ANGEL
S5x04 –
Hell Bound
Review by Terry J. Aman
I can't say too
much about this one because I wasn't especially moved by it. And I do get why
other people are moved by it, but it didn't do much for me.
It was essentially a horror film, a little gore for the sake of gore, weird for
the sake of weird, re the ghosts, or images, or projections, or whatever they
actually were that Pavayne was haunting Spike with.
I get the urgency -- Spike is being sucked into hell. Fred tells Wes and Gunn
(finally -- someone tells someone else something) and they're perfectly
OK with it. Angel himself remains unmoved.
Once again, I reject the theology of the 'verse from two directions. I think
redemption is possible, and I also believe it can be earned, so Angel's
fatalism concerning his own soul (and how self-centered is that? "I'm
getting sucked into hell" "Yep. We all are." "No, it's
happening right now") is disappointing. But it does seem to give
Spike a little more perspective.
Angel's disbelief of the Shoop sets up the question of whether he's actually a
hero (which gets explored later) and whether there can be any good accomplished
from where he is.
But "Hellbound" sets up a copout. That Spike is too complicated for
anyone in W&H to actually rematerialize. When we get to
"Destiny," Spike is recorporealized in a flash of light -- presumably
arranged by Lindsey -- that is never explained. Lindsey, holding to the
shadows, trapped in an apartment with no resources, is able to bring Spike back
and Fred can't.
Well, maybe it was because Lindsey knew what had happened to him and could undo
it.
But there's the other problem. The Senior Partners, through Lilah, give Angel
the amulet, with the sense that he's going to use it. He hands it over to Buffy
who hangs it on Spike. When did Lindsey enter this equation?
Well, maybe never. Or maybe he handed it off to Lilah in order to gain
control over the presumed signatory for leadership in the whole W&H
operation. The fact that Spike used it meant he had to change his approach.
But all of this is in the future. Right now, Spike's still a ghost (or
whatever) and Fred can't do anything about it except scan him, or build a giant
machine that requires a power source of nuclear evil. Did they really
need the passage about the Reaper/Dark Soul/Pavayne in order to build that
gigantic machine? And did they really need for it to be demolished in its one
use?
I did like the parallel of Angel keeping Pavayne alive in that little box of a
prison with a small window like his own in "Tomorrow."
Spike had some good lines in this piece. And his fear was real behind his
bravado -- "Vampire ghost here. Pretty much invented 'afraid of the
dark.'" But I didn't get that creepy images were all that was happening to
him when he vanished. He claimed to be going someplace even worse than the
basement of W&H.
The conversation between Angel and Spike about Spike being sucked into hell and
how Angel expected to join him ended weirdly -- Angel saying he always liked
Spike's poetry, and Spike's retort "You like Barry Manilow."
It was also weird that as close to the Shoop as Angel's gotten himself, he
claims not to believe in it. Where is his drive? Where is his direction? Where
is his purpose in life?
Probably in an off-camera hospital bed, and not making very much progress at
all.
Eve getting Angel to scold Fred about her department's spending was weird,
especially since, as far as I can tell, they've fired the entire department.
Lorne read everyone and quite a large number of people were terminated -- sometimes
literally. And that translates, generally, to a burst of severance and then no
more employee expenses. Fred's basically been researching, so I don't know what
her massive overages have been.
Beyond it being a little dig at the network, of course. 
GUNN WATCH: Not evil. In fact, barely present in this episode. But he does have
a better relationship with the conduit than he did at first, and is more comfortable
with it than Angel is. He is a soul in transit.
And the Powers?
Powers That Be: * sip *
Clearly, after all the work they've done with him for all of these years,
they're perfectly happy with Angel's rudderless anomie and soul-sucking
disillusionment.
Bra. Vo.
Beyond that, I
did love the Valley Girl psychic. Verr enjoyable scene, right up until the,
y’know, blech.