Embark on an intellectual journey with me, Steven Youngkin, as we peel back the layers of moral complexity in the "Angel" series episode "Blind Date." This week's Wolfram and Cast episode isn't just your typical TV series analysis. Instead, we'll be navigating the treacherous waters of destiny, free will, and the all-too-human struggle between redemption and power. As we dissect the intricate relationship between Angel and Lindsay MacDonald, we'll also lay bare the sinister intricacies of Holland Manners, brought to life by Sam Anderson, and his influence on the show's portrayal of good versus evil.
Have you ever considered the impact of a single choice on the trajectory of your life? Lindsay MacDonald's journey in "Angel" serves as a potent case study, where each decision tethers him further to the dark or propels him towards the light. Beyond character motivations, our analysis takes an exciting turn with a break-down of fight scenes that defy expectation and prophecies that bind our heroes to their fates. With an eye for detail, we connect the dots between actions and their consequences, exploring how the threads of loyalty and fear weave together to paint a picture of a universe balanced precariously between right and wrong.
As the crescendo of the season finale approaches, we're not just watching – we're part of the narrative, feeling every strategic shift and confrontation as if standing alongside our characters. The revelation of the Shan-shu prophecy and the ties that bind Angel to a cryptic scroll are but a few of the enigmatic elements we'll uncover. And remember, when you join the Wolfram and Cast community, you're signing up for more than just a podcast; you're stepping into an ongoing dialogue about the timeless themes that make "Angel" a darkly captivating universe. So subscribe, and let's unravel the mysteries of destiny, one episode at a time.
Embark on an intellectual journey with me, Steven Youngkin, as we peel back the layers of moral complexity in the "Angel" series episode "Blind Date." This week's Wolfram and Cast episode isn't just your typical TV series analysis. Instead, we'll be navigating the treacherous waters of destiny, free will, and the all-too-human struggle between redemption and power. As we dissect the intricate relationship between Angel and Lindsay MacDonald, we'll also lay bare the sinister intricacies of Holland Manners, brought to life by Sam Anderson, and his influence on the show's portrayal of good versus evil.
Have you ever considered the impact of a single choice on the trajectory of your life? Lindsay MacDonald's journey in "Angel" serves as a potent case study, where each decision tethers him further to the dark or propels him towards the light. Beyond character motivations, our analysis takes an exciting turn with a break-down of fight scenes that defy expectation and prophecies that bind our heroes to their fates. With an eye for detail, we connect the dots between actions and their consequences, exploring how the threads of loyalty and fear weave together to paint a picture of a universe balanced precariously between right and wrong.
As the crescendo of the season finale approaches, we're not just watching – we're part of the narrative, feeling every strategic shift and confrontation as if standing alongside our characters. The revelation of the Shan-shu prophecy and the ties that bind Angel to a cryptic scroll are but a few of the enigmatic elements we'll uncover. And remember, when you join the Wolfram and Cast community, you're signing up for more than just a podcast; you're stepping into an ongoing dialogue about the timeless themes that make "Angel" a darkly captivating universe. So subscribe, and let's unravel the mysteries of destiny, one episode at a time.
I'm going over wishing I was blinding, wishing they hadn't a light about a way. Was hoping I'd be getting some. But now I'm wishing I was blind, standing there and done Too deaf to listen to his friends Probably dumb enough to Hello, welcome to Wolfram and Cast an angel retrospective.
Speaker 2:I am longtime fan Steve Nyugin, who is presently trying to decide whether or not a gorgeous corner office is all that my eternal soul is worth. In this podcast, I'll be doing a deep dive discussion on the Buffy spinoff show, angel, one episode at a time, with spoilers for both series. I have chosen to focus on Angel because, as a theme of the show, I feel that even 20 plus years after the show premiered, it still has themes and ideas that are worth discussing. Thus, for each episode, I will go over what worked, doesn't work and all of the ideas and themes the show put forth. In this week's episode, I will discuss the 21st episode of the series Blind Date, which was directed by Thomas Jaywright and written by Jeanine Renshaw. Thomas Wright also directed the episode Epiphany of Angel. In addition, he directed episodes for series such as the X-Files, max, headroom Lit, the Linda Hamilton Version of Beauty and the Beast, nowhere man, alias, firefly, true Calling Smallville and Supernatural. He also worked as an assistant director on such classics like Howard Duck. Writer Jeanine Renshaw was a staff writer for Angel and wrote four episodes for the series, including I've Got you Under my Skin, I Will Remember you and Parting Gift. She also acted in Home Improvement.
