The Messengers - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Anticipate Away!

[In2You]

First look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqpJcmsKYJs

 

In the white-hot sun of the New Mexico desert, scientist Vera Buckley watches in fascination as a mysterious object plummets to Earth and explodes in a blinding flash, sending out a shock wave that briefly stops Vera’s heart and panics her techie coworker, Alan Harris.

Vera is not the only one affected by the blast; she is instantly and mysteriously connected to four other strangers, who also collapse only to miraculously come back to life: Erin Calder, a young mother desperate to protect her 7-year-old daughter from an abusive ex-husband; Peter Moore, a troubled high school student who finally lashes out to end the constant bullying he can no longer endure; Raul Garcia, a federal agent looking to escape his undercover assignment in a violent Mexican drug cartel; and Joshua Silburn Jr., a charismatic second-generation televangelist following in his father’s footsteps – all awaken after the pulse with extraordinary gifts they can barely believe, from inexplicable strength to the ability to heal others.

[shapeshifter]

So is this aliens or supernaturals? I prefer aliens.

Too bad they killed off Rose.

[Meredith Quill]

Your Media Topic!

[Meredith Quill]

Episode Synopsis:

 

In the white-hot sun of the New Mexico desert, scientist Vera Buckley watches in fascination as a mysterious object plummets to Earth and explodes in a blinding flash, sending out a shock wave that briefly stops Vera’s heart and panics her techie coworker, Alan Harris.

[lulee]

I stumbled across this about 10 minutes in. I'd give at least one more episode to see how they follow thru on this one. So we have a healer, a super strong teen, the preacher with visions and the agent will apparently read minds according to the preview.

Questions from this ep: Does Vera not get a power? Or will she just their leader? And who's the lady in the hospital bed who Lucifer wants dead? The messiah?

[Frost]

I stumbled on this too. I hadn't heard anything about it.  So far, so good.  There's a good mix of affected people.  I'm kind of confused though.  Are there two beings that both look alike?  Or only Lucifer?  Why would he select humans to turn into angels?  Especially since it looks like they still have free will and have decided to band together against him almost instantly.

 

Did the kid actually kill the bully?  He didn't seem to feel any remorse or horror at what he had done.  I know he was fighting back and didn't realize he suddenly had superpowers but having him kill another kid right off the bat is pretty harsh.

[shapeshifter]

Houston, we have a problem.

[bluebonnet]

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I don't think this was it.  I heard about it the other day and I don't remember the synopsis making it apparent that this was some angels and demons mumbo jumbo.  Though, the whole dying and coming back with powers seems to have been done to death in recent years.  

 

Will probably stick this out for another episode or two just to see.  The 100 started off horrible but ended up surprising me in a good way, maybe this one will, too.  

[shapeshifter]

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I don't think this was it.  I heard about it the other day and I don't remember the synopsis making it apparent that this was some angels and demons mumbo jumbo...

Yeah, I saw a preview several months ago and was looking forward to visitors from outer space. Not fallen angels. *Sigh*

[Snarkette]

I'm a sucker for this kind of show. I'm around for a few more eps at least.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Wow, that was .... not good.  The acting was rather ham-handed and clunky.  The writing was just plain bad.

 

Why would he select humans to turn into angels?  Especially since it looks like they still have free will and have decided to band together against him almost instantly.

 

Why would Lucifer be falling to earth from the heavens (to paraphrase Chandler Bing from 'Friends' -- "could Lucifer be a little more literal ?") and when he impacts the earth that sends out an energy wave that creates not just angels, but angels with superpowers ?  Angels with superpowers that don't have any remorse when it comes to killing, and will probably rise up to defeat Lucifer.  Why would Lucifer create such a scenario ?

 

As soon as I saw the Messenger's pupils dilate when the wave passed through them, I though that this might be a new episode of 'Intruders' that was on BBC America last fall -- because when the 2nd soul inhabiting a body took control of the body, their pupil's dilated just like that (and that show was pretty terrible too).

 

Did only the Messengers see the energy wave or could everyone see it ?  Why aren't the military kind of wound up about that ? Like how far the energy wave went ?

 

Can everyone see the Messenger's wings -- or only mirrored surfaces and video cameras ?

