Angel ep by ep; UNTOUCHED-the unspoken and unspeakable

[saturn5]

UNTOUCHED

The Good;
Some lovely stuff from Lilah and some nice humour with Gunn.

The Bad;
I think the whole abused child bit is a little overdone, if you want to see that go so Michelle Tractenberg's excellent film 'Mysterious Skin' (but be warned, it's hard to watch)

Best line:
Angel; "Do you know what it's like to get a re-bar through your torso?"
Cordy; "Actually yes I do. Benefits of a Sunnydale education" (Lover's Walk)

Jeez, how did they get away with that?
The whole incest storyline is super-icky, father's once more getting a rough ride in the Buffyverse. Plus Bethany squishing the thugs with the dumpster but as Gunn says "Mr rapist-for-hire? See me crying?"

Apocalypses: 4

Angel Cliches

Damsel in distress; 17, yep and how

Inverting the Hollywood cliche; Bethany actually comes on to Angel which is unusual to see. Wes confesses he has no knowledge whatsoever about telekenisis. Cordy warns Bethany about Angel, hints of jealousy.

In disguise; yep as a detective, must have been taking hints from Kate so 5

DB get's his shirt off; yep, amazing how he always get's wounded in the chest but Cordy never does? 10

Cordy's tattoo;3

Cheap Angel; Cordy says she likes her men "Less broody, more spendy"
5

Fang Gang in bondage:
Cordy: 5
Angel: 8
Wes: 2

Fang gang knocked out: Angel and Cordy
Cordy: 10
Angel: 12
Wes: 5
Doyle; 1

Kills: none this ep for anyone although I love the way Cordy fights off the thugs with her lattes.
Cordy: 5 vamps, 1½ demons
Angel; 17 vamps, 18 and 1/2 demons, 3 humans
Doyle; 1 vamp
Wes; 1/2 a demon
Kate; 3 vamps
Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans.
Gunn; 5 vamps.
Fang Gang go evil:
Cordy: 2
Angel: 2

Alternate Fang Gang:
Cordy: 2
Angel: 6

Characters killed:
25
Recurring characters killed;
4;
Total number of Angel Investigations: Gunn now being paid so add him in
4, Angel, Cordy, Wes and Gunn

Angel Investigations shot:
Angel: 8,
Packing heat;
Wes; 2
Doyle; 1
Angel; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost:
Cordy: 2 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast
Angel: 1;Buffy

Kinky dinky:
Bethany comments that Angel's Darla dream must make him 'Pretty happy' to judge by his bed covers. Indeed they resemble the x-rated cover of a period romance novel, bodice-ripping by the fireside. Bethany says guy's love the whole 'innocent and fragile' thing. Cordy comments that she came in the top 10% of her class and Wes wonders was that class 'Advanced bosoms?" (I think she gets more a C in that area?😉

Captain Subtext;
Lilah's relationship with Bethany smacks mightily of lesbianism just in the same way as her picking up Faith at the club did. When Gunn boasts about his new axe and hopes he might 'Get the chance to stick it in something" Cordy comments "Men, all alike!"

Know the face, different character; 2

Parking garages;
4,

Guantanamo Bay;

Buffy characters on Angel; 11
Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla

What the fanficcers thought; read a very good one once where Buffy confronts Hank about abusing her as a child. He confesses to being abused himself, she forgives him then he turns himself in, REAL tearjerker. The Monsters of Childhood, a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fanfic - FanFiction.Net
Incest-fic of course HUGELY popular but almost invariably Buffy/Dawn/Joyce (Charmed sisters, Gilmore Girls etc) as consenting adults. Not allowed to post adult fanfic links on this board so PM me if you're over 18 and want some examples


Questions and observations;
Hugely dark, you wonder if this is what Joss and co intended the series to originally be like in terms of both 'Damsel in distress of the week' and in the dark nature of the subject matter (Lonely Heart for instance was originally called Corrupt and had Kate not only posing undercover as a prostitute but had gotten too far into her role, actually working as one and having sex with her clients. At that point the studio stepped in. Of course the studio seems to have no such problem with Dollhouse which is basically the ultimate fantasy escort agency).

Marks out of 10; 7/10. Good ep, suprisingly funny in places and all about redemption, I for one am glad Bethany didn't kill her father. Also more and more depth added to Lilah and that's always a good thing.

