S03.E21: Benediction

[Joe Hellandback]

BENEDICTION

The Good; The return of Justine but this ep will always be remembered for the incredible scenes between Angel and Holtz. They strike you as a pair of weary emotional boxers slugging it out to the last. I especially like the moment where Angel rages at Holtz for stealing his son and Holtz points out that he kept Angel's son alive whilst Angel(us) killed his.

The Bad; Angel just leaves a set of vamps lying on the floor of the club.

Best line: Justine; "How did you survive?" Holtz; "My hatred kept us alive" HOOOOoooooooooo! also like; Fred; "He's survived an unspeakable hell dimension. Who hasn't? It doesn't mean you can leave him on the streets of LA"

Jeez, how did they get away with that? Holtz forcing Justine to stab him with the icepick

Apocalypses: 5

Angel Clichés In disguise; 8

DB get's his shirt off; 12

Cordy's tatt; 10

Cheap Angel; 9

Fang Gang in bondage: Cordy: 5 Angel: 11 Wes: 6 Gunn; 4 Lorne; 3 Fred; 2

Fang gang knocked out: Cordy: 12 Angel: 14 Wes: 5 Doyle; 1 Gunn; 1 Lorne; 3 Groo; 1

Kills: 2 vamps for Angel. 2 for Connor as well and we can add in the demon he killed in The Price Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons Angel; 41 vamps, 57 and 1/2 demons, 7 humans Doyle; 1 vamp Wes; 12 demons+3 vamps, 2 humans Kate; 3 vamps Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans. Gunn; 10 vamps+ 11 demons. Groo; 1 demon Fred; 1 vamp Connor; 2 vamps and one demon

Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 2 Angel: 2 Gunn; 1 Wes; 1

Alternate Fang Gang: Cordy: 2 Angel: 8 Fred; 1

Characters killed: 46

Recurring characters killed; 8;

Total number of Angel Investigations: 6, Angel, Cordy, Gunn, Fred, Lorne and Groo

Angel Investigations shot: Angel: 12 Wes; 1

Packing heat; Wes; 6 Doyle; 1 Angel; 2 Gunn; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Cordy: 4 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies Wes; 2; Virginia and the bleached blonde Gunn; 1 Fred Fred; 1 Gunn Groo; 1Cordy

Kinky dinky: According to Fred's gizmo Connor is 'Hot'. Gunn dislikes the idea of tracking Angel's teenage son's 'emissions'.

Captain Subtext; Groo and Lorne, their scene together very reminiscent of a scene in season 5 Buffy with Xander and Riley at the magic shop. But the Groo does it SOOOOO much better than Riley does "If she asks" Awwwwww!

Know the face, different character; 4

Parking garages; 5,

Buffy characters on Angel; 16 Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony

Questions and observations; One thing I've noticed in working my way through Buffy season 6 and Angel season 3 is that I keep leaping ahead wanting to watch more and more Angel and not Buffy. Note that the PTB's decide to save Justine through CC's vision. Holtz is quite religious believing god gave him Connor. You genuinely get the impression that they do love each other. Interestingly Fred refers to 'being at the bottom of the ocean looking upwards'. Does Holtz go to hell? Is he an evil man? The only evil thing I can think off he does is slitting Wes' throat but that's Justine and we've no idea that he even knew about it.

Marks out of 10; 8/10, an ep of great emotional depth and poignancy

[illdoc]

10 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

One thing I've noticed in working my way through Buffy season 6 and Angel season 3 is that I keep leaping ahead wanting to watch more and more Angel and not Buffy.

One of the things about Season 3 (and 4) of Angel is that there is a lot that goes on--several arcs. You really don't feel like you can miss an episode, because you'll miss key points in the overall story--very few "filler" episodes. On Buffy, while you do get occasional episodes or parts of episodes related to the overall story, you feel like much is "filler" until the last half dozen or so episodes of the season--like someone said "OMG it's almost the end of the season. We better buckle down and focus on the main plot (of the season)". For example, (and this really isn't a spoiler), take a look at how many episodes are really focused on "the Big Bad" storyline in Buffy Season 7 versus how many in Angel Season 4 (which aired during the same year). Angel (the series) as a whole (at least Seasons 3 & 4) is more compelling than any season of Buffy.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎03‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 6:37 PM, illdoc said:

One of the things about Season 3 (and 4) of Angel is that there is a lot that goes on--several arcs. You really don't feel like you can miss an episode, because you'll miss key points in the overall story--very few "filler" episodes. On Buffy, while you do get occasional episodes or parts of episodes related to the overall story, you feel like much is "filler" until the last half dozen or so episodes of the season--like someone said "OMG it's almost the end of the season. We better buckle down and focus on the main plot (of the season)". For example, (and this really isn't a spoiler), take a look at how many episodes are really focused on "the Big Bad" storyline in Buffy Season 7 versus how many in Angel Season 4 (which aired during the same year). Angel (the series) as a whole (at least Seasons 3 & 4) is more compelling than any season of Buffy.

Absolutely, s6 is so disjointed, perhaps intended that way given Buffy's experience but jarring for the viewer.