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30 April 2003 @ 09:26 pm
Angel: Peace Out  


My somewhat tipsy commentary. Random. Utterly random, with sentence fragments, and with odd emphases in places.

Jasmine Flunky: "You mean 'or', right? *Or* you'll crush my windpipe?"

Man, loving Connor this ep. Can't help it. Pretty, confused dyke-boy. He is the dark K.D. Lang of my Jasmiverse. So, why did he see the real Jasmine all along, though? What's so special about him--his nature--that her real face was always apparent, even without the revelation of her blood?

Connor's sense of smell, as a genetic heritage of vampire parents: it's interesting, how much more of a plot point they tend to make it for him, versus how rarely it's a plot point for vampires themselves (e.g., Angel, Spike, et al).

Wes: scruffy-haired and pale and Socratic. Pretty man.

Side Note: Commercials are far more interesting if you're listening to "Sing Sing Sing" on headphones. And everything in the universe is synchronized to the beat.

Angel with the bug people: not caring. In fact, my not caring is reaching new heights, somewhere up there where the WTC top floor used to be.

But it's interesting, the buggy commentary on Connor's birth (how the fuck do they know this stuff, anyway, these other-dimensional guys?), that he was "merely a means to an end," to bring forth "the blessed chi." Huh.

Um, Jasmine--dependent on Cordy? Whaaaaaatever. How much more can you people pull out your ass? Because it must be getting painful.

The happy-dippy cops. Okay, fuck me. I have to admit, I love them. Their big stupid grins, their mellow violence. Going back to Connor's special nose powers, though--how did he track her, exactly? I, um, cop to it. I wasn't paying close attention.

Cordy as religious artifact: I guess when you're pregnant, you really get a break from your usual actorly responsibilities.

Cordy as Virgin Mom...oh, what*ever*.

Um, not really fully empathizing with Connor's angst, despite my love for him. You would think that, okay, here's a guy who came from a Hell dimension, can see Jasmine as what she really is and find her maggoty self beautiful, and then condemn the A.I. team (as represented by Angel) for, as he sees it, their desire for a dark enemy to fight. He wants to *rest*? Right. Except that he's *all* about fighting. He acts it out in every single gesture and word: that he wants a foe, and a lady to knight for. So they're going to try and convince us he's resentful of this in others? That he doesn't get it?

But he goes on about how Jasmine is purging the world's hate and anger--and when he voices those words you can hear his own rough, raging anger, and he says, "But not me!" He's resentful, of course. He wants a slice of that peace. And there's the interesting question--why is Connor's angst special? Why does he retain his misery when no one else does? Because he was raised elsewhere? Hmmm.

Cordy's comatose glory: hmmm. Tummy!

Jasmine's disciple, Patience--she reminds me of Glenne Headly!

Jasmine's World Debut: Okay, give us a slice of Sunnydale, so we know what the fuck's going on, okay?

"Although, a temple would be nice--something massive and awe-inspiring, yet warm and nurturing, celebrating the gentle pleasures of a peaceful, precious co-existence..." Heh. Oh, *HI*, Angel! Wow. That was actually fucking unexpected. I have to admit, I'm glad we didn't wallow for a few more eps in boring insect-world plotitude.

Ha! Gunn kicks out the door! I love him. "I just want my props, is all." And yet, how come Angelus didn't kick out the door a few eps earlier? Continuity is a cowering bitch, chained to the chairs of arrogant writers.

I'm just saying.

Wow. I actually feel a bit sorry for Jasmine when she falls. That's bad and wrong. Except for the sadness that is Connor, racing to serve his daughter when she calls. There's something fucked about that if you really go to a father-daughter place, where the relationship is purely nominal, lacking the bonds of time and maturation. Connor's desperation is sad. Jasmine's fall, however, is weirdly anticlimactic, even granting tha it's her "son" who kills her.

Interesting stuff, out there on the L.A. Freeway.

Jasmine: "There are no absolutes. No right and wrong. Haven't you learned anything working for the Powers? There are only choices. I offered Paradise. You chose this!"

Angel: "Because I could. Because that's what you took away from us. Choice."

Jasmine: "And look where free will has gotten you."

Angel: "Hey. I didn't say we were smart. I said it's our right. It's what makes us human."

