Episode Reviews   

"Peace Out," Wednesday, April 30, 2003

by Anne

Episode Summary

Lorne, Wesley, Fred, and Gunn are defeated, and Jasmine asks Connor to bring them unharmed to her. Jasmine has them locked in the cell in the basement and tells Connor to stand guard over them. Meanwhile in the demon world, Angel finds the priest, who taunts Angel, saying that he "has already lost." Under duress, the priest points out the keeper of the name, a muscle-bound monster whose mouth has been sewn shut. Angel engages in battle with the keeper as the priest keeps talking. Meanwhile, Lorne realizes that Connor has always seen Jasmine's true face: that's why Cordelia's blood didn't work to break the spell. When the gang suggests the Jasmine, the Devourer, may have eaten Cordelia, Connor goes to ask her. Jasmine is in the banquet hall which is full of followers who are undressing. Jasmine says that she had Cordelia moved, but she won't tell him where. Assuring him that Cordy is safe, Jasmine sends Connor back to guard the others, but he goes to the hotel lobby, where news crews are preparing to broadcast. Connor tracks down the men who moved Cordy, then goes to a large abandoned church. Inside, he finds Cordy on the altar covered in a veil. She is still unconscious, but he talks to her, asking if what is happening is what she wanted. He tries to convince himself that it's better, but he finally admits that Jasmine is bringing peace to everyone but him. He knew she was a lie, but his life has been built on them, and he thought that one was better than the others. At the hotel, Jasmine consumes everyone in the banquet hall and goes to the balcony in the lobby, where the reporters are broadcasting her appearance. Jasmine gives a little speech about how she wants everyone to "just enjoy each other" - and perhaps build her a temple. Suddenly, a portal opens and Angel bursts in with the head of the keeper of the name. He apologizes to Jasmine and cuts the binds on the keeper's mouth. The name, an unrecognizable sound, issues forth and Jasmine's appearance changes briefly to the hideous face that the A-team saw, before she fixes it to look more human. The followers flee in terror; Jasmine calls out in vain for them to wait and listen to her. She wanders outside, where chaos reigns. Summoning all of her strength, she contacts Connor who runs out of the church. Angel follows Jasmine, who says that yes, she murdered thousands to save billions. Angel tells her that the price was too high. He offers her a chance to work with them to make things better, but she turns on him. She is very strong and is unaffected by any of his blows. She's about to finish Angel, when Connor appears. Acting sweetly, she tells Connor that Angel ruined everything. She asks if Connor still loves her, and he says he does. She turns and Connor kills her. A stunned and wounded Angel tries to assure Connor that things will be okay, but Connor runs off. Back at the hotel, Angel is concerned that Connor appeared to have lost everything; Lilah appears, congratulating Angel for stopping world peace.

Episode Review

I don't buy for a second that Angel's destroying the kind of peace that Jasmine would bring was the right thing to do. Angel said it himself: the price was too high. Right or wrong, we deserve to be able to make choices. As further proof that Jasmine's kind of power is wrong, look what happened to the previous world that she "blessed" with her presence. That world started out "much like" ours, but Jasmine left it barren and turned its people into monsters.

Jasmine told Angel that she loves this world and gave up everything for it. What exactly did she give up? From what I've seen, all she did was take. She also claimed that the other Powers don't care, but knowing her tendency to lie, we have no reason to believe that's true. Even after all she did, Angel offered her a choice to help make things better; he gave her the very thing she denied her followers.

The scene with Angel fighting the keeper for the name mirrored the scene with Connor realizing that Jasmine's message was a lie. The demon priest said that Angel had "already lost the woman and will lose the boy." Similarly, Connor was realizing that he had to let go of the lie, which also meant losing his child. Knowing that he had lost Cordelia as well might have been what brought Connor to the point where he feels he has nothing left to lose.

Poor Connor. He hasn't been my favorite character, but I give the writers credit for being pretty consistent with his actions while he was supposedly under Jasmine's influence. In an earlier episode, Angel said to Fred that it was a relief to be free from questioning everything, but Connor repeatedly asked questions of Jasmine, just like he did when he was with Cordelia. However, if he wasn't under the spell, why did he seem more enthralled by Jasmine right after she fed? And how did Jasmine not know that he wasn't fully "connected" to her: she could even speak through him and see through his eyes.

I, for one, am glad to see this particular storyline draw to a close. I haven't enjoyed the episodes with Jasmine nearly as much as I did the ones before them. The writers included several things in the plot that didn't really go anywhere, such as the notion that Jasmine was fusing together with her followers. Also, the earlier declaration that Fred is "called" didn't develop, nor was it even mentioned again. We didn't find out why Jasmine's magic affected some demons and not others, or why her touch messed up one guy's face while others she touched were unharmed. Plus, her kissing Angel to try to kill him was *really* thrown in out of nowhere.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

* The guy climbing to reach Jasmine's temple didn't always look like David.

* Maybe Connor was the "unattainable" that Jasmine said Angel was looking for.

* In this case, that old saying was true: Connor brought Jasmine into this world and he could take her out.

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