Impressions on Premiere of Angel
Oct. 5th, 2003 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatJust re-watched Conviction or Angel 5.1. Really enjoyed it. Still very enjoyable upon second viewing, which is more than I can say for most tv shows. I enjoyed it the first round too, but I wasn't expecting much. The spoiler summaries for the episode sounded incredibly lame, which indicates the difference between a summary of an episode and actually watching the episode. At any rate - the fact that I enjoyed as much if not more the second go around proves that it wasn't just low expectations.
Analysis and impressions of Conviction, Angel 5.1:
Interesting episode with several interesting layers of metaphor.
1. The B-Plot or sub-plot involving Corbin Fries and his son. This plot, which on the surface seems fairly mundane - the old nasty guy threatens to unleash a virus if he doesn't get his way routine currently showing on Threat Matrix, West Wing, CSI, and half a dozen movie screens - actually has a nice a little twist here - if you are a loyal viewer. If you aren't? Doesn't hurt your enjoyment of the episode any. If you are? It gives the episode that extra ME twist.
And just in case you didn't notice the layer - Whedon throws out several hints pointing you to it.
Wes' line about Angel taking the Corbin Fries situation a tad too personally and Eve's comparison of Fries' situation to Angel's with Connor.
Connor is to Angel, what Mathew is to Fries, a human bomb planted amongst unsuspecting people.
Fries has a mystic create a human vessel to implant a lethal virus within. Mathew is not a natural kid, he was a kid created by magic to bring something into the world - a killer virus that would decimate California. Connor - is also not a natural kid. Connor, if we are to believe Skip, was the life given to Angel to house the seed that would bring Jasmine - a God that infects Californians with "peace and happiness and mindless devotion", while she devours them one at a time - into the world. Connor like Mathew is brought into the world via magic - in this instance through Darla, a vampire. On the surface Connor's birth may seem normal and Connor may appear to be human - but you rip away that layer - and you realize his parents are "undead" beings who can't bear life, and he is far from human - gifted with the vampiric abilities of his father - superspeed, superreflexs. By the time Angel wipes his memory and sets him up with a nice normal family, Connor has killed several people, and is threatening to blow up several more in a Sporting Goods store. Corbin Fries similarly creates Mathew - a human life, but not created naturally. Mathew is a product of magic. And his sole purpose is to house Corbin's insurance policy - the lethal virus. A portion of W&H reacts to Mathew and Connor in a similar manner - they want to destroy them. Another portion of W&H seeks to examine them. (In Conviction - these portions are represented by Hauser and the wet team, and by the AI Gang, in S3-4 they were represented by Linwood and Lilah) Angel initially saves both lives from W&H. But in doing so, he also places other innocent lives in jeopardy. By allowing Connor and Mathew to live he endangers those who surround them and innocently interact with them. Even if Corbin Fries one word charm is disabled, Mathew still houses the virus inside him, he's still a walking time bomb. Even if Connor is a well-adjusted kid with a family and friends and no knowledge of his powers - he still has those vampiric abilities inside him, he's still part demon. Both Connor and Mathew have the potential to kill. Leaving us with the question - did Angel do the right thing? Was saving Connor and Mathew the best solution? Who matters here? The one or the many? Whedon leaves the question unanswered.
2. The intricacies of corruption. Can I do good while I'm making loads of money? Can I create art in a corporation? Here we are exploring a contradiction that I've been exploring on my own all year long - the business of show business or rather how you create something meaningful when it's all about ratings, profit-margins, advertising, image, and pleasing the majority?
It's almost a complete contradiction. Or is it?
Whedon and ME seem to be asking this question of themselves and their audience - have we sold our souls to the devil in the pale moonlight?
- Gunn, the bold, streetwise, crusader - who agrees to let W&H enhance his mental capabilities and make him a lawyer. He gets the entire works of Gilbert and Sullivan as a bonus. (This I found highly amusing - to understand why, you need to know two things about me: 1) I went to law school and passed a bar exam and 2) I took a class in undergrad on G&S and as a result have listened to and seen every single play G&S ever wrote. ) The AI gang wonder if Gunn sold out. Gunn defensively states "no" - "all I did was expand my knowledge" - that doesn't make me evil. Raising the question posed metaphorically with EVE and The Apple at the beginning of the episode - is obtaining knowledge a sin? Is the exploration of ideas evil? The fact that W&H is a multi-dimensional law firm which strives to obtain knowledge - brings this question into focus. Are lawyers evil? Or is their occupation - the occupation of manipulating and uncovering information evil?
