PeterDavid.net

Re: Last Week's Angel.

I agree totally.

RE: Delete(SMV)

The episode was okay, but the ending was nicely done. A nice way to reveal Lex’s new mission by tying it into the science of the episode.

Re: Lois Lane: Looks like Peter was right!

The fight in Act 2 where Lana tried to kill Chloe was NICELY choreographed! Well done! Still, Lana didn’t get injured by being thrown in a glass fire extinguisher case that breaks. I also find it convenient that there are partially unclothed girls getting changed right behind the locker room doors, when bathrooms and locker rooms usually having a wall or partition separating the disrobing area from the door.

Hmm…is Adam a good guy or a bad guy….hmmm…. I wasn’t sure, and I’m ashamed to say that I totally missed the clues that a fellow poster at www.nitcentral pointed out on the board for this episode at http://64.33.77.146/discus/messages/17996/23156.html?1075440215:

His name is Adam Knight. (As in “Adam” West and the Dark “Knight”?)

He wears black and gray

He has expertise in martial arts.

He has expertise in computers.

His parents are dead. (Though he claims it was in fire rather than murder.)

He’s mysterious, and has some tension with Clark.

Was I the only one who missed these things?

So Martha Kent’s email is CNH320@instamail.com? Hmm….funny how that username is just like the license plate number on the General Lee…

I thought the acting on the part of Martin Cummins, who plays Dr. Gardner (and who played Ames White in Dark Angel) in the closing scene was poor.

Why did the kryptonite stop glowing when it rolled away after Chloe knocked out Jonathan with that hay? I don’t recall it ever doing that before. (Then again, I always wondered what king of energy that stuff must be putting out to be generating its own internal light, and what should be by extension, heat.

To my way of thinking, it's just too cutesy to have Chole adopt the name Lois Lane for her byline. Not because it hasn't been done before in real life, but because those who know her are going to call her Chloe, rather than Lois when they're in private.

If they wanted to establish that Clark and Lois first met in high school, why not just call her "Lois" from the start? If "Adam" turns out to be Bruce Wayne, it would make sense, because it's been long established in the comics that Bruce didn't use his real name when he was training to become Batman. But it doesn't make sense to introduce Lois Lane under another name. If she's Lois, she should've been called that from the start.

On the other hand, I'm looking forward to seeing how the Lex arc develops. What will he remember? My personal theory is that he will regain bits and pieces about Clark's abilities which will lead him to believe that Clark was somehow involved in what happened to him and/or that Clark betrayed him by not confiding in him about his powers (he seems to regard not telling him things that other friends know as a form of betrayal).

I can't see any realistic way that the adult Lex would not know Clark and Superman are the same person (unless Supes wears a mask in the Smallville universe). As a result it leads to interesting questions as to what sort of rules of engagement Lex will resort to in battling his former friend.

I look forward to seeing how that arc plays out. It's pretty much what keeps me tuned in to Smallville.

Rick

In the past, the K has sometimes only glowed when in direct proximity to Clark (i.e. Lana's necklace).

Actually, I think Andrew did need Wolfram & Hart's facilities. Not to contain a slayer, but to find her. If you're dropped into LA with 12 slayers who presumably also don't know the city or have any contacts there, well, it's a lot bigger than Sunnydale and making use of W&H's resources to find her makes sense.

What did annoy me was Andrew still saying "Vam-pyre"; you figure Giles or Buffy would've slapped him out of that pronounciation by now. :-)

It is true that one of the Scoobies, should've called Angel Investigations about the apocalypse...although they may have tried, and gotten call forwarded to a cheery "Wolfram & Hart! Press one for sacrifices!" greeting which may have raised some eyebrows. Still, Spike should've mentioned the multiple slayers bit by now.

Did love Andrew's line of "I've got twelve slayers, none of which have ever dated you".

It was the ending of Angel that actually made it for me. I actually thought it was a nice idea to have the split between the Buffy and Angel gang. When Angel appeared on Buffy there was no way for her to know about the W&H offer. She just knew Angel got the amulet from a questionable source but trusted him at the time. Upon hearing about him taking over W&H's office I could expect her and the others to become a little suspicious. And even if they did trust Angel, any contact with him could open up the slayers that they haven't found yet as potential victims of other W&H branches. They could be made into very potent assassins.

The dozen slayers coming out of nowhere did seem a little off but I just figured he was holding them back until he was sure he didn't need W&H's resources to locate the slayer anymore (ie. once she was unconcious). If he brought them in too early it may have tipped off W&H too early or possibly he was hoping to not have to reveal them at all.

Here is what I see happening in Smallville during the last season. First though, Lois Lane gets introduced in the last episode of the next to last season. Lex has become evil, possibly as a result of murdering his father. Since Lois hardly knows anyone other than Chloe, they both investigate the murder of Lionel. Chloe gets too close and Lex murders her, maybe in front of Lois. This results in Lois taking up Chloe’s mantle to become a journalist to bring down Lex. Perry is impressed with Lois’ drive and recognizes the parallel between him and her through his past trials with trying to bring down Lionel. Perry thus hires her to the Planet.

Pete will most likely be killed too.

Lana will probably follow down the same road as in the comics. In the last episode, Clark will reveal his powers by flying to her, whisking her away to make love, and offers her the chance to follow him to Metropolis. She will say no and he will move on.

About how Clark covers his identity from Lex is still up in the air for me.

"Like Nickels?" - very nice.

NICE fight between Chloe and Lana.

Adam is SO Bruce. I wonder when I would have started to notice clues if I didn't read this blog though.

If Lana's future does follow the comics version, I hope it diverges after Clark leaves. Having her activated as a Manhunter sleeper agent and spending the next decade homeless while tracking Clark...let's hope not.

I think the use of vam-pyre was meant to be for laughs. Between Andrew putting on airs - the pipe, the long-windedness, walking around the table, etc. - and Angel using vam-pyre after the meeting this was the only reason I saw for it.

But Andrew being "Giles' best man"? I don't think so.

As for Spike not telling the others about the many slayers, why would he? He doesn't care over much for Angel, and Fred is the only one of the others he has any reason to care for/about. Also, the only time he mentions Buffy is to annoy Angel by reminding him that he (Spike) was sleeping with her.

Andrew need Angel to find the Slayer.

Buffy doesn´t trust Angel?

W&H is evil and Angel has lost his soul twice in 7 years.

English isn´t my language, sorry for the mistakes.

I've said this over in an Angel Usenet group, but it might bear repeating here: Giles wouldn't spend five minutes alone in a room with Andrew post-Apocalypse, much less train him to become a new Watcher, much less entrust him with 12 Slayers (like super-strong women would ever follow orders from Andrew anyway...), much less assign him to bring in a Psychoslayer. Andrew's always been a one-note joke, and it's a joke that simply can't be twisted into the shape this episdoe requires us to do for its basic premise.

Think how much better the story would have worked had it been Xander in that role, with all his history of distrust and personal animus for Angel, Spike, and even Wesley. That could have been something special, especially as it could have been a nice way to dovetail into Cordelia's situation this week. But what we got was the BtVS character I personally never needed to see again, ever.

And why isn't this murderer in jail, anyway?

PAD's right, too, about the basic implausibility of the lack of knowledge of the new status quo on W&H's part, especially since an earlier episode this season showed us that Angel and Buffy had talked, post-Sunnydale Sinkhole (he knew she'd gone to Europe). We're to believe that in that conversation he never asked, "So, Buffy, how'd that thing with the First work out?"

Stupid all around--but that seems to be the effect of Andrew on these shows in general.

at which point the entire episode started to retroactively unravel for me. Which was very, VERY annoying.

Ya know, I had absolutely the same problem with watching 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico' last night. (slightly off topic, but what do you want for nothin'?)

If I were to explain away Andrew's needing W&H when he's got his own Slayer's Dozen...

Well, this girl is homicidal; why put your own people against her when you have, essentially, cannon fodder in the form of Angel and his people?

And I didn't take Andrew's exposition speech as being a "clue in the in-the-dark Angel crew" so much as Andrew being...well, Andrew, trying to be all self-important by flaunting his "intimate" knowledge of what went down.

Maybe Clark isn't the only one with a secret identity. Maybe Chloe's real name is Lois Lane, and for some reason she's living in Smallville under an assumed name. That would make it easier to pull her "cousin's" name out of her hat when she needed a pen name.

--your pal, Hoy

And why isn't this murderer in jail, anyway?

Same reason Willow isn't in jail... the body wasn't found by the cops. As for why the Scooby gang trusts him, he was (more or less) under the thrall of The First, and managed to prove himself in the end. The Gang has forgiven worse... say, anything Spike or Angel did while evil.

