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5.14 Smile time Nina: "Are you okay?" Angel: "I'm made of felt. Ad by doze cubs off." Unique, and absolutely hilarious. The hair, the brows, the deep-set eyes, the frown, the broodiness -- the Angel-puppet was perfect. Angel and his puppet even have the same two expressions. And the puppet's interactions with the human cast were all done so well: wrestling with Spike ("You're a wee little puppet man!"), facing down his employees, trying to use a remote, and especially the long shot of the gang walking out ready to confront evil, panning down to Angel-puppet in the lead with the sword -- very, very funny. When Angel-puppet vamped out, I laughed so hard I scared my cat. Love is in the air again. Fred and Wesley are finally a couple, although next week's preview made me think it might not be for long. (Of course, no one in the Buffyverse is ever happy for long.) There were some cute Angel and Werewolf Girl double entendres, like when Nina woke up in her cage with felt in her mouth ("Oh my god! I ate him!) and their exchange at the end ("What do puppets eat?" "Let's find out.") I'm not sure how I feel about Angel getting involved with Nina right after Cordelia's death, but I really enjoyed the scene where Wesley was lecturing Angel on picking up romantic signals, and acceptable happiness versus perfect happiness, all the while completely missing that Fred has been coming on to him. Speaking of double entendres, the demon puppets were outright creepy. Polo the puppet was telling the little boy in the beginning to "come over here and touch it," and then when he did, Polo was making orgasm sounds. shudder Polo putting his hand up Framkin's back and Framkin begging the puppets to let him die was also really creepy. It was nice to see Lorne flirting with Angel again. I've missed it. ("Your wish, dreamboat, my command." and "Angel, baby, muppet, pumpkin...") I especially loved Lorne carrying the wounded Angel-puppet in his arms, yelling, "Medic! Doctor! Is there a Geppetto in the house?" Poor Gunn. For those of you who didn't catch the reference, "Flowers for Algernon" is a short story about a retarded man who takes part in an experiment that makes him a genius. The catch is that it isn't permanent, and he knows what is happening as his intelligence slowly leaves him. Cliff Robertson won an Oscar playing the part in "Charly," the movie version of the story. I wonder if Gunn finally sold his soul permanently this time. Bits and pieces: -- Framkin the puppet creator was played by Buffy/Angel writer and director, David Fury. Fury also played the mustard guy in the Buffy musical, "Once More, With Feeling." -- Groofus: "Cool. 'Cause I've been working on this great new song about the difference between analogy and metaphor..." (That was such a Buffy line!) -- Smug Doctor: "X-ray vision. Very now." I wonder if Smug Doctor's "ancient curio" is a setup for a later episode...? -- Fred lives at 511 Windward Circle. -- We never did see Nina wolf out. Must not have been in the budget. -- As far as I know, there is no KTCE in the LA area. There is KCET, though, which is our local PBS affiliate. Usually "Angel" uses KTLA as their fictional station, which is the local WB affiliate. Not this time, though. -- How did Angel-puppet get from the television station back to Wolfram & Hart? -- I assume the guy with the towel over his head in the "Don't" room was also David Fury as Framkin? -- Nina referred to her sister thinking Nina was a "new age-y moon worshipping Wicca person." I miss Willow. -- "Self-esteem is for Everybody" was catchy, but personally, I want to hear the rest of "Courage and Pluck." It's ironic that "Angel" is having their best year ever and reaching such a creative high, and the WB, in its ultimate wisdom, is canceling it. This episode may be the funniest of the entire series. Four out of four stakes, Billie |
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