Episode Reviews
"Conviction," Wednesday, October 1, 2003
Episode Summary
As we start the new season of Angel most everyone should know by now
that Angel and the gang are now the head of The L.A. Branch of Wolfram &
Hart. Cordelia is in a coma in which she will probably never return
from. I don't think the show will be the same without poor ole Cordelia.
The Episode starts off with Angel helping a woman by staking a vampire
and finding out the he has a special operations team.
Angel and the team are in the office rummaging through case files
wondering if they are doing the right thing by taking over Wolfram & Hart.
Angel sends everyone home to get some sleep. The next morning he pages
his secretary to get him some blood. To his surprise his secretary is
none other than Harmony(the ditzy vampire friend of Cordy's from the
second season). She begs him repetedly not to fire or kill her. Angel
informs Harmony that Cordelia is in a coma. Harmony shows in his next
client that will serve 20 years in jail for pimping and kidnapping.
Corbin Fries threatens that he will drop a bomb and bye, bye L.A. If Angel
doesn't get him off. In the office Angel's gang discusses the bomb and
they suggest that it might be a virus of some kind. They send Lorne to
the courthouse to listen in on the case.
Angel heads off to Spanky's apartment for some answers about Corbin
Fries. Spanky tells him that he built a box for Corbin that you could put
anything in but he didn't know what it was for. Spanky puts his arm
around Angel's neck in an attempt to smash his breathing tube, Angel
tells him that he don't use that tube grabs a bat and slings him across the
room with it.
Meanwhile Gunn waits in the W&H Medical Office. After waiting for a
long period of time Gunn in shown into an office that is overrun with a
machine with a bunch of yellow wires hanging off of it.
Meanwhile Knox and Fred discuss a lab technician who did some work
about deadly viruses and gasses for mr. Fries. The technician was set on
fire and belonged to a cult.
Meanwhile back at the medical office Gunn is strapped with a bunch of
wire undergoing his transformation.
Fred informs Angel that she has isolated a few strands of the virus but
the antidote probably died with the lab technician. Wesley tells Angel
that he cannot deactivate the trigger.
Fred is not satisfied with the way her new team is working and tells
them that it is a retrovirus and that they need to bust their asses a
little harder.
Lorne calls Angel from the courthouse telling Angel that thing are not
going well for Mr. Fries. Angel tells Lorne to stay and listen in a
little more while he goes to the school.
Meanwhile the special operations team listens in on Angels conversation
and Agent Hauser tells his team to show Angel how thing are done around
here.
Harmony informs Angel that the Special Ops team already left for the
school with a ten minute head start.
The special ops team kicks open the classroom door and throws in a
smoke bomb only to find Angel. Angel tells them that with this new deal
and all he owns a helicopter. Agent Hauser order Angel to be taken out.
Back in the courtroom Gunn enters with records blackmailing the judge.
The judge calls for the council to come to her chambers.
Back at the office Gunn explains that he allowed them to enance his
brain with the law and that he is still the same old Gunn. Angel opens a
package on his desk and an amulet drops to the floor. A whirlwind
appears that a being forming in the middle with screams of pain. To their
surprise it's godd ole Spike, thus ending the first episode of the
fifth season.
Episode 1 recap written by,
JC Holt of bestangelonline.tripod.com
Episode Review
by Anne
My initial reaction to this episode was that I detest the new character, Eve. No, wait - detest is too slight a word. Loathe? Despise? Abhor? None of those seems to fully describe my feelings: I dislike her more than I've disliked any character on any show that I've seen in a long time. She looks like she's about twelve years old, playing dress-up there at the law firm. Plus, she was so smug . . . I wanted to smack her after just about every line. I have nothing against the actress, but I don't believe they could have picked a worse choice to play Eve.
Aside from that, I liked the episode a lot. I like the new settings, but seeing Angel in sunlight will take some getting used to. I liked the action scenes, with Angel fighting the vampire, then Agent Hauser's team. I loved the dialogue (from everyone except Eve): my favorite line was when Angel told Wes, "You turned evil a lot faster than I thought you would." He said it as if he was scolding Wesley, which seems silly when you consider what he's actually saying. Was Angel kidding - or does he really have so little faith in Wesley?
Since Angel often quips but rarely kids, it must be the latter. However, the rest of the team apparently feels the same way. Fred was having doubts that she could be the head of the science department, but by the episode's end, she was trying to lead, to do what needed to be done. Like Fred, Gunn felt out of place. However, instead of looking inside himself, like Fred, he agreed to let Wolfram and Hart change him. Eve said that they needed a lawyer: did they not have plenty of lawyers in the firm already? Is Gunn now the ultimate lawyer, or something? Wesley seems the most comfortable with working there - which is logical, since his role changed the least - but he shares the group's concern that running the firm may be too much for them to handle.
The situation with Mr. Fries represents the gang's dilemma in taking over W&H: that is, how can they choose the lesser among evils? Fries was guilty beyond guilty, but if he got what he deserved, all of LA would suffer. By protecting him from prosecution, not only does he remain free to continue his misdeeds, but he also still has the son that he would have destroyed for the sake of vengeance. In that light, saving LA almost seems like a hollow victory.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
* If the others don't remember Connor, what do they think caused Cordy's coma? Do they remember Jasmine?
* Did Agent Hauser remind anyone else of Riley Finn?
* Weasel-like creatures were mentioned three separate times in this ep.
* Do we *really* believe Harmony is off of human blood?
* So, who mailed the amulet (i.e. Spike) to Angel? If you recall, Sunnydale was slightly . . . obliterated.
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