I sort of liked Andrew on the episode. Whole point was they were playing W&H, getting what info they could (perhaps doing a little recon on Angel), knowing full well they could get the Psycho-Slayer back when the time came... and I seem to recall W&H calling The New Watchers in, meaning they needed to pretend to go along to keep Angel from figuring out they didn't trust him, resulting in him taking better precautions to keep the Psycho Slayer. Some question regarding Andrew's ability to pull off such a stunt based on the last time he tried it with The First... but assuming he's come along in the last six months, he'd be the last person anyone would suspect of a double-cross.

What if Andrew was sent to fail? The slayers were there for his backup in case he seriously screwed up?

I'll be waiting to see if Cordelia asks where Conner is this week.

I've been reading the comments about this week's episode of "Angel," and something occurs to me...

What makes you think that Andrew was working for Buffy and Co.?

We've seen in previous episodes that there seems to be some other agency working against Wolfram & Hart (the episode with the ninja-robots comes immediately to mind), and if they were able to replicate Wes' father accurately enough to fool him, they're probably able to slap out a double of Andrew in a New York minute. Add to that the fact that only Andrew says that the girls behind him are Slayers.

Also, as another poster already brought up, Giles wouldn't put up with the little jerk for five minutes, let alone the time it would take to bring him up to speed on all the demons and such he'd need to know about.

And if he were an "Andrew-bot," that'd explain his lack of growth from the end of "Buffy" to now. Yep, if I were a group out to do in the Fang Gang, I could think of worse weapons than a psychotic Slayer to pick up. Worked for Mayor Wilkins...

And why isn't this murderer in jail, anyway?

Same reason Willow isn't in jail... the body wasn't found by the cops.

Ah, well, there ya go, then: I think Willow should be in jail, too. (I'm not big on the Cry Really Hard, Feel Really Bad, Go on an English Vacation approach to human crime and punishment in the Buffyverse. I think Faith should be back in her cell, too.)

And Andrew was clearly shown not to have been under the Thrall of the First Taunter when he killed Jonathon, which makes him as morally culpable for his actions as Willow or Faith were for theirs, and distinct from Angelus and Spike (pre-soul).

To make matters worse, one can't even reasonably offer the Greater Good excuse with Andrew as one can with Faith and Willow--whose continued freedom is (arguably) a necessary compromise for the overall promotion of Good, given their considerable skills. Andrew's just your average loser with a smattering of occult knowledge, just enough to have had delusions of grandeur.

In other words, he's exactly the kind of person Rupert Giles would have nothing to do with. No body, no crime, sure--and it may not be possible to actually have Andrew serve a jail term when Jonathon's body is with the rest of Sunnydale--but taking him into the fold as a Watcherbe is hardly the logical alternative. Confine him to the grounds of the Coven in the Cotswalds, or somesuch. Just don't make me see him again. :-)

I'm surprised, PAD, you didn't comment on the whole Spike-lost-his-hands scenario. For a little while there, I thought they were going to follow your lead with Aquaman and turn "Spike" into "Hook."

Also, I would have loved to have seen Ted Baxter guest on an ep. of "Lou Grant!" That would have been kewl!!

I more believe that Andrew's slightly less dangerous (i.e. completely neutralized) when supervised... Hence Giles training him... After all, Giles did his own share of the bad back in his Ripper days.

As for sending his "best man", no doubt it was a combination of getting rid of Andrew for a little while, and annoying the hell out of Jenny Calendar's killer in the process.

Well, this girl is homicidal; why put your own people against her when you have, essentially, cannon fodder in the form of Angel and his people?

The girl may be homicidal, but these girls are vampire slayers, and vampires hardly have your best interests at heart. Buffy didn't hesitate to take a half a dozen *unempowered* novices girls and lock them in a crypt with a vamp. So a dozen empowered slayers were worried about handling one nut? And if we're to take what we saw on faith (no pun intended) then Buffy, via Andrew, was being far more manipulative and duplicitous than anything we've seen from Angel in W&H. "We could take care of this ourselves, but why bother when we can use you to do our dirty work." And they think W&H isn't trustworthy? Frankly, if I were Angel, at the very least I'd have my accounts payable people break it down and send Buffy one hell of an invoice for their time.

I didn't mention the Spike sequence specifically but that's what I was referring to when I said "incredible jaw dropping moments (all involving Spike.)"

PAD

PAD

I think Willow should be in jail, too. (I'm not big on the Cry Really Hard, Feel Really Bad, Go on an English Vacation approach to human crime and punishment in the Buffyverse. I think Faith should be back in her cell, too.)

Well, if you take the secondary purpose (rehabilitation) of the American penal system as the most important -- or at least assume that Buffy and the Scoobies do -- then one could make a case for Willow and Faith having served their time. I haven't watched Buffy 7 yet (I've been watching Buffy 6 with the help of my Tivo and only two weeks ago learned how Willow killed a guy and tried to destroy the universe) so I can't speak for Andrew, but I'm saddened to learn of Jonathan's death -- I always liked the poor dope. Fortunately, I'm not bothered by spoilers, so carry on the discussion.

Angel:

Andrew does seem like something a a one-note joke at times. I generally hate the little weeny. However, I look at Wesley now compared to his first appearances on Buffy, and I say anyone can become a bad-ass in the Buffyverse. I started on Buffy Angel with the 4th Season of Angel, and caught up on the rest (Angel & Buffy) through reruns. When Wesley showed up in the third season of Buffy, I wouldn't have even recognized him if they hadn't told me his name.

Giles would, indeed, never tolerate Andrew's more annoying tendancies, but the amount of respect in Andrew's voice when he speaks of Giles hints that he is far more reserved in his presence. It might be that Andrew only acts like this in the field or when he's trying to impress people like Angel and his crew.

Also, although Andrew was a really annoying twit in the planning stages, I was surprised to see that when he actually came face-to-face with the Slayer he didn't panic. He immediately got out his tranc-gun and tried to take her out. When he came to, he immediately went to get help. He's not Rambo, but he kept his head in a real crisis. This shows lots of development on Andrew's part.

As to why the Slayers were there in reserve, I speculate that it's not Angel that Buffy doesn't trust, but Wolfram & Hart. There's no way that Angel can change that thing overnight...if at all. What if the Slayer had simply disappeared out of holding. Buffy figured she had to take custody of little psycho herself (it's her responsibiltiy afterall), but maybe Angel would have simply let Andrew take custody of the girl without a fuss. If things had gone that way, Angel wouldn't have needed to have a metaphorical gun pointed at his head. I wonder if Andrew's sense of theatre and desire for grand gestures compelled him to be so pushy with Angel that it was never in doubt that Angel would try to push back. I can just see the little dweeb visualizing the confrontation scence and mumbling "cut, print" as drove away with his prize.

I was kind of disappointed that Andrew didn't mention Anya, however. I realize that the purpose of his little speech was to let the audience know where the Buffy characters are instead of Spike, but she did die saving his life. Perhaps he was feeling a tad guilty?

As for the believability of the episode, Andrew said, "We never could have found her without you." It's a bit contrived, but it's certainly believable, backup slayers and all.

Frankly, if I were Angel, at the very least I'd have my accounts payable people break it down and send Buffy one hell of an invoice for their time.

I agree. It makes sense that nobody trusts Angel and crew -- I think Wesley's robo-dad was probably reflecting the truth feelings when he said the remaining watchers didn't trust them.

Re: Chloe as Lois Lane

I was a bit disappointed by this, in how early it came. I've been a believer in the 'Chloe uses Lois Lane as a pseudonym' idea, just based on conservation of love interests--we know Clark is going to end up with Lois Lane, but there's no payoff for the viewer there unless she's a character to root for/against.

Tipping the hand so early, though, makes me wonder. My expectation was that we were going to get an episode where Lois shows up to visit Chloe, Clark finds her attractive, but she ends up in some way so entirely wrong for him that the viewer is left scratching their heads about how they'll end up together. Then, in the punultimate scene in the series finale, we get Chloe's final words on the show, telling Perry White that she's using Lois Lane as a pseudonym...

The fact that it was tipped so early, however, makes we wonder if it's just a fake out.

Re: Angel

> So in six months, Buffy couldn't pick up the phone, call Angel [...]

We almost have to assume that there was some contact immediately after the Buffy finale. In _Harm's Way_, Harmony mentions Europe as Buffy's location in passing, implying that this was common knowledge at W&H.

> Almost as contrived as Andrew requiring W&H's help until the 11th hour at which point he pulled a dozen slayers out of his ass to be his back-up.

