Angel's Back, Baby!‏

So I couldn't help myself and I watched Angel after you left last nite. I pretty much loved it. I always pay attention to the opening credits and make not of who is writing (and to a lesser extent, directing, the ep). This week was my buddy, ex-Buffy scribe, Steve DeKnight. (He of the brilliant Season 6 "Dead Things" and "Seeing Red.") So, right off the bat, I was mildly excited about the episode. However, it didn't start off so well. For the most part, I really didn't enjoy Angel's hallucinations and much of the stuff with Angel, outside of the confrontation with Connor was my only major beef with the ep. So, let me tell you what I loved: I loved absolutely everything with Wes. I loved that he is now at the end of the credits (shades of his girlfriend on Buffy?). I loved his stuff with Lilah (who I think is now my second favorite character, but more on that in a few). I loved that he had Justine in a cage (totally unexpected, I totally believed him when he told Lilah that he had no idea where Angel was). And I loved his "I'll take away your bucket" comment. He is such the better hero than Angel is. You know he feels sorry for himself and you feel sorry for him, but yet he still does the right thing and is able to take Gunn and Fred's shit. I still don't think he ever did anything wrong. Whether Holtz and Justine played him or not is a mute point. I don't think he ever should have told anyone about his translation of the prophesies. I loved everything with Lilah. I think Stephanie Romanov and Alexis Denisof have great chemistry - I really like them together. I liked that she is now calling the shots, because I like having bad guys that I like to watch (a la Angelus, Spike, Dru, the Mayor, Faith, the Master...) And that look on Gavin's face in that meeting was priceless. I really enjoyed Fred. (Especially the "fluffy" stuff.) I loved when she tazer-ed Connor - totally caught me off-guard, cuz I wasn't sure if it actually was Wes that called. I loved her "bro" and "dog" stuff. I didn't like her reaction to Wes. Of course he couldn't have told them. Connor certainly would have found out and then Wes would be dead and Angel gone forever. However, it was a typical reaction from her and Gunn, and I really shouldn't be annoyed especially since it fits in with her character's reaction to Wes in the hospital, which was the beginning of my dislike for her last year. Connor is beginning to grow on me too. He's a good guy and I don't think Angel throwing him out of his "house" is going to help anything. He's gotta keep him around because, ultimately, he can help, and if he's out running around, Angel is pretty much in danger. Connor is obviously good, but confused by Holtz. That's not gonna be fixed by Angel pushing him around and throwing him on the streets. I loved the Buffy reference. On to the not so great stuff.....I really didn't like the Cordy stuff. I guess I didn't enjoy the hallucinations in general. And, please, oh please, don't tell me that he wants to know where she is so he can tell her that he loves her. Shoot me in the head first. I did like the last line of the episode tho, I thought it was appropriate, because through the whole thing, I was thinking, "If she's some higher being, is she just sitting on her ass doing nothing while this is going on? Shouldn't she have some idea of the situation and shouldn't she try to contact them? Or is she just sitting in the heavens doing nothing?" Questions answered, I suppose. I didn't really like Fred and Gunn as surrogate parents. It was a little silly, if you ask me. Connor is more than capable of taking care of himself. And I hate, hate, HATE, the word "champion." All in all though, I did really enjoy the episode. The place where I've been reading my spoilers for Angel said that since July, a lot of what they had planned has changed, so all of the spoilers that I have read might not be coming true. This episode was supposed to be totally different than it was. Wes wasn't supposed to find Angel, Angel was supposed to break out of the coffin because his chains rusted away. A few other things were supposed to be different too. I'm glad they changed it.