Speaker 2:The movie Hook Growing Pains and Dream On the episode originally aired on May 16, 2000,. And the IMDB description of the episode is A Renegade Attorney from Wolfram Enhart Joins Forces with Angel to Stop a Blind Assassin from Killing Three Children who Threaten the Firm. Blind Date played a bit like the episodic version of the series with Angel having to stop a bad person, a blind assassin hired to kill innocent children, but was really more serial in that it brought back Lindsay MacDonald and gave us more of his background and furthered his descent into evil. It also introduced us to another player in the firm, senior Attorney Helen Manners, who in his soft-spoken, kind but ultimately cold delivery was the series equivalent of Mayor Richard Wilkins. It discussed the topic of where do we fit in the grand scheme of things and do evil people serve as much purpose to the balance of the universe as good people do? These philosophical concepts are mixed in with a plot involving one of the few women who was an upborn slayer but could easily best angel in a fight.
Speaker 2:For this episode I have the following two questions. First, did Lindsay's backstory of growing up poor and having to fight for what he wanted make him more or less sympathetic of a character? Second, would you be willing to work for a law firm with as brutal of a way of terminating employees as Wolfram and Hart, even if it provides the opportunity to have a gorgeous courtroom office? Well, before discussing those questions, a few comments about the episode in general. This, I consider, is a very strong lead-up to the season finale to the chanchoux in LA, because it sets up all of the pieces. It lays the groundwork for that episode. It gives us a big confrontation between Lindsay and Angel by having them work together and more comments about that in a moment. But also it made very clear Angel's constant antagonism with Wolfram and Hart, with them ramping up their views of Angel, where he's no longer just Thor in their side, he is now someone they are very interested in. And also it did give us Hanlon Manners who, while not in the episode a lot as I mentioned, he is only in a total of eight episodes did have a major impact on the series, especially in the early going. And then it introduced us to the chanchoux prophecy which, obviously, based on the title of the next episode to chanchoux in LA, played a major role there. But also this prophecy was sort of the undercurrent of the entire series from this episode onwards.
Speaker 2:And what is notable about Blank Data is, unlike some of the other episodes that I was a big fan of and I said were very strongly done and showed the series off in a great white, such as in the dark, some nambulus, 5x5 and prodigal, this one was strung in and of itself, meaning it wasn't dependent upon a crossover or carryover a plot and or characters from Buffy. It didn't have to bring in Spike to continue the Ring of Amara. It didn't have to bring in Faith to continue her storyline or to bring in Darla. It was strung on its own merits and it was true with showing that this is a series that can work well on its own. It didn't have to depend upon the Buffy characters and, more importantly, the Buffy plotlines to make it good, and one of the ways that it did so well was the relationship between Lindsay and Angel in 5x5 and in City of.
Speaker 2:I raised the talents of Christian Kane and his chemistry he had with David Boreanus and this came into play very well In this episode where they were antagonists. They were having to work with each other, albeit very reluctantly on both sides. Both of them made it very clear they did not like each other and they were working with each other only because they absolutely had to. And one of the things I liked about was when Lindsay first meets with Angel at the beginning of the episodes, seeking out his help. He does point out their differences the fact that Angel grew up privileged, he had servants, his father was well off for the time, a merchant, whereas Lindsay grew up dirt poor, a family of six, as he said, for when it came to flu season, the fact that they were all having to share the same room, the fact they had no shoes, his house was foreclosed upon, so on.
Speaker 2:And what this brings up is in their differences is almost the concept of who had a choice in their lives. Because in Lindsay's view he had no choice. He had no other options except to become evil, except to go with a means justified in the end's philosophy of life. Because, as he commented, I saw my house being taken away from me and my father not doing anything about it except smiling while signing the deed and joking with the guy taking the house. And he made that as almost a scarlet O'Hara asked as God's my witness, I will never be hungry again. And he didn't care what quarters he had to cut to do it.
Speaker 2:From that point on, whereas with Angel, angel became evil even though he had everything, he was well off, he had servants, but yet he still chose to waste it all. And so now brings up that idea of did Lindsay have the choice? Was his actions more justified because he was poor? But the thing is though, in the end, even though Lindsay claims he had no options, he had no other choices. He did make the choice. Because when you look at somebody like a Charles Gunn, who, from what we could tell, probably didn't grow well off because he was a street kid with just his sister and, as I discussed in Warzone, it's hard to say when their parents passed away, but yet Gunn on the air and didn't choose to go evil, he chose to fight for good, to battle the vampire, instead of Lindsay who represents them.