The only rationale I've heard for Andrew showing up at W&H is that one of his purposes for being in L.A. was reconnaissance--Buffy/Giles wanted to get a first-hand report about Angel and W&H.

Personally, I would have far rather seen Xander fulfil that role--the "and none of them dated you" line would have sounded much better from him, and I would have bought Giles trusting him with such a mission. OTOH, the plot called for the person Giles sent to act like an idiot for most of the episode, so that the ending would have more force, and I would have found Xander playing that role to be painful, let alone how difficult the Spike/Xander interaction would have been.

Was it just me, or was anyone else dying to see Andrew and Harmony hang out together... just for a bit?

I agree w/ PAD that Angel and co. didn't have a clue abt. the Slayers for 6 mos. It made no sense absolutely whatsoever.

What would've made sense for Buffy and co. after the series finale since their home was gone (swallowed up in fact) is to go to Angel's. It would be there he'd learn abt. the Slayers, the First, and she would learn abt. W&H, giving him her reservations abt. it. It's clear in the second episode that she told Angel she'd be in London.

It's funny too w/ Andrew, the ex-member of the Nerd Herd who conspired against Buffy and was an accessory to Tara's death, that Buffy trusts him and not Angel. Andrew really didn't fit in. While he developed, he was still annoying w/ his pronounciation of the word, "vampire."

One person he didn't mention was Faith. What happened to her? Did she return to jail? Or, via his W&H contacts, did Angel arrange for her record to "disappear," while she could go live large.

The ep, while good on many levels, left a lot of unanswered questions.

Adam Knight,

Maybe Bruce Wayne?

D'OH!

Nope, I missed that one.

I can see it, now.

But, then again, it could

be a red herring...

Based on her performance in the fight between Chloe and Lana, I want Lana's physical therapist. What a miraculous recovery!

I can buy the fact that Giles was training Andrew. He may not have the people skills of real grown-ups, but he has shown that he has the guts to fight when necessary. I doubt that he would ever become an actual watcher, but the council, old and new, needs errand boys.

As to Buffy not trusting Angel, I think we’re all aware that Andrew is subject to melodramatic hyperbole. Giles doesn’t trust Angel and has never made any bones about it. With Giles’ attitude towards Angel as his backdrop, orders from Buffy might take on the atmosphere of distrust. She may have simply said, “Bring the girl back to here. Angel has enough to worry about right now without us dropping our problems in his lap.”

Perhaps the reason Buffy kept the slayer army a secret was she wanted to have a new council in place and the slayers accounted for before saying anything, just in case something like this happened. Simply, pride. The psycho-slayer just moved up the time table.

Are we certain that >GILES< (and thereby Buffy) thought that this was an important mission? Thoughts of a "make work" mission that turned more serious than at first thought did dance through my head....

I can see the Scoobies keeping Andrew around because, like Harmony, he tends follow the path of least resistance to fit in. I really hated Andrew's new hairstyle until I realized it was all part of his desperate attempt to be totally British.

Smallville:

I enjoyed this episode tremendously!!! A lot of gosh-wow! moments like:

1- The Daily Planet

2- The Lois Lane pseudonym.

3- Chloe dodging Clark’s truck.

4- The sheriff’s quip about “Your family sure has its way of going through vehicles!”

5- The Brainwave handle. (Okay, I know that wasn’t particularly great; but for some reason, when I saw it, I imagined a big Albino Gorilla, clad in red body armor, typing away on some computer lab! Yeah, I know I was thinking of the Ultrahumanite, but I just couldn’t help myself. It would’ve been a great visual!)

Anyway, back to the count down…

6- Chloe’s hart to hart with Clark.

7- Chick fight!

8- Ooooh! A shower scene!

9- Wet T-shirt contest with Ninja Fighting chicks! (THAT I had to watch twice!)

10- Then Batman shows up

11- And he tells Lana to mind her own business and not be such a drama queen.

12- And then he uses the Bat-computer

13- to catch the bad guy.

No problem, right?

Wrong!

Problem: Am I supposed to believe that Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mind of our time, CANNOT piece together all that he knew prior to his 7 week gap?

C’mon! That whole Morgan Edge fiasco just confirmed what he suspected! He said as much, when he was at Belle Reeve!

Anyways, I would think that Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mind of our time, would have more common sense than to extort some guy into “fixing his brain”.

I can see it now:

LL: “So Doc, this potion that you just made… it guarantees I’ll get my memory back?”

Doctor: “That’s correct!”

LL: “And it won’t kill me?”

Doctor: “Of course not! I already tried it myself. Go ahead, ask me anything?”

Dumb-ass!

Of course, once I realized that, the whole thing unraveled on me…

1- Chloe, the intern, had her own desk and name tag?

2- Someone liked Battlefield Earth!

3- You can pull a hard-drive out of a running computer and lose your picture 3 seconds later.

4- You can take back donations? (Such as high school computers)

5- No one besides Adam knows what an IP address is?

6- You can kill somebody with a pencil through the ear, without as much as a jerk from the victim.

7- Your super hearing fails to hear a guy screaming his lungs out, through the phone.

8- You don’t remember trying to kill your roommate, but DO remember receiving a spinning leg sweep from your new boyfriend.

9- You'll let Chloe hide in your Mansion but you won't give her Dad his job back?

10- And my favorite… “Hey, Jonathan! Let’s open this e-mail together! It’s from Brainwave!” “Oh look, Martha! It has an attachment! I bet it’s something sweet and not a nasty virus!”

Anyways… I must have been brainwashed too; because after all that, I still like the episode. I just don’t like this new, spaced-out Luthor. Somebody check his prescription quick!

As for Angel:

They did a 180, and changed focus on us, mid story line. Yup, one second it’s all about vampire prophecies and the other is about how Law Firms corrupt people.

Spike thinks so. Buffy thinks so. Giles thinks so.

And from the previews, I bet Cordellia will think so too.

But here’s a thought, instead of saying it; show it. Have Angel do something morally questionable. Have one of the Partners put him on the spot. Anything would be something, right?

And as far as the Vampire Cheerleading Slaying Squad, I can live with it. Technically, it seemed like Lord Andrew of the Shire, was more concerned about “shadowing” Spike than capturing the Psycho Slayer. Besides, I figure that “getting the slayer band together” would take time. But, I agree with PAD; Buffy not trusting Angel, seemed contrived.

One final question.

Was it just me or did Spike seem somewhat nonchalant at the end. It was like…”yeah, mate. I didn’t do anything to this girl; but I guess I had it coming.”

Dude! If that’s the case, I little remorse would be nice! You’re supposed to have a soul, don’t you know!

Ps: Saw Keen Eddie on Bravo and absolutely love it! If you want to watch even MORE television than you usually do; then I recommend this show! It’s bloody brilliant!

I'd also like to point out that both shows had excellent cinematography this week.

Why is everyone assuming they know Giles' motivations? We have no idea how the characters have progressed offscreen. They haven't been written yet.

Let's see, in the "Buffy-verse"

1) Vampires and Demons et al are real

2) There are vampires with souls

3) Magic is real

4) Buffy died (the 2nd time) and was dead for several months, but came back to life

5) Extra-dimensional beings own and used to a run a law firm in LA, and continue to do so in multiple dimensions.

6) All the potentials have been activated, they all seem to be at full power, with neither Buffy nor Faith's powers dimished by this "shared power".

But Andrew becoming a watcher AND Buffy's crew not trusting W&H Angel?

You're right, I could believe the other stuff but my suspension of disbelief is comletely shattered by the Andrew and trust thing....Puh-leeze

Why did Andrew let the W&H crew capture the psycho-slayer? Well, the Slayerettes know the slayer-side dreams and such she's having, plus they're women. My guess is having muliple female presences to calm her and empathize with her will help bring her around sooner.

As for Andrew's speech patterns (Vam-Pyre), he may be a Watcher now, but he's still Andrew the mega-geek. He's learned from the evil he's done as part of the trio, he's reformed, he's a changed person, but it all takes time.

This sort of thing is why they need a Buffy spin-off, to get more into the aftermath of Chosen...

I, too, was in dork central over these two shows. The Lois Lane thing sent me over the edge, and this was the first time that I've really been accepting of the whole Adam=Bruce thing. I do like how Lana called him on his crap about the whole "You don't remember where you picked up kung-fu?" thing. It looks like we're going to get a slightly Adam centric episode this week, although that's what it looked like to me last week. Granted, he was in this one a bunch, more that Pete, but still.

Peter, you're 100% on Pete. Funny, but true. I'm hoping that at some point they don't decide that hey, let's make him more interesting by having be a wild child, bad boy.

