ANGEL
S4x16 –
Players
Review by Terry J. Aman
* deep breath
*
OK, here we go.
Gunn-centered episode. * heads out for a smoke *
//needle-scratch// HEY! Get back here! You don't even smoke any more.
Right, sorry. My bad. 
OK, then, let's start out with the Powers. Powers, anyone?
Powers: Oh, right, yes, another maragarita poolside, garçon!
* sigh * Jasmine Watch, anything?
Cordy: Nope, I'm good for another ... 40 minutes, thanks.
OK then.
In the aftermath of the Beast exploding in a big ball of sunshine and Angelus
getting put back in his cage, everyone's given tasks in tracking down The
Beastmaster. Everyone except Gunn. Well that's ... disappointing.
Enter Gwen. Hey, everyone, it's Gwen! You remember Gwen, of the Axis of Pythia
bagjob and that one totem-type person. Y'know, Gwen -- of the modest, toned
down and sensible wardrobe, Gwen the thief, Gwen the bringer of falsehoods and
the teller of tales.
"I need your help rescuing a little girl." From what? The most
complicated and gappiest cover story ever? You don't need Gunn. You can waltz
in there, front door or back and just ...
Right, OK, so say she needs him to be a warm body -- emphasis on the
warm. So what she was saying to him about him being way more than the muscle
... was that just small talk? That psychobabble she was spouting about how they
kept him in his place. She seemed awfully surprised at what he brought to the
mission. Heck, I was surprised at what Gunn brought to the mission. I've
never seen him inhabit a persona before, the zoo board, the fabricated
interaction with mama-san, the gift ...
NOTE TO SELF: Always carry around an oval gift box in case you suddenly have to
make a presentation to papa-san.
And even here, his "aw shucks" attitude about what he'd accomplished
was just ...
//needlescratch// Is this where it happens?
Gunn's been enduring a lot of this season -- as he describes it, an endless,
turgid soap opera -- but his ties to Team Angel have been strained. He's broken
up with Fred, killed a guy, he's insecure after confronting Angelus in the face
of Wesley's advances. He's unsure about what he's bringing to the mission, and
maybe this is where he begins to hunger for specialness?
That "deep brown eyes" mojo just doesn't seem to be doing the
trick for him the way it once did.
They make the scene and Gunn averts almost certain ... social awkwardness. They
enter the party and some old broad with a cocktail starts burbling with the
foreshadowing.
"That weird thing with the sun? I don't know about you, but I just think
something wonderful is coming."
Oh, shut up you stupid lush. Californians put up with earthquakes, wildfires,
mudslides and smog for two reasons: The sun and the weather. Absent those, it's
just hell. Pull the sun and they're on the next bus out.
"Something wonderful" I disagree. Given the average Angelino's grasp
of theology, I'm guessing the sun blocked from the sky would be taken as a sign
of the apocalypse (although in actuality the sun goes blood red in the last
days -- oddly prescient of John of Patmos given the grasp of astronomy at the
time, in that the sun is predicted to go red giant and swallow everything out
to Mars, which is going to be a very dramatic moment indeed but quite without any
time to respond so, y'know. //fizzle//)
So the apocalypse is coming? NO! "Something wonderful." Go
drown an olive, lady. By the thumbing of my prick "something wonderful is
coming" indeed. Something just truly ... wonderful.
JASMINE WATCH: * giggle *
* sigh * Leaving her for a moment, if I may, Gwen lies to Gunn and tells
her a little girl is in danger, and Gunn grabs her. And in her own house he
manages to mantain the upperhand, but Gwen, darling, let's talk about that
distraction.
Tipping a heavy table over "accidentally"? You are as graceful a
presence as Inara. Did you choose such a terrible distraction because you knew
no one could possibly believe it?
I mean, hon, really, your power over all things electrical, your inherent sense
of theatricality, and ... darling, um, have you looked at yourself
lately? The range of distracting things at your disposal could induce
catatonic drooling for days.
So instead of just breaching the perimeter and stealing the thingie, Gwen
involves herself with Gunn, who's looking mighty sharp in that suit. He
ought to get sired, ensouled and walk around in that suit for the rest of his
undeath.
And Gwen has lived her life ... untouched. And Gunn is there, at the end of an
adventure, with much adrenaline and threatening of life ...
No, you're right. How drab. Instead, let's pan to Lorne and a silly made-up
ritual. We're finally going to reveal that Cordelia's evil!
Duh.
Anyway, good installment, lots ot think about, more than a little jarring
given everything else that's been going to crap.
Oh well ...
Plenty of good here to tide us over into the really bizarro writing,
what?