Speaker 2:And also, the other difference between Lindsay and Angel, in addition to their economic backgrounds, is the fact that Angel, once he got to soul, once he realized what he was doing, angel was repentant about his actions. He does regret what he did, whereas Lindsay, on their hand, is never repentant, even when he turns to Angel for help. Angel knows his worth, the fact that there is between he and Faith and I'll bring that discussion up here also in a little bit With Faith once again, she was repentant about what she did, whereas Lindsay, again, is not repentant. He justifies everything he did in life, and that is a very key difference. But what is, though, interesting is the fact that one wonders how different would Liam and Lindsay had been, because Liam also was never repentant about anything he did. He was a layabout. He did all sorts of actions, maybe not murderous actions, but, as we saw in Prodigal, this was a guy who didn't take what he had for granted. This was a guy who was a disappointment to his father, and you get the feeling Liam probably would have sold him. Well, as we saw in there, liam did give away his soul very easily to Darla, and for him, when he gave away his soul, it wasn't so much because of he had no other options or anything like that. He did because he felt rejected by his family and he felt he had nothing else to lose, and also just because a pretty girl asked him to. She said I'll show you the world, whereas Lindsay, once again gave away his soul because he almost felt like he had no other options available to him.
Speaker 2:As I have mentioned in the past, I saw this series when it was first aired 20 years ago and I've seen it several times since For this podcast. I rewatched it again with an even more critical eye and one of the things I noticed was the fact that this almost goes down to somewhat similar parallel paths that Smallville did with the characters of Lex Luthor and Clark Kent. Now, great, in that series one of the things they assumed was Lex and Clark were friends, whereas here in this series, lindsay and Angel were never friends. I mean, this was never all well good friends split apart, like in Smallville. Key difference there and the similarity there is in Smallville we have Lex and Clark sort of being shoved down their paths by outside forces, by father figures or advisors pushing them along, clark towards goodness, becoming Superman, and Lex being pushed along by a father figure, lionel Luthor. And in this one we have a similar thing Angel is being guided along the good path by people like Wesley and Doyle and Cordelia and others, whereas Lindsay is being pushed down the dark path by people like Holland Manor who is sort of guiding him in there, telling him you have no other options. This is the role you serve in life and that's the same thing in Smallville. Was Lex had the option, could have been a good guy but was sort of compelled to go into evil by others, forcing him there and in here with Lindsay. Lindsay could have turned away from Wolfram and Hart. He could have teamed up with Team Angel and granted at the end they would have been reluctant to take him on, but eventually he could have been a valuable resource. But instead he chose to stay with Wolfram and Hart and became instead an antagonist to Angel.
Speaker 2:In an essay entitled why we Love Lindsay, the author, ms West, says the scene at the end of the episode fulfills Josh Williams' earlier promise of a more adult show with less clear fault lines of right and wrong. Lindsay makes a difficult choice between redemption and power, ultimately choosing to accept the promotion. In that moment. Ms West writes Lindsay is what Angel, the series, struggled through its first season to be, and that is true. It is the Lindsay character, even more so than Angel, even more so than Cordelia or Gunn or Wesley, that showed the moral complexity of the show. That is truly what started to separate it from Buffy, which, up until near the end, was always a clear black and white show, evil, good. It wasn't until later in the series that they started having the characters becoming more complex, where good characters started doing bad things, whereas this one, it was having bad characters working on the side of good, because in this episode, lindsay is working with Angel.
Speaker 2:Lindsay's motives are clear in a sense, because he is wanting to stop the assassin from killing the children. That is a good motive. There is no ulterior motive there for him. He is wanting to save the children, and it's not a trap for Angel. It's not some other scheme to try to get him. No, he is wanting to work with Angel. So he is being a good guy in this episode. Now, as MSRoyce notes, at the end, though, he is pulled back because of the very generous promotion with great benefits of gorgeous corner office, a huge raise, so on, and as a result, he ends up selling his soul and, as we see in the following episode, there is a price he has to pay for selling that soul.