Speaking of things unraveling, a couple of days after this ep I got to wondering why Clark bothered to use the truck to try to whack Chloe. None of the suggestions that brainwave sent seemed to method-specific, because if they were I doubt there would have been a proviso for the Kent to bring out the K in case Clark shows up. Really, the teaser only worked for dramatic purposes and to not ruin Clark's identity. While I think it was a good touch of forcing the tensions between Clark and Chloe, this seemed kind of a sappy way to do it.

And yes, I loved Angel as well. While I can concede some points on the whole "contrived" aspect of everyone not trusting Angel, to be fair, Buffy didn't know exactly where Angel got the amulet that saved her. W&H wasn't mentioned in her finale, if I recall. Yeah, they left on good terms, but them later finding out that they are part of W&H could put them on edge.

Of course, making one go "How do they even know about W&H (maybe through Faith?)" and "How do they find out Angel is in charge?" It is weird that they have found out Angel and have leapt to not trusting them instead of picking up them phone, but all season I've found it a thousand times weirder having Spike go "Yeah, I don't want to bug Buffy with the whole 'me being alive' thing." At least in ghost form it was understandable, now it's hella contrived. He flies around the world to get a soul, flies back (while crazy, no mean feat), and now he's all "Ehhh, I want to do something with my life first."

Pick up the phone, you ponce.

While the Slayerettes showing up didn't bother me as much as it bothered you, I do think it lends itself to some interesting questions. It may be safe to assume that there aren't any active Slayerettes in LA (that weren't in an asylum), and these had to be pulled from Cleveland, Poughkeepsie, Jersey, American Samoa, etc, and this lack of concentrated forces is why Andrew was there alone (presumably there not being another Slayer within reach where he was when he got tapped). One can also assume that even though he's being trained by Giles, the USA is Andrew's turf. A little odd, him being the weakest link and all. Frankly, I think it would have been more interesting to have Faith and Robin Wood show up (even though he irritates me), but they are busy with their own shows.

To be frank, the Whedonverse pulls crap like this *all the time.* To my knowledge, Buffy & Faith never got the direct memories of Spike killing other slayers, even though it was implied in the BTVS pilot. This girl gets them because she's crazy. WTF? There are lots of examples of them retconning stuff to make the current episode make sense, and that just bugs me. You made it up in the first place (or work for/with the person who did). This isn't "Enterprise" for god's sake.

As an aspiring storyteller, I'm always irked when we all must gather together as a community to try to make sense of these types of things on a show, especially when a lot of the time it's little things that could have been explained during the, well, exposition, but just weren't. Sadly, it just comes off a lazy.

Not that I'm complaining mightily about Angel, I still thought it was well done. I didn't catch most of these nits upon first watching, so it's hard for me to be irritated now. I bought it while I was watching, so IMO the onus is on me and my willing suspension of disbelief.

must...stop...typing...

Regarding Andrew not mentioned Anya:

Why would he? Angel and Wesley both knew Buffy, Giles, Xander, Willow and Dawn. Kennedy was only mentioned in conjunction w/ Willow. A lack of mention of Anya wouldn't seem weird.

Now, regarding the use of Andrew altogether:

First, let's think in terms of the real world situation. Yes, Xander might have been a better choice, but was Nicholas Brendan available/willing at the time? Sometimes you have to make due with what you've got.

Second, Andrew may be the best man Giles had available. Replacing the Council of Watchers can't be a trivial taks. Andrew may be a watcher not because Giles thinks he's a great choice, but because he's available and willing. I can't recall the dialogue relating the gist of the phone call (I can't even remember if Angel or Wesley made the call), but I don't think it's certain that Giles personally said he was sending his best man. For that matter, it's possible that Andrew took the call....

Finally, regarding the disposition of Andrew (i.e., his not being in jail):

It's possible to convict someone of murder even in the absence of a corpse. However, given the details of this circumstance, the courts would have a more difficult time with their prosecution. All Andrew has to do is tell the truth, and he's likely to be considered insane.

Also, he may not have much power, but it is possible that he's someone (like, for instance, Faith) who could only be held in jail, in the long run, at his own sufferance. Also, consider his involvement in the Trio - he remained involved once significant criminal acts had been done because a person with a (relatively) more forceful personality had taken charge. Prison might not be the best place to put Andrew - someone could get him to wreak some real havoc there.

Angel's was a fun episode to watch, I had some issues with it as well, but nothing that hasn't been addressed here already, so I'll leave it at that.

Now Smallville: one thing that bugged me from the moment it became apparent that Clark was hypnotized to kill Chloe is why didn't he use his powers to do it? We know from Lana's case that the instructions weren't specific as to the method to be used, just "Kill Chloe".

Watching the show has made me so paranoid in regards to Lionel that I never made the connection between Adam Knight and Bruce Wayne; I just immediately reached the conclusion that Lionel planted him there in the hope that he'd learn more about Clark through Lana, with Adam's story of how his parents died just an easy way to establish a rapport with her.

I have a somewhat far fetched theory regarding Lex's future. What if the Lex that faces off against Superman in the future is actually Lionel? Here's how I see it playing out: Lionel is not the kind of person who accepts defeat, even against an enemy like old age, and much weirder things than a mind swap have happened in the show already. Some might say that the psychic from season 1(?) saw that Lex would bring much pain to the World, but maybe she was reading the future of the body, not of the mind (so to speak). A mind swap could also be the resolve for the Chloe/Lois situation, with Chloe deciding to keep what happened a secret, perhaps so that Lionel wouldn't know that she was on to him.

Raphy

OK, first off, Buffy needed help FINDING the slayer. What buffy didn't trust is to LEAVE THE SLAYER IN W&H's Care. Nothing more or less. The slayers couldn't have possibly helped in that area seeing as they are untrained and have no prior knowledge of LA. The who "we don't trust you" bit is just the running theme of the whole season which is that Angel is doubting which side he's really on. you know the whole "Can't we make it thru one day with out saying that word (Gray area)".

Regarding Clark as Superman:

By series end, look for Clark's final power to be super-hypnotism, with which he will cause all of Smallville--Lex in particular--to forever blur the connection between his past and future selves.

Regarding Chloe as Lois Lane:

See above. :)

I thought this last episode was rather good...considering the rest of the season which started out great and then sort of dropped off. The characters don't really jump out at you in terms of personality. They are all about as exciting as cement. Cordelia added a lot of oomph to the show up until last season...ughh.

I think the idea of bringing Andrew in was a good one. I like the tie-ins to Buffy...as I dearly miss that show. I just hope they can bring in some more characters to spice it up a bit. In my personal opinion...get rid of Fred and Gunn, they add nothing to the show...at least currently they don't. I miss the witty writing that used to make the show so great. Every once in a while it shows up, but it isn't what it was.

OK, first off, Buffy needed help FINDING the slayer.

Well, how about finding out that this was a Slayer in the first place? Angel knew from reviewing the tapes, and Spike knew from personal interaction. But how would Giles and the newly reformed Council know? Far as they knew from second hand reports, this was just a possible. And THAT'S why Andrew was sent....

i liked the episode, although it is so hard to imagine willow/kennedy in brazil, xander in africa, and buffy in rome.... almost information/imagry overload.

onto the comments,

#1, andrew proved himself worthy by the end of buffy season 7. he was a less valued, but still valued, member of the group. who did bond with the hero (spike)

#2, why wouldn't buffy/giles enlist w&h to help. if only for to see what was going on in LA first hand. buffy and giles get together, trick andrew (annoying and kind of expendable) into thinking he has an important mission to save the crazy slayer and spy on angel. tell the slayers that if anything goes wrong (i.e. andrew dies in the corporate restroom) they can swarm and destroy. and then casually take slayer once she is secure.

#3, andrew was authorized to take the slayer back, and therefore was authorized to let angel know that he is not 100% trusted anymore.

#4, buffy and gang (the internatinoal scoobies?)have every reason not to trust angel and his crew. if anybody understadns the power and subtle persusion of evil its them. hell, angel and gang arent even sure if they trust w&h.

i see wolfram and hart seriously downsizing by the end of this season. this new becoming a monster to kill a monster thing never ends with hugs and puppies.

I hate coming in late on Roundup day. So, after editing my original notes, here's what's left:

Smallville:

It was nice not seeing Lionel Luthor as the immediate Villian Dujour.

Angel:

Some people above me have spectulated about an Andrew-bot. But what if it's really Andrew and he's being trained by a Giles-bot?

Meanwhile, Gunn seems to be the only one truly adjusting to life at W&H, but how's it going to effect everyone once W&H are 'dealt' with?

Considering that Sarah Michelle Gellar will not be appearing on Angel until at least 2005 (if ever?), what are the chances of some of the other former Buffy cast members guest starring?

