Conviction

***Kris plops down into her comfy couch, and takes an inventory of her surroundings.***

- Boxes of books, ready to be moved: Check
- Piles of blankets and towels, ready to be packed: Check.
- Incredible amount of pakcing and organization remaining to be done in 7 days: Check.
- TV tuned to The WB, eagerly anticipating the coolest premiere of the TV Season: You Betcha.

It's that time, ladies and gentlemen... time for Comfy Chair of Spike-Related Musings to come out of storage and regain its rightful place of honor in front of the Big Screen.

Of course, the fact that we're *moving* next week - during an episode I can hardly wait to see - just stinks, but that's beside the point. Let's get right to the here and now, shall we? And awa-a-a-y we go!

Oh, God - Not a WB Promo Moment:

Evil wants to control him, with the help of someone from his past? Say what? Why did they show Spike as they were intoning the dire message about "evil?" Here we go again...

Mood Killing Moment:

Just when Angel's doing his heroic "Don't thank me, little lady" bit, the Ninja Boys show up on the scene. Bwahah!

Random Thought Moment:

Knox is back! Yay!

Some Things Never Change Moments:

Wesley is jealous, Gunn is feeling a bit out of his element at the beginning of the show, and Fred is feeling completely in her element, and Lorne is driving an interior decorator to drink. And Angel still has his fascination with bad 70's cars...?

When did That Change Moment:

Gunn has hair?!?!?! Gunn getting himself all brainiac-y (is that a word?) is a little thing compared to the re-emergence of hair on his head. Maybe the contact with the conduit reopened some follicles...?

Small Comforts Moment:

At least we got a gratuitous Cordy reference...

Do we know this guy moment:

Is the villian of the week the same guy who played the cloned Marine on Space: Above and Beyond? Or do our eyes deceive us?

Eeeewwww Moment:

Spanky used Fries' son as the mystical vessel? Yuck!

Not Likin' That! Moment:

Okay... who gave Special Ops Guy the right to override what Angel is saying? Grrrrr... Course, then again, it could all be a ruse by Angel to show who's really in charge... *****

I'm a bit rusty at this, gang - it's been a few months since I wrote a review. I enjoyed tonight's show - it was a little heavy on the story-telling, but I really appreciated the lack o' CGI in this one. Seeing Angel break out some nifty new fighting moves was pretty enjoyable, and the ep did manage to set the stage for what the characters are thinking, saying, and doing at this point in the storyline. And, hey - lookee at the new intro - isn't it spiffy? And who could complain about JM getting second billing?

There weren't any real philosophical points in tonight's ep that weren't right out there for all to see (handy for pulling the new viewers into the storyline, I suppose). I did enjoy the fact that the opening sequence did remind me of the infamous opening sequence we saw when Spike first came to town to reclaim the Gem of Amara - I kept expecting to hear Spike's voice over at any moment. The parallels that were drawn between the situation with the Creep-of-the-Week and his son and the situation with Angel and Connor were rather nicely done - not overdone, but presented to make it obvious that Angel was bothered on many levels.

But I so, SO, can not wait for next week. Guess it's a good thing that we can move the VCR *after* we tape the show, right?

Fave Quotes of the Evening:

"We're doing it tomorrow, exalted one... my horns are falling asleep." - Lorne, sounding like a college student in the middle of his third consecutive all-nighter.

"Blondie Bear?" - Harmony, letting her newly found professionalism fly out the tempered glass window. Again.

Outstanding Question of the Evening:

Who sent the package? That's what we want to know...

Furry Spike Score:

As soon as Furry Spike heard Spike's voice on the promo, his ears perked up and started barking. Smart pup, huh? There wasn't much of Spike in this ep, so we'll say that Spike was happy to see him, but doesn't have a score for this week.

And from the depths of the Comfy Chair...

I liked it. It was a solid ep, and there were (obviously) some major threads left hanging in the open for new viewers to grab hold of for next week. Heck, they bought out the factory for the Spike storyline...

I'll give this one 8 out of 10. Decent execution, but I really can't wait for next week.

See y'all soon...

Kris

---