a completely conscious decision but she’s completely deflated.  She knows she’s done a lot bad things and probably on some level wants to make up for that. And this subconscious suicide attempt is what she thinks will solve it.   
• It’s also some of Eliza Dushku’s best work at the end here.

Crossfire!

(before the ep starts)

Z: So I guess this is when they finally decided what they were doing with Wolfram & Hart.

D: Yeah, it took them a while.

Z: But here we have Lindsey, Lilah, and Lee all in one episode.

D: So they finally decided these were our three.

Z: We never heard back from that one lady in the auction, right?

D: Lindsey was only in that first episode, why did they bring him back?

Z: I guess they were trying people out? See who they liked to work with? And then they were like hey remember Christian Kane, we like him, also he can sing, hey let’s have a karaoke bar next season!

Favorite Lines:

Zelda: “Scratch the surface, and what do you find? More surface.” - Cordelia

Daniel: “Angel please, just do it. Just do it. Just kill me. Just kill me.” - Faith

Arc/Continuity:

First Appearance: Faith

Recurring: Darla, Lindsey McDonald, Lee Mercer, Lilah Morgan, Angel’s “Irish” “accent,” Phantom Dennis

Already Famous Person: Eliza Dushku

Generally Known TV Face: Tyler Christopher

Buffy Crossover: Faith, Darla

Whedonverse Hat Trick: Eliza Dushku (Faith on Buffy and Angel, Echo on Dollhouse), Jennifer Slimko (Romanian Woman on Angel, Vampire Girl #3 on Buffy)

Stats:

Cordelia’s Hair – high ponytail & down, wavy

Dead Humans – 0

Dead Undeads – 2

Dead Flashbacks – 1

Dead Lawyers – 0

Cordelia Has a Vision – 0

Wesley Prat-falls – 0

Lawyered Ex Machina – 0

Angel Ex Machina – 1

Evil Reveal – 0

Unevil Reveal – 0

Shenanigans Called – 1

Apocalypse Called – 0

Prophecy Called – 0

Evil Angel Never Would Have Worn Those Pants

Episode 1.17: Eternity. Original Airdate: 4.04.00

“A television actress whose career is in a slump tries to preserve her youthful appearance by becoming one of the undead.”

Daniel’s Thoughts:

• OK, I know this is a fake out thing.  Close-up on Angel & Wesley being “terrified” but it’s obvious by the way it’s being filmed that it’s nothing supernaturally scary.
• Oh man, Cordelia is in a play and she actually called “line!” Oh man.  It’s fine for comic relief, but I’ll be happy when this Cordelia-trying-to-be-an-actress thing is over.
• “And I thought I knew Eternity” – Angel
• Oh and here’s the “so what do you think?” awkwardness of when you go to a friend’s play. “You really made that role your own!” Been there.
• Flashback to episode one when Cordelia & Angel reconnected at a party – that’s nice continuity. 
• So Angel saves some famous star’s life and now she’s gonna come back and recreate The Bodyguard.   I’ve never seen The Bodyguard but I imagine it has vampires saving famous people. [I've also never seen The Bodyguard so I can say with complete certainty that this checks out. - Z]
• Who called ET? Wesley: Emma Thomson? Cordelia: Entertainment Tonight, doofus. Me: The Extra Terrestrial?
• On Your Own sounds like it was a terrible show based on the title alone.
• Rebecca claims her stalker letters are signed in blood.  If they were, wouldn’t the police be able to get DNA evidence from it? 
• I love that Angel knows it’s not blood right way.  He can probably smell it.
• Why can’t Angel help the actress? Because he likes her? Why? He’s had like one conversation with her.  And as Cordy says, “You’d have to get really close for that.”
• I love the fake Cordy vision.  It proves that Charisma is a better actress than Cordelia.
• Ugh, Rebecca is like 24 years old and she worried about getting old.  It’s a real reflection on real Hollywood.  Non-sequitur…did this actress work after this?
• Someone breaks into Rebecca’s house.  Angel to the rescue!  Sorta.  He kinda gets clobbered.
• Ooh, nice vampire non-reflection mirror.  Ooh, she knows.
• If I touch you, will you be cold?  I…they don’t really have any chemistry. 
• “Angel’s moment of perfect happiness is because he was with Buffy.”  YES.  It’s not about having an orgasm, people.
• Wait – how did Cordelia get into this famous star’s house?
• “You really told her?” I mean – they’re acting like it’s this love thing but how else was he supposed to explain his non-reflection?
• Oh no! A shooter! 
• I think this episode was better when I was younger, and therefore more impressionable than I am. [Hey! - Anya "Our Little Patriot" Jenkins]
• Ahhh, Rebecca knows her stalker.  He’s a stuntman.  Oliver is setting this all up.  That’s an interesting turn of events.
• “Nobody stays young forever.” Rebecca:

• Cordelia fangirling with Rebecca is really super cute.
• “There’s no coffin.”  Angel has been annoyed by that before. I love that.
• Man, I’m so tuning out for this romance stuff.  I mean, I’m sure it’s party because my heart is dead. But also, I really think they have absolutely no chemistry. 
• This part.  I always remember this bit.  It made an impression on me: Rebecca drugging Angel and what it does to him.
• I know it’s a desperate move, but Rebecca obviously didn’t think this through at all.  Sure it may work for a decade or so – but after a while, people are going to catch on and that’s a short career.  I mean, no one can look you forever.  She’s not Bianca Lawson.