Speaker 2:Now, what is also interesting with this episode and makes it more complex, is the fact that it establishes also an intriguing, deterministic view of life, because, as I had mentioned, the series poses at the end, by both Holland and Wesley, that the two characters are on their faded paths. Holland says we are all just hogs in a machine. This is just where we are faded to be. Wesley I bring up the prophecy says the same thing to Angel you are part of a grander prophecy. The vampire was a soul.
Speaker 2:Now, in the next episode, we do find out more about prophecy, but what is interesting, though, is this is a deterministic view of life that Angel was faded to be good, lindsay was faded to be bad. They had no option. They truly had no choices, as it were. The powers that be put them on their paths and said you were going to go down this path, no matter what you did, which makes this also another contrast with Buffy, where, for the most part, buffy the vampire's layer of this TV series had a more of a free will approach, seeing that the characters chose to do this. Buffy chose to remain a slayer. It condemned Fates actions because she chose to work with the mayor, so on, so forth.
Speaker 2:All the characters had their options, and, in fact, even later in the series, spike becomes good, not because a gypsy placed a curse on him and so he was faded to be good outside of his own control. No, he went and sought out his soul. He went through the trials, he fought his way to get a soul, and that is a big difference between the two. Whereas Buffy says we have choices in terms of our ultimate fates, angel is saying no, you are faded to be good or bad. If you're bad, you were destined to be bad. If you're good, you were destined to be good. It was whatever path you were laid on and it's going to march you towards that path, no matter what.
Speaker 2:Now for Buffy. Of course, it did have one big, exceptional episode that did take a more deterministic view and lead it out very clearly, and that was the season one finale, prophecy Girl. As a reminder to fans. In that episode we find out that Buffy was faded to die at the hands of the master, and in that episode she did try to leave. I quit, I don't want to be the slayer anymore. But ultimately she decides to walk into the hell mouth to face the master, and then she finds out the true irony that occurs with this deterministic view of life, which is the fact that it was her choice to walk into the hell mouth that ultimately freed the master, that had she quit, he would never have been freed and the Prophecy would never have been fulfilled. And because she walked into the hell mouth, faced the master, he did end up killing her. So, yeah, the prophecy was true and she had no control over it, because her actions did ultimately guide her down the path of the prophecy and led to her death not granted. Of course she survived, and so on and so forth, but still, as far as the prophecy is concerned, everything that happened happened.
Speaker 2:It just didn't fill in all the gaps, and that is the view that Angel, the series, takes as well. Is this deterministic view, and the series stays on this faded view of? Is Angel faded to be good? Is the Shanshu prophecy accurate and is he ultimately the vampire with the soul who will become human again? Now, while watching this episode, another interesting thought occurred to me because, as noted this episode, lindsay teams up with Angel and he does do it for good reason to save the children, because he realizes, at least at that moment, an assassin killing innocent children is a moral lie that he will not cross, he will defend guilty people, he will defend demons and he will find loopholes in the law. That will serve his ends, but what he will not do is allow innocent children to die. That is a moral lie for him, like getting back to his team up with Angel, though it certainly makes me think is what would season 5 had been like if Lindsay had served the Spike role? And what I mean by that is in season 5, as a reminder, spike is brought back from the dead. He is quasi-resurrected.
Speaker 2:Originally, as it goes, then, he is make caporial, but his main role within the series is to serve as the annoying buddy for Angel, where these are two characters that don't like each other. They get on each other's nerves, but because of circumstances beyond their control, they are compelled to work with each other. They have no other options, so they will snipe at each other. They will not so much stab each other in the back, but they do not go out of their way to help each other. But they work with each other only because they have no other options. What would have been like if Lindsay had been in that role and said that, for whatever reason, he is required to work with Angel? Instead of being a foe, he was a partner. And once again, because they don't like each other because they don't trust each other, and especially Angel, not trust he or, like Lindsay, he is constantly wary of him and they make starking comments towards each other. Lindsay, of course, is doing it without a British accent, but still working with each other because, once again, for whatever reason, they have no other option. They have no other choices but to work with each other.
Speaker 2:I'm thinking that would have made for an even more interesting season. As much as I'm a fan of James Masters' Spike and as much as it gave us discussions such as cavemen vs astronauts and other comments from Spike and his great line delivery, that having Lindsay in that role would have been even more intriguing, because season one, with these episodes, established their antagonistic relationship and, as we saw in that opening scene, when Lindsay came to see Angel, lindsay was no more crazy about Angel than Angel was on Lindsay. So they would have been at each other's throats, as it were, throughout the series, with Angel not going after Lindsay because, well, he doesn't like him but he is working with him. So Angel's moral code would have kept Lindsay alive and Lindsay, because he needed Angel's help, would have worked with him as well, but yet they would still have been wary of each other the entire time, so that would have been some fun interactions between the two of them.
