SPOILERS: "The Yoko Factor" and "War Zone"

[AngelusBells@xxxxxxx]

Sorry this is late. The thoughts weren't coming to my brain very easily this
week. Nothing particularly enlightening, just my opinions.

Warning: Once again, I'm not too lenient with Buffy in this review. Love her?
Avoid this.

Spoily-type space...
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"The Yoko Factor":

As the quote goes from one of my favorite movies, "the shit hath hitith the
fan...ith." "The Yoko Factor" is probably the most appropriate pop culture
reference on the show to date. While the episode itself wasn't terrible, what
happened in it was. It makes me pretty darn sad, and makes me wonder if I'll
ever love this show like I once did before the college life hit.

I can't really say I'm surprised at how easily Spike was able to split the
group apart. (Was anyone, really?) As he explained, the problem didn't lie in
him -- the Scooby dynamic had been broken long before Spike ruffled them up.
And I'm glad it's being addressed, because *maybe* when all has been said and
done they can become friends again, friends that trust and respect each
other. Like I said last week, the family aspect of "Angel" is what makes me
love that show...and if one thing can get me disenchanted with "Buffy," it's
the fact that the family has broken apart (the Corleones crack was pretty
applicable to the Gang as well). Personally, I think a *lot* of this lies in
Buffy. I'm not saying she's the only one to blame, but, c'mon: "If I was any
more open-minded about the choices you two make, my brain would fall out."
Now, *that* made my jaw drop. I never thought Buffy was *so* conceited that
she actually thought she wasn't one of the top contenders for the
"Questionable Choices" award. She's become so wrapped up in Riley that it's
caused her to drift apart from Willow so that she couldn't even see something
different in her relationship with Tara; she has no respect for Xander, who
we all know has done quite a bit to help out before, yet the way she, and
Willow, have excluded him has leveled his self-esteem to virtually nil; and
Giles is just "book guy" -- did Buffy ever stop to wonder exactly *why* he
was drunk? "I guess I'm starting to understand why there's no ancient
prophecy about a Chosen One and her friends." Why is that? Could it possibly
be because said Chosen One doesn't know how to *treat* her friends? Of
course, that's just my opinion...I could be wrong.

I was all worried that Angel's surprisingly brief appearance this week would
result in a bunch of high emotions. Well, it did, but it was also pretty
funny. I mean, the writer didn't pretend to have an excuse for him and Riley
pounding on each other for any other reason except pure male testosterone and
jealousy. "He started it." I think I literally snorted when Angel gave Riley
that little smirk as he and Buffy left the room. I've never seen him act
so...adolescent. But I think that on some level Angel respects Riley and his
protectiveness of Buffy. How can he not? He's been in his shoes long before
now. When he said, "Oh, and...Riley? I don't like him," as he was leaving, it
was the perfect way for Angel to let Buffy know that even though he wasn't
happy about a new man in her life, he wouldn't interfere. Otherwise we all
know Angel wouldn't have hesitated to tell her exactly how he felt.

And the Angel/Riley "battle" leads us to Buffy's one moment of semi-decency
in this ep. She actually admitted that Angel's world may not revolve around
her. Okay, okay, I sound really bitter, but I actually did appreciate her
saying that, even though she might not have if Angel didn't apologize first
-- for what, being honest? -- *and* she didn't technically say, "I'm sorry."
But let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, shall we?

FORREST IS DEAD!!! Goddamn it, Joss! Why does he do this to me, to us? Why
does he kill off the characters that I love and none of the ones I don't
really care about or even hate? New Tuesday Nazi. I know some people were mad
at Forrest, but I never stopped loving him. Here's something I posted a few
episodes back to a couple of lists I'm on: "As for the bug up his butt, don't
be too hard on him. Forrest seems to be closer to Riley than Graham (probably
his best friend), and I've been there. Your closest friend neglects you
*once* for their new love interest and you hate said LI from then on. I'm
sure there's just a little jealousy, plus, Riley did and is kinda acting like
a crazy man, as far as he's concerned. Forrest is a little bit in the dark
concerning Buffy, and Riley's activities involving her, and that's gotta be
tough coming from one of your most trusted friends. Not only that, but I'm
sure he senses the badness surrounding the Initiative, something he's been
involved with, no questions asked, for years -- and the badness is something
Buffy brought to the light -- and Forrest most likely uses his hostility
towards Buffy as a defense mechanism against that area of his life falling
down around him." And now with all that, Forrest was killed when he and Riley
were at odds. That's gotta hurt, and I see Riley adopted Giles' Passion-esque
reaction by going after Adam. Death wish much?