 

[MinwaraYana]

My favorite stand-alone episode of Ats. I love Bethany. But mostly because she's Jean Grey-like. As well as Gwen and Rogue. 😀

That daddy's little rabbit is very gross. I love the scene when Cordy takes Beth to the park and she said "Don't jump on Angel's bones" or something. 😀 And I love that she tried her best to help Beth. Hot coffee in the bad guy's face was a cool strategy. Umm, I love Gunn scenes too. 🙂

 

[BillyidolwannaB]

This was one crap episode. Probably worst of s2. The redhead was hot though. 2/10.

 

[Nix]

I loved this ep and how they handled the abuse story and the revenge at the end.

 

[Spike Angelus]

I like this episode. One of the better stand alones of the season.

 

[saturn5]

It's not a bad ep but suffers from being a standalone, you're glad they went with the arcs rather than stick with that idea

 

[Wishing Oceans]

I didn't really like this episodes, mostly because I found Bethany to be really annoying. I loved all the crazy Dangel dreams though, those were fun. 🙂

Something kinda funny I noticed: When Bethany comes into Angel's room and wakes him up from his dream about Darla, he's like "what's up?" Looks down, and says "I mean, um..." 😀 Anyone else notice the subtle innuendo?

 

[Kana]

I must admit I do like this ep despite its criticism. Lilah sizzles in all her scenes and we get a little Holland which is always a treat.

The concept of power, manipulation and rage has often been done (I agree) and it's often been done in the Verse. Perhaps these are all parallells to Angel. The inner rage represents the demon that needs to be controlled, however, something that may seem frightening and a curse can be a gift.

The scenes with Bethany and Lilah are oddly engaging. The irony that Bethany admires Lilah for her empowered state whilst all the time Lilah's success depends on Bethany being a victim of manipulation isn't lost on us. Her lack of regard for her own pleasure during sex makes her a classic product of male subjugation. The fact that she is powerful but afraid of her own power gives her the profile of a victim. The fact that Lilah, an empowered woman herself, would encourage the victimization of Bethany, leads us to believe that's she has little regard for feminism as a concept but is more about serving her own ambition However this isn't always the case. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not but the scene always intrigued me.

 

[saturn5]

I always thought Lilah had genuine affection for her, that in many ways their relationship was similar to the one she has with Wes in seasons 3/4, she's prepared to exploit her yet does care for her. She's reluctant to 'trigger' Bethany whilst Holland is all for it

 

[ToShanshuInLA]

I didn't care for the episode except for Lilah (who I adored) and this:


Wesley: That's so typical of your kind.
Cordelia: Well, at least I'm not a sheep like you.
Wesley: I am not a sheep!
Cordelia: You are such a sheep! You've never had a single opinion that you didn't read in a book.
Wesley: At least I've opened a book.
Cordelia: Oh, don't even try with the snooty, wooly boy. I was top ten percent of my class!
Wesley: What class? Advanced Bosoms?
Cordelia: OH!
Angel: Hey! What the hell's goin' on here?
Cordelia: We were just discussing whether or not we should offer to pay Gunn.
Angel: No, you weren't.
Wesley: Well, our discussions tend to go about three minutes, then it's strictly name calling and hair pulling.

 

[PassionBecoming]

I liked this episode. It took a creepy plot and made it not too uncomfortable. I liked that the end wasn't "typical" and that Bethany let her father live and learned to control herself.

I am really starting to like Gunn! LOVE the opener with Cordy and Wes. Heehee. Some darn good one-liners and innuendos in here.

People keep talking that there are Cangel vibes in this ep and around it, but I'm just not feeling it. I think Cordelia is in self-preservation mode still: "Don't sleep with my boss so he doesn't become homicidal and kill me." I know it happens down the road, but I still think they are platonic at this point.

Which brings me to the whole Angel having sex issue. Time and again the writers impress on us how rare a moment of true happiness is, and they aren't even sure what caused Angel the true happiness (the sex itself; being with Buffy; sex with Buffy; the canoodling after the sex with Buffy...) which would make them more cautious, but honestly, ya think he's going to feel true happiness with any or every gal he beds? I don't know. Obviously, we don't want him going all evil, but I think they whole "don't let him get a boner!" think is a little overplayed.