I am shocked at how many issues fans have with last week's Angel episode. I thought "Damage" was phenomenal. It perfectly combined the stand-alone formula with the themes of this season's arc. It was entertaining for casual viewers and incredibly rewarding for long-time Buffy/Angel watchers. I think to nitpick every detail is to miss the point. As this is a fantasy show, it requires some suspension of disbelief.

Although I would have loved to see Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, or Anthony Stewart Head as guest stars, using Andrew made the last scene even more unexpected. As even Spike noted, no one could have expected the ponce's double cross. Andrew benefits from a history of low expectations. Also, without Andrew, how else would we have enjoyed those hilarious LOTR references about Spike?

As far as the revelation that Buffy doesn't trust Angel, I found that to be both completely believable and heartbreaking. Not only does it add on to Angel's self-doubts about his decision to take over Wolfram & Hart, but it really underlines Angel's overall theme through five years. I've always believed that more so than BTVS, Angel was always about the "shades of gray". This is precisely why it is pointless to wonder why Willow, Andrew, or Faith are not incarcerated. As the hero himself is not pure, the show never sees things in black and white terms. This is a universe that recognizes that there is good and evil in all beings human and non-human. (Besides, even in the real world murderers roam free, does anyone remember OJ?)

I loved it when the twelve slayers appeared out of nowhere. There's something empowering to see grown men with machine guns back off in fear of 12 seemingly innocuous teenage girls (although I wished they were more attractive or better dressed).

Didn't anyone else find the last scene when Spike and Angel discuss the nature of evil touching? Despite their mutual disdain for one another and their dramatically different personalities, in this scene, both soulful "vampyres" prove that they are the only two who can understand what the other is going through.

After this episode, all I could think was how great a Buffy movie would be with her army of slayers and new Watcher's council ... like "X-Men minus the crappy third act".

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with this review. I thought this episode was perfection from beginning to end.

Another contrived moment in this weeks ANGEL: Dana was kidnapped and tortured years ago, the LAPD unable to find the guy yet Angel and co solve the case and guess what he died five years ago. And they do this how exactly? Because we now know she was held in a distillery so therefore it must have been... HUH?

I'm astounded to hear anyone found Andrew's LOTR jokes actually funny as opposed to pathetic funny. For me, he crosses that line between being annoying to other characters and annoying to the audience, and the Mutant Enemy writers never seem to have gotten that balance right with him, except in that "Storyteller" episode on BtVS last year. The LOTR routine here was a perfect example of that--every second it kept going on was more nails on the chalkboard.

(Now, Xander making a Nick Fury reference, or shouting "Parlay!" at an approaching Psychoslayer, those would have been funny.....)

Checkout another review of Angel

Review from:

http://www.cityofangel.com/episodes/index.html

"Damage"

Is there a better example of an episode that perfectly blends the standalone format with the vast mythology of the series than “Damage?” Writers Steve DeKnight and Drew Goddard crafted an episode that spoke to new fans and yet sank deep into the characters and the legacy of the series along with tying up lose ends from Buffy’s finale. “Damage” illustrates what Joss show’s do best – they genre bust, jumping tones from scene to scene, sometimes in the space of a line reading, with a finesse that can be dazzling. From high comedy (thanks to the tremendous Tom Lenk) to the darkest of dark and violent, “Damage” touched on it all and gave us an episode with resonant messages about the nature of evil and the paths of redemption and remorse that linger long after the fade to black.

The standalone story of the week, dealing with the newly empowered Slayer, Dana (played with quiet and creepy intensity by Navi Rawat) is a frighteningly dark and disturbing look at the after effects of child abuse, while simultaneously being an engrossing exploration of the unexpected down-side of Buffy’s “gift” bestowed on all the Potentials in the world at the end of “Chosen.” She is not only tortured by her actual past, but she also suffers from the memories of Slayers past – adding to her troubled state. Considering the story stems from a Buffy storyline, it makes sense a familiar Sunnydale resident appears in the episode to help the story along. Some might have been looking for Willow or Xander, but really who better than Andrew, the redeemed nerd and now Watcher-in-Training, to come calling. Sporting a tweed wardrobe and a Dr. Who style-do with hilarious sincerity, Lenk gives a bravura turn whether he is spouting “Vampyre Slayer” lore, nibbling on Union Jack snacks or getting freakishly emotional over Spike’s return. He crams in a lot of entertainment in his brief, but memorable return.

The B-story stemming from Dana’s hacksaw rampage is the exploration of remorse and redemption especially as it applies to the souled vamps, Angel and Spike. While Angel has been brooding about his sins for centuries, Spike has seemingly moved forward to the point of mocking Angel for his lack of progress. It’s an attitude Spike pays for dearly when Dana’s psyche blends her Slayer memories of Spike’s former victims, Nikki Wood and the Boxer Rebellion Slayer, with her actual sadistic childhood abuser. She hacks off Spike’s hands in a brutally gruesome act of mutilation, yet Spike doesn’t revert to the demon in response, he instead gets back in touch with the remorse Angel still wrestles with daily trying to help Dana back to some sanity. Meanwhile, Angel gets another sobering dose of reality when Andrew informs him that his place at the helm of W&H has even caused Buffy to distrust him and his motives. It's another blow to the gut further deeping his self-doubt and uncertainty.

It’s through such extreme events that Angel and Spike are both painfully faced with the forever burden of their past sins and future paths. The final scene, when the two men quietly talk in a stark hospital room about the origins of their evil, ranks as one of the great scenes of the show. These truly reluctant but irrevocably connected brothers have a moment of shared clarity that draws to a close with an exchange as exceptional as the scene itself when they reflect, ”She’s an innocent victim. So were we…once upon a time.”

Review by Staff Writer, Phoenix

Did love Andrew's line of "I've got twelve slayers, none of which have ever dated you."

Ditto!

Oh and I just didn't want to believe that it was really Spike who tortured the girl in the past, for some reason that would have been harder to forgive of his character then all the blood sucking and mayhem.

( I kept thinking well maybe he was trying to get slayer information out of her or maybe.... well anyway it was a huge relief that it was in fact not him.)

Smallville:

I still don't think Chloe's Lois Lane. I think they put this out there to nail down the cousin thing (which has been rumored for a while but never explicitly stated), and throw some irony into the mix as well (the uninterested in journalism thing). There are simply too many contradictions with the canon if Chloe is Lois, and, to be honest, I think it's be just... stupid.

As far as Adam being Batman, I think he's a virtual Batman, but he'll never be revealed as Bruce Wayne (at least officially). They'll keep up the wink wink nod nod and never state it explicitly.

Angel:

I think Andrew may have been made a watcher out of desperation - Giles probably doesn't have that large a pool to choose from (considering how many were killed) and - with a huge number of slayers to watch - Andrew may just have been a practical choice since he knew all of the info already.

I think Giles probably uses the slightest excuse to get rid of him though.

I also think that Angel probably hasn't talked to the rest of the crew much about exactly what happened, since he tends to be a bit tight-lipped. And I think Wolfram and Hart will cease to exist (at least as a real world law firm) by the end of the season.

Roger Tang said:

"But how would Giles and the newly reformed Council know?"

Didn't the make some calls to Giles et al once they realized she was a Slayer?

Hugh Mowen said:

"Dana was kidnapped and tortured years ago, the LAPD unable to find the guy yet Angel and co solve the case and guess what he died five years ago. And they do this how exactly?"

I'm assuming this has a lot to do with W&H's psychics and perhaps thier "dirty dealings squad."

RD Francis said:

"Yes, Xander might have been a better choice, but was Nicholas Brendan available/willing at the time?"

I think I heard from that ever dubious internet grapevine that Nick Brendon did ask if he could guest shot on "Angel" and actually got turned down. That seems odd, given that we are getting Buffy crossover people now. I mean, how cool would it be for an all BTVS cast intervention in the season finale trying to get Angel & Co out of W&H?

Then again, I'm still bummed Gellar didn't show up for that tiny cameo that Buffy supposedly had a couple of weeks ago. What, you're so busy you can't do an hour or two for the guy/role who pretty much made you a star?

Not directly related, but anyone notice that Michelle Trachtenberg (sic) chose, for her post-BUFFY movie, the moronic-looking, t&a-filled, absolute-lowbrow EUROTRIP? While I haven't seen the movie, the trailer featured these witty sources of comedy: a brother and sister accidentally making out; a French robot-artist getting kicked in the 'nads; a "funny" guy-gets-tied-up scene reminding me of the trailer for TOMCATS; and ending with long, lingering, lecherous shots of a guy watching someone -- perhaps Michelle - remove her sweatshirt in slo-mo to reveal a bikini top underneath.

