Reviewage
Okay, semi-coherent longish thoughts about "Conviction" and "Just Rewards."
Conviction -- I knew they'd wait til the last 30 second to bring Spike back. But I enjoyed the episode even without him, and it was totally worth it for that last shot:
WES: Spike?
ANGEL: Spike.
Harmony pops in around the office door
HARM: Blondie Bear?
I almost died laughing. Literally. There were breathing difficulties. Today, as I'm walking around campus I keep thinking of that scene (and a few others) and grinning and giggling to myself. I'm getting weird looks and I don't care because it heeeeeeeheheheheheeee! Too. Fucking. Funny.
On a somewhat more serious note regarding Spike's return, kira29 asked me if I thought Joss delivered on the whole "bringing Spike back in the most painful way possible" promise -- I'm gonna go with yeah. Undusting him that way? Yeah. That did not look like fun.
But how much did I love that his hand was still up from the whole fire-hands with Buffy thing? Awwww.
But more about Spike in a few minutes.
Regarding the earlier part of Conviction -- I am so loving the return of Harmony. Harmony is comedy gold, baby. I don't care how implausible her ever being hired as Angel's secretary is; maybe Wes thought it would be amusing to have her annoying Angel all the time. I certainly think it is. Also, Harmony is too incompetent to ever really plot against the gang, so I can see why Wesley would think she's less evil than the other W&H secretary options. I'm glad I didn't know she was coming, because seeing her again was a delightful surprise, and really added to my enjoyment of the episode.
Ho!Yay -- Angel admits to having no problem spanking men and being a fairy! This is one of the other things that has me laughing to myself in public. You can tell DB really had fun with those lines, and so did I. Awesome.
Fred and Knox are adorable together. I hope he's not too evil so he can effectively keep Fred from Gunn and Wes and Spike. I like her much more when she's not wussifying one of my favorite boys. Knox is just the right level of geekiness, so it's all good.
Love the scene where Gunn comes to lean against his office door after talking to Eve (gag) and Wes is leaning against his own office door a few feet a way and asks what's up, and Gunn lies. Shivery. Vibes of the Not Good about what Gunn's up to.
That said, I like kickass lawyer Gunn. He looks damn fine in a suit, and I like confident, capable Gunn. I hope we don't actually have to see him in court to often, because bleh, but he can be a walking encyclopedia and a snazzy dresser all he wants.
Wesley, nice and scruffy, but stop pining over Fred. Right now. Okay? Thank you. I really want to see some Spike/Wes bonding.
Eve -- I'm placing bets she'll soon be nicknamed Not-Lilah. Because she is so, so not. Where the hell is Lilah? Are they at least going to talk about her? Are there problems getting Stephanie Romanov? Get her, Joss, get her! Eve will never live up. They should have gotten some quirky little old man -- somebody mildly creepy, like Doc -- to be the W&H liason, just so it wouldn't be so painfully obvious that it's Not-Lilah.
***
skipping a few lines for those who haven't seen Just Rewards...
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Just Rewards -- This ep made me squee in spite of spending the whole ep thinking, "why the fucking hell is Spike a ghost?!" (and jodyorjen, you were right, the return wasn't what I thought)When I heard they'd thought of doing that on FtVS I thanked the Universe that ED got Tru Calling, because Ghost!Spike? Is wrong.
Fortunatley, I'm sure this is temporary. His condition isn't stable -- they'll have to find a way to make him flesh again or let him get sucked into hell. Hopefully it'll only take a few episodes.
And meanwhile, I've made up my own, shanshu-friendly explanation for why Spike is now a ghost: When vampires dust, their essances go (return to?) hell. period, the end. Those are the rules. Even using the amulet and dying to save the world, Spike went dusty. If he were allowed into the afterlife-proper, it would inevitably be to hell, because that's where vamps go. The PTB couldn't just change that. maybe his soul could've gone to heaven, but not his demon, and since Spike's demon made the choice to get a soul and be a good guy on his own, TPTB don't want to split him up like that, reward the souled half and not the demon half who did more than his share of the work.