 

Why did Lucifer do all that walking from the impact site if he could teleport instantly anywhere -- like to the hospital room of the woman he wants Vera to kill ?  And what exactly is so special about that hospitalized woman that she needs to die -- and Lucifer's previous assassin did a pretty shitty job of the first attempt 7 years ago.

 

So where has Lucifer been all this time -- out doing evil stuff on other planets ?  Hanging out in Heaven ?  Orbiting the planet for 20 or so years like Dr. Evil in a cryogenic state ?

 

Talk about kicking you when you are down, preacher comes back from the dead and after having what appears to be a bit of a mental breakdown, his wife thinks that this is the appropriate time to tell him that his father banged her and is the father of her unborn child.  Charlotte: "I was weak and he tried to comfort me", and by "tried to comfort me" she means that dear old dad took the train to poundtown (to borrow a phrase from Murphy on 'The 100'). 

 

Nice to see Not!Nate from 'Revolution' in a new gig, but I don't think this show is going to last long in what looks to be like the angelic version of X-men.  Who comes up with this stuff ?

Edited April 18, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[catrox14]

I know I'm biased from Supernatural, but I think they have a much better take on angels. I probably won't watch again unless I'm bored.

[Ariah]

It wasn't as bad as I expected, will tune for an episode or two and see how it goes.

 

Lucifer never does anything himself - he always makes people do things for him, that's how he rolls. The clothes were "a gift". The attempted murder 7 years ago probably was coerced as well. Perhaps it's the 7-years period or something. Yes, there's a lot of theatrics involved - which itself was lampshaded by the preacher's show (I always considered this type of tv-broadcasted religious shows as theatre to the extreme, sorry).

 

Houston - 333 miles away. Yes, just multiply this by 2 and don't burden yourself with symbolics.

 

Not sure why those particular people were chosen - they all seem to have at least one weakness Luc can use against them, which seems a bit too generous. Unless that's the point, they need to endure the seduction. Very Old Testament style.

 

Also, the wings were pretty.

[shapeshifter]

A mid-season replacement from the CW isn't supposed to be renewable quality, right?

[jhlipton]

That was pretty dull.  

 

Starting with a Magical Negro is always an auspicious beginning.  No one can see the wings, even the wearer.  The DEA agent bent down, the wings appeared but disappeared as he looked up.  

 

My guess is that one Meteor[ite] brought Luci to earth and turned the Magnificent 5 into angels, desperate but related things. My interest is very low, though.

[catrox14]

I could be interested in this IF they subvert something and make it about Lucifer turning them into his minions for evil vs the struggle to not be evil. Even with that IMO the acting is rather mediocre.

[Latverian Diplomat]

I know I'm biased from Supernatural, but I think they have a much better take on angels. I probably won't watch again unless I'm bored.

Yeah, like Sleepy Hollow. this show seems to think the Apocalypse is supposed to be something the devil wants to do and "Heaven" wants to prevent. Supernatural's take that there were factions on both sides that did or didn't want the big showdown to happen was much better.

[shapeshifter]

I could be interested in this IF they subvert something and make it about Lucifer turning them into his minions for evil vs the struggle to not be evil. Even with that IMO the acting is rather mediocre.

Yeah, like Sleepy Hollow. this show seems to think the Apocalypse is supposed to be something the devil wants to do and "Heaven" wants to prevent. Supernatural's take that there were factions on both sides that did or didn't want the big showdown to happen was much better.

IDK. It seemed like all of the possessed people were being screwed by those around them even though they were trying to do good. So right out of the gate, the audience has sympathy for the devil, so to speak.

[FurryFury]

So, considering that the reviews of this show are pretty meh and it's basically DOA with its 0.3 ratings share, should I watch the pilot? I couldn't even finish the trailer back when it was out, but I think that at this point I watch more shows on The CW than any other network (iZombie, The Flash, The 100 and Jane The Virgin... also following Arrow, although I had to drop it last year, so I guess it counts as 0.5 of a show). Don't have any strong feelings about angels.

Edited April 18, 2015 by FurryFury

[sjohnson]

Casting young means casting less experienced. Always a terrible dilemma for the CW. 