Jasmine: "But you're not human!"

Angel: "Workin' on it."

Mmmm. Going to the Spike place. A little cross-canon happiness.

Angel's attempt at rapport with Jasmine is weird, though. That's all I have to say. And Jasmine tosses back the very accurate accusation that Angel has eaten people and Angel says, "Thousands of people are dead because of what you've done." Like Angel hasn't eaten thousands of people. Also, here's what I want to know--Jasmine was out to stop war, poverty, etc. WHY? If she's evil, then WTF? Why would she want to stop all of that? I am Confused. Capital C.

Jasmine and Angel, kissing in a tree? What's *that* about?

Connor's sudden murder. WHOA. FUCK ME! Also confusing. What's the word for killing your daughter, anyway? There's a something-cide there, I'm sure. And Angel, saying: "I'm just happy to have you." Um, hell-O? What does *that* mean, you big undead weirdo? If it's not vaguely incestuous, it's still passing strange.

Lorne's jeans: DIS-turbing. I know you all agree. Thanks for your support!

Lilah? Okay, yeah. Lilah is cool. And yet, one must ponder: the *hell*?

And, *all* the A.I. team: pretty much non-entities this ep. Yes? Yes? It's not just me, right?




 
 
(Deleted comment)
Anna S.eliade on April 30th, 2003 11:07 pm (UTC)
I think the Connor-weirdness is related to the fact that he's her father.

Oh, *excellent*. If you came up with that all by yourself, I will canonize you. For whatever that's worth. {g}
juniper200 on April 30th, 2003 10:53 pm (UTC)
>>What's the word for killing your daughter, anyway?

Filiacide. Not to be confused with filicide, which refers to the killing of a child of either sex.
talulatalula728 on April 30th, 2003 11:06 pm (UTC)
He wants to *rest*?
I was hoping they'd put him on a smoking cross, just so it could be *exactly* the same as Beneath You and we wouldn't have to pretend.

Going back to Connor's special nose powers, though--how did he track her, exactly? I admit it. I wasn't paying close attention.
I assumed he didn't track her at all- that the windpipe guy told her where she was.

Lilah? Okay, yeah. Lilah is cool. And yet, one must ponder: the *hell*?
I hardly approve of this. I mean, her hair looked pretty when she died. Now it doesn't look pretty anymore. I don't know how much of this is believable.


zing_och on May 1st, 2003 05:05 am (UTC)
Hehe. Loved your commentary.
Just a quick note:
Also, here's what I want to know--Jasmine was out to stop war, poverty, etc. WHY? If she's evil, then WTF? Why would she want to stop all of that? I am Confused. Capital C.

She may be evil in our opinion, but she herself doesn't believe that. I think she honestly believes (well, believed) that what she did was the best for the world, apart from being great fun for her. She's not evil for the sake of being evil, like Angelus for example. She's just not big on free will :)
threegoldfish on May 1st, 2003 05:31 am (UTC)
I think I just figured that because Connor actually has to breathe on a regular basis, he's more used to using his sense of smell than vampires would be.

And perhaps Angelus didnt' have the patience to kick at the same place in the door for hours? (And can I just say - Ow.)
Djinannadjinanna on May 1st, 2003 08:21 am (UTC)
>>I think I just figured that because Connor actually has to breathe on a regular basis, he's more used to using his sense of smell than vampires would be.<<

Oh, that's -- I like that.
daddy's not done talkingros_fod on May 1st, 2003 09:02 am (UTC)
I like that ALOT.
snoopygirllsnoopygirll on May 1st, 2003 06:18 am (UTC)
What's the word for killing your daughter, anyway?

Filiacide. Not to be confused with filicide, which refers to the killing of a child of either sex.


There are words for this stuff? Jeez.

calligrafiti on May 1st, 2003 06:20 am (UTC)
Jasmine was out to stop war, poverty, etc. WHY?


I'd say it's because war, poverty, etc. cut down on human life expectancy. And humans were her dietary staple of choice. It's kind of like putting the cows into a wolf-free environment to ensure your supply of steak.
twistedchick on May 1st, 2003 07:20 am (UTC)
Connor with Jasmine; it makes me want to see what people in Quortoth looked like. And I *loved* seeing him sniff through the crowd to find whoever moved Cordy, stopping the woman who wore Cordy's perfume. That's how it works.

