Angel ep by ep; CONVICTION-another day at the office

saturn5

Scooby
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
937
Oh my god, here we go, finished Buffy and now starting the last ever Buffyverse boxset! We are witnessing the passing of an era, 22 eps to go and that's it. Still that is the equivalent of 7 full length feature films

CONVICTION

The Good;
Angel vs the ops team and Charley Gunn/Harmony coming to the rescue. Plus Spanky! Also love the ritual sacrifice gag and Lorne's vetting of the staff (what would you sing?).

The Bad;
Disagree with Joss, evil people never believe they're evil, they always believe they're the justified victims.

Best line;
Goon; (after Angel blows Hauser's head off) "What about mercy?"
Angel; "He got the last of it"

Jeez, how did they get away with that?
Nasty disease pictures and a vile villain.

Apocalypses: bad for LA but not the rest of the world 5

Angel Cliches
Inverting the Hollywood cliche; despite his cynicism towards WR&H and characteristic dourness Angel can't help squealing with joy at the sight of his collection of classic muscle cars (although his yellow charger looks horrible!). On the minus side note that Hauser note only packs a different weapon to the rest of his team but is the only one unmasked for much of the time to distinguish him from the others, such a Hollywood cliche.

In disguise; 8

DB get's his shirt off; 13

Cheap Angel; 6

Fang Gang in bondage:
Cordy: 5
Angel: 14
Wes: 7
Gunn; 5
Lorne; 5
Fred; 3

Fang gang knocked out: not on screen but Angel get's knocked out by Caleb whilst visiting Buffy in Sunnydale
Cordy: 15
Angel: 18
Wes: 7
Doyle; 1
Gunn; 2
Lorne; 6
Groo; 1
Connor; 1
Faith; 1
Fred; 2

Kills; 1 vamp and at least 2 humans for Angel.
Cordy: 5 vamps, 3½ demons
Angel; 45 vamps, 59 and 1/2 demons, 5 zombies, 10 humans
Doyle; 1 vamp
Wes; 14 demons+5 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 humans
Kate; 3 vamps
Faith; 18 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans.
Gunn; 11 vamps+ 13 demons, 5 zombies, 1 human.
Groo; 1 demon
Fred; 3 vamps+ 2 demon, 5 zombies
Connor; 16 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 demons, Jasmine
Fang Gang go evil:
Cordy: 3
Angel: 3
Gunn; 1
Wes; 1

Alternate Fang Gang;
Cordy: 4
Angel: 11
Fred; 2
Wes; 1
Gunn; 1
Connor; 1

Characters killed:
2255

Recurring characters killed;
9;

Total number of Angel Investigations; 5
Angel, Gunn, Fred, Lorne, Wes,

Angel Investigations shot: yep, Angel by Hauser's men
Angel: 13
Wes; 2

Packing heat; Wes' backup plan for the bad guy not getting acquitted is his .45 automatic. How did he get that into the courtroom? Angel kills Hauser using his own shotgun.
Wes; 8
Doyle; 1
Angel; 4
Gunn; 2
Fred; 2

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost:
Cordy: 5 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo+Connor plus possibly the Beast
Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies
Wes; 3 definite; Virginia, the bleached blonde and Lilah, 1 possible, Justine
Gunn; 2 Fred and Gwen.
Fred; 1 Gunn
Groo; 1Cordy

Kinky dinky:
The wonderfully named Spanky who has his own fetish website and lots of S&M gear to prove it. One popular fan theory is that this is the guy Faith used to dress up as a naughty schoolgirl for and let him punish her? He certainly has a bullwhip. When Angel asks if the gang heard about last night Gunn replies "You got lucky?". Harmony does a sexy little shimmy when she basks in the sunlight. Shirtless Gunn. Eve asks Angel what he'd like to have 'passing through her lips' (wait until Life of the Party and you'll find out!)

Captain Subtext;
Spanky doesn't spank men although he's fine with other people liking to (love the characterisation here, he's evil but he's not a bigot, spanking men just isn't his thing). Angel interestingly comments that he has NO problem spanking men. Hmmm? Hauser calls him a fairy.
As Angel walks out of the school we see a series of kids posters above his head proclaiming "Respect, learn, know, show"

Know the face, different character; 5

Parking garages; where Angel meets Hauser
7,

Guantanamo Bay;

Buffy characters on Angel; 16
Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony. POSSIBLY The First Evil

What the fanficcers thought;
Spanky a popular figure in some fanfic circles especially with Faith. In several slash fics Spanky has a slightly different fetish and Angel persuades him to come clean in a very different way.