 

That said, the housewife who somehow thinks kidnapping is an easier way to deal with cop hubby than saying "See, she's fine! No harm, no foul!" only has a problem of her own making. They should have at least bitten their own bullet and had her drunk driving. I think they're hinting hubby is molesting the daughter but if so, mommy doesn't need to keep it quiet...quite the opposite I should say. But I'm not sure she's empathetic enough to weep healing tears for strangers?

 

The undercover cop who doesn't know any body else in the police department or any other law enforcement besides the two who tried to kill him really should have wondered if they were always yanking his chain and he was never really worked for the police department at all. If he can read minds, he could even try approaching the honest Mexican law enforcement. 

 

Since our teen hero is straight, the gaybasher's insistence he isn't really comes across as one of those cases of projection, of self-loathing wishful thinking. I suppose in that case it's OK if the dude's dead, and Teen Hulk (just looks normal!) doesn't really need to wrinkle his brow, much less angst. The strangest thing is that his lady love apparently reciprocated his affections but they still weren't an item. Seriously? 

 

Preacherman can see the future, okay. But unless he learns to understand or explain it's a perfectly useless gift. Ask Cassandra on your next trip to the ancient Greek underworld. Also, I rather think the fire and brimstone huckstering isn't nearly as unpopular as the show seems to believe. In fact, I think it's the feel good stuff that doesn't sell as well.

 

Of these four, we basically have four iterations of a persecuted hero who is doing something wrong for the right reasons. There's not much variety there. They're withholding on lady scientist but the missing child and the approach from naked dude to kill whozis isn't promising for a different character. 

 

The notion of angels who are basically people with superpowers isn't helped with The Messengers title. Messengers generally just deliver messages, instead of conducting covert supernatural ops. It's sort of like a series called The Secretaries where the title roles are actually all about going undercover as vice cops. 

[bluebonnet]

So, considering that the reviews of this show are pretty meh and it's basically DOA with its 0.3 ratings share, should I watch the pilot? I couldn't even finish the trailer back when it was out, but I think that at this point I watch more shows on The CW than any other network (iZombie, The Flash, The 100 and Jane The Virgin... also following Arrow, although I had to drop it last year, so I guess it counts as 0.5 of a show). Don't have any strong feelings about angels.

I'd say not to bother watching it, at least not just yet, unless you're already inclined.  Check back in a couple of weeks to see if it gets better.  The 100 definitely got better, but there was also a charm with it from the start even when it was bad.  There isn't that same charm with this show.  But we'll keep you updated if you check back.

 

Speaking of reviews, the AV club cracked me up because it was so apparent that the author could barely muster the energy to phone it in.  The review said things like "first time angels are introduced to the CW"...

[FurryFury]

Haha, I'll go check it out. AVClub isn't always on point (I cringe every time I see them A-star Arrow reviews), but they are like the only site that really appreciates The 100, so I love them just for that.

 

The 100 definitely got better, but there was also a charm with it from the start even when it was bad.

 

The 100 is also post-apocalyptic, and I will watch anything post-apocalyptic. I blame Fallout 2, played it when I was 12, obsessed with the genre ever since. Also, it did show promise already in ep 3... I guess I'll check back on Messengers when it airs as well. But seriously, dumping the show on Fridays and 0.3 premiere rating is just giving up. Especially when the network renewed everything that could be renewed + Beauty And The Beast and there's surprisingly well-rated iZombie that needs to be renewed pronto.

Edited April 18, 2015 by FurryFury

[catrox14]

 

The review said things like "first time angels are introduced to the CW"...

 

Wait, what? OH MY GODS.  Angels have been on Supernatural since s4. Good grief.  LOLOL.

[BooBear]

I saw the ad for this months ago and it looked so good. What happened? It wasn't terrible but I was disappointed I just didn't care about a single one of them. Sometimes on these shows they forget to write a compelling character to root for. That is how I feel about all of the messengers. And mom who not only was so dumb as to believe that her husband could set her up as a drunk AND chose to steal her kid, had better be suffering from some head injuries cause otherwise I need to shake her.