Cordy in the church is a really interesting take on the iconography of incorruptible saints. Women saints are (99% of the time) in one of three categories: virgin, martyr, person of exceeding holiness who lived a hard life and put up with far more than any sane human would have to deal with. Where does Cordy fit in? Not virgin. Does not put up well. Not exceedingly holy. My guess here is that if anything she fits into the martyr category -- giving up her life for Jasmine, more or less. Not a Virgin Mother category at all. There's also the sense that someone godlike should come along and say, "hey, get up," and she would. Hmm.

I liked it that for once the AI crew wasn't at the center of things and miss what's happening. But Gunn kicking down that door -- wonderful. And why it didn't work for Angel? Simple. He didn't try it. Easy as that. And Angel was under guard, while they weren't, not that it would've stopped Angelus. Hmm. Maybe there was a portal spell on the door that wouldn't let him out, also? Or have I been reading too much HP?

::imagining Wesley with a recalcitrant wand that accidentally zaps Gunn in the ass while he's trying to get the door open::

(Anonymous) on May 1st, 2003 07:42 am (UTC)
Yeah!
I think you're exactly right - he didn't try, and if he had, he would have been zapped right quick with a tranq dart. :)

-Roquelaure.
Janean or just "luvs"luvs_phoenix on May 1st, 2003 07:48 am (UTC)
My thoughts also!
Angelus didn't try while Gunn did. I thought, as I was watching it, that Angelus wouldn't have gotten away with it anyway as he was always being watched.

Last night's show WAS the reason I stay spoiler free. I was jumping up and down like a damn little kid yelling at the telly. Cracked my 11 year old right up.
herself_nyc on May 1st, 2003 07:29 am (UTC)
I also found Jasmine's demise anti-climactic, but Angel himself rocked. And . . . Lilah!

Yes, I'm just THIS coherent.
Janean or just "luvs"luvs_phoenix on May 1st, 2003 07:50 am (UTC)
I was so damn happy to see her back. Finally a strong roll model we women can get behind.

Except for that evil thing. But, hey, I can work around it. I was doing my Snoopy dance when she popped up last night. LOL
(Anonymous) on May 1st, 2003 07:51 am (UTC)
"...that he was "merely a means to an end," to bring forth "the blessed chi." Huh."

Hmm, I thought he said "the blessed she", but I didn't have captions on, so... could be wrong there.

"Cordy's comatose glory: hmmm. Tummy!"

Did she still have a tummy? Damn, I looked but she already seems pretty uh.. 'flat' to me. Stupid pregnant people, always having their babies. It's going to be weird that by the time they're shooting next year's eppies, she'll prolly be pretty close to back to normal (or she *could* be, let's say). I'm so used to seeing her as a hot round mamma. :)

Also, about the whole Jasmine-evil thing, I'd just like to add my $.02 that I don't think she felt she was evil - or, indeed, that she *was* evil, at least by Jossverse standards. Evil in Jossverse seems to be dependent on some sort of desire to be bad just for the sake of it. Jasmine had a purpose and she felt she was doing the right thing for mankind. She was just mightily wrong, is all. :)

-Roquelaure.
Anna S.eliade on May 1st, 2003 08:13 am (UTC)
Hmm, I thought he said "the blessed she", but I didn't have captions on, so... could be wrong there.

No, I think you're right. Heh.
Tuesday Has No Phonesthebratqueen on May 1st, 2003 08:11 am (UTC)
Also, here's what I want to know--Jasmine was out to stop war, poverty, etc. WHY? If she's evil, then WTF? Why would she want to stop all of that?

That's the point. The point is that she's not necessarily eeeeeeeeeeeevil [tm]. She geniunely thought that the thousands eaten for billions saved was a good trade-off. The fact that Angel and the gang disagreed with her... well Lilah said it best, they ended world peace. So now who's the bad guy?
Djinannadjinanna on May 1st, 2003 08:18 am (UTC)
>>So, why did he see the real Jasmine all along, though? What's so special about him--his nature--that her real face was always apparent, even without the revelation of her blood?<<

I'm thinking it's for the same reason that Cordy's blood breaks the spell -- he's Jasmine's father. He also shares the blood. I'm thinking that if anyone had thought to use *his* blood to break the spell, it would've had the same effect as Jasmine's and Cordy's blood. Or at least shoulda. (I kept expecting him to actually use his blood to get the guy he was interrogating in the garden to talk. Well, "expecting" is probably the wrong word. Speculating about how it would've broken the spell too.)