-Fred - the same question gets raised with Fred and Knox. When asked if he is evil - Knox replies that he only mixes potions, he doesn't ask what they are for. Fred's team of scientists is interested to figuring out how and why things work. IF their work results in evil does this make them by association evil? If their work results in good - does this by association make them good? Do their motives matter? Fred wonders if she is giving into temptation by agreeing to take over a huge lab and going back to science. Once again an occupation whose main thrust is to uncover information.
- Wesely - Wes' temptation is mysticism and books. He uncovers knowledge through the pages of old books. Pragmatically uncovers Harmony in the steno pool and gives her the job of Angel's assistance. Harmony is a soulless vampire and by the rules of the show up to now - "evil". Why isn't she staked?
Angel wonders allowed if Wes is evil for hiring Harmony? Wes wonders if he has succumbed by agreeing to join W&H. By being tempted by those mystical books. And least we forget, it is a mystic who creates Mathew, the vessel to hold Fries virus.
Knowledge through magic.
3. Then we have the Angel/Hauser/Eve relationships.
EVE who stands for the original seeker of knowledge.
Remember it was EVE who ate from the tree of Knowledge introducing original sin. Eve does not state an opinion or a conviction - if anything she merely suggests, suggests sex via her costume, suggests Angel's reservations and guilt on Connor, suggests the fears of the AI Gang and their hopes. Hauser is all about conviction and opinion. He is a subtle as a bowling ball. He knows who he is. What he wants. And what he believes in. He's not interested in manipulating. He's interested in controlling. His conviction is "pure evil" - if such a thing exists - it's not clear in the story, since even the worst characters have murky motivations. Angel who is no longer sure about his own convictions - confronts Hauser and murders him, by blowing out his brains. Stating "mercy, while stronger than conviction has left him". In a way Angel is a bit like Hauser - willing to do the harsh thing, but unlike Hauser he's not entirely sure where he stands on things.
At the end of the episode - we have Angel acting as if he is in complete control, that he and his team will run things not W&H. One problem at a time.
Then voila - out drops Angel's amulet - the other reason he signed up with W&H and out of the amulet appears Spike. Angel has just gotten his "just reward". And who delivered the amulet to Angel?
A man with a mask...who I'm sure will figure prominently in the future.
4. Spike is vital to Angel's story, possibly more vital than any character we've seen up to now, b/c Spike is Angel's blood brother - Spike exists because of Angel, Spike is Angel's counter-part, his foil. And of all the characters on ATS, Spike is the one character who knows Angelus and Angel are one and the same. Everyone else believes that they are separate entities. Spike knows they aren't.
Spike knows what it means to be a vampire and have a soul. Spike also knows Angelus. Spike's intro is basically like having the Punisher's kid brother show up reminding him who he is. It's the brother theme which appears to be littering the airwaves, what with Smallville, the OC, One Tree Hill, 10-8, ER, all examining the brother or male relationship of brotherhood. A relationship that like the Adam and Eve dynamic is also Biblical, Cain and Able.
Cain was the older brother - a farmer and Able the younger one, a shepard. A story that is repeated over and over in our tales.
Why? Why do we constantly repeat the Adam/Eve tale about the thirst for knowledge and the dire consequences of that thirst? And the Cain/Able tale about the brotherly rivalry? And the dire consequences of it? Is this the direction ME will go? Or will they take a different turn?
My rating for Conviction? 9/10 Loved it. Enjoyed it.
Best season premier of Angel I've seen and also oddly enough the highest in the ratings with a 4.1.
Loving the Spikage. Can't wait to see more of him!!
Analysis and impressions of Conviction, Angel 5.1:
Interesting episode with several interesting layers of metaphor.