Good choice, Michelle.

I think there's something to that rumour. Nicholas Brendon has said publicly that he would do anything to stay associated with Mutant enemy.

Somewhere along the way Nick Brendon did something to annoy joss because something had to happen for them to just ignore this character.

Or maybe it's just Joss and the writers have a habit of creating a teritery chacter and falling in love with it and over using it. I'm sure Tom lenk is a nice guy and all, but really i can't stand Andrew.

This episode cried out for Xander really. he comes in trades barbs with Angel AND Spike and then at the end his sarcasm is revealed to be a very serious statement.

Then you probably could have rewritten the exposition so it fits a little better, maybe tailor it more to Lorne and fred who probably don't quite understand about the slayer thing.

*sigh*

Josh: Pete will most likely be killed too.

Luigi Novi: Which would be yet another divergence from the comic, since we know he lives to adulthood therein.

red-Ricky: No one besides Adam knows what an IP address is?

Luigi Novi: Not impossible. Many people who use the Internet don’t know how it works, as well as many other modern technological conveniences.

red-Ricky: And my favorite… “Hey, Jonathan! Let’s open this e-mail together! It’s from Brainwave!” “Oh look, Martha! It has an attachment! I bet it’s something sweet and not a nasty virus!”

Luigi Novi: The email may have had instructions for her to get him to re-open it himself once she was “turned.”

Considering the story stems from a Buffy storyline, it makes sense a familiar Sunnydale resident appears in the episode to help the story along. Some might have been looking for Willow or Xander, but really who better than Andrew,

Like he said, Willow or Xander. Or Giles. Dawn. Robin Wood. Faith. Kennedy. That's kind of the problem: When you have such a staggering list of people who would have made more sense, it makes the decision all the odder. Yes, I agree all the bits with him were funny. But you can't ignore the common sense of the universe because, hey, we can have a lot of funny bits.

I suppose the thing that *so* torques me about the Buffy lack-of-trust thing is that she was just devastated toward the end of season 7 when her sister and supposed allies told her they had lost faith in her and didn't trust her. If ANYONE should be willing to, at the very least, give Angel the benefit of the doubt (Angel, who has saved her on multiple occasions including, by the way, giving her the amulet that won the battle for them) it should be Buffy. Instead Andrew is sent with a "screw you"-gram?

And yes, I understand that everything from actors' schedules to SMG passing on an "Angel" appearance has impact on story decisions. But in that case, you finesse your way around stuff by ignoring it if you have to; not go out of your way to justify absences by pummeling characterization, even when the character is off screen.

The only aspect of the snubbing that made sense to me was Giles thinking very little of Wes. Giles' last impression of Wes was from the end of BtVS third season, back when Wes was a total git. Wes has changed a lot since then (getting your throat slit will do that to you.) But Giles wouldn't know that.

PAD

Hmm. I wonder how much (or what) Willow remembers about her guest shot last season? Depending on her memories post-Connor-Crisis, you'd think she might have mentioned to Giles at some point how much Wes had changed.

I think I may have figured out an in-story reason to send Andrew; picture a conference call among the Scoobies, sans Andrew. "OK, Angel and Co. are working for Wolfram and Hart. Willow, they called you in last year because they brought back Angelus. Can we be sure that Angelus isn't back? [Nos all around]. So, we need to send someone to check things out. Who's the most expendable? [chorus

of ANDREW!]"

Seriously, because of Angel being vulnerable to that curse, this is a valid reason for the Scoobies to keep something of a guard up about him constantly, and get more suspicious when he starts working for the forces of evil than, say, Xander. I do agree Xander would've

been a better choice as emissary than Andrew though.

As to SMG not appearing for the cameo in the dream sequence last week, let's be realistic. Unless she's right in town and has a spare day, the scene was too minor to go to any real bother. Heck, even if she was available, it'd somewhat cheapen her "return" since it was so minor. Besides, the scene wasn't about Buffy; it was about Angel's jealousy/insecurity with regards to Spike.

Re: Smallville: Interesting touch that Chloe's supervisor at the Planet was named Taylor (even if it was Max instead of George). However, his death does leave an opening on the Planet staff, which will probably be filled by Perry White in future episodes.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this but I think Adam is a clone. He has no parents he spent months in rehab learning how to walk after being raised in some sort of gestation tank. He is pre-programed with skills and knowledge that he does not know where they came from. His background is vague as hell and his name is ADAM duh!. I think this is the next step in the cloning process of the little girl from last year. For one last leap of faith if kryptonite or Clarks DNA were used in the process Adam could turn out to be Bizzaro. Or who knows he could just be Bruce Wayne.

ANGEL: If you look at the timeline, everything in this episode happens in a couple of hours. Dana escapes the asylum, Angel learns she is a slayer, he calls Giles, He drives back to W&H and Andrew is all-ready there. Conclusion: Andrew is in LA all the time. He was sent because he was the closest person they could send.

Thematically, it made perfect sense to send Andrew. The theme of the episode was the responsibility of evil, and the responsibility of redemption, and I think the last scene encapsulated that. This theme was not only evident in Spike and Angel, but in Dana and Andrew as well. I mean let's face it peeps, Dana killed a hell of a lot of innocents. And last time we left Andrew, he was all guilty over Anya's death and just beginning to feel remorse for his past actions.

Why didn't they send Willow? Her "redemption" was complete, as was Faith's; those characters got their closure at the end of Buffy, with Faith becoming all Genral Slayer and learning to trust and laugh, and Willow helping empower women. Andrew was only halfway there. And Giles, ever the Mentor, sent Andrew into a situation where he could appreciate the grayness of the events, and perhaps grow from them (in one scene, he was screaming like a little girl, and in a later one, he was bravely facing Dana with a tranq gun, the kid has grown). Giles, Xander and Robin would have pulled too much dramatic tension away from the central arc of the episode due to their past histories with Angel and Spike, and most if not all of the cast were involved either in their own TV shows or plays (ASH) to make time. Also, the dramatic tension is increased as Angel and Spike (and the fans)only hear second-hand information about those they care about, making their if and when appearances much more satisfying for fans like us. Also, with a shortage of Watchers in the world, Giles needs all the help he can get, and Andrew is a veritable genius, has profound knowledge of the occult, and has field experience that is extremely valuable despite his annoyingness (which only endears him more in my opinion). let's face it, Wes was the Council's last choice for a Slayer Watcher and he lacked that very important final component. As for Andrew arriving in L.A. so fast, Willow could have teleported him and the Slayers, or Andrew could have been rounding up newly activated girls and was in the neighborhood, at which point W&H

could have sent a plane for him, which is another reason his 12 Slyaers might not have been able to help as they were on their way.

Buffy not trusting Angel makes perfect sense to me character and storywise; Angel and Spike have both expressed that they want to let Buffy enjoy her "normalcy" now, thereby not taking actions, which seems to me to be a theme of the show this season, which Angel becoming more and more confused about which actions to take. And the fact that Angel deduced so quickly that Dana was a Slayer shows that he was aware of that as a possibility, and therefore knew a little about what happened. I think the real test for him was whether he would hand Dana over to Andrew or not, seeing as Buffy felt she had a responsibility for Dana's actions to a degree, and Angel should have known how Buffy likes to handle her responsibilities.

I'm taking a number of things that Andrew said in the episode with a grain of salt. He's never been well known for telling the truth and Watchers dole out honesty like water in a desert. It's possible that this is a set up for something to come though I have to admit that maybe wishful thinking on my part.

I think the episode shows that Angel did already know about the multiple slayers. He figures out that the escaped woman is a Slayer, and given the mayhem caused as she escapes, she's obviously not simply a Potential. When Andrew arrives, Angel allows Andrew to go through the whole speech because while HE knows it all already, Fred, Lorne and Gunn obviously don't. Angel had previously shown he didn't talk much about his little trip to the Buffy series finale much to his crew. Andrew was sent as opposed to any of the others because he was in the area, whereas so many of the other characters were elsewhere doing something important. And while the new Watcher's Council is trying to get it's feet on the ground, searching for and training Slayers, it doesn't have the resources for a comprehensive manhunt in a place like LA, while W&H does. So they use Angel. I've got no problem with Buffy not fully trusting Angel right now. She probably knows he isn't Angelus, Willow could fairly easily confirm that much information. However, he's walking a mighty fine line.

ANGEL: Perhaps the episode was written for Xander; it kind of makes sense that way. Since Nicholas Brendan is shooting a mid-season comedy, though, chances are he wasn't available anyway.

As far as SMALLVILLE goes, forgetting about the Adam name, I've been wondering if instead of Batman, he is in fact Mon-el. Possible?

