Situational Ethics
Updated 2003-02-18 16:00:00
What a shocker, huh? I was screaming "Nooo!" at the television. Why did they do it? Why did they make Pacey shave? Apparently, I'm the only person in the world who liked the goatee. Well, fine. I hate you all. What? Oh yeah, this show.
Previously on Angel, Satan turned up, the sky turned dark, Angel's soul was turned loose, and everyone's relationships took a turn for the worse. And considering that their relationships weren't that great to begin with, it's impressive that there's a "worse" for them to sink to.
In a familiar, candlelit room, a familiar red-suited ninja is chanting over a familiar mystic circle. There are the familiar crashing noises of a fight outside. Didn't I already do this episode? A body is thrown through the beaded curtains and lands inside the circle. Wo Pang sighs, "Must acquire better guards." Or replace those beads with a door. Just a suggestion. Connor enters, followed by Wesley and Cordelia. Okay, so after desouling Angel, Wo Pang went home, but they were going to have him perform the resouling, right? So why do they have to fight their way in? Shouldn't they already have an appointment scheduled? Ah well. Wesley explains that they seem to have misplaced a certain glowy bottle. Wo Pang says he didn't take it, and after throwing the bones, says he can't determine where the soul is, but it's still in the bottle. Cordelia asks what else they can do to make Angel feel properly guilt-ridden. Wo Pang sums it up: "Without the [bottle o' soul], you're screwed." He adds that if the bottle is opened or broken, the soul could be returned...or destroyed! I bet that'll be important later. It'd be funny if the soul got out and started hopping around in different bodies, and the MoG had to track it down by finding people who were unusually moody and taciturn. With that, all the candles in the room go out. Which I guess is Wo Pang's way of hinting that his time is up.
Hyperion. This week's theme of "burning stuff" becomes apparent as Gunn pours gasoline into a flame-thrower. Neat! On the monitor, Angelus is taunting away. He insists, "I've had time to think, and I've realized something important. Being evil is wrong. I want to be good. I want to be Angel again." Gunn tests the flame-thrower. Fred figures that Angelus knows there's a hitch in the resouling plan. Gunn says that bringing Angelus back was a big mistake. Fred correctly points out that Gunn originally supported the plan. Gunn is man enough to say "Then maybe I did the wrong thing." On the monitor, Angelus asks, "Like smacking your girl around? I betcha Wes would never hit her." No, but he might pay visits to Justine occasionally.
In the basement, Angelus continues singing Wesley's praises: "And that accent -- ooh, chicks just love a good accent. Makes them all buttery in their nether regions. Isn't that right, Fred?" "Nether regions"? I know they pushed things way past the limit last week, but once you've established that he's crude, you can't go back.
Upstairs, Gunn looks at Fred. Angelus threatens to use his Irish brogue on Fred while he "rape[s] [her] to death." He's gotten a lot more sadistic over the years. He never threatened Buffy with his deadly accent. Gunn finally switches off the sound on the monitor. Fred nervously repeats that Angelus is just trying to scare them because "he knows he's never getting out." Fred hasn't gotten the memo about tempting fate, I see.