1. The B-Plot or sub-plot involving Corbin Fries and his son. This plot, which on the surface seems fairly mundane - the old nasty guy threatens to unleash a virus if he doesn't get his way routine currently showing on Threat Matrix, West Wing, CSI, and half a dozen movie screens - actually has a nice a little twist here - if you are a loyal viewer. If you aren't? Doesn't hurt your enjoyment of the episode any. If you are? It gives the episode that extra ME twist.
And just in case you didn't notice the layer - Whedon throws out several hints pointing you to it.
Wes' line about Angel taking the Corbin Fries situation a tad too personally and Eve's comparison of Fries' situation to Angel's with Connor.
Connor is to Angel, what Mathew is to Fries, a human bomb planted amongst unsuspecting people.
Fries has a mystic create a human vessel to implant a lethal virus within. Mathew is not a natural kid, he was a kid created by magic to bring something into the world - a killer virus that would decimate California. Connor - is also not a natural kid. Connor, if we are to believe Skip, was the life given to Angel to house the seed that would bring Jasmine - a God that infects Californians with "peace and happiness and mindless devotion", while she devours them one at a time - into the world. Connor like Mathew is brought into the world via magic - in this instance through Darla, a vampire. On the surface Connor's birth may seem normal and Connor may appear to be human - but you rip away that layer - and you realize his parents are "undead" beings who can't bear life, and he is far from human - gifted with the vampiric abilities of his father - superspeed, superreflexs. By the time Angel wipes his memory and sets him up with a nice normal family, Connor has killed several people, and is threatening to blow up several more in a Sporting Goods store. Corbin Fries similarly creates Mathew - a human life, but not created naturally. Mathew is a product of magic. And his sole purpose is to house Corbin's insurance policy - the lethal virus. A portion of W&H reacts to Mathew and Connor in a similar manner - they want to destroy them. Another portion of W&H seeks to examine them. (In Conviction - these portions are represented by Hauser and the wet team, and by the AI Gang, in S3-4 they were represented by Linwood and Lilah) Angel initially saves both lives from W&H. But in doing so, he also places other innocent lives in jeopardy. By allowing Connor and Mathew to live he endangers those who surround them and innocently interact with them. Even if Corbin Fries one word charm is disabled, Mathew still houses the virus inside him, he's still a walking time bomb. Even if Connor is a well-adjusted kid with a family and friends and no knowledge of his powers - he still has those vampiric abilities inside him, he's still part demon. Both Connor and Mathew have the potential to kill. Leaving us with the question - did Angel do the right thing? Was saving Connor and Mathew the best solution? Who matters here? The one or the many? Whedon leaves the question unanswered.
2. The intricacies of corruption. Can I do good while I'm making loads of money? Can I create art in a corporation? Here we are exploring a contradiction that I've been exploring on my own all year long - the business of show business or rather how you create something meaningful when it's all about ratings, profit-margins, advertising, image, and pleasing the majority?
It's almost a complete contradiction. Or is it?
Whedon and ME seem to be asking this question of themselves and their audience - have we sold our souls to the devil in the pale moonlight?
- Gunn, the bold, streetwise, crusader - who agrees to let W&H enhance his mental capabilities and make him a lawyer. He gets the entire works of Gilbert and Sullivan as a bonus. (This I found highly amusing - to understand why, you need to know two things about me: 1) I went to law school and passed a bar exam and 2) I took a class in undergrad on G&S and as a result have listened to and seen every single play G&S ever wrote. ) The AI gang wonder if Gunn sold out. Gunn defensively states "no" - "all I did was expand my knowledge" - that doesn't make me evil. Raising the question posed metaphorically with EVE and The Apple at the beginning of the episode - is obtaining knowledge a sin? Is the exploration of ideas evil? The fact that W&H is a multi-dimensional law firm which strives to obtain knowledge - brings this question into focus. Are lawyers evil? Or is their occupation - the occupation of manipulating and uncovering information evil?