Next week: David Fury told the 11th Hour web magazine, "Buffy will have a
spiritual epiphany that will lead to a re-embracing [of] her role as the
Chosen One." Could this be it? Looks like it could be very good, but I won't
be holding my breath. Whenever Buffy is in a scene it tends to suck any
potential enjoyment out of it. "'Cause I'm a stuck-up tight-ass with no sense
of fun?" Mm-hm.

"War Zone":

I loved absolutely everything about this episode. Seriously, there was not
one thing that made me unhappy with it. It was a nitty gritty
fighting-against-darkness-right-under-the-nose-of-glamour episode, which is
something I love about "Angel" and hope it never loses.

I really, really liked Gunn (which probably means Joss will have him
*KILLED*, but I digress). The character has such a strong presence, which is
just made stronger by the fact that he's so young. His presence is a lot like
Angel's: dark, brooding, intimidating, powerful, noble, intelligent...but all
contained inside to be unleashed when the time calls. Like the look Angel
gave the blackmailer when he touched him -- he didn't move a muscle, but you
could immediately tell that the guy needed to watch his step. Gunn has that.
On first glimpse you wouldn't think him to be somebody that Angel would
relate to very easily -- he's a black kid from the streets of LA -- but their
scenes flowed very easily to me, and they played off of each other really
well. And I think the writers were definitely tapped into their similarities
with the clever little teaser. "You expectin' somebody else?" That he staked
Alonna after she was turned spoke volumes about the type of person he is, and
raises a lot of questions about his past. I really want to know more about
him -- my mind is awhirl with possible reasons for what made him war against
vampires and for how long -- but for now I'll revel in the glory that is an
amazing new character.

The case Angel was working on in this ep was also a highlight. The demon
brothel cracked me up. Did you see the look on Angel's face when Wesley
immediately named the place? Like, "How exactly do you know *that*, my stuffy
English Watcher?" And then when he went to the brothel and encountered the
"Look, Ma...no hands" demon (which you might recognize from a one-second
appearance in "City of"), I loved the tail trick and Angel's reaction. <eg>

*Loved* the A/C/W interaction in this ep. Once again, there was the family
aspect, and you could hear it just by the way Wesley admonished, "Cordelia,"
when she suggested "prostituting" herself to David Nabbit. I do, however,
wish that Cordy would realize that she is *not* alone. Just because she's not
dating someone doesn't mean that she doesn't have two men who love her. It's
even gotten to the point where Angel is able to intercede her pure Cordyisms:
C: "You look--" A: "--like I've been beaten and stabbed?" As for Angel, I
wonder when he's gonna realize that the "I'm the boss" card isn't gonna work
(as cute as it is seeing him struggle with the concept of technology as means
of escape). If he wanted submissiveness (get your minds out of the gutter,
people!), he should have taken an ad out in the newspaper, 'cause he ain't
gonna get it from an ex-Watcher, and, well, *Cordelia*. But out of
everything, my favorite quote was this: C: "I like to smell a little money
once in a while." A: "She's not just saying that. Hide some in the office
sometime and watch her. It's uncanny." I just get this perfect image of Angel
stashing wads of money around the office and sitting back and getting his
evening entertainment by watching Cordy's reaction.

Next week: Didn't look too exciting until I got a teeny tiny bit more info
about the ep: "Angel helps Lindsey (Christian Kane) crack the secret files of
Wolfram & Hart to save children from a demonic assassin." <excited shriek>
Lindsey. Angel. Working together. 'Nuff said. <g>

Jennifer NightBloom
http://angelshellmouth.faithweb.com
http://graham_crackers.tripod.com
http://cawriters.faithweb.com
"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy." - F. Scott Fitzgerald