Spin the Bottle

Spin the Bottle
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Joss Whedon

Original Airdate: November 10, 2002

Plot: In an attempt to help Cordelia regain her memory, Lorne uses a spell given to him by a friend. However, the spell backfires and everyone's memory is erased to when they were in high school...

Review

Warning: If you don't want the bottle to point to you, you may want to take yourself out of the game now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for the latest episode of Angel, "Spin the Bottle." If you've not yet seen it and want to go in unaware of what happens, turn back now...

In short: A step in the right direction.

As most of you know, I've been a bit frustrated with Angel of late. Really, I have to say I've been frustrated with Angel since the last Joss Whedon penned and directed story, "Waiting in the Wings" last year. And that's hard for me to say really, since I adore Joss Whedon and think the man can do virtually no wrong.

No matter how you look at it, Angel has been disappointing ever since "Waiting in the Wings." Yes, there were some good to great episodes mixed into that run of stories, but overall I have been extremely disappointed with how the storylines have unfolded.

Part of this, I chalk up to the turmoil behind the scenes at executive producer. Part of it was the mystery of if Charisma Carpenter would be back. All these things could serve as major distractions and I think took away from the momentum the storylines were all building last year. Indeed, if anything, I felt like the series was desperately treading water, trying to find it's identity again. We brought in all kinds of new elements--the biggest being Conner (a character who continues to become more and more useless as time goes on and is my leading candidate from dying before season's end unless they can do something convincing and interesting with him and quickly). And, for the most part, I have to admit that they've been pretty much hit or miss. As you know, I don't like Conner, but I do like the story arc we've followed with Wesley, simply because it gives Alexis Denisof a chance to really show his acting chops.

Finally, at long last, we get Daddy to come back in and reign in some control. Joss Whedon returned to the writing and directing fold, hopefully to begin to make some sense of the chaos and the overall lack of momentum Angel has shown all year. I can honestly tell you that I was really looking forward to this one.

And having seen "Spin the Bottle" I have to admit I was pretty happy with it. I feel as though we've got a kind of a bookend of Whedon penned episodes and that we're really going to start anew next week. Not that I'm saying we've wiped the slate clean, mind you. But it appears as though Joss is ready to take the various threads that are out there and begin doing something with them.

And he did so with an episode that hit some reset buttons, but it put things back to the way we want them to be. And he's given us some momentum to carry forward.

I think my biggest frustration with Angel this year has been it's overall lack of momentum. We had a build-up of storylines--Conner's betrayal, Wes's being cut off, the Fred and Gunn relationship, the possible coming apocalypse--and yet, we've not had anything really come together. There hasn't been a sense of urgency, of anything really building. But I get a feeling that we've turned a corner and events are about to come fast and furious.

After this episode, we've got Cordelia back--and while she's got her memory back of who and what she is, the questions still remain of whether or not she's still got her visions or her powers. She apparently has some limited vision power since she can see the demon that's coming, but the question is--are the powers that be short sighted enough to cut off their champion from his visions and, thus, not allow him to play as big a role in the coming destruction. That's an interesting question because it really makes the powers that be rather childish if they cut off their nose to spite their face.

Another plotline that has take on a whole new twist is the renewal of the Wes/Gunn/Fred triangle. I have to admit that if last week was meant to set things up, then this week paid off in spades. Seeing Gunn on the outside looking in and being jealous of Wes's ability to "talk shop" in details he can't was superbly done. Indeed, you almost get the feeling that Gunn feels Fred should be grateful to him for killing her professor. He saved her from herself--though it's interesting to see how quickly he is to place the blame at Wes's feet rather than Fred's. (Also interesting because it was really Fred's idea to kill the professor, not Wes's. Wes just helped a friend do what she needed to do when Gunn would not).

One part of this I really liked was the way the shots were framed at various points in the episode. The early framing of the shot as Gunn watches from the doorway was particularly well done, as were some of the camera zooms and techniques that Whedon used to get us in and out of the characters. I found the first fifteen or so minutes to be uniquely directed and very stylized. Not that the other acts were below par, mind you. But it's just that there were some very arresting shots early on that really caught my attention and drew me into the story.

But back to the triangle of Wes, Fred and Gunn. We saw last week that Wes apparently still has a soft spot for Fred--and she may have one for him. It was Fred who went to Wes and warned him not to come back to the hotel for fear Angel would kill him. And we see that Wes is keeping up with Fred's accomplishments and even went to her speech to support her. I have a feeling that Fred may start to feel a bit conflicted about her feelings and we're seeing that. On some physical level, she connects with Gunn, but on an intellectual level she connects more with Wes. Ideally, she'd like to have both in a boyfriend, but what if she can't. Which one will win out? And will Wes's apparently kinky side--as we've heard in his various conversations with Lillah--affect her decision? Could Wes's attempt to have some short term fun with Lillah ultimately backfire and lead to a long-term disappointment in not getting together with Fred? Again, these are all interesting questions that may or may not be answered, depending on which way the series decides to go.