 

Though I am not a stickler for details... I HATE HATE HATE, sexy but glowering and monologing Lucifer. Can't the devil just once be genuinely the devil and not what some Hollywood writer thinks the devil would be? Cripes I thought the preacher's dad was more evil.

[arjumand]

The notion of angels who are basically people with superpowers isn't helped with The Messengers title. Messengers generally just deliver messages, instead of conducting covert supernatural ops.

 

 

I agree with everything in your post except this - see, the minute I saw the title and trailer, I knew it was about angels, because the original (latin/greek, I guess) meaning of "angel" is 'messenger of god'.

 

I don't know about this show - from the trailer I expected it to be a group of angels possessing humans, like in Supernatural, not humans actually becoming angels. Which doesn't work, theologically (hey writers, if you decide to use Christian stuff like Lucifer etc, you can't just decide to make other shit up).

 

Also, I think the writers put in the word angels in the script everytime they wanted to put in X-Men. I mean, SuperTeen, with the power of STRENGTH! SingleMom, with the power of HEALING! UndercoverCop, with the power of HEADACHES- I mean, TELEPATHY! Preacher, with the power of ALIENATING his AUDIENCE! and finally, the wikipedia page tells me Radio-Astronomer (why did she want to collect "samples" then? Do radio-astronomers do much geology? The fuck was going on in that bit?), with the power of, um. Smothering people with pillows? I got nothing.

 

Lucifer is very pretty, but has the acting capabilities of a block of wood. Fine wood, very pretty, but nonetheless, a plank. Also, his script was a cliched masterpiece. Are his wings going to be BLACK, and EVIL? Oh please let them be evil!

 

You know, one day I'm going to watch a show/movie where a bully will challenge a kid to admit he's gay, using it as a slur, and the kid will just answer: "Yep, I'm gay. So?" And then kick his ass. But no. Of course not.

 

Since our teen hero is straight, the gaybasher's insistence he isn't really comes across as one of those cases of projection, of self-loathing wishful thinking.

 

 

Which kind of means that our teen hero's first action was to become a gaybasher, lol. But no, I doubt the writers gave any more thought to it than "some over the top bullying, like in an 80s teen movie, so that our teen angel has a reason to run away to HOUSTON, CITY of ANGELS."

 

It's kind of reminding me of Heroes, but much clunkier. I'll give it a few more episodes, though if it's gonna be cancelled soon, I won't waste my time.

 

ETA Just remembered something else which bothered me: when Vera wakes up she calls out "Michael!" (I seriously thought she meant the archangel here) and her fellow radio-astronomer is so bothered by that!

 

"You called out 'Michael'. My name is Adam! How dare you call out other names when regaining consciousness!"

 

Wait a fricking second. His name is ADAM? Oh come ON.

Edited April 19, 2015 by arjumand

[sjohnson]

^^^I'm pretty sure Michael is her stolen son. But her aide's name is Allen, not Adam.

[arjumand]

Oh crap, I heard Adam, LOL.

 

Yes, I realised after that, once Lucifer came along with his spiel.

 

Just, at the moment when she screamed "Michael" I just started wondering how literal this thing was going to be. And then I thought, maybe the guy who fell in the crater was Michael (i.e. Archangel)? But he's the bad guy, right?

 

So I was very puzzled until we got the reveal. And then I rolled my eyes. A lot. Because up till then I was kind of happy that of the two female characters, one was a mother and one wasn't. Then we find out that they're both mommies. Hooray! All women are mothers or pregnant, unless they're children!

 

I'll be taking bets that lady in the coma is the Messiah's mommy, not the Messiah herself. If she isn't, I'll be here eating crow.

[Meredith Quill]

Or only Lucifer?  Why would he select humans to turn into angels?  Especially since it looks like they still have free will and have decided to band together against him almost instantly.

 

My guess is that one Meteor[ite] brought Luci to earth and turned the Magnificent 5 into angels, desperate but related things. My interest is very low, though.

 

My take was that Lucifer fell to earth - why fell, hmm maybe he was shot out of hell's pooper so hard that it sent him into orbit and then he crash landed back down? ;) but the kicker of him arriving on earth was that it would 'activate' 5 messengers of god.