>>he wants a foe, and a lady to knight for. So they're going to try and convince us he's resentful of this in others? That he doesn't get it?<<

I think he doesn't ... he's one of the most un-self-aware characters I've seen in quite a while. At least, where I think the writers deliberately *intend* the un-self-awareness. There's lots of un-self-aware characters who are that way because the writers don't get it either.

>>And yet, how come Angelus didn't kick out the door a few eps earlier?<<

Um, he *loosened* it, so that when Gunn kicked it enough, it gave way? If Angelus had had more time, he'd've kicked it out? *sigh* Yeah, I know. Really bothered me too. Just stupid.

>>Also, here's what I want to know--Jasmine was out to stop war, poverty, etc. WHY? If she's evil, then WTF? Why would she want to stop all of that? I am Confused. Capital C.<<

But ... she wasn't evil. She just held to a different value system, where free will and choice were bad and led to badness (well, she does have a point) and allowing her to be a benevolent dictator is good. We keep forgetting in the Buffy-verse that most bad guys don't think they're bad guys -- because most of the bad guy demons Buffy and Angel run up against actually *revel* in being evil, but ... it's anomaly, psychologically speaking.

>>And, *all* the A.I. team: pretty much non-entities this ep. Yes? Yes? It's not just me, right?<<

Yep. I did my post-ep commentary as a character-by-character analysis. And ... there was *nothing* to grab onto and talk about for the caged foursome. The episode really wasn't so much about Angel, either. It was all Connor and Jasmine, even when Jasmine was interacting with Angel, it was still all about Jasmine. Even when Angel was doing his bug-fight thing, it was all about Connor and Jasmine. With a little bit of Cordelia.

Since Gina Torres was so fabulous last night, and since I adore VK and his Connor, I can't complain too much. Especially since it feels like Connor's about to be written out, one way or another. *whimper* And, uh, well obviously Jasmine is gone now.
daddy's not done talkingros_fod on May 1st, 2003 10:16 am (UTC)
Um, Jasmine--dependent on Cordy? Whaaaaaatever. How much more can you people pull out your ass? Because it must be getting painful.

I rather saw this as a red-herring for people like me who are desperate to have Cordy wake the fuck up already. Having Wes say it is particularly manipulative (in a good way), since it legitimizes the theory in a sense -- he's been pretty on with his theories for a few eps now. For me, because they'd placed this false sense of Cordy's importance to the ep, it made me believe for an excrutiating minute that Cordy might wake up, then kick Jasmine's ass, and then when that did not happen, I still maintained some hope that it would be Cordy (not Lilah) who had surprised the team at the hotel. So it worked. Well, in breaking my heart. But it did work.
Beck: Spikebeck_liz on May 1st, 2003 11:41 am (UTC)
Lilah? Okay, yeah. Lilah is cool. And yet, one must ponder: the *hell*?

(No spoilers, promise; just speculation.)

OK, this is from last season or the season before (season 2, I think), but do you remember that head Wolfram and Hart guy that Darla & Drusilla offed in the mass lawyer murder that Angel allowed? He came back from the dead soon thereafter and told Angel that, as it turned out, his W&H contract included the afterlife. I have a feeling that's the case with Lilah too.

And yet, how come Angelus didn't kick out the door a few eps earlier? Continuity is a cowering bitch, chained to the chairs of arrogant writers.

Angelus loosened it up for Gunn? :-)

And, *all* the A.I. team: pretty much non-entities this ep. Yes? Yes? It's not just me, right?

Well, I think it's partially setup for the finale, although I don't know - exactly - what happens. :-) But elz had a few interesting comments on the theme of cages in Angel this season that you might find interesting.
Earth Kittyearthkitty on May 1st, 2003 09:23 pm (UTC)
Oooooh! I was thinking Lilah was the First. I'm having some trouble with Sunnydale and LA being so close and yet...oh, whatever.

I also don't understand how the California Governor could be disbanding th estate government without anyone in Sunndale hearing a thing.