Angel: 3x18 Full Reaction
Added 2025-04-09 14:54:03 +0000 UTC"Double Or Nothing"
Comments
I didn't know how good this episode was till I watched it with you
Toby
2025-04-11 07:29:39 +0000 UTCThe only other episode to feature such a big pop culture song that I can think of is if we go all the way back to 1x18 for the dance remix of Rob Zombie's Living Dead Girl.
Preaching to the Horse's Mouth
2025-04-10 23:56:03 +0000 UTCI also enjoy this episode, I think it bridged things perfectly from the DRAMA of the previous arc to whatever is going to come next. It's not a "breather episode", it's definitely serious and shows important character insight, but it slows everything down and gives us a moment to get ourselves settled again. I also love that Fred's intelligence continues to show through. Even if Gunn did want to break up with her, and hey sometimes people's feelings do change, he wouldn't be that mean. Most shows would continue the misunderstanding for a long time, but she clocks right away that something else is going on. As to why these last-minute-rescues always hit hard in Buffy/Angel, I think it's because they don't ALWAYS get saved. Starting with Jenny Calendar in season two of Buffy, there have been times where the heroes don't come to the rescue. The first episode of this series even had Angel failing to save the Victim Of The Week that Doyle sent him after. It's not often, but it has happened sometimes, so we always wonder "What if Angel doesn't come to the rescue this time?" Story time: When I was a kid -- so many many years ago -- I asked my father what he would do if I was murdered (I have no memory of why I asked this). He approached my question very seriously, and he said that he wouldn't immediately default to Violent Revenge, he would let The Law take its course. Investigation, arrest, trial, etc. He would accept the sentence of the court, even if it wasn't the harshest possible sentence...unless the murderer managed to escape completely. If whoever it was got off on a technicality and was never brought to justice, he thought he WOULD be compelled to get personal revenge. That he wouldn't be able to accept the complete LACK of punishment. With Holtz in another dimension, completely out of reach of Angel's revenge, Wesley is the only one Angel can get his hands on.
JBK405
2025-04-10 00:52:56 +0000 UTCThe final shot of this episode, Angel taking down the crib, may be the saddest thing ever.
DanielOrme
2025-04-10 00:50:04 +0000 UTCI think Cordy's entrance in this episode is one of the most perfect scenes on this show. Her switch from joyous return and welcome to her soft and concerned, "What happened?" transitioning then to her quietly coming into Angel's room to comfort him with just three words and her warmth. It's so beautiful and just gets me every time. And it's such a contrast from where she came from in season 1 of Buffy. Also, I love the running gag through both series that in this world of demons, vampires, gods, witches and magic, the one constant is there is no such thing as leprechauns.
El
2025-04-09 23:25:15 +0000 UTCThere are some parts of this episode that I enjoy, namely the aftermath of Angel trying to kill Wesley, the juxtaposition of Angel and Gunn, the effects of Jenoff regenerating, and Groo just being Groo. However, I can’t say I enjoy much more than that. My biggest problem with this episode is the resolution. I really don’t like when the stakes are swept away with a joke unless it is saying something substantial with it. In this case though, it just felt like the writers couldn’t think of a good way to resolve everything, so they spun a wheel and landed on “casino patrons turn on Jenoff” (which makes you wonder why that wasn’t the original plan) and there’s nothing to really take away from it. I also agree with you that Gunn went too far with Fred and it sours Gunn as a character for me that he was willing to do that. I have more problems with this episode, but I’ll leave it at that for now.
Lime Pie
2025-04-09 16:50:12 +0000 UTCGreat reaction! Personally I kind of wish that this story had happened before Connor was taken, so that Wesley would have had more of a reason to be separate from the group while he was learning about the prophecy and Gunn's lack of communication would have foreshadowed Wesley's lack of communication. Instead Gunn's actions kind of seem like an echo of Wesley's refusal to communicate except that everything worked out by the end of this episode for Gunn while Wesley is now alone.
James Smith
2025-04-09 16:24:41 +0000 UTCI think that always falling for the close calls, Angel barging in etc, speaks to part of what made this era of tv so enjoyable. Earlier shows nobody in the main cast ever died so the close calls weren't believable. We've already had some major character deaths in this universe so we're primed for it to possibly happen again. Shows that came later someone died like every fucking episode (*cough Walking Dead *cough*) so it stopped meaning anything. Much like the combo of serialized and storyline eps shows like BtVS, Angel, ST DS9 springs to mind, we get the best of both worlds.
Preaching to the Horse's Mouth
2025-04-09 16:09:40 +0000 UTC