Missing scenes;

Questions and observations;
LOVED Space; Above and Beyond, to my shame didn't recognise Rodney Rowland from it (he apparently was Gillian Anderson's boyfriend for a while, he was in the X-files ep with the Jodie Foster voiced tattoo). Remember 'Who watches the birds?' and thought it was brilliant although it actually has loads of dialogue in the flashback scenes. Also like "The Angriest Angel' which the writers of BSG also seemed to like as they freely adapted it for the ep with Scar the Cylon Raider. Loved Kristine Cloke and if they ever need someone to play Jennifer Connelly's sister (or indeed Megan Fox's) she's the girl which is pretty high praise in itself. Too bad they picked the most uncharismatic man in history to play the lead!
David does look a bit fatter at the start of this and his hair more bouffant than ever. Fries won't let his son read The Punisher comics, probably because people like him would be number one on Frank Castle's neverending hitlist. Personally I never noticed the effects of the Bell's Palsy on Alexis, I don't know about you? Love Wes bashing Feng Shui and Lorne's ascots (so that Andy can wear less makeup). Not so sure about his polyester suit look, he looks like he could be appearing on Wonder Woman. Is it just me or do American apples look lovely but taste like cotton? Interesting gag that both the Kennedy's and Bush famillies have made deals with WR&H. If you're going to bash politicians you should do both sides. Note the little flash of the black panther when the screen flashes away from Gunn. For a moment I thought one of the nick-nacks Knox places on Fred's table is the puzzlebox from Hellraiser.
Great to see Harmony back, in the pilot of Buffy and she'll be in the last ep ever of the Buffyverse too! Angel drinks coffee now, he must have taken it up since his Sunnydale days. Presumably Harmony can't really mourn for CC because she has no soul.
What Twilight Zone ep is Joss referring to? Lorne seems a bit interested when Spanky is mentioned? Why does Spanky put on his bathrobe even if he's hot after exercising? To hide the harness for the wire gag his stuntman is about to do? His choke hold is rubbish, a 5 year old could get out of it.
Is Hauser named after Cohegan's duplicitous henchman in Total Recall? Joss is a Law and Order fan, a show MT guested on. Wes know's Spike? They've never met as far as we know, maybe he read up on him after coming to Sunnydale?
Joss is a little bit conflicted over his political views. He seems a trendy lefty but someone has obviously pointed out to him that his goodguy characters torture, kidnap and kill for the greater good more ruthlessly than the CIA ever did. His assertion that such things are best left in fiction sounds pretty weak. He also seems pretty knowledgable about The Punisher, probably the most right wing character in the history of comics.
Marks out of 10; 8/10
 
Oh and if you like the idea of Eliza Dushku with a whip (and frankly who doesn't?) check out this scene from Dollhouse [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gCOGkxg_QA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gCOGkxg_QA[/ame]
 
I liked Angel's mercy line, it shows the moral ambiguity and that Angel's surrounded himself with. Mercy is important but like it's been said, Angel's drawing a line. Letting people/demons live is a choice that have negative consequences and Angel is a judge, all heroes are in a way, they live by their code however mutable. This is the one thing that evil cannot control, the choices individuals make. It can make us feel bad about our choices and it can even influences us to make certain choices but evil can only own you if you let yourself become corrupted.

What is interesting is each character has a particular take on the proceedings. Fred is sceptical and Wesley asks why they are there.

Gunn and Angel are interesting because of what Eve says. Eve implies Gunn's method of dealing with things was morally superior because he didn't get anyone killed but he has started a path that will lead him to compromise again with W&H and that is more leathal than Angel killing a human. Angel does have mercy but like we've said, he draws the line, he'd rather kill a human who has made a choice to be unrepentent evil than be ruthless and have the child killed for the bigger picture. It's not pretty but there it is.

Spike coming back was funny. To have such earnest responses from Angel and Wes and to have Harm walk in and say 'Blondie Bear' is just classic.

This whole season is reminiscent of That Vision Thing in that Angel will compromise to protect some he loves. He did it for Cordy and then he did it for Connor. He deals with the consequences and I believe although they were playing by a different set of rules, they use W&H to make positive differences. Nina, the kids in Smile Time etc shouldn't be negated by where they are they still made a positive difference in people's lives, now can they save themselves?

Disagree with Joss, evil people never believe they're evil, they always believe they're the justified victims.

Depends on the nature of the evil person.
 
What I liked:
Angel and gang overwhelmed by W&H. This right there should have told them something was up.
Humans can and often are the bad guys. Just like real life.
Harmony. Love the "creatures of the night, unite!" line.
Spike!

I wish they would have mentioned Sunnydale, after all, the entire town was destroyed.
 
What I liked:
Angel and gang overwhelmed by W&H. This right there should have told them something was up.
Humans can and often are the bad guys. Just like real life.
Harmony. Love the "creatures of the night, unite!" line.
Spike!

I wish they would have mentioned Sunnydale, after all, the entire town was destroyed.