[bluebonnet]

I hope it turns out that these are actually just aliens using human theology to manipulate humans into handing over their planet.  Or something.  Mostly, I just prefer these turn out to be aliens.  

[shapeshifter]

I hope it turns out that these are actually just aliens using human theology to manipulate humans into handing over their planet.  Or something.  Mostly, I just prefer these turn out to be aliens.

Yeah, but no. I think you and I have to give up on it being aliens, bluebonnet, given the invisible wings that only the viewers of the show (I guess?) can see.

[bluebonnet]

But, but...stomp stomp grumble grumble.  lol.  Let me have something, shapeshifter, even if it's just pretend aliens!

[mjc570]

 

You know, one day I'm going to watch a show/movie where a bully will challenge a kid to admit he's gay, using it as a slur, and the kid will just answer: "Yep, I'm gay. So?" And then kick his ass. But no. Of course not.

 

That's why I enjoyed Lafayette on True Blood, at least at first.  Don't nobody mess with a Marine drag queen.

[shapeshifter]

I thought the teen was gay and the girl who was his friend was not his girlfriend, but then when he was taken over by the "angel" personality, he had an urge to kiss her.

[Gregg247]

I got confused by the first scene.  The 2 nurses were outside talking when one was shot and the other was trying to save her.  Cut to 7 years later, and we're with the radio astronomer.  Is that the same nurse lady from the first scene?  She looks kind of like her, but with different color hair.  If she's not the same character, then why did they transition immediately from one to the other?  That really bugged me.

 

The radio-astronomer should get fired.  She insulted a congressman who's in charge of her project's funding?  How old is she?  Who put her in charge of such an important position if she's going to blow the deal because she got her nose out of joint.  Of course the politician "doesn't understand" the importance of your work.  It was your job to teach him and make him your advocate.  She was very much a "TV character" rather than a realistic depiction of an actual character.

 

The scene where the preacher found out about his wife and his father was hilarious.  Why would they just shoe-horn that in during the first episode?  We don't know much about these characters at all yet.  It would have had a much better pay-off if this had come out later. 

 

That was an eventful day for the religious sect.  They had a live nationwide broadcast where the preacher's son collapses on stage and dies.  Then he revives and wants to do another live broadcast.  He does, but its a fire-and-brimstone lecture rather than "up with people", which is their bread and butter message.  he fights with his father, who casts him from the church.  Then he finds out his future son is actually his future brother!

 

When Lucifer approached the tow truck driver, I wondered where the owner of the car he was about to tow was.

 

When the mother was in the car wreck, I was kind of hoping they'd kill the daughter (!).  First, it would have been a gutsy move, but mainly so we wouldn't have to have an all-knowing sitcom kid running around and getting in the way.  Too bad she healed up so fast and was completely unfazed by being carjacked.

 

The swimmer shouldn't have run.  He was involved in a TV-style fight where the bully and his friends all fight some poor guy together.  In real life, the friends just stand back and look tough, secretly thanking their lucky stars that they're not the ones getting pushed around. The bully does a lot of talking, maybe takes a swing or two, and that's about it.  On this show, 3 vs. 1 works out to self-defense, especially when everyone at the party saw the swimmer bleeding all over the place immediately afterward.

 

Does the undercover DEA agent have any co-workers he could call?  How about a boss, or handler, or whatever they call them?  His attitude seemed to be, "Well, these 2 guys were crooks, so I guess everyone else is, too. I'd better sneak back into the US and look for a new job."

[Snarkette]

So compared to Dominion and the Lottery, will the Messengers make more or less factual sense as the episodes develop? I need to know how much popcorn to pop and how much we'll be consuming for drinking games

[bluebonnet]

Dominion has hot Michael so it's always better, despite the lack of sense.  

[Adira]

I think I agree with everyone's assessment of this show.  I'll give it a few more episodes, assuming I don't get behind on my other shows, but so far, it hasn't wow'd me.

 

I got confused by the first scene.  The 2 nurses were outside talking when one was shot and the other was trying to save her.  Cut to 7 years later, and we're with the radio astronomer.  Is that the same nurse lady from the first scene?  She looks kind of like her, but with different color hair.  If she's not the same character, then why did they transition immediately from one to the other?  That really bugged me.