So they trapped the whole essence in the amulet, to be released back into the world to continue on his journey until heaven becomes a possibility, (I hope) via shanshu. if Spike becomes a man with a demon instead of a vamp with a soul, the rules change.
With that fanwank out of the way, I can properly enjoy the Spike/Angel snarkage. Which I loved loved loved. Loved. So much. The jealousy and annoyance and familiarity and twisted almost-affection is all so beautiful and funny. But my favorite part:
ANGEL: You asked for a soul. I didn't. It almost killed me. I spent a hundred years trying to come to terms with infinite remorse. You spent THREE WEEKS mooooaning in a basement, and then you were fine! What's fair about that?
DB's delivery here is fucking wonderful. Perfect balance of mocking Spike's story and envying it. And you gotta love Angel being jealous of Spike.
Also love the implication that Buffy told Angel all about how Spike chose his soul, went briefly crazy and then pulled it together to save the world. And that Angel was too jealous to tell anybody else. Dork.
Also, "I'm his date." BWA!! Oh, Spike, I love you so much. So very, very much.
The confession to Fred at the end about hell? Heart breaking. And I have no problem with Spike & Fred bonding in a friendly way -- Spike gets along with women (except Harmony), but if they try to push a Spred romance I will be forced to gouge out my own eyes. Please no. I didn't get that vibe, though -- Spike needs help, and Fred, Willow-like, is the smart one, as well as the one I'd expect to be the most sypathetic if I didn't know the AtS crew.
When's he going to sing for Lorne?
And what was with all the tightly clutching the duster around himself, like he was cold?
How long do I have to wait for a new episode now? Like three weeks? Sigh.
At least I can watch the Spangel snark over and over...
Oh! That reminds me, one more thing: Spike referring to Angel as his grandsire. This pleases me. Now if Spike will just say something along the lines of Angel being "like a sire" to him, I will consider that an official non-issue. Angel raised & trained Spike since Dru is a nutball, Spike occasionally waxes metaphorical. No more wankiness necessary.
And I'm spent.
Conviction -- I knew they'd wait til the last 30 second to bring Spike back. But I enjoyed the episode even without him, and it was totally worth it for that last shot:
WES: Spike?
ANGEL: Spike.
Harmony pops in around the office door
HARM: Blondie Bear?
I almost died laughing. Literally. There were breathing difficulties. Today, as I'm walking around campus I keep thinking of that scene (and a few others) and grinning and giggling to myself. I'm getting weird looks and I don't care because it heeeeeeeheheheheheeee! Too. Fucking. Funny.
On a somewhat more serious note regarding Spike's return, kira29 asked me if I thought Joss delivered on the whole "bringing Spike back in the most painful way possible" promise -- I'm gonna go with yeah. Undusting him that way? Yeah. That did not look like fun.
But how much did I love that his hand was still up from the whole fire-hands with Buffy thing? Awwww.
But more about Spike in a few minutes.
Regarding the earlier part of Conviction -- I am so loving the return of Harmony. Harmony is comedy gold, baby. I don't care how implausible her ever being hired as Angel's secretary is; maybe Wes thought it would be amusing to have her annoying Angel all the time. I certainly think it is. Also, Harmony is too incompetent to ever really plot against the gang, so I can see why Wesley would think she's less evil than the other W&H secretary options. I'm glad I didn't know she was coming, because seeing her again was a delightful surprise, and really added to my enjoyment of the episode.
Ho!Yay -- Angel admits to having no problem spanking men and being a fairy! This is one of the other things that has me laughing to myself in public. You can tell DB really had fun with those lines, and so did I. Awesome.
Fred and Knox are adorable together. I hope he's not too evil so he can effectively keep Fred from Gunn and Wes and Spike. I like her much more when she's not wussifying one of my favorite boys. Knox is just the right level of geekiness, so it's all good.
Love the scene where Gunn comes to lean against his office door after talking to Eve (gag) and Wes is leaning against his own office door a few feet a way and asks what's up, and Gunn lies. Shivery. Vibes of the Not Good about what Gunn's up to.
