Sunday, May 17, 2009

DVD review - Buffy season 4/Angel season 1 episodes 13

Continuing with my viewing and reviewing of season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and season 1 of Angel...

***SPOILERS***

B4-13: The I In Team

Synopsis: As Spike tries to elude the Initiative's commandos, Buffy gets a look at the Initiative's underground complex and discovers she's not as welcome as first thought. (written by David Fury, airdate 2/8/00)

Lots of good plot movement here. Buffy gets invited down to the undeground complex (love how impressed she is by its hugeness) and apparently welcomed by Professor Walsh. But Walsh keeps a wary eye. She does not like all the questions Buffy asks (she'd prefer the Slayer was like Riley - one who never questions, just does) during debriefing and even less when she watches the post-battle sex between her main boy and the newcomer (thanks to hidden cameras in Riley's room). Man, she's one for keeping track of everything, perve she is. But those very cameras come back to bite her when she sends Buffy to the sewers for re-con alone, re-con that is really a trap! Walsh is in the middle of telling Riley that his young love is lost, only to have Buffy call her out via the video link and reveal that the little trap didn't work. Not only is Walsh's operation compromised, but she loses another that means so much to her. Karma is a bitch, professor. Ready to up the ante by bring in her creation Adam to eliminate Buffy turns out to be not so smart either. Double whammy by Karma! Nice. Meanwhile, with the Scoobies, Xander has a new job shilling power-bars, Anya barely hides her dislike for the Initiative guys (being an ex-demon and all), Spike wants nothing more to do with the group UNTIL he needs help getting a tracking device removed, and Willow turns to Tara for company and companionship (an all-night thing too...hmmm). Lots of great stuff.


A1-13: She

Synopsis: Angel, Cordelia and Wesley are caught in the middle of a war of the sexes when a femal demon from another dimension rises up against her male oppressors. (written by Greenwalt and Noxon, airdate 2/8/00).

Know what is sad? When the best part of the episode is the opening couple minutes (Cordelia's party is a hoot what with Wesley making Elaine Bennis look like Barishnakov and Angel commiserating with Dennis the ghost) and the closing credits (with both Angel and Wesley in their lame dance modes). Other than that, we get Bai Ling as a demon princess basically doing an underground railroad to save oppressed women and a bunch of male demons trying to round them up and return the neutered. Yawn. Didn't care about the main plot. Angel basically shows them that he won't tolerate either of them causing problems in his dimension and he busts some heads to do it. Beyond that, again, yawn. Problem was that I didn't care about the people in danger. They were alien to me (no pun intended) and, hopefully, that's the last we see of them. Just didn't work. A shame too since Marti Noxon usually works great magic with her writing. Ah well. Gotta have some clinkers every now and again.

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