SMALLVILLE: The Chloe as Lois thing makes no sense. It's not like the Lois we all know for her to have had a crush on Clark Kent. She was always the person who blew the country boy Clark away when he first saw her.

The *only* way I could see this working would be for Chloe to attend college overseas or something, change her name to Lois Lane officially (because Chloe is pretty goofy) and return to the Daily Planet with a new hairdo (black) and an even more aggressive attitude.

Ultimately, though, I doubt that's the case because DC plans on introducing the Chloe Sullivan character into the comics.

ANGEL: See, I have no problem with Angel running Wolfram and Hart. He's about defying expectations. He's a vampire with a soul. He works with a demon. He works with a failed Watcher. Unlike Buffy, he was able to save Faith(*because* he knew what it was like to be a killer).

Not trusting him because he works for W&H makes as much sense as people not trusting Wesley because he worked for Angel.

And, yes, this episode screamed for Xander (who I always assumed would become a Watcher, once Dawn jinxed him with the "you see things" comment). Andrew should be in jail -- not just for Jonathan but because of his assistance in the murder of an innocent woman.

Smallville:

When I saw the "Brainwave" e-mail, I could only think of Hector Hammond with his orange jumpsuit & big ol' conehead helmet with the jetson-style plastic rings. What a Mort! *Sigh* I miss the Silver Age.

Is there anyone on either show who shouldn't be in jail at this point? The characters have committed a staggering amount of computer crime, breaking & entering and trespassing, after all.

The review of "Angel" shows so many signs of a late-arrival to a story that has been unfolding for many seasons on multiple networks.

While you noted some amazing moments, your interpretation is far off base.

Essentially, the salient points to this season revolve around The Amulet and it's origin and purpose; Angel and Co. think they are on a path to undermine W&H yet those of us who've watched since the first episodes know that someone else is directing W&H and Angel. The cost of hiding Connor's identity came at a price as yet unknown, even if Angel thinks he knows that price.

Also, regarding Andrew and the Slayers -- early this season mention was made of how the events in Sunnydale had altered the Slayer system and that the Watchers were undone. There are obviously many more ramifications to Buffy's sharing of power! Should it all be dished out in one easy-to-swallow episode??

In the Buffyverse, a large gap exists between Buffy's time and the arrival of Fray.

And for Andrew to be the one to put down Angel as unreliable was a moment for Angel's character to again encounter his enormous failures - Angel is not coping with his actions, whether from outside influences or not remains unknown.

Whedon's writers seldom reveal all their plans to spoon-feed critics -- each season has carefully unfolded, even those seasons when the networks were vague about the future of the Whedon series.

Yes, I expect Cordelia to echo the fact that W&H have led Angel to abandon his path -- since she was one of the few he trusted, perhaps it will provide a catalyst.

Last week's episode made the mystery a little deeper.

I also liked the take that a Slayer was kidnapped and terrorized by some crazed serial killer and had to have help - BUT

who knows her real origin?? Is she really a Slayer? Maybe that was why W&H were needed to locate her - and if Spike is more the hero than Angel, then perhaps she was used to try and take him out of the picture.

You folks can't seem to see the forest for the trees!

Andrew is a veritable genius, has profound knowledge of the occult

Has Andrew ever demonstrated this supposed knowledge? Warren was always the real the brains of the three geeks (why someone who could build perfect, realistic, humanoid robots would waste his time trying to take over Sunnydale instead of filing the appropriate patents and just plain BUYING Sunnydale with royalties from the IPO on Fembots Inc. is another question entirely). Andrew was, at best, a side man. And it's not like he did anything intelligent (or useful, or interesting, or amusing) during Season 7 of Buffy...

I couldn't agree with Chris more: Andrew and Warren. Andrew was pretty much just a flunky. Warren was the evil genius.

As for his not patenting his realistic robots, well, he was emotionally stunted -- he wanted to be a super villain.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Chloe-using-Lois's-name thing, since either of the two ways they could take it would make no sense.

They could either have Chloe *become* Lois Lane, which would make no sense because she already has a cousin using that very name. Could you imagine if your cousin starting publishing under your name and became one of the world's most respected journalists? Wouldn't that make you a little uncomfortable?

Or Chloe's cousin, the real Lois Lane, could be the Lois Lane from the comics, but that would be even more uncomfortable, since that would mean she would achieve the success her cousin always dreamed of. Chloe would have nothing while her cousin has a few Pulitzers and the love of Clark Kent. Ouch. That'd be enough to send Chloe to that loony bin with Johnathan Taylor Thomas and the Electro Man.

The only way I can see for the writers to dig themselves out of this problem is if Chloe actually dies...and somehow inspires her cousin to become a journalist, or something. I'm not sure how that would work, but Chloe can't become Lois and Lois can't be Lois either as is.

And has anybody else noticed how Clark has stopped showing an interest in writing? I know he's been busy with some other stuff, but what happened to his love of writing and journalism?

Maybe *he'll* become Lois Lane!

Regarding Angel: I had hoped that Andrew's appearance would have shown some growth in his character since last year, but all that really changed in him was his hairstyle. I agree with the consensus that Xander would have been a better choice for this role, even though his pulling a fast one on Angel would have been less of a surprise. Xander never got along with either Wes or Angel or Spike, so instead of being annoying, they'd be real tension. While I think Xander is also being groomed for joining the Watcher council, it's irritating to here about it only in an offhand manner.

Andrew was used this week becaue Whedon and the other producers have a bizarre fascination with this geek. Maybe Giles sent him to get rid of him for a few days or maybe this was Andrew's big chance to prove himself worthy of becoming a watcher. Either way, he was just plain irritating until the very last scene when he finally showed some backbone.

Plus, you know Xander would have asked about Cordy.

As for the slayer-squad, I suspect that Andrew was sent as the advance man to find out what was going on at W&H The slayer squad was sent later, once Andrew reported on the goings on at the law firm.

Someone asked if Giles and Buffy knew it was a slayer when they sent Andrew. The answer is yes, that's why Angel called Giles in the first place.

What really ruinned this episode for me, though, was how heavily landen it was with exposition. Angel knew how to get in touch with Giles, but not about the multiple slayers (even though Spike was THERE!), so we get a summary on the slayer legend. Later, Andrew rattles off where all the Scoobies went. He sounded like giving a laundry list. This is despite the fact that Angel said in an earlier episode that he knew Buffy was in Europe.

This whole episode hinges on the idea that despite the amulet and Spike's return and what had to be numerous reports of super-strong girls around the world, there has been no communication between the two camps for the past nine months. It doesn't work.

One interesting thing: Angel continues to find himself in the middle. He's got evil clients and evil employees to contend with as well as people on the outside conspiring against him (Lindsey, the roboninjas, and now the Scoobies).

I'm hoping that next episode sheds more light on the situation. Will Cordy still have visions when she awakens? Are the powers that be still out there trying to influence events? Is Lindsey really working for them is that a con?

Regarding Smallvile:

Ninja fighting girls, yay!! That scene was so great, I didn't mind Lana's miraculous recovery from having her leg broken in three places.

Seriously, I still don't believe that Chloe is going to become Lois. In fact, I think she's the strongest candidate to die at the end of the show's run since she's not part of the comic book mythos.

Maybe she will inspire her cousin to become a reporter. It's a shame, I still root for her to have some happiness, but I don't see it coming for her.

Regarding Andrew's new "look": several reviews have said it was quasi-Doctor Who-like, but to me he was a dead ringer for how David Warner was dressed as Jack the Ripper (even down to the floppy hair) at the end of "Time After Time" (1979). Did anyone else notice this or am I just obsessed about this excellent Nicholas Meyer movie?

Smallville:

I think Adam is really Linda Danvers.

I haven't read the whole thread yet, so if this has been mentioned, my bad.

Why do people keep saying Andrew assisted in Tara's murder? I can understand why Willow thought that, since she was bad with grief. But if you saw those episodes, you know that he was in jail at the time, and was just as surprised as anyone that Warren had done that.

I think people are referring to the murder of Warren's ex, not Tara. Andrew probably would qualify as an accessory there. (Of course, Buffy was also an accessory to the death of the Assistant Mayor, and no one's beating the drum for her being in jail for that...)

Not Tara's murder, brentac, but Katrina's. (I think that was Warren's ex's name)

Also, notice how they say the amulet Spike wound up unsing in "Chosen" showed up mysteriously in an envelope? And then, the episode where Eve and Lindsay turn Spike corporeal starts with a mysterious envelope?

I think maybe the post office is the real culprit here... Damn you Cliff Clavin, damn you to hell!

