"He's culturally-retarded that way."
Ohhhhh snap. Sigh, Cordy, Cordy. And just as I was having fun because of your "performance" at the start of the episode. Then you had to use the r-word in such a tactless way. Sigh. Oh well. The '90s, right? Though to be fair, Cordy does have other pretty good dialogue in this episode, including:
(Angel disappears in the midst of conversation)
Cordy: "Oh, he does that."
Way before Gordon said it in The Dark Knight. And also:
Cordy: "We have to use this now, before she's just another E! True Hollywood Story."
Classic. I like how distinct Cordy's personality is presented here in being the glamorous gal with an obsession of Hollywood's big stars (something I could be accused of being when I was 15 years younger). And that second line was more amusing because I grew up watching "E! True Hollywood Story" on cable. Cordy having big ideals about Hollywood glamour is a very cliched character trope, yes, but it fits Cordelia's personality SO well like a glove, and it's so much fun to watch, especially when she faked having a vision just for Angel to get involved. Her fangirling so hard on Rebecca was also super adorable and I LOVED it so much.
Angel dismissing the high-profile life of Hollywood then getting insecure about not being mentioned in the papers is also VERY darn cute. Adding on Wesley's pretty sleek save when accidentally dismissing the significance of actresses ("I meant TV actress"), I had a lot of fun watching the beginning of the episode... And then the main plot dragged on, and I could care little about some bored celebrity diva wanting to stay young for eternity.
The first two-thirds of the episode just felt so cheap and tacky in a dated '90s way, especially with its resemblance with "The Bodyguard". Even though Rebecca fits the femme fatale archetype of Angel's noir genre, she came off more as a self-entitled villainess than a potential love interest (even before she drugged Angel). Wesley and Angel summed up well enough how I felt about Rebecca and this episode:
Wes: "Actresses."
Angel: "Tell me about it."
That is until the final stretch of the episode, when Angelus reappeared. Sigh, what a waste of a potentially interesting development. Aside from the sharp wit at the beginning of the episode, this was probably the only other part that held my attention (as opposed to dozing off). It's an interesting exploration of circumstances that WOULD turn Angel back into his evil Angelus counterpart (and what wouldn't). While it makes sense that very little would actually break his curse as true happiness, as Wesley put it, is hard to attain, it's still a damn shame we couldn't have Angelus back as part of the series as it fits SO well with the redemption arc of the show. It's probably the most challenging, and therefore the most interesting obstacle Angel could have faced in his path to redemption. Hell, it gives an excuse to have yet another Buffy-crossover episode. Just saying.
Above anything else, "Eternity" just reminds me how much FUN I had with Angelus as a villain over Spike any day, especially with the "For the Evulz" Angelus treating the torture and killing of innocents as fun and games. Spike with Drusilla back in season 2, I gotta be brutally honest, felt like just another pair of generic murderers that Buffy had to defeat. There just wasn't the same thrill and adrenaline I had watching the more satanic Angelus in action, especially when I know Angelus would be sadistic enough to utilize the most horrifying methods imaginable (as opposed to Spike who's merely just having a good time). My blood gets pumping whenever he appears because I know just how horrifying his methods are. And Angelus' reappearance here, along with his threat to torture Rebecca before sticking her head on a pike, just reminds me why he's one of those villains I love to hate, especially with how he cruelly toys with both Wesley and Cordelia's inferiority complex. And thinking about it, if Cordelia hasn't already gotten past her self-esteem issues early in season 1, Angelus' psychological torture would've been more powerful than anything Spike had to dish out thus far. He's just so deliciously evil here, and the horror fan in me loves that this final part of the episode felt like a straight up slasher movie. Oh, and of course, I shouldn't forget about Cordelia's wonderful performance bluffing Angelus, proving that she does have acting chops when she has the proper motivation.
Finally, I think the ending is probably the strongest part of the episode in terms of emotional resonance. Angel's acknowledgement of Wesley's competence and Cordelia confirming that she's no longer the petty self-involved Queen Bee any more just makes these last few minutes of the episode so worth watching. Cordelia aside (we already know she's a brilliant woman full of self-confidence), I feel like this is a subtle but nonetheless important step-up for Wesley, with Angel's words reminding the audience that "Yeah, it's easy to make fun of his occasional incompetence, but Wesley can still kick ass."
And there's that hilarious deadpan outro again that I love, cutting to a music-less black screen. Never gets old.
However, there's something else I feel that needs to be addressed. Angelus' reappearance is fun, yes, but the way the writers ended up justifying this is yet another example of their clumsy writing - it's the drugs, so it's okay. No, it's not. Drugs or inebriated or not, it doesn't excuse bad behavior... or worse, sexual harassment. Along with what I said about the shallow Rebecca storyline and the dumb changing of Angel lore (what constitutes "true happiness" for Angel), these are clear signs that I'm still at a low point of the series, yet to reach what made this series so popular in the first place. Let's hope that changes soon with the next episode, where Faith makes an appearance.