That said, I like kickass lawyer Gunn. He looks damn fine in a suit, and I like confident, capable Gunn. I hope we don't actually have to see him in court to often, because bleh, but he can be a walking encyclopedia and a snazzy dresser all he wants.
Wesley, nice and scruffy, but stop pining over Fred. Right now. Okay? Thank you. I really want to see some Spike/Wes bonding.
Eve -- I'm placing bets she'll soon be nicknamed Not-Lilah. Because she is so, so not. Where the hell is Lilah? Are they at least going to talk about her? Are there problems getting Stephanie Romanov? Get her, Joss, get her! Eve will never live up. They should have gotten some quirky little old man -- somebody mildly creepy, like Doc -- to be the W&H liason, just so it wouldn't be so painfully obvious that it's Not-Lilah.
***
skipping a few lines for those who haven't seen Just Rewards...
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Just Rewards -- This ep made me squee in spite of spending the whole ep thinking, "why the fucking hell is Spike a ghost?!" (and jodyorjen, you were right, the return wasn't what I thought)When I heard they'd thought of doing that on FtVS I thanked the Universe that ED got Tru Calling, because Ghost!Spike? Is wrong.
Fortunatley, I'm sure this is temporary. His condition isn't stable -- they'll have to find a way to make him flesh again or let him get sucked into hell. Hopefully it'll only take a few episodes.
And meanwhile, I've made up my own, shanshu-friendly explanation for why Spike is now a ghost: When vampires dust, their essances go (return to?) hell. period, the end. Those are the rules. Even using the amulet and dying to save the world, Spike went dusty. If he were allowed into the afterlife-proper, it would inevitably be to hell, because that's where vamps go. The PTB couldn't just change that. maybe his soul could've gone to heaven, but not his demon, and since Spike's demon made the choice to get a soul and be a good guy on his own, TPTB don't want to split him up like that, reward the souled half and not the demon half who did more than his share of the work.
So they trapped the whole essence in the amulet, to be released back into the world to continue on his journey until heaven becomes a possibility, (I hope) via shanshu. if Spike becomes a man with a demon instead of a vamp with a soul, the rules change.
With that fanwank out of the way, I can properly enjoy the Spike/Angel snarkage. Which I loved loved loved. Loved. So much. The jealousy and annoyance and familiarity and twisted almost-affection is all so beautiful and funny. But my favorite part:
ANGEL: You asked for a soul. I didn't. It almost killed me. I spent a hundred years trying to come to terms with infinite remorse. You spent THREE WEEKS mooooaning in a basement, and then you were fine! What's fair about that?
DB's delivery here is fucking wonderful. Perfect balance of mocking Spike's story and envying it. And you gotta love Angel being jealous of Spike.
Also love the implication that Buffy told Angel all about how Spike chose his soul, went briefly crazy and then pulled it together to save the world. And that Angel was too jealous to tell anybody else. Dork.
Also, "I'm his date." BWA!! Oh, Spike, I love you so much. So very, very much.
The confession to Fred at the end about hell? Heart breaking. And I have no problem with Spike & Fred bonding in a friendly way -- Spike gets along with women (except Harmony), but if they try to push a Spred romance I will be forced to gouge out my own eyes. Please no. I didn't get that vibe, though -- Spike needs help, and Fred, Willow-like, is the smart one, as well as the one I'd expect to be the most sypathetic if I didn't know the AtS crew.
When's he going to sing for Lorne?
And what was with all the tightly clutching the duster around himself, like he was cold?
How long do I have to wait for a new episode now? Like three weeks? Sigh.
At least I can watch the Spangel snark over and over...
Oh! That reminds me, one more thing: Spike referring to Angel as his grandsire. This pleases me. Now if Spike will just say something along the lines of Angel being "like a sire" to him, I will consider that an official non-issue. Angel raised & trained Spike since Dru is a nutball, Spike occasionally waxes metaphorical. No more wankiness necessary.
And I'm spent.