The one in which it happens
I'm holding off on the Jasmine Watch for a little bit because if I start with
it it'll seem trite. Everyone knows what I think of that already.
Instead, I give you ...
NO FAIR LISTENING TO THE COMMENTARY!
Yep, Joss and Alexis were nattering through this one and it was hardly bad, but
it provided me with more insight than even Joss wanted me to have, which was:
There was no sinister, overarching theme in place for Season 4.
There were storylines that Joss wanted to see played out and there was some
planning behind the season. But for the most part, he said, he wanted to write
"Spin the Bottle" so as to see Wesley behaving like a dork.
Now, you're not Joss Whedon and writing an episode to make Wesley look like a
dork without you are also telling a gem of a story as well, but this was still
envisioned largely as a standalone.
"Spin the Bottle" tells us that adolescence is a truly screwed up
time, so don't be alarmed by the images you're about to see on your television
screens next week, because Connor isn't to blame.
We have the absolutely delightful fugues into silliness -- about our last
encounter with that state of grace for the rest of the season.
The important interactions are right before the spell takes place. Angel and
Cordy are very nearly achieving a level of comfort with one another, and Wes
and Gunn are having a moment about Fred, and where Wes is coming in from
concerning the whole Team Angel thing.
And Connor is in the alleyway, saving the hooker and he still can't
break himself off some.
Structurally, Lorne's narration is brilliant. It was an excellent way to play
this exploration because to be perfectly honest, very little of any
significance is discovered while they're under the influence of the bottle.
Angel's interactions with Connor are the best, I thought, and worthiest of
exploration, but again, there's just not that much to explore. Connor, because
he is especially dense, can't seem to figure out for a while that there's been
a spell, and once he does he's still more fight-y than otherwise. To be fair,
that fight was wild and a lot of fun to watch. Angel gets to vent about how
unfair life is, and Connor hears no small amount of resonance with what he's
saying. Fred gets the rest of her life back and saves the day.
Ah, yes. The restoration.
A suspicious person would wonder why Lorne couldn't have mixed up that little
tongue poultice somewhat earlier. Like before the spell started. And whether it
wouldn't have been effecetive on its own.
Also, along with Jazz and Skip, we have a third motive force to examine in the
whole Cordy-reappearing-memory-free-and-out-of-the-blue -- that wraith Lorne
got the bottle from. And a fourth -- while they were scraping at his brain, did
W&H add some information we never find out about -- and whether whatever
this antidote is is the only thing they messed with.
We have the evil law firm who wants Angel where they can keep an eye on him,
and possibly spectral ...
We have a Power That Was seeking to manifest on our plane of existence ...
We have an enforcer demon with an unreadable agenda that is entirely his own
...
And now we have a wraith -- the one Lorne got the spell from -- and who knows
what kind of an agenda she's bringing to the table.
The Beast I'm not so worried about. He was foretold in the Shoop, after all,
and if the Vampire with a soul has to face the Beast and the Coming Darkness
before he dances the apocalypso, he'll make it through relatively unscathed.
Cordy has a vision of the Beast and she flees. It does kinda coincide with the
tongue poultice, so I naturally wonder what's the what.
But now that she's got her memories back ...
... she certainly begins behaving in a powerful peculiar way.
JASMINE WATCH -- Y'see, for most of the show, I'd have said that was almost all
Cordy in there. She's behaving like Cordy, and reacting like Cordy, especially
the Sunnydale stuff. I'd say 95 percent.
However ...
If that isn't just about all Jasmine in there at the very, very end --
and right up until "You're Welcome" -- color me confoozed.
Nice installment, fun to watch, and a decent "Show So Far"
establishment shot for everyone.
Well played, well done, well, well. Delightful eppy.