Angel: Celebrating 100 Episodes

[JCBaggee]

[color=red][size=1]As you may have noticed in passing, "Angel" (one of my favorite shows on right now) hits episode number 100 this week with episode 5.12; "You're Welcome!" The series is really doing great now, with some of the best rating for a long time. The new, self-contained storytelling for the series is doing great at balencing between keeping the longtime fans happy and not throwing too much on the new ones.

Anyhoo, In light of ep 100, I'd like everyone who's a fan (and I know there are at least 2) to post a little something about their favorite ep in the series run.

(And, no, I haven't seen every single episode. I have seen most of them now, though, and read summaries for the ones I haven't)

-----(AND, PSSST! THERE'S KIND OF A SPOILERY BIT IN THIS!)-----

[spoiler]Episode 2.2; "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been"

One of the first episodes of the series run to focus on a key element of Angel's past, "Are You Now..." drifts between present day as the Angel Investigations team begins a new case for Angel; researching the old Hyperion Hotel. The Hotel has been out of use for years because of past issues. We later learn that Angel stayed there about 50 years earlier, while a demon was trying to feed off of fears. While trying to stop the demon, Angel is caught up in a murder case and accused of the murder. The Hotel tenants lynch Angel, while a young woman he was trying to save, Judy, blames herself for this. Her fear overtakes her and she becomes the demons "feast". Angel, recovering from being hung off the stairs, turns his back on the tenants in a final, chilling flashback where he tells the demon to "Kill 'em all." We then join the crew in present day Hyperion, where they exorcise the demon and discover that Judy is still being fed off of. After seeing Angel, who reassurses her, Judy dies.

So, why is it one of my favorites? Well, first off, I've always enjoyed eps of Buffy and Angel where they dig into Angel's tortured past, especially when they focus on his crimes as the cruelest vamp of all, Angelus. But this ep seems to blur that line. Angel is obviously the Angel we see in present day LA, but at the same time its made clear he still carries a bit of Angelus out in the open, as he walks out on the people he was trying to save and allows the demon to feast on them.

Don't get me wrong. There are tons of other great episodes in the series. In fact, this past weeks episode is high up on the list, continuing to delve into Angel's remorse, as well as showing him deal with the recent revelations that no one quite trusts him anymore.[/spoiler]

All in all, hot series and anyone whos into anything vamp-like should check it out. The series hits it dark where it should, but also knows when to poke fun at itself.

100 great episodes and counting...

--Chris[/color][/size]

[Zidane]

I love this show, But at the moment in Australia its in the off season, but hopefully the new episodes should be starting soon, and im fully syked for them. the only problem i have ever had with this show was the whole story involving connor his son.....For some reason the storie didnt appeal to me.

Personally im for the old school episodes were each episode saw them defeat a new big evil and had that irish actor in it.

[Marik_Duelist]

Glen something. Y'know, he died not too long ago.

And that ep that was mentioned is also my fave.

[JCBaggee]

[color=red][size=1]Glenn Quin played Doyle. He was one of the more popular characters. Doyle only lasted 6 episodes. Sadly, Glenn himself died unexpectedly in 1999.

--Chris[/color][/size]

[Marik_Duelist]

Yeah, he was a great guy, very funny. Wonderful actor.

[WW2]

I've been a big fan of Angel's ever since it started coming on. In some ways I think its superior to the Buffy series, in that it dealt with some darker subjects and wasn't cluttered with so many alternate storylines.

I've seen just about every episode, except the last few from last season.
Thankfully TNT is showing re-runs on Tuesday nights; giving me a chance to catch up.

I'm really enjoying the new season, mainly because Spike (my favorite character) has been added to the cast.
Oh and the whole thing with Angel [spoiler]now running Wolfram and Heart[/spoiler], is turning out to be one of the best, and funniest, storylines in the show's history.:D

And by what I've seen of the 100th episode, its gonna be pretty interesting too.

[Manic Webb]

I have so many favorite episodes, but I'm gonna have to go with "Orpheus" from season 4. Enter the spoiler tags...

[spoiler]This is the episode where Willow shows up and re-ensouls Angel. While a gratuitous cameo by Willow is always a plus, my favorite parts of the episode take place in Angel's mind.

Using a mystical drug, Faith emerged herself into Angel's/Angelus' mind. There, she and Angelus saw different memories from Angel's past, during that near-100 year period after first receiving his soul and before meeting Buffy. Eventually, a battle between the different personas (Angel and Angelus) ensued. This was the episode I figured something important out about Angel.