Actual Vampire Bianca Lawson.

• “Cordelia says you’ve saved the world.” “A couple of times, I helped.” I like that he gives credit where credit is due (BUFFY SAVED THE WORLD.)
• And now the effects of the ecstasy is setting in.
• I both love and hate this.  I mean ecstasy is a drug that give you a high – but perfect happiness? And if it’s that easy, Woflram & Hart shoulda thought of that.   Despite that? I can’t help but thinking it’s a kinda cool plot twist and shows how dangerous it can be to befriend a vampire – even one with a soul. And it’s made the episode suddenly interesting.
• It’s also heightens the tension – that it might be easy to turn Angel into Angelus.
• And David is so good at playing Angelus.
• The ease of which Wesley lifts Rebecca.
• Not Ecstasy – Doxi…what? Mall?
• I’m glad Wesley is there to be the smart one.  He let’s the audience know that the effects are temporary – though I’m still wondering how this works.  Has his soul escaped his body…for a bit?  Is it hiding?  Cause the whole idea of Angelus being Angel is not him being…happy….it’s him literally losing his soul.  True happiness is the cause.
• But here comes the worst part of Angel being Angelus.  He’s not just a powerful killer – if that weren’t bad enough – he gets at all your insecurities.  Yes, it’s worse than killing.  Ask any teenage girl.
• Maybe this will finally convince Cordy to give up acting?
• “I think about this happening every. Single. Day.”  I think the point they’re trying to make here is that Cordelia is actually a good actress? And it’s a fun moment but it only proves that Cordelia is a very good liar.  Lying is very different than acting.  Lying is manipulation. With acting, your audience is in on it.  You’re pretending together.  Besides that there’s also some truth to what she’s saying.  The holy water may not have been real but the words behind them probably were.  She’s lived through Evil-Angel.  I’m sure there’s a part of her that nervous about that.
• Cordy is wearing Buffy-type pants and I love em.

Zelda’s Thoughts:

• Oh right, the fakeout of Angel and Wes being trapped but it’s really them stuck watching Cordelia in A Doll’s House.
• Legit, she’s really bad in it. But she shouldn’t be doing period work maybe? She was good at pretending to be a detective last week.
• Oh hey, the struggle to find positive things to say to your friend who was bad in a show. We know that struggle well.
• Randomly across the street is some kind of red carpet event, and Cordelia is fangirling. But lo! Angel twigged a car set on hitting famous actress and saved her! … And got hit by a car. But it’s cool, y’all, he’s a vampire.
• “It was such an honor to save your life, Ms. Lowell,” says Cordelia after Angel gets hit by a car.
• Ugh, Cordy used the r*tard word, why.
• Angel disappears while Rebecca’s attention is diverted. Cordy: “Oh, he does that.” Throwback to “you made him do that thing where he’s gone.”
• Heh, the article about the car doesn’t mention Angel saving Rebecca.
• Cordelia, commenting on how quickly stars can seem irrelevant if their show is off the air … I wish this weren’t as true as it is.
• Rebecca’s hair, face, and energy are all very Shannyn Sossamon. (y’all I am gobsmacked that I spelled her name right on the first try, so yes, I’m bragging about it)

• Ah, Rebecca’s got a stack of death threats. But Angel can tell they’re not written in blood, because vampire. He’s really giving away a lot of his tells to Rebecca. She already caught that there’s no sunlight in his office.
• But Angel won’t take her case, and says so very quietly, and yet Cordelia has bat hearing because she yells at him through the glass.
• Aw, Wes cottons on that Angel likes Rebecca and doesn’t want to get close to her. And Wes also thinks they can still find a way to help her, even if it’s finding someone else to help her. Thanks Wes.
• I see, I see, Rebecca is facing the most dreadful of Hollywood curses: aging while female.
• Dang, Angel smashed through a window to fight random dude who broke in. Lucky Rebecca had already invited him over earlier?
• Also her giant mirror reveals no Angel reflection GASP.
• And then poof Angel disappears again.
• Except he’s still hiding in the house, after the police leave. Because he knows he’s been found out and needs to do some damage control.
• Good job, Rebecca, you figured it all out: vampire.
• “It’s a long story.” // “How long? A hundred years?” // “Two … hundred. And some change.”
• Dang, the chemistry between them though is pretty good. Way better than whatsherface in “She.” There’s something delicate about the way he looks at her, realizing she’s not afraid.
• Cordelia, even though she had been pushing Angel to take the case, is now worried he’ll activate the trigger for his curse and lose his soul.
• I like Wesley’s point, and it’s one he’ll reiterate in season five: “You realize how rare that is, true happiness?”
• Aw, Angel’s Rebecca’s plus one at a premiere! I … kinda like his hair brushed this way? Like, it’s stiff with gel but that was very much a thing at the time.