 

Totally with you here.  I couldn't tell if the radio astronomer was the same person as the nurse either!  If she was, then she certainly changed careers pretty radically.  And if she's not the same person, then they should've transitioned differently to make that more clear.  Show one of the other characters first or something so we're not so confused.

[shapeshifter]

Surprised to see this warranted a review in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/arts/television/tv-review-cws-the-messengers.html

[Meredith Quill]

Episode Synopsis:

 

Drawn together by destiny, Vera, Erin, Joshua, Raul and Peter convene together where they meet the mysterious Rose. Rose reveals that they are angels and their mission is to find and stop the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from bringing about the Rapture. Meanwhile, The Man’s real identity is revealed and he continues to tempt Vera with clues about her missing son.

[ottoDbusdriver]

The wig on Vera in that flashback to when her son went missing in the airport was just awful.  And if Vera hasn't seen her infant son since his disappearance, how did she know that was him in the video that Lucifer showed her ?

 

And the comatose-for-seven-years woman wakes up just before she is about to be suffocated and speaks in tongues to Lucifer who disappears.  Gee, never saw that coming. </sarcasm>

 

What happened to not!Nate/Raul in the back of the healer mom's car ?  End of last episode he was happily riding in the back, yet here he is passed out in the back.  Are we supposed to just assume he bled out ?

 

Joshua/vision dude shows up at the hospital looking for the comatose woman in his vision, but is too late since she's already gone.  And since he can't find her he heads to the hospital chapel.  Meanwhile, teenHulk who had hitched a ride with a trucker gets dropped off right in the hospital's parking lot.  Sure, whatever.

 

I love how the kid rocks Raul's arm that has just been shot in order to wake him up -- she has a future in law enforcement or the CIA.  Raul tries to get and falls, pulling Erin/healer mom down on top of him to the floor, and miraculously his gunshot wound heals up (so its not just her tears that have healing power, it's her touch as well).

 

ExtremePreacher/Joshua prays in the chapel, teenhulk/Peter hides in the back of the pews eating some hospital food he swiped.  While teenHulk/Peter is trying to bust open the collection box, Vera and coma woman/Rose as well as Erin/Amy/Raul walk into the chapel.  With them all gathered, Rose clues them in that they are the Messengers.

 

Apparently the Messengers are the 'Angels of the Apocalypse' (which sounds like the name of an easy-listening Christian rock band).

 

God is angry and is giving us a test.  Ha !!!  God is angry my friend, like an old man trying to send soup back at a deli. </Seinfeld>
And it was indeed the devil being cast out of heaven that crashed in the New Mexico desert.  Knowing the trajectory of the devil's trip, shouldn't Vera be able to figure out where Heaven is ?

 

If people like us can work together, maybe the world deserves to be saved.  So if they can't get along, is God going to destroy the earth.  And everyone gets gnarly powers but Vera has to wait until her power reveals itself.  Oh, please.  Rose gets the power of understanding -- she knows every language known to man. How convenient.

 

Allan calls Vera to tell her they have both been fired, except Allan still has the rock they snagged from the crater.  As Vera tries to leave the hospital and drive back to New Mexico, Joshua leaps in front of her pickup to tell her he saw her son.

 

A cop car with lights flashing zooms in front of a pickup truck right behind the car with Erin/Amy/Raul in it as they drive down the road.  Interesting sidenote -- when Erin pulls her car over, the pickup following them seems to have disappeared.

 

As the cop approached the passenger side of the car on foot, Raul's telepathy kicks in and he hears the cop say something about "this is the bitch from" (somewhere, it's hard to make out) "and I'm going to charge her with kidnapping".  Raul opens the car door and knocks the cop on his ass, and pulls his gun on him and then handcuffs him to his police car mirror.

 

teenHulk/Peter's friend from back home calls him under the guise of trying to get him to come back home, but it was really the cops using her to trace his call to Houston.

 

Joshua leads Vera to a house he saw in his vision, and finds the wife of the man, Ben, that he saw on the porch.  But the wife doesn't know where he is  -- except that he is at the track sitting next to the Devil.  After winning a trifecta, the Devil asks him if he wants to double his money and inquires (based on the knight on his T-shirt) if he likes chess.