I have to admit that the one part of this that annoyed me most is Gunn. I'm starting to lose patience with Gunn--simply because his loyalties seem to chance so often. Back when Angel fell to the dark side and was on his evil bent, Gunn was definitely good friends with Wes. Now that Angel is back and there are chinks in the armor of Wes, Gunn has turned his back on Wes. It seems as though Gunn wants to back the winning horse and has no idea how to be a loyal friend--even though he demands unquestioned loyalty from his friends. He's become a hypocrite and it's starting to get a bit grating. Indeed, I found myself wanting to scream at the screen that when it all boiled down to it, his jealousy was a bit misplaced. He should trust Fred and all the reality check he should need is to look and see whose bed Fred sleeps in.

But while I find Gunn's chance of loyalty a bit annoying, I did love the scene where he and Wes discussed what had happened to Wes. That one scene summed it all up. Apparently Angel and Fred are willing to forgive Wes, but Gunn won't. Or maybe it's that Wes won't forgive himself. I would love to see all this continue to play out, but I think it's time for Wes to start working his way back in. I admit that Angel deserves some credit as a show for this for not allowing it to be easily wrapped up. I've watched ER for years now and it seems as though all you have to do to be accepted back into the fold is be a hero at the right time--no matter how far down the path to destruction your character goes. It worked well the first season with Dr. Greene and I bought it enough with Dr. Ross, but it's getting a bit old at this point. (And based on previews I've seen for the November sweeps episodes, this trend looks to continue. But that's an entirely different course).

In looking at all this, we've only dealt with the first fifteen or so minutes. Joss brings up a lot of great ideas and puts them out there, just in time to pull the rug out and have some fun. And we do have some fun. Seeing each of the characters as their high school selves was fun.

For one thing, it reminded us how far Cordelia has come in seven years. Seeing her look down upon everyone was nicely done and we did get to see her physical attraction to Angel in good form. It reminded me a lot of the early days of Buffy when Cordy thought she could somehow compete for Angel's attention with Buffy.

We also got to see stuffy Wesley in rare form. Again, a reminder of just how far we've come with the character in five years.

And I've got to give kudos to Alexis Denisof and Charisma Carpenter for brining these characters back to life in such believable ways. It's nice to see they can regress into the ways the characters were.

But we also learned some more about the rest of the Angel Investigations crew:

--Fred, apparently, smoked a lot of weed. Her constant comments about scoring some where a clever amusement.

--Angel's distress at not having his accent and then of seeing demons was nicely done as well. I liked the way Joss kept him at the hotel without it seeming artificial.

--Gunn, apparently, never trusted anyone and always felt his way was the right way. Interesting to see that Gunn has, as a character, really changed the least. He is still on his crusade and still sees things in terms of right or wrong.

The whole storyline was held together by a nicely done narrative device of seeing the Host telling it in flashback. Hearing Lorne's little asides and his stepping out of character to tell us things within scenes was very nicely done. Also, there were some superbly directed asides and the transitions were so fluid and smooth that it just felt exactly right. Again, I've got to give a lot of credit to Joss for really creating a viewing experience.

All that said, there were still some things I didn't like.

Namely, Conner.

No matter how hard I try to like the plotlines with him in it, I can't. First of all, he seems to underplayed by Vincent Kartheiser, that he barely seems to have a pulse at times. He's just not that interesting on screen.

Second of all, I just don't buy that he loves Cordy. I had hoped that they'd explored this as a way to hurt his father, but apparently not. The idea of Cordy and Conner just seems so wrong on so many levels. I am hoping that this is one of those plotlines that is dropped and just quietly dies, never to be heard from again.

Indeed, if there is one character who could perish in the upcoming battle with the evil that's coming, it would be Conner. Let him go already. This plotline is becoming stale.

So, I guess that's about it for now. Again, "Spin the Bottle" is a good, almost great episode. It had a lot going for it and it was nicely done. Angel feels as if it's put the silliness that was the first part of season four behind it and is ready to get back down to business. And it's got me on intrigued to see what's coming next week--something that is so hugely bad just in a vision that both Lorne and Cordy can barely talk about it.

This could be huge...

I'll see you next week and we'll find out what happens...

My rating: 9.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: The big bad is coming....

"What happened to you, man?"

"I had my throat slit and my friends abandoned me."
--Gunn and Wes