Angel Season 3 Rewatch

[Btvs fan]

@hoponlilmama @NoShip
@NotASlayer @HowiMetdaSlayer

So Iv seen the first 4 episodes of Angel Season 3. While Buffy had moved to UPN Angel had stayed on the WB. So the question is how would it handle being on its as a show.

Hearthrob - I really liked this episode. Dealt with dealing with the issue of the character who had just moved Networks really well. I liked how Angel was dealing with Buffys death.
James and Elizabeth were basically a proto Spike and Dru . We also have our first appearance of Holtz. Though how Angelus and James get away makes him look a bit incompetent. A good season start with Angel on its own now.

The Vision Thing - the contrast on the colouring got turned way up in this episode. Skip was incredibly popular which was what got him more episodes later this season and next. Also I remember at the time some wondering if the guy in flames was Angels son. He actually looks better for the role than VK would ironically.
Overall as an episode I was meh. The things happening to Cordelia were horrific but how it was handled was very 1 note. Basically Angel gets mad and kills a bad guy but not Lilah the person who set it up.

That Old Gang of Mine - This would've worked better if this episode had been done in Season 2 to be frank. It starts off strong but let down by the Bar scene at the end. It just goes on and on and theres no tension to it. Still its nice to see JAR actually given something to do.
Overall watchable but could've been better

Carpe Nocturn - Angel does Who Are You but without the complexity or character development. This was David Boreanaz favourite episode of the show. Basically because he could goof around. Now there are some funny moments but Overall its not very good and some of its language and attitude towards women is actually quite misogynistic. See the conversation about Escorts for example. Not a good episode

 

[Btvs fan]

@hoponlilmama @NotASlayer @thetopher @NoShip @silvermoon
@DeepBlueJoy @Joan the Vampire Slayer

Carrying on

Fredless - Its a good overall story idea and its nice to finally see Parents who aren't normally awful or clueless. The problem is in the execution. Whether its because of the script or the directing, lines or scenes that are supposed to be funny just aren't and the timing feels off.
Overall its a meh episode neither bad nor good.

Billy - This was a controversial episode when it first aired with the all men have misogyny in them. Looking back 26 years on rewatch and to me it feels less like a dark edgey episode but instead a bit of a cop out. Don't get me wrong the acting, particularly from the guy who plays Billy and Alexis Denisof is excellent but Billy's not human yet its still an issue to out right kill him but in the end that doesn't matter because Lilah shows up and shoots him and she's damned as a bad guy anyway, so all sense of guilt and responsibility that Cordelia has, which was the whole point of the episode (and Angel made plain he doesn't care) over Billy being set free is moot.
Also Billy's powers that conveniently didn't work on Angel because he never hated when he killed even when he was evil ! . Huh I guess Joss never informed Tim Minear and Jeff Bell that in Buffy S2 "She made me feel like a human being, that's not the kind of thing you can just forgive" happened !!! Hell even last years "Take them all" didn't happen either !!!
Overall its watchable but no where near as edgy or deep as it was trying to be nor as controversial as it was made out to be at the time either.
Anyway the next episodes are finally the show getting back to the main plot from Checks notes Episode 1 !!!!