 

Is this how this show is going to work -- Joshua has visions and the Devil is always one step ahead of them. And the team helps out people along the way to passing God's test.  What a shitty concept for a show.  It's like a bad mashup of 'Highway to Heaven' and Caine from 'Kung Fu'.

 

Erin drops off Raul at his brother's house and as he enters the house he sees the door broken in.  Raul pulls his gun and enters the house which has been trashed by somebody who has left the message 'Sangre por Sangre' written on the wall (which translates to 'Blood for Blood').   Raul searches the house and finds his niece hiding in a closet.

 

Joshua and Vera search the stands at the racetrack to find Ben but they find the seat he saw in his vision is empty as are the rest of the stands.  Vera decides she has had enough and leaves while Joshua uses Siri to find a place to play chess in a park (I wish I was making that part up).

 

Raul argues with his niece when two drug dealers come out from another part of the house.  Raul grabs the golf club that his niece was using to defend herself and he takes down the two drug dealers.

 

Meanwhile, the Devil and Ben the war vet play chess in the park.  The Devil beats Ben at chess, takes his racetrack winnings and Ben walks out of the park and right into the path of a bus that hits and kills him as Vera and Joshua look on (as does the Devil).

 

Allan calls to tell Vera that the crater in the desert is now gone. It's just up and disappeared like a fart in the wind.

 

Somehow, all the members of Team AngelWings show up at a bar where the jukebox starts playing 'Strange Magic' by ELO.  I think I would have been more impressed if Blondie's 'Rapture' came on the jukebox instead. And all of them see their wings in the mirror behind the bar for the first time.  And then Rose spouts a bunch of crap about the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Seven seals.  And it turns out there is one more Angel of the Apocalypse to come -- so I guess Amy and Raul's niece aren't special enough. Go Team Angelwings !!!

 

Joshua has a new vision to end the episode.  I guess this is going to happen every week, so you better get used to it.

 

Now where have I heard this idea before -- someone has an idea for a mission and communicates to his team that he calls 'Angels'. 

 

Charlie's Angels.  That would make God Charlie, and I guess Joshua is Bosley.

[Kelda Feegle]

and I won't be doing a second episode of this - angels = meh, really do not like preacher exhortations etc and even less do I like women who are rendered powerless by the offical position of their officer husbands

I wanted aliens!

[BooBear]

I could see the cracks in this series this episode. First, the actor who plays Joshua is GOD awful. I can't even stand listening to him. Last week I gave it some slack because he was the "preacher" but, I couldn't take it this week.  I have never actually understood the whole... rapture thing... or more specifically attempting to stop the rapture. Hey, if you are good person, would it really be so bad? All of these Angels have reason to want the world to end and be taken to heaven.  But beyond just selfish reasons, if god wants to end it, well who are we to judge?  Never quite understood (and it is not clear here either) why the devil would care at all about the rapture. Presumably those not taken to heaven would be his people.

 

Basically, as I suspected, this show set up an interesting premise and has no idea where it is going. All through the eyes of exposition fairy coma girl who of course has all the answers. If she knows so much how come god didn't tell her what the Devil was doing?

Even for Friday nights I might not watch this going forward.

[Dot Com]

OttoDbusdriver wrote: "As the cop approached the passenger side of the car on foot, Raul's telepathy kicks in and he hears "Raul's telepathy kicks in and he hears the cop say something about "this is the bitch from" (somewhere, it's hard to make out) "and I'm going to charge her with kidnapping"."

He knew her from an Amber Alert. So her abusive cop ex reported her for kidnapping their daughter from her hospital bed.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Dot Com

[bluebonnet]

There are so many flaws in this show -sooooooo many- but one of the biggest and most ridiculous is when these people run when they don't need to.  The healer mom didn't need to run with her daughter after her tears healed her.  Her cop ex husband had no case against her.  Federal agent has zero reason to be running considering he's a damn federal agent who can just, um, call his freaking boss to come give him a ride.  Like, why is this dude trying to escape hospitals and beating up state troopers when he can just say "yo, i'm a federal agent of some vague federal bureau so um, call my boss."  headdeskheaddeskheaddesk

 

Also, how come healer mom didn't magically heal federal agent when she was trying to pull him out of her car at the bus stop yet it just somehow worked when she fell on top of him?  Does it only work when she's on top of someone?  Awkward.  