-Fred - the same question gets raised with Fred and Knox. When asked if he is evil - Knox replies that he only mixes potions, he doesn't ask what they are for. Fred's team of scientists is interested to figuring out how and why things work. IF their work results in evil does this make them by association evil? If their work results in good - does this by association make them good? Do their motives matter? Fred wonders if she is giving into temptation by agreeing to take over a huge lab and going back to science. Once again an occupation whose main thrust is to uncover information.
- Wesely - Wes' temptation is mysticism and books. He uncovers knowledge through the pages of old books. Pragmatically uncovers Harmony in the steno pool and gives her the job of Angel's assistance. Harmony is a soulless vampire and by the rules of the show up to now - "evil". Why isn't she staked?
Angel wonders allowed if Wes is evil for hiring Harmony? Wes wonders if he has succumbed by agreeing to join W&H. By being tempted by those mystical books. And least we forget, it is a mystic who creates Mathew, the vessel to hold Fries virus.
Knowledge through magic.
3. Then we have the Angel/Hauser/Eve relationships.
EVE who stands for the original seeker of knowledge.
Remember it was EVE who ate from the tree of Knowledge introducing original sin. Eve does not state an opinion or a conviction - if anything she merely suggests, suggests sex via her costume, suggests Angel's reservations and guilt on Connor, suggests the fears of the AI Gang and their hopes. Hauser is all about conviction and opinion. He is a subtle as a bowling ball. He knows who he is. What he wants. And what he believes in. He's not interested in manipulating. He's interested in controlling. His conviction is "pure evil" - if such a thing exists - it's not clear in the story, since even the worst characters have murky motivations. Angel who is no longer sure about his own convictions - confronts Hauser and murders him, by blowing out his brains. Stating "mercy, while stronger than conviction has left him". In a way Angel is a bit like Hauser - willing to do the harsh thing, but unlike Hauser he's not entirely sure where he stands on things.
At the end of the episode - we have Angel acting as if he is in complete control, that he and his team will run things not W&H. One problem at a time.
Then voila - out drops Angel's amulet - the other reason he signed up with W&H and out of the amulet appears Spike. Angel has just gotten his "just reward". And who delivered the amulet to Angel?
A man with a mask...who I'm sure will figure prominently in the future.
4. Spike is vital to Angel's story, possibly more vital than any character we've seen up to now, b/c Spike is Angel's blood brother - Spike exists because of Angel, Spike is Angel's counter-part, his foil. And of all the characters on ATS, Spike is the one character who knows Angelus and Angel are one and the same. Everyone else believes that they are separate entities. Spike knows they aren't.
Spike knows what it means to be a vampire and have a soul. Spike also knows Angelus. Spike's intro is basically like having the Punisher's kid brother show up reminding him who he is. It's the brother theme which appears to be littering the airwaves, what with Smallville, the OC, One Tree Hill, 10-8, ER, all examining the brother or male relationship of brotherhood. A relationship that like the Adam and Eve dynamic is also Biblical, Cain and Able.
Cain was the older brother - a farmer and Able the younger one, a shepard. A story that is repeated over and over in our tales.
Why? Why do we constantly repeat the Adam/Eve tale about the thirst for knowledge and the dire consequences of that thirst? And the Cain/Able tale about the brotherly rivalry? And the dire consequences of it? Is this the direction ME will go? Or will they take a different turn?
My rating for Conviction? 9/10 Loved it. Enjoyed it.
Best season premier of Angel I've seen and also oddly enough the highest in the ratings with a 4.1.
Loving the Spikage. Can't wait to see more of him!!
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The second time around
Date: 2003-10-05 03:43 pm (UTC)Re: The second time around
Date: 2003-10-06 05:27 pm (UTC)Will it be addressed?
Having spent a week with a Hollywood Producer...I'm not so sure it will be addressed. TV is a weird story telling medium.
Thinking back over Home and what occurred prior to the memory wipe? I think they would have joined W&H and for the same reasons. What I'm curious about is the degree in which the memory wipe affected their decision and how culpable Angel is for doing that? Is Angel the master manipulator here? And if so - how much of a metanarration is that on a Hollywood Producer (aka Joss Whedon) who manipulates what his writers, actors, editors, directors, crew create to appear differently upon the screen - as they exhausted from creating it - forget most of what they've done and don't notice the subtlety of the changes?