Angel "Destiny"
Season 5, Episode 8
Tara I. – TwoCents Staff Reviewer
tara@thetwocentscorp.com
Angel Broodometer: 8
This episode certainly lived up to its title. It's all about destiny, specifically Angel's and Spike's destinies. As with any discussion of destiny on Angel the Shanshu prophecy rears its ugly head. Am I the only one sick of that prophecy? No? Well, everyone will be by the end of the episode.
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Angel
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Season 5, Episode 8
Tara I. – TwoCents Staff Reviewer
tara@thetwocentscorp.com
Angel Broodometer: 8
This episode certainly lived up to its title. It's all about destiny, specifically Angel's and Spike's destinies. As with any discussion of destiny on Angel the Shanshu prophecy rears its ugly head. Am I the only one sick of that prophecy? No? Well, everyone will be by the end of the episode.
The first thing we learn this episode is that Spike is still vapor. Nothing much new there, at least until he receives some mail. Mail is clearly a bad thing at Wolfram & Hart (which I'm now just going to call W&H). You'd think with all of their advanced detection devices, they'd work on scanning their mail, but you'd be wrong, because the box addressed to Spike contains an extra-special present: the ability to become corporeal again. This is done by way of a bright, shiny light and not much else.
Spike is naturally ecstatic and chooses to celebrate by having a nooner with Harmony. The two take over some random worker's office. Kicked out of his office, the guy goes to bitch about it to another worker bee who is busy muttering about toner. I know that when that happens in my office, I run! Which is what the office-less guy should have done, because toner guy's eyes are very, very red, and not in a way Visine can fix. Before you can say “toner”, one worker is dead, and it’s not the one with the bloody eyes. You would think they would have magically replacing toner at W&H.
Meanwhile, back at the nooner, things aren’t going very well. Harmony has been infected and attacks Spike who takes her out with one punch. Eve arrives to report that the problem is not isolated to W&H. The entire universe has been thrown out of alignment by Spike's miraculous return. Now that there are two vampires with a soul, the universe is completely confused. Who could be the vampire in the Shanshu prophecy? I think the universe needs to go back to school, because the answer to that is completely obvious.
Gunn rightly asks why the problem is happening now; Spike has had a soul for quite a while. Eve explains that Spike wasn't champion material before, but having saved the world, he now rates a chance to be the vampire in the prophecy. Okay. I may join the universe in school, because that makes no sense.
Team Angel heads off to reread the prophecy. Unfortunately, Wes has taken a vacation day, so they're stuck with a much inferior and far bitchier Rutherford Sirk (Michael Halsey). Rutherford informs Angel and Spike that they can determine who the right vampire is by reviewing the handily included instructions for finding and drinking from the Cup of Perpetual Torment. Before Angel can brood, Spike has taken Angel's Viper and headed off to find the cup.
This entire episode is interspersed with some Angel/Spike back story in the form of flashbacks with bad accents and even worse wigs. In a nutshell, Angel was never very nice to Spike. He taunted him, took his girl, and showed him how to be the murderer of the masses. Spike rebelled by becoming...well...Spike.
In the present, the two vampires have found the cup, but are still arguing. It takes them a really long time to fight it out, probably because they spend most of the time arguing about who is more evil; who deserves their soul more; who Buffy really loved; and who has better hair. Well, not really the hair part, but they might as well have. Not that there's really a contest.
Surprisingly, Spike wins the fight. He drinks of perpetual torment only to discover that torment tastes a lot like Mountain Dew.
The boys quickly realize that they’ve been had, so they make their way back to W&H where things have not gotten better under Gunn's brief leadership. In fact, Gunn has been infected by the bloody eyes and tries to strangle Eve. Yay! Then Fred hits him over the head and stops him. Boo!
Eve is very shaken up by the entire incident, but manages to report that the Senior Partners stepped in to stabilize the situation, although the underlying Spike problem still remains. In other news, Rutherford Sirk has conveniently disappeared.
Angel reminds Eve that they still don't know who sent either package: the amulet that brought Spike back or the box that made him solid. Eve doesn't have much to say to Angel, but she sure has a good time relating the entire day's events to her co-conspirator. Yep. Eve was in on it and she wasn’t alone. A very, very hot tattooed Lindsey (Christian Kane) is back, and he’s out for Angel's blood.
There were a lot of plot holes in this episode, but overall it was enjoyable. Broodometer 9 for some Shanshu style and losing-to-Spike brooding.
What did you think? Does Spike have the best hair or does Angel? Are you sick of the prophecy by now? Write your Two Cents below.
This is a great recap! I have not seen this episode yet and now I cannot wait. I think I may need a bunch of sponge balls to throw at the TV everytime they mention the prophecy.
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