Speaker 2:One negative comment, though, was the fact that Vanessa the blind assassin was truly a MacGuffin, meaning that she was just an excuse for the two characters to work with each other. They could have worked with each other to recover some artifact, or recover some other item, or to stop some random demon. The fact that it was a blind assassin wasn't as necessary to the plot. She was just an excuse for them to come together, and we can tell this by the fact that the actress and I'll mention this later in terms of her background, the actress had literally one line in the entire episode. I think the line was nice to meet you, not the most riveting of lines, and it's because her character was more of a symbol, just a means of bringing these two together, bringing Angel and Lindsay together. Then she was a necessary character, which was a shame, because the fight scenes between her and Angel were well done.
Speaker 2:The stunt work in this show improved greatly over the first season, and the fight choreography in the two scenes was well handled and rather interesting to watch, but what's notable in this episode is that she's not the interesting new character that's brought in. No, the interesting new character was Holland Manor and I'll discuss him more in just a moment. But just one last comment about the NASA. I had mentioned about her fight scenes and it's not a surprise that her fight scenes with Angel were well done, because the fact that the woman was a stunt performer and you can tell that because there was less of a focus on obviously a stunt woman for her, because she was a stunt woman and as a result it allowed for more fluid and a faster fight scene, and also it did make for a nice bit where in both scenes she easily had the upper hand on Angel. She was a step ahead of him, not just because of her abilities but because of her speed, and in both of it she more or less kicked Angel's ass, even more so than fated in 5x5. It was a shame when he killed her because it had been interesting to see her come back later in the series, maybe showing up for another task hired by Wolfram at heart, or maybe she was hired to assassinate somebody else. Maybe she was hired to assassinate Wesley or Cordelia or somebody like that, and Angel had to save them from her. But now to talk about the interesting new character, holland Manners.
Speaker 2:Holland was played by actor Sam Anderson and he only was in eight episodes of the series, but in those eight episodes he did make an impact. And a few notes about the actor Sam Anderson. He's been working steadily since 1978. Now some of his more notable roles. He's a character actor who's appeared in a number of TV series. Imdb has 175 credits for him, dating all the way back to 1978. But some of his more notable roles was on the TV series Friends. He was in the episode where VB gave birth and he was the doctor who was obsessed with the character of Fonzie from Happy Days. And he had a pretty sizable role on the TV series Lost, where he played a total opposite of Holland Manners, because I remember watching Angel and Lost when they were on roughly about the same time. These are not at all the same characters because in Lost he played one of the castaways, a character named Bernard Nadler who was a very sympathetic and very likable character and every episode that he was in you truly like him and his wife. He was also in the TV series ER, where he played Dr Jack Cason, in the TV series Justified as Lee Paxton and in the movie For Skump, where he was the principal. Some of his other credits that he has done over the years was the TV series Hill Street Blues, the movie La Bamba, melrose Place, boston Common, allie McBeal, everybody Loves Raymond, malcolm, the Middle, wifiville, and working with David Boreadis one more time in the TV series Bones. His two most recent works was the miniseries Pain Killer, which also starred Matthew Broderick, in the movie when the Croddads Sing, where he appeared at the end as an older version of one of the characters, and he was quite good in that scene.
Speaker 2:Now for the character Holland. As I mentioned in my opening comments, he was the equivalent of Mayor Richard Wilkins, though played with less humor than Wilkins was played with. Since I am saying he is equivalent of Mayor Wilkins because on the surface, he was seemingly benevolent towards characters he liked. Now, of course, towards others he didn't like, no, he was pure evil. But, as we saw in this episode, towards Lindsay he was benevolent, he was a father figure. He was gently talking to him and almost speaking with a ton of I just want you to make the right decision, and I loved his line readings in there because I don't want to hurt you, lindsay, I want the best for you.
Speaker 2:Where he explains the fact that he personally selected Lindsay out of law school because he had hopes for him, because he saw where Lindsay fit into the bigger picture. So it was as I said, it was a father figure. I just want to guide you onto the path where you were meant to be. But at all times, just like Wilkins, pure evil. There is never any doubt that he is good. So, unlike Lindsay who I commented in this episode is trying to be good, is facing a moral choice. Well, insult his soul years ago, decades ago. There is no turning back. There is no hopes for him to ever be good or benevolent towards anyone else.