Angel and Angelus are two entirly separate vampires in one body. Sure, they're the same person in a lot of different ways, but this was the point where Angelus clearly refers to Angel as a different person. When he first lost his soul during season 2 of "Buffy," Angelus said [i]he[/i] loved Buffy and [i]he[/i] did all of those good things. When he lost his soul again during season 4 of "Angel," Angelus said [i]Angel[/i] was doing all of those things, not him. I watched this episode and realized Angel's soul had been shoved in and ripped out so many times, he straight-up developed two separate personalities.

In the episode following episode, after Willow had given Angel his soul back, he said he didn't feel guilty for any of the things Angelus had done. He didn't even consider himself responsible for any of the stuff he did without his soul.[/spoiler]

Since then, I've been waiting for Angelus to re-emerge on his own, even while Angel still has his soul. He's schitzo. Plain and simple. The soul is only a trigger between personalities. Eventually, he's going to become unstable enough for the personalities to switch at random. I'm not psych major, but that's my uneducated take on the situation. :p

[JCBaggee]

[color=red][size=1]I completely agree with ya on the Orpheus episode. [spoiler]And anything featuring Willow is great. The character is phenomonal and Mrs. Hannigan is yet another amazing actress. Hopefully they'll finally talk to her about coming over permanently one day[/spoiler].

I'm looking forward to anything Angelus, and the situation you pointed out sounds great. Watch Angel cope with randomly switching between personalities would be very interesting.

--Chris[/color][/size]

[Megumi momo]

My fave episode of angel is when Angel is out to sleep by the shaman and he thinks that he has saved the world and get's cordy. For some odd reason I like that episode.

Oh but the one I like more than that is when Spike is forced into the shadows by the guy who keeps cheating death.

[SasukeUchiha]

I actually love this show alot. The episodes lately though seem uneventful to me. The show has turned more towards monster politics, than actual hack and slash kill the evil. As for my favorite episode I would definitly say Orpheus. If they ever brought Willow to Angel I think it would definitly become my favorite show.

[WolfAngel]

I only recently started seriously watching this show (because Spike came on, of course).
I've enjoyed all of the episodes so far with spike, but I really thought that last weeks was a good episode. it was fun to have Andrew turn up again, and I liked that they dealt with the end-of-buffy issue of girls becoming slayers.

[Manic Webb]

One thing I find interesting about [i]Angel[/i] is the nearly invisible line between good and evil. Not for the character himself, but for the show. You never know who's going to be the villain, and who's gonna join Team Angel. On [i]Buffy[/i], you knew who your villains were. They were the master of vampires, the creepy mayor, the hell goddess, the cyborg, and whatever demon wasn't dating her or her friends.

On [i]Angel[/i], you just sorta had to guess. The team started out with two demons, Angel and Doyle. Cordy turned into a demon. Lorne is a demon. Connor, too. A couple of times, Angel accidentally killed good demons. Doyle's human ex-wife was about to marry into a family of non-violent demons in one episode. Hell, the only constant bad guys in the series were human; the staff of Wolfram & Hart. The complications and birth of Jasmine don't exactly help define good and evil, either.

I don't remember where I read it, but one person once theorized The Powers That Be might not even be good. All we know for sure about them is that they preside over Earth and don't want demons to take over. Every vision The Powers ever gave Doyle or Cordy did help out a human, but they also led to a demon's death. That's not to say demons aren't evil as well, but who's to say The Powers aren't just as evil and only want to kill the competition?

[spoiler]Jasmine was one of The Powers made flesh. She brought about world peace, but at the cost of humanity's free will and thousands of people she'd have to eat. Plus there had to be a near-apocalypse for her to be born on Earth. Were her deeds on behalf of the other Powers, or to defy them? Was she doing exactly what they wanted to do, or was she simply misguided? Good or evil? That's a question they never answered with her[/spoiler]

Back on the subject of good demons. At first, demons were shown as creatures that desired to torture humanity because they're evil by nature. Then we get full-blooded demons like Lorne The Host. He's just a scaley, green-skinned, horned, empathic, silk-wearing lounge singer. In the rare event humans made their way to Lorne's home dimension, they were treated as slaves and animals. That's it. His race of demon didn't exactly express a desire to come to Earth and kill all humans. When Lorne found himself in LA, the first thing he did was open up a karaoke bar.