Ohhhhh snap. Sigh, Cordy, Cordy. And just as I was having fun because of your "performance" at the start of the episode. Then you had to use the r-word in such a tactless way. Sigh. Oh well. The '90s, right? Though to be fair, Cordy does have other pretty good dialogue in this episode, including:
(Angel disappears in the midst of conversation)
Cordy: "Oh, he does that."
Way before Gordon said it in The Dark Knight. And also:
Cordy: "We have to use this now, before she's just another E! True Hollywood Story."
Classic. I like how distinct Cordy's personality is presented here in being the glamorous gal with an obsession of Hollywood's big stars (something I could be accused of being when I was 15 years younger). And that second line was more amusing because I grew up watching "E! True Hollywood Story" on cable. Cordy having big ideals about Hollywood glamour is a very cliched character trope, yes, but it fits Cordelia's personality SO well like a glove, and it's so much fun to watch, especially when she faked having a vision just for Angel to get involved. Her fangirling so hard on Rebecca was also super adorable and I LOVED it so much.
Angel dismissing the high-profile life of Hollywood then getting insecure about not being mentioned in the papers is also VERY darn cute. Adding on Wesley's pretty sleek save when accidentally dismissing the significance of actresses ("I meant TV actress"), I had a lot of fun watching the beginning of the episode... And then the main plot dragged on, and I could care little about some bored celebrity diva wanting to stay young for eternity.
The first two-thirds of the episode just felt so cheap and tacky in a dated '90s way, especially with its resemblance with "The Bodyguard". Even though Rebecca fits the femme fatale archetype of Angel's noir genre, she came off more as a self-entitled villainess than a potential love interest (even before she drugged Angel). Wesley and Angel summed up well enough how I felt about Rebecca and this episode:
Wes: "Actresses."
Angel: "Tell me about it."
That is until the final stretch of the episode, when Angelus reappeared. Sigh, what a waste of a potentially interesting development. Aside from the sharp wit at the beginning of the episode, this was probably the only other part that held my attention (as opposed to dozing off). It's an interesting exploration of circumstances that WOULD turn Angel back into his evil Angelus counterpart (and what wouldn't). While it makes sense that very little would actually break his curse as true happiness, as Wesley put it, is hard to attain, it's still a damn shame we couldn't have Angelus back as part of the series as it fits SO well with the redemption arc of the show. It's probably the most challenging, and therefore the most interesting obstacle Angel could have faced in his path to redemption. Hell, it gives an excuse to have yet another Buffy-crossover episode. Just saying.
Above anything else, "Eternity" just reminds me how much FUN I had with Angelus as a villain over Spike any day, especially with the "For the Evulz" Angelus treating the torture and killing of innocents as fun and games. Spike with Drusilla back in season 2, I gotta be brutally honest, felt like just another pair of generic murderers that Buffy had to defeat. There just wasn't the same thrill and adrenaline I had watching the more satanic Angelus in action, especially when I know Angelus would be sadistic enough to utilize the most horrifying methods imaginable (as opposed to Spike who's merely just having a good time). My blood gets pumping whenever he appears because I know just how horrifying his methods are. And Angelus' reappearance here, along with his threat to torture Rebecca before sticking her head on a pike, just reminds me why he's one of those villains I love to hate, especially with how he cruelly toys with both Wesley and Cordelia's inferiority complex. And thinking about it, if Cordelia hasn't already gotten past her self-esteem issues early in season 1, Angelus' psychological torture would've been more powerful than anything Spike had to dish out thus far. He's just so deliciously evil here, and the horror fan in me loves that this final part of the episode felt like a straight up slasher movie. Oh, and of course, I shouldn't forget about Cordelia's wonderful performance bluffing Angelus, proving that she does have acting chops when she has the proper motivation.
Finally, I think the ending is probably the strongest part of the episode in terms of emotional resonance. Angel's acknowledgement of Wesley's competence and Cordelia confirming that she's no longer the petty self-involved Queen Bee any more just makes these last few minutes of the episode so worth watching. Cordelia aside (we already know she's a brilliant woman full of self-confidence), I feel like this is a subtle but nonetheless important step-up for Wesley, with Angel's words reminding the audience that "Yeah, it's easy to make fun of his occasional incompetence, but Wesley can still kick ass."
And there's that hilarious deadpan outro again that I love, cutting to a music-less black screen. Never gets old.
However, there's something else I feel that needs to be addressed. Angelus' reappearance is fun, yes, but the way the writers ended up justifying this is yet another example of their clumsy writing - it's the drugs, so it's okay. No, it's not. Drugs or inebriated or not, it doesn't excuse bad behavior... or worse, sexual harassment. Along with what I said about the shallow Rebecca storyline and the dumb changing of Angel lore (what constitutes "true happiness" for Angel), these are clear signs that I'm still at a low point of the series, yet to reach what made this series so popular in the first place. Let's hope that changes soon with the next episode, where Faith makes an appearance.
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