This is LA, Sunnyd is probably yesterdays news
 
Best. Ending. Ever.

I just watched the first episode of season five of Angel. It ended with Spike coming out of a pendant, disoriented and confused.

Wesley says: "Spike?!"
Angel says all menacingly: "Spike." >=(
Then Harmony pokes her head in and says: "Blondie Bear!!" =D

I know it doesn't sound as funny when I repeat it, but you should rewatch it yourself, that scene made me laugh out loud.
 
Loved Hauser and Spanky. Is it wrong I thought Spanky was hot? Love seeing Harmony again, love her little dance. Love the ending to this episode, it is funny Falconfrost.
 
Loved Hauser and Spanky. Is it wrong I thought Spanky was hot? Love seeing Harmony again, love her little dance. Love the ending to this episode, it is funny Falconfrost.

Just means you're a naughty girl. And you know what they need.....:smile3:
 
L
Lilah
I'm male, haha
Is it wrong I thought Spanky was hot?

Lol, never heard that one before.
Love it when Angel goes "I have no problem spanking men" LMAO!

I also love the ending, it always makes me chuckle.
As well as that I love the beginning - Angel doing what he does and a hundred lawyers and whatnot come swooping in.

Great season opener!
 
"Oh my god, I didn't know, Cordelia has been my best friend like forever I can't believe she's....Anyway blablabla". I loved that moment of Harmony, sad but not for long! :')
 
Excellent episode- I'm much more impressed with ATS' season openers than with Buffy's.

What is up with DB's hair? I hate it here. But he does look hot in a suit!

This is a completely different building from the W&H of earlier seasons, correct? Hey, there's Numero Cinco! Whoo-hoo, Dixie Chicks karma! 🙂

So, hmmm, what exactly does everybody remember from the last 2 seasons since they don't remember Connor?

And one of the best quotes of the entire series:
"You have reached Ritual Sacrifice. For goats, please press '1' or say 'goats'. To sacrifice a loved one or pet, press the pound key"
 
Excellent episode- I'm much more impressed with ATS' season openers than with Buffy's.

What is up with DB's hair? I hate it here. But he does look hot in a suit!


Agreed. Baby, not the hair, not the hair!
But the rest is goodness all around.


So, hmmm, what exactly does everybody remember from the last 2 seasons since they don't remember Connor?


I've wondered this too... what exactly do they think happened during that time?
And yeah, the building looks completely new to me too...

And one of the best quotes of the entire series:
"You have reached Ritual Sacrifice. For goats, please press '1' or say 'goats'. To sacrifice a loved one or pet, press the pound key"

Gosh I love this. If I could I would totally use that as my voice mail 🙂
 
This episode was dull, the best part is at the end, Harmony's 'Blondie bear' moment is funny as hell but the rest of the episode is a bit crappy... I can't stand DB's hair it's just ugh and Angels mercy line makes me sick.
As a season opener it didn't make me excited about watching the rest. I can't stand Eve and I found that 'passing through my lips' line tacky.

One great thing about this episode is that long one shot at Wolfram & Hart, pretty impressive, it must have taken forever to get that done right.

I haven't seen this episode in long time though, I probably should watch it again..
 
the first half of the opening scene in "Conviction"...

before W&H came, is EPIC, the whole music after Angel saves the girl reminds me of the Doyle days & when things were so simple.

does anybody feel the same way about it?
 
What I liked: The fight scene at the end. I love how Angel killed the dude with his own weapon. That was badass.

I also love the new look of W&H, but already miss the hotel.

I love how happy Angel got when he saw all his new cars.

The scene with Fred mad at her staff was also cool. She wasn't shy about telling them what she thinks of them.

Gunn is super smart now! Awesome!

What I didn't like: Angel's weight

Angel's hair

The bad guy didn't die 😛
 
Nice start of the season. I loved Angel's hair...Gunn being all lawyer-ish, HARMONY and SPIKE at the end...I dislike Spuffy but Spike alone is a magnificent character (not as magnificent as Angel though) he makes me enjoy the episodes even more. Fred is always so annoying and I couldn't care less if Cordy isn't there..I personally don't miss her presence on the show. I HATE EVE..seriously...she's even more annoying than Fred..she's this little insipid girl who tries to be all bossy and sexy..blah. And this W&H thing, with the clients being evil and the gang working there..it just doesn't sit tight with me.
 
I loved Angel's hair...

WHAT? What?

...

....

... again - what? ;P Just kidding, to each his own.


and I couldn't care less if Cordy isn't there..I personally don't miss her presence on the show. I HATE EVE..seriously...

Nice to see someone agreeing on these points 🙂
 
T
TaylorSwift
Ahahah...it was a nice change for me..his hair. David's awesome in everything..but if I had to choose, short hair's better. BTW, LOVE your banner.
Back
Top Bottom