S5.E11: Damage

[Joe Hellandback]

The Good; Great breakout scene, very Halloween, Terminator 2. Andrew is funny as hell and wonderful final scene between Spike and Angel.

The Bad; How does Lindsey know about these things to send Spike to?

Best line; Angel (of Dana); "She's an innocent victim" Spike; "So were we, once upon a time" Makes me tear up every single time!

Jeez, how did they get away with that? All the torture and murder scenes and of course Spike's arms being cut off! Can't watch any of the scenes with Dana being tortured or her family being killed, just too horrible

Apocalypses: 5

Angel Clichés In disguise; 8

DB/JM get's his shirt off; 18,

Cheap Angel; 8

Fang Gang in bondage: Spike chained up Cordy: 5 Angel: 14 Wes: 7 Gunn; 7 Lorne; 6 Fred; 4 Spike; 6

Fang gang knocked out: Spike Cordy: 15 Angel: 19 Wes: 8 Doyle; 1 Gunn; 3 Lorne; 8 Groo; 1 Connor; 1 Faith; 1 Fred; 5 Spike; 5

Kills; Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons Angel; 45 vamps, 62 and 1/2 demons, 5 zombies, 12 humans, one werewolf and one cyborg Doyle; 1 vamp Wes; 14 demons+5 vamps, 5 zombies, 3 humans, 2 cyborgs Kate; 3 vamps Faith; 18 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans. Gunn; 11 vamps+ 13 demons, 5 zombies, 1 human. Groo; 1 demon Fred; 3 vamps+ 2 demon, 5 zombies Connor; 16 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 demons, Jasmine Spike; 21 vamps, 7 demons+1 human+one parasite

Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 3 Angel: 3 Gunn; 1 Wes; 1

Alternate Fang Gang; Cordy: 4 Angel: 11 Fred; 2 Wes; 1 Gunn; 1 Connor; 1 Lorne; 1

Characters killed: Dana cuts up the 2 poor orderlies at the hospital, the unfortunate security guard at the supermarket (someone should count all the security guards who get killed in Buffy/Angel over the years) and the tragic docker who tries to help her 2265

Recurring characters killed; 10

Total number of Angel Investigations; 5, Angel, Gunn, Fred, Lorne, Wes,

Angel Investigations shot: Angel: 14 Wes; 2

Packing heat; Wes; 11 Doyle; 1 Angel; 4 Gunn; 3 Fred; 3

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Cordy: 5 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo+Connor plus possibly the Beast Angel: 6; Buffy, Darla, The Transcending Furies, Eve Wes; 3 definite; Virginia, the bleached blonde and Lilah, 1 possible, Justine Gunn; 2 Fred and Gwen. Fred; 1 Gunn Groo; 1Cordy Spike; 3-Buffy, Anya, Harmony

Kinky dinky: Andrew refers to Fred as 'attractive slender woman'. Lorne calls his assistant to get the whip. Spike asks Andrew if he's ever tasted 'a penny' From The Big Bang Theory? (Thank you scrawny71 for pointing out that)

Captain Subtext; Andrew says that Spike is beautiful and comments on his 'Viggo Mortenson' pecs. Spike calls Andrew a ponce.

Know the face, different character; 5

Parking garages; 9,

Guantanamo Bay; Andrew takes Dana into protective custody

Buffy characters on Angel; 17 Andrew Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony. POSSIBLY The First Evil, Andrew.

Questions and observations; Note Dana marks herself just as the first Slayer did. Gunn of all people loves the system, very different from his first entry to WR&H in season 1. Note that some of Dana's drawing has the Shadowmen in it. When Dana speaks in Chinese Spike replies with the same words he said to the Chinese Slayer as he killed her. Wes is in touch with Giles (through his father if nothing else?). Spike jokes that Angel's worry is starting to make him look old, a comment on ageless vampire Angel starting to look a few years older. Irrelevant that Spike didn't torture Dana or kill her family because he did it to THOUSANDS of other people. Remember the little girl in the coal cellar? No one trusts Angel any more, he realises that he and Wes&co have cut themselves off from the other Scoobs.

Buffy and Dawn are in Rome with Dawn going to an Italian school. The reason we saw so little Joyce in season 4 is that Kristine Sutherland was housesitting in Italy for a year in order to let her daughter go to school there and learn Italian. And now Joyce's daughters do the same which I suspect is a very clever inside joke. Andrew's remark of Buffy needing a break from California may be a reference to SMG needing a break from the character of Buffy. The various Scoobies are reassembling the Watcher's Council just as Wes' false dad said they were in Lineage.

In 'Lies My Parent's Told Me' Spike goads Robin Wood that his mother never really loved him and put slaying first (in fairness to Spike Wood had just tried to kill him). Here we find that this wasn't true, she did love him, her last thought was her begging for Spike to spare her so that she could go back to her beloved son. In School Hard Spike tells Buffy that the last Slayer he killed begged for her life. In 'Fool for Love' he tells her how he killed her and she doesn't beg. Maybe she did beg, just not out loud?

Dana dreams of previous Slayers just as Buffy did in the original movie.

Spike and Angel both consider themselves to be monsters. They might be right. The scene between them is too wonderful for words. Love to see Dana in the comics some day, all cured. Episode 11, halfway through the final season.

Marks out of 10; 8/10, strong ep but hard to watch. The final scene between Angel and Spike raises it up.