 

I'm really bored with the apocalypse via rapture.  I'm bored with the devil.  Yawn.  It's been done so many times and this show has yet to make it fresh.  The devil as an alien might have been fresh-ish, or at least not smell as moldy as it does in this show.  I'm even bored with the devil being a bad guy.  Yawn yawn yawn.  

 

I hope a couple of you hang on for a few more episodes because I intend to check in with what y'all have to say about it but don't think I'll be keeping up with watching.  

[ottoDbusdriver]

He knew her from an Amber Alert. So her abusive cop ex reported her for kidnapping their daughter from her hospital bed.

 

Oh, Amber alert, that's what he was saying -- because I couldn't make it out.  I'm surprised then that no one at the hospital called the cops since Amy was stolen from another hospital.  What also doesn't make any sense is that Raul's face was plastered all over the TV at the convenience store where Raul first encountered Amy and Erin, but there was nothing on the TV about what this unidentified man was even wanted for (it just said 'suspect wanted'), nor was there even anything in the news crawl about an Amber Alert.  Considering that Erin and Amy were from Arizona -- Erin's husband had an Arizona police crest on his jacket -- would Houston cops have a BOLO for Amy and Erin ?

 

Since Erin's car was wrecked when she was hit by the wave, so how did the cop even know that was Erin and Amy in that car in the first place -- since they had to be driving a rental or borrowed someone else's car ?

 

I would think that Amber Alert trumps manhunt for someone for 'unspecified charges' -- since Raul was an undercover agent and he killed both of the Feds at the meet in Juarez and there was no one else around to witness it, who found the four dead bodies at that rather isolated airstrip in the desert and was able to tie Raul to the killings, called the Mexican police to report the deaths and the plane full of what was presumably drugs (because drug dealers rarely call the cops).  Raul said his cover was blown, but who else knew his real name and who he was ?  And was able to tie Raul's undercover agent name to the killings yet the the cartel henchmen knew his real name and was able to show up at Raul's brother's house on the slim chance that he showed up there.

[mjc570]

 

OttoDbusdirver:  If people like us can work together, maybe the world deserves to be saved.  So if they can't get along, is God going to destroy the earth.

 

We're doomed. 

 

I've got to admit, I'll probably keep watching, even though, as Boobear noted above, the acting and writing are both uneven.  On the other hand, maybe I won't.  I was so annoyed by Vera's dismissive attitude, I almost stopped watching then and there.  Maybe actually seeing her wings will get her to stop being so -one-note.

[Snarkette]

Wow. That was terrible. I mean Lottery/Dominion levels of terrible. Can I stop myself from watching next week?

[Latverian Diplomat]

I wish the Angel of Understanding had just straight up said, "I'm the Angel of Exposition".

 

It's not much of a test of whether people can work together if "Strange Magic" keeps bringing them to the same place despite their best efforts to go their separate ways. 

 

So, on the minus side, the government is apparently "in on it" in some sense, but on the plus side, they did magnificent, efficient work filling in that crater. Thanks, Obama!

I was so annoyed by Vera's dismissive attitude, I almost stopped watching then and there.  Maybe actually seeing her wings will get her to stop being so -one-note.

 

The thing that always amuses me about stuff like this, is if this weren't a TV show or movie, Vera would be the NotCrazy one. But I agree, since it is a TV show, they've got to move that along. I'm afraid they may milk her (in the real world healthy!) skepticism all season, as it is blocking the reveal of her no doubt crucial gift until the finale. And that would be tedious.

Edited April 26, 2015 by Latverian Diplomat

[sjohnson]

If you're going to throw logic to the winds, I think you should really go nuts, like Olympus. The closest they came was the angel of exposition, which is so much classier than exposition fairy. Not enough I think, I'm not sure I'll try any more. 

 

But I have to disagree about the preacher actor. I'm afraid I thought the teen Hulk actor was terrible. If Graham Patrick Martin can pretend to be eighteen and have emotions, this dude should be able too.