WATCH ALONG: Angel S1 E17
Added 2025-04-30 22:11:47 +0000 UTCEpisode is currently exporting and I will share as soon a possible!
Comments
This episode always struck me as an 'ideas' episode. Let's see: 1. Drugs can produce a 'false' chemical bliss that kinda does satisfy the gypsy curse Angel got in Romania. Who would have thought? Now... this makes one think. Does anything that brings him bliss have a similar effect, at least for as long as the sensation lasts? Let's say he's really into superhero comics -- if I give him a special number 1 edition, still in the plastic wrapping, could this make him so blissfully happy he'd suddenly turn into Angelus for some time? 2. If when the 'false' bliss passes the curse comes back and Angelus returns to Angel, then why doesn't that happen to Buffy? When they're not having sex, then either he's just enjoying the love he has for her -- which he always did, ever since she admitted she was in love with him -- or he's enjoying memories -- and in this case any memory of a blissful situation could bring Angelus back? Say he reminisces about his night of love with Buffy. Would that be enough? 3. The episode also seems to be saying something about honesty among friends. I wonder, hasn't anyone ever lied to a friend (especially in a situation like Cordelia's in the Ibsen play)? Is Cordy right in feeling so angry -- or is he just letting her inner needy child (which suggests, once again in the Whedonverse, bad parents)? By the way, how can she tell if Angelus was telling the truth? There's no reason why he couldn't lie -- it would actually suit his personality rather well wouldn't it? What if she really is incredibly good as an actress, and Angelus just invented his comments out of the blue simply because he knew hearing them would hurt her? Is it always the case that the 'good' answer is dishonest, and the 'bad' answer true (see: "does this dress make me look fat?"), or is this automatic assumption simply an admission of low self-esteem, despite the bubbly oh-I'm-so-good façade Cordelia likes to wear (cf. her feelings to Dennis' mother attacks in 'Rm w/ a vw', or her admission to Doyle that sometimes she felt she was being punished just because of 'all the stuff I could say and still get away with' in Sunnydale?). 4. Finally, by the way -- Cordelia should be similarly pissed at Wesley, right? He lied to her about her theatrical performance just as much as Angel did, which should be obvious after Angelus' claim that 'everybody was laughing at her' (we have decided evil Angelus always tells the truth, haven't we?). But she isn't. (I guess the explanation may simply be that Cordelia cares about what Angel thinks of her a lot more than she does about what Wesley thinks of her...). But this was the idea that wouldn't leave my head after the episode. Does evil always tell the truth? Is lying a characteristic of good friends -- because they want us to feel good?
Sergio Meira
2025-08-05 21:04:10 +0000 UTCWhen Cordelia said "it was an excellent show, but the idiots at the tv station canceled it," I think I heard Whedon predicting what would happen to Firefly...
Sergio Meira
2025-08-05 20:19:29 +0000 UTCFun fact, the play Cordelia is in at the beginning of the episode is called "A Dolls House," by Henrik Ibsen. It's a rather interesting play about a house wife around the turned of the century (19th to 20th) who has a rather toxic, codependent relationship with her husband - the character of Torvald, that Cordelia refers to in her dialogue within the play. Over the course of the play, the character Cordelia was playing, Nora, ultimately finds her voice and leaves Torvald. I actually played Torvald in a community theatre production about 3 years ago. Cordelia's role of Nora is huge; pages and pages of dialogue and she basically never leaves the stage.
Stargazer1682
2025-06-08 03:58:39 +0000 UTCIt's been a long time since I rewatched the entire season of *Angel*, and I had completely forgotten about this episode. What a nice surprise it was to revisit it during this watch-along! It’s much easier and more enjoyable to go through the season with a friend who doesn’t know what will happen next. Thanks, Ashleigh!
Dave Frostdusk
2025-05-08 07:40:49 +0000 UTCWonder if we can get her to watch when Angel becomes an FBI agent in Bones :)
MidNite1869
2025-05-08 05:20:51 +0000 UTC