Speaker 2:But the difference between he and Wilkins, though, I would say, is the fact that Wilkins, on the surface, has a nice guy demeanor, because we saw it in season 3 of Buffy that towards people who didn't know who and what Wilkins was and what his true motives were, he does come across as a decent guy, for example in the episode Gingerbread, where he makes the address to the public about the deaths of the two children. That scene he only had one scene in the episode, but in that scene he does come across as a sympathetic mayor With his comments about. This is a shame that these children died and all that. And if you didn't know who and what he was, you would think he was actually a nice guy. And also, when talking to others, he does have this all shocked delivery that Harry Groner gave him that made him so charming. It's ed funny because he is somebody you could see could easily be elected mayor and that the general public wouldn't have realized. Oh, he actually has a century long plan to swallow the town literally. Whereas with Holla Manners, on the other hand, I can't imagine anyone meeting him not realizing how cold hearted he was, that, yes, he may talk in a softer manner, a nice guy manner. No, you could sense this guy is pure evil.
Speaker 2:But, as I mentioned, a couple of the scenes he had with Lindsay were well done and it was also his scenes with Lindsay nice parallel for Wilkins with faith, where once again both of them adopted a father attitude and you do sense that both characters genuinely like the people they were. Guiding Wilkins, it was made very clear faith was actually his weakness, that he genuinely did care for faith with a father's concern. Same thing here, as I mentioned Hollan, you get the feeling he truly did like Lindsay. He wanted Lindsay to make what he perceived as the correct decision, though in both cases both characters, you do sense though that betrayed, they would kill the people that I mentioned they did like, but they would still kill them without a moment's thought If faith betrayed Wilkins. Yeah, he made very clear that he would hate to replace her, but he would, as he commented. You know, mr Trick was hard enough to replace but just left it at that to make it clear to faith that no, he would have her killed as well. Same thing here in the scene where he is talking to Lindsay after the mind reading scene, the gardener. He did make it very clear that if Lindsay made what Hollan viewed as the wrong decision, yeah, he would have had Lindsay shot as well and then just move on. He would have felt bad about it for a moment but then shrugged it off and say, well, I guess I was wrong.
Speaker 2:Now one last comment, just on a slight negative, before again to the episode itself, is the use of Wesleyan Cordelia, because this was very much of an angel Lindsay centric episode. The characters of Wesleyan Cordelia are very much sidelined. Yeah, they have a couple of scenes, especially a key one at the end where Wesley lays out the prophecy or hints at what the prophecy includes, but for the most part he didn't really serve any true purpose in the episode. In fact, as I'll mention here in just a moment is the fact that Wesley provides exposition that angel didn't need to have, because angel already knew some of this information and so result Mr, ex-exposition could have been all bended all together and Cordelia served even less of a purpose because, as a recurring complaint I have with the show, once again they didn't know how to use Cordelia. She is barely in the episode at all. She has just a couple of scenes and serves almost no purpose whatsoever because even where she is finding out information about Vanessa, they could have cut her out and have Wesley provide it. In fact, they could have cut Wesley out all together and Lindsay could have provided all that information. Yeah, here is the background we have on Vanessa, because she has worked for Wolfram and Hart and the episode would have played out exactly the same. As I've mentioned, as the series improves, all of the characters start to serve purposes within the show. But overall this is a great episode of the series and, as I said at the beginning, it provides a very strong lead-in into an even better season finale.
Speaker 2:But now that leads us into the episode itself. The episode opens up with a blind woman walking down an alley with street vendors Watching the episode the first time you think, yep, here comes the victim of the week. Here comes the person that Angel will have to save. But before we can see more of her, it cuts over to Angel finding a group of vampires and in the course of the fight, he ends up dropping his stakes dirt while finding him, which, while watching, I was thinking well, if he had kept those awesome wrist stakes in his jacket on then this wouldn't have been an issue. He could have pulled the same move again and that shoot out of his wrist stab. Does the vampire move on? Well, he does grab one of the stakes and ends up dusting one of the vampires. And then he grabs a chain and pulls up the other one by the neck and yanks him over to another stake sticking out, thereby dusting him, which was a nice bit of fast thinking on Angel's part. But as he's walking away from the fight, he then hears a man in distress. He runs