That's one reason why I find this current season of [i]Angel[/i] interesting. It feels slow-moving (especially with episodes like "Harm's Way"-- funny as it was), but I know something important is going to happen. On one hand, Angel is dealing with [spoiler]an evil law firm that's tried to kill him in the past. One the other hand, Eve and this guy she's been boinking have this secret plan that involves Eve sneaking behind the Senior Partners of W&H's backs. Is Eve secretly on the side of good, or the lesser/greater of two evils?[/spoiler]

You can tell I think about this show way too much.

[Tom222666]

I think Eve is involved in this simply for Lindsey. As a side note for people who didn't watch the earlier seasons, Lindsey was the big bad sub leader of WR&H that eventually leaves to get out of the war. He comes to this realization after losing his hand courtesy of Angel. But if you had noticed, the Partners seem to be much like the Powers, you see their speakers but never see them. Maybe they are one in the same? Back to Eve, the last few episodes have shown her grabbing for a box of Lindseys, that if you watched Buffy during the Mayors season, looks like the Gavrok spider box. Whew, I have more to say but I gotta go now.

[Gavin]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by JCBaggee [/i]
[B][color=red][size=1]Glenn Quin played Doyle. He was one of the more popular characters. Doyle only lasted 6 episodes. Sadly, Glenn himself died unexpectedly in 1999.

--Chris[/color][/size] [/B][/QUOTE]


[size=1]He died, I never knew that, pity I really enjoyed the character he played and found it funny that two Irish guys [spoiler](Angel's real name is Liam and he's Irish and Doyle had a wicked Dublin accent so I'm guessing he's Irish too)[/spoiler] would try and take on all the evil in L.A.[/size]


[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Manic [/i]
[B]Then we get full-blooded demons like Lorne The Host. He's just a scaley, green-skinned, horned, empathic, silk-wearing lounge singer. In the rare event humans made their way to Lorne's home dimension, they were treated as slaves and animals. That's it. His race of demon didn't exactly express a desire to come to Earth and kill all humans. When Lorne found himself in LA, the first thing he did was open up a karaoke bar. [/B][/QUOTE]

[size=1]Ah Lorne, possibly my favourite character in the entire series for his humor, I don't know but there's something about a karaoke singing demon that really makes me laugh.

As for my favourite episode, ehh there's really a bucket to choose from because the series has been so good. I suppose my favourite I can remember would be where everyone looses their memory before the age of 17 and everyone thinks that Lorne is an evil demon sent to kill them.

I always prefered Angel to Buffy (the TV shows, not the characters) because it had better storylines and more believable and enjoyable characters.[/size]

[JCBaggee]

[color=red][size=1]I actually started watching Buffy because of Angel (had to get that backstory!).

The biggest selling point, to me, was always the maturity of it. Angel was obviously aimed for an older, more mature audience than Buffy. Sure, the same underlying storylines of belonging and doing whats right are there, but Angel made them more obvious and easy to see, as well as gave us different takes on it.

Tomorrows the big 100th ep. I'm looking forward to it ^_^

--Chris[/color][/size]

[WW2]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Tom222666 [/i]
[B] Back to Eve, the last few episodes have shown her grabbing for a box of Lindseys, that if you watched Buffy during the Mayors season, looks like the Gavrok spider box. [/B][/QUOTE]

Hmm, I believe they already revealed what was in the box, in the episode[spoiler] where Angel was stuck in that freaky dream land.
When he killed the little symbiot that was poisioning his mind, he woke up and saw Eve.
It looked like she was holding the box you were referring to, which contained a larger symbiot monster thingy.[/spoiler]

But then again it may have been a different box.

As for the return of Lindsey, I think its a great plot twist. He's one of those guys you love to hate.
Its cool how he's tryin' to [spoiler] manipulate Spike into taking Angel's place, in an attempt to get them to kill each other.[/spoiler]

Will it work?!!!
I doubt it, but I'm very interested in how it'll all turn out.:D

[JCBaggee]

[color=red][size=1][spoiler]The dream inducing bug was in the box at Lindsay's. Eve had it in Angel's room, remember? The fact that it looks like the mayors was probably just one of many throw backs in that episode (Linday calling himself Doyle, etc.).[/spoiler]

Oh, the Lindsay thing? [/SIZE][size=3]Huge[/size][size=1] spoilery bit here. Don't read unless you absolutely must know!