• Aw man, this dude’s got a gun. Buffy told us they’re never useful. Certainly not useful against Angle in his Bond suit.
• Dang, Rebecca recognized her “stalker” as a stuntman that Oliver has also represented. It’s so fucked up, that Oliver would pull this stunt to try to help her career.
• And the dumb dumb thing is we know this isn’t out of the realm of possibility, because we got dumbass Jussie staging his own attack.
• Cordy’s so kicked on hanging out with Rebecca she doesn’t cotton that Rebecca is pumping her for information. Too bad, I like when she’s wilier and figures it out.
• Angel’s basement apartment is so big and I love my apartment but it is not as big and I’ve been inside it for two months and anyway, I love his curving bookshelves.

• Wow, she even spills champagne on his shirt. I mean, David’s looking good this season so I don’t blame how often they get the boy shirtless, but also ugh now it’s time for us to stop liking Rebecca because she’s dosing Angel’s champagne to bring out Angelus.
• It’s interesting that this works. I think I would have liked it better if, you know, it hadn’t? For a couple reasons. One, it could have worked if Angel were only faking as Angelus (like he did with Faith once), because then it would be Angel using tough love to teach Rebecca a lesson. Two, it would get us around the awkward thing of his being only temporarily soulless? Like, how does that work? It’s not like he was orgasming constantly when he turned back to Angelus the first time. It was one moment of perfect happiness that turned him. How come if this drugging is effective enough to bring out Angelus, it’s only temporary? If you come at me with “it’s not real perfect happiness” because it was drug induced, then I’ll come at you with “then it shouldn’t have worked in the first place.” Anyway, shenanigans.
• Oh good, Cordelia finally figured out that Rebecca was pumping her for info.
• “Cordelia says you’ve saved the world.” “Oh, a couple of times I helped. But I almost had it sucked into hell once, too.” And you can see him look a bit wistful. Is that the ecstasy taking effect?
• See, Angel starts off with the tough love, making her drink blood to see what it’s like. But he also recognizes that it’s crueler than he typically is.
• At least Rebecca figures out early enough this was a dumb dumb plan.
• My shenanigan aside, it’s nice to see David having fun with Angelus again. You can tell how much he enjoys it.
• Oops the plan is super backfiring, because Angelus doesn’t plan to turn her, just torture and kill her.
• Hah, his little kick step on the stairs as he says “I’m a vampire.”

• You know what, she’s super lucky that Angelus’s MO is to torture for a while or she’d be dead already.
• A+ Rebecca, clocking Angelus in the face twice before fleeing up the … slow … old … elevator. Oh sweetie.
• Oh good, Wes and Cordy are here.
• And Cordelia assumes they slept together.
• Oh it’s not ecstasy, it’s doximall or something.
• Yeah see, Wes says it’s synthetic, not true happiness. This. Should not. Have worked. Whether or not Angel knows it’s synthetic, it shouldna worked. And Wes thinks telling him will undo it. THIS MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE. It’s not like Angelus’s essence is pure happiness running around gleefully wreaking havoc. I mean, sure, he has fun, but we’ve seen Angelus angry.
• Aw hey this is Wes’s first time meeting Angelus.
• Oops, Wes is knocked out.
• And now Angelus is cruelly telling Cordelia just how bad she was as Nora.
• Aw see, Cordelia showed us again she’s good at lying when it’s contemporary work! That was a great lie about the holy water in her bottle.
• Heh, Angel, super de duper de chained up in bed.
• He wakes up with a visible bruise (unlike after getting hit by a car, but whatever) and Cordelia asks “Are you still evil?”
• Wes is of Buffy’s school of thought on Angelus vs Angel, not wanting to hold Angel accountable for the things Angelus says and does, seeing them as two separate people.
• And Angel compliments Wes’s moves against Angelus.
• Oh wow, Cordelia. She agrees with Wesley, but she’s mad at him not for the truth Angelus spoke, but for the fact that Angel lied to her. Honesty is Cordelia’s love language.

See also: "Earshot."

• They leave Angel chained in bed. Kinky.

Favorite Lines:

Daniel: "Angel's moment of perfect happiness was because he was with Buffy" - Wesley

Zelda: “You walk a fine line, Angel. I don’t envy you.” - Wesley

Arc/Continuity:

Recurring: Oliver

Angel! In! History!

He’s heard Ernest Borgnine is a very skilled lover.

But he never killed a famous person before.

Stats:

Cordelia’s Hair – curly gorgeous updo for playing Nora; blown straight and parted down the middle irl; then loose ringlets, half-up

Dead Humans – 0

Dead Undeads – 0

Dead Flashbacks – 0

Dead Lawyers – 0

Cordelia Has a Vision – 0

Cordelia Fakes a Vision – 1

Wesley Prat-falls – 0

Lawyered Ex Machina – 0

Evil Reveal – 1 (Oliver was behind the stalking plan)

Unevil Reveal – 0

Shenanigans Called – 1

Apocalypse Called – 0

Prophecy Called – 0