Re: Why Warren didn't do Fembots, Inc. I've heard the theory that all of the super-villain style tech the Troika used would only work within a certain distance of the Hellmouth, as consciously or not it was influenced/affected by said Hellmouth.

And has anybody else noticed how Clark has stopped showing an interest in writing? I know he's been busy with some other stuff, but what happened to his love of writing and journalism?

Hell's bells, I'm still wondering why none of these supposed high school students ever seem to go to class!

Clark is always off saving people, Chloe is the prodigy reporter, and Lana is always running the coffee shop. About once an episode, we get a hallway scene to give them the feel of being in school, but that's it. Maybe that's why we rarely see Pete anymore. He's busy taking chemistry notes for everyone else.

the body wasn't found by the cops

Ok, my apologies if this was already addressed, I'm a loser and didn't read all the comments, but can you honestly tell me that the cops didn't 'find' the headless corpse at the mental hospital? Or the poor dockworker? Or that the storeworker with a broken arm didn't want to make a statement? Or that the 'presumably' dead cop at the store didn't warrant a little notice? Did she eat all these people or something?

Unless a witness talked, W&H "Cleanup Crews" probably handled it, including Cops and the like that are actually on the W&H payroll...At least that's my take on it Rogue

The "police" and the "official" authorities could never handle something like that, so it falls on those who also work outside the law (or from within it) to take care of it. L.A. may be bigger than Sunnydale, but they still fall to prey to the whole "the mind makes up it's own rational explanation for the supernatural" vibe from BtVS...

I liked this Angel episode mainly because it helped us see more of Angel's point of view on the whole WRH mess. We've had fun cheering on Spike because of his Devil-may-care attitude--but that same attitude almost got him killed and I think he now has a greater appreciation of Angel's position. Now Spike is beginning to see the pain and anguish he caused pre-soul; he gave lip service to it before and he is trying to be heroic and helpful--but now he really understands the pain mere mortals can suffer and how one who could fight back truly felt about being a victim. Angel realized that Spike had gotten a lesson beaten into him and there was zero hint of "I told you so" but instead a huge hint of caring big brother. I really liked seeing that.

Angel and Spike earned each other's respect in the episode and I hope to see less of them sniping at each other and more building of grudging admiration for each others position/opinions and finally them working together.

Smallville, on the other hand, has made a mockery of all that is Superman. Others (on another chat board) have pointed this out better, but I agree: who is left in the Supermythos who hasn't been trashed? Perry, a (reformed?) drunk due to the golden influence of Clark? (This Clark???) Shouldn't Perry be one of Clark's inspirations? (I'm generously assuming that Clark even likes to read, let alone has an interest in journalism.) A Lois who doesn't like journalism? So much for her influence on our (former addict, individual crime-wave, wild boy) Clark. Miss Pink, Lana Lang? I don't wish her ill but I do wish she'd, um, move away, far, far away. Maybe she'll hear Hollywood calling (she might hear it when sitting on the water tower to the west of Smallville; she can likely see California from there). Mr. Invisible, Pete Ross? He's the most genuine character in the show--so naturally he gets almost zero air time.

So kudos to Angel for more character definition for Angel and Spike as well as helping us see more of the overall arc (and Andrew was funny, too, his presence also defining the arc even if it was awkward to some).

Smallville? What a boring disastrous waste of time and money (and for a few of the actors, talent). The only good thing about Smallville is the scathingly funny reviews anti-fans write of it :)

ANGEL: Well, I'm with Mia and the reviewer from Cityofangel.com...I thought (and hubby John thought) it was a spectacular episode. The showdown between Andrew and the Slayers and the Fang Gang was there to especially reinforce the question: "Just whose side is the "new" Wolfman & Hart fighting on?" The issues of trust, of good vs. evil, of black and white and shades of gray are, I believe, the themes of this season's ANGEL. (I am believing, more and more, that Lindsey is not the evil guy, but that he is working to stop the "fall" of Angel and the Fang Gang. (Did you come to same conclusion, Peter? I seem to remember reading that somewhere...was it your post?)

As for Andrew himself, well, I do have to admit that I was EXTREMELY disappointed when he survived and Jonathan didn't. I would have preferred seeing Jonathan survive--he was geeky enough to make the LOTR references (and btw, who else here thought that Andrew, with his new haircut, looked like Merry?) and I also think that Jonathan becoming a Watcher would have been a nice coda to the episode where he magically made himself a "Superstar."

Ah, well.

At any rate, I give "Damage" a 10.

Mindy

Re: Angel.

After thinking it over for a while, it occurred to me that Andrew has always been pretty disconnected from reality. And extremely prone to, well, make stuff up.

In earlier scenes, it seems like Andrew has lost some of the emotional progress he made in Buffy's last season. (Yeah, like there was much to begin with.) I find it very plausible that he could also be backsliding in the area of compulsive lying.

Of course, true or not, it may have been exactly what Angel needed to hear...

- DB Bennett

1-Now Smallville: one thing that bugged me from the moment it became apparent that Clark was hypnotized to kill Chloe is why didn't he use his powers to do it? We know from Lana's case that the instructions weren't specific as to the method to be used, just "Kill Chloe".-- Josh

The "real" answer is that a truck chase that slowly unravels in order to reveal Clark as the culprit, just as we cut to the opening credits, is more dramatic. And if the writers blow Clark's secret... What will Chloe do the rest of the season?(Make out with Pete?)

Besides, if I were to have Clark go crazy and shoot fireballs through his eyes at someone... Who better than Lana?

Anyways, the comicbook letter page answer to your question would be that Clark is "hardwired" not to use his powers to kill people, the same as Chloe was "hardwired" not to kill herself.

But you know, continuity being what it is now-a-days, you can expect that Clark (or Red Klark) will kill someone sooner or later.

red-Ricky: No one besides Adam knows what an IP address is?

Luigi Novi: Not impossible. Many people who use the Internet don’t know how it works, as well as many other modern technological conveniences.

Agreed. It's just that I found Lana's questioning annoying as hell. And out of all the conversations I've had about IP addresses (with Parents, friends, co-workers and teachers), no one has ever asked how I know this... Nor would I care to recount how I was part of the Al Gore newbie/elder gopher purge of early 90's; or how I witnessed the Great PAD/ChuckG Flamewar (The Mother of all Flames!)

Anyways, if it were up to me, I'd change Adam's answer to "the Internet".

Adam, where did you learn about IP addresses? ...The Internet.

And Martial Arts? ...The Internet.

And how to scale walls? ...The Internet.

And how to throw Batarangs? ...The Internet.

And how to do the Batusi? ...The Internet.

Luigi Novi: The email may have had instructions for her to get him to re-open it himself once she was “turned.”

I thought the program would delete itself once executed. In any case, that wasn't a big turn off either. I just wanted to poke some fun at the fact that no one thought they could get a nasty virus through an unsolicited e-mail. I bet Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mind of our time, would've screened his e-mails for spam.

Anyways,

I didn't mind Jonathan grabbing some Green K and putting Clark in his place. In fact, I've been waiting for this since last year's season finale. (Makes you wonder if Jonathan's pact with Jor-El was necessary at all.)

One final Note:

I think that Chloe's comment about Lois Lane was just a joke and nothing more. I don't think she'll grow up to be Lois or get upset that her cousin stole her high-school sweetheart or won a pulitzer. Besides, no one besides Chloe can do ten or eleven back ground checks in a week. If you ask me, she has a bright future in today's HomeLand Security Department. Hell, she could even end up getting a cabinet position as Luthor's head of the FBI.

Stand aside Mulder, here comes Chloe!

Sorry to intrude with an off-topic post, but it's at least vaguely relevant.

My wife and I actually missed last week's Angel owing to a VCR screw-up, and no local friends have a tape we could borrow.

Anyone happen to have a tape they're willing to lend out? If so, e-mail me: I'll happy pay round-trip postage and all that.

Thanks,

TWL

Can't wait for the round-up on tonight's Angel and the promo for next week's...

I dislike the idea of Chloe 'becoming' Lois, Clark's future love interest, especially since there's already been enough references to her cousin, Lois Lane. I can't think of a way for Clark to just not know that she's actually his friend Chloe from Smallville. I haven't actually watched any of the third season yet, but Chloe doesn't seem too happy with Clark at the end of the second anyway.

As a side note, I've always wondered how morbid Chloe would get when her dream boyfriend falls for her cousin... Still, that would be more plausible in the long run, I think.

I have not seen this episdode and living in England I probably won't do for some time.

Right with that out of the way can I just say that I find Andrew the most annoying character of all time. Mostly because he reinforces the idea that anyone with even a passing intrest in Sci-fi is weird and a geek. Maybe some people find this funny but I just find it annoying, irriating and most of all just plain BORING!