I'm warning ya!


Last chance!

[spoiler]The whole deal ends...tomorrow! Lindsay as a threat is neutralized, but further spoilers show his family may turn up in a future episode with a mind wipe similar to the Connor situation! Lindsay may also make a return...maybe W&H has done other mindwipes the crew doesn't know about?[/spoiler]

--Chris[/color][/size]

[Shy]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Manic [/i]
[B][spoiler]Jasmine was one of The Powers made flesh. She brought about world peace, but at the cost of humanity's free will and thousands of people she'd have to eat. Plus there had to be a near-apocalypse for her to be born on Earth. Were her deeds on behalf of the other Powers, or to defy them? Was she doing exactly what they wanted to do, or was she simply misguided? Good or evil? That's a question they never answered with her[/spoiler][/b][/quote]
[size=1]I'm gonna dwell on this for a moment, since it's one of the more important things that has always kept me guessing about the series. The way is blurs the line between good and evil is a truly amazing thing. This season is really beginning to deal with the issue, and it's a theme that hasn't been tackled before in Buffyverse. There are good demons, and there are bad humans. In the small scope one side isn't essentially superior to the other, Angel is trying to fight for the larger picture. Saving a werewolf with ethics or a friendly Mexican wrestler isn't going to help very much, but that one act of kindness can be multiplied and shared.

[spoiler]"Anne" who Buffy saved from demonic enslavement, became a recurring character on Angel during the second season and after Buffy's help she rededicated herself to helping people. Angel's kidness towards Wesley in the beginning of the series ended up being repayed countless times, with Mr. Windham-Price being one of Angel's most valued allies.[/spoiler]

But it's such a larger battle than that. Angel isn't fighting for [i]his[/i] humanity, he's fighting for the humanity of [i]everyone.[/i][spoiler] Jasmine was a threat to humanity's chance to be human, and that's why Angel needed to stop her. It's a moral dilemma of choosing freedom over paradise, but he made his choice (while Conner strongly disagreed with it.)[/spoiler]

Spike doesn't see the big picture, though, and he'll never be able to choose a side in the same way that Angel or Buffy has. He lives for the moment, and there may come a time when this "being the good guy" stuff will quickly fall out of his favor. Angel however, will always do his best to make the right decision, regardless of how it affects him personally. The problem with this is that Angel's morals have become skewed while inside of the offices of W&H; when you are fully immersed in that office it becomes difficult to see everything as clearly as you did from the outside.

So yeah, 100 episodes of the best drama on television today. [spoiler]I can't wait for Cordy to return, and guide Angel back on his original path. If there was ever a time to inject some humanity into ol' Angelus, it's now. Things look like they are going to get bad in the coming episodes -- hopefully Cordy will bring in some relief. I just worry about the guy sometimes, you know...[/spoiler]

-Shy[/size]

[WW2]

Well I just finished watching the 100th episode, and I have to say it was one of the best I've seen.

I first thought [spoiler]the whole thing about Cordelia waking up was just a stunt to bring in viewers for the 100th episode, but as the episode progressed I saw that it wasn't really like that.

The final showdown with Lindsey was really great. I was glad to see Angel get beaten down by the super powered ex-lawyer.
But I still wanted to see Spike take a swing at him.[/spoiler]

But the greatest part of the episode had to be the ending. Even though it was sad, I found it to be fitting.

All in all the episode was well done.

Oh and next weeks episode looks really interesting. [spoiler]A black haired, Nazi Spike deffinately raises some questions.[/spoiler]:therock:

[Manic Webb]

Let the spoiler tagging begin!!

[spoiler]The return of Cordelia. I've been waiting for this for a while. I knew the moment she woke up, she'd be the only one who remembered Connor. Erasing all memories of Connor was a good and bad move on Angel's part. On one hand, the entire Los Angeles area needed forget the events with Jasmine. On the other, I think Angel should've been able to at least confide in the rest of the team. Whatever. Cordelia knew.

I thought Lindsey looked familiar. He was that guy who worked with Lilah until he left. Funny how his plan fell apart before it could even get into full swing. Whatever that plan ultimately was. I was expecting to see Spike do the Angel-Doyle thing in a bit more detail before they killed Lindsey off, though. Oh well.

I love how they let Harmony go at it with Eve. I really was expecting her to drink her in the end, but Eve was apparently to smart to try anything. It'll still be interesting to see what the Senior Partners do with her in the coming episodes.

Now the big topic. Cordelia coming back. As soon as they revealed she was a ghost the entire time, pieces started to come together in my head. The hospital patient Cordy said she was sharing her room with-- that had to have been Cordy's body. That would explain why the first thing she did was close the curtain around it. Also, if you remember back in season 4 when Skip explained Jasmine's plan, he said that giving birth to her was supposed to kill Cordelia. I was a little surprised when she only slipped into a coma, and even more shocked when I heard she was waking up. But, of course, she didn't wake up. It was that final vision The Powers sent her in the hospital that did her in, I'd imagine-- the vision of Angel screwing up and Lindsey's tattoos.

And Cordy put Angel back on track. Who'da thunk? Maybe now he'll stop moping around the office, complaining about how Spike is usurping his throne.

And once again, Spike has no direction. No Buffy to tell him what to do. No Fred to fix him. No faux-Doyle to tell him who to save or trick him into fighting Angel. I'm guessing he'll join the rest of Team Angel.

A good episode. We got to see Cordelia come and go. A reflect on Doyle. Angel gets his focus back. Lindsey gets screwed over. Eve in big trouble. Harmony helps out. Wesley finally does something this season. Lorne pees his pants. Pure gold.[/spoiler]

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

I just wish they tried harder with fight choregraphy and stayed away from bad wire work. It really takes me out of the show. They need better people working on the fights, honestly. In a show in which the highpoints are hand-to-hand combat, they really have to work towards some sort of standard. I'm not saying it has to be on the level of Jackie Chan, but I'm not so easily amused that I think any and every fight I ever see is awesome.

[Xander Harris]

I dunno... I thought the fight was one of the best I've ever seen on the show. (Granted, I've only been watching this season.) I thought the wire work was fine. They have super strength, so the can jump far more impressively than the average joe.

[SasukeUchiha]

Now I am kind of disapointed.

[spoiler] I am hoping they are not trying to replace Cordelia with Harmony. Because that would just be super stupid. I am not at all happy with Angel this season. Working for the enemy? Angel is more about politics now than actual demon fighting. And Cordelia has been one of my favorite characters since Buffy. So I am kind of bitter about that also i guess. And next weeks episdoe just looks stupid. I mean, I used to be a huge Angel fan, and now it just doesnt have the same greatness that it used to have. I dunno, I will hvae to keep watching and see where this whole "corporate" thing is gonna go. [/spoiler]

[Manic Webb]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by SasukeUchiha [/i]
[B]Now I am kind of disapointed.

[spoiler] I am hoping they are not trying to replace Cordelia with Harmony. Because that would just be super stupid. I am not at all happy with Angel this season. Working for the enemy? Angel is more about politics now than actual demon fighting. And Cordelia has been one of my favorite characters since Buffy. So I am kind of bitter about that also i guess. And next weeks episdoe just looks stupid. I mean, I used to be a huge Angel fan, and now it just doesnt have the same greatness that it used to have. I dunno, I will hvae to keep watching and see where this whole "corporate" thing is gonna go. [/spoiler] [/B][/QUOTE]
Well, that's just a little ridiculous. Harmony might join the cast regularly (might not, whatever), but that doesn't mean she'll be replacing Cordelia. That's like saying Wesley replaced Doyle, or Fred replaced Officer whatshername. Characters come and go, but they're not really replaced.

The show has drastically shifted to politics and working through the law (like an actual law office, only W&H is less evil), but things might be different since [spoiler]Cordelia reminded Angel what he was fighting for, and Eve & Lindsey aren't around to screw with Team Angel anymore[/spoiler]

I am a little curious as to what the next episode is about. It seems a little off-the-wall, but the commercials to proceeding episodes of Angel are always misleading. Not to mention incredible vague.

[Shinken]

Wow. The last time I saw this many scattered black patches was the last time I tried to cook! :D Anyways, Angel is one of the better shows out there nowadays, especially when compared to the new wave of reality TV shows, such as the Apprentice. (OMFG Donald Trump- what are you THINKING!?) *ahem*

Anyways, Angel has one of the best plotlines on TV. It's new, funny, with a whole lot of plot twists, as others have mentioned. Also, I think the cast is spot-on. The only problem I have is, like Sciros, the fight scenes. One can only go so far on wire-fu alone. Or so says my 400-year-old-monk master. ^^x

(It's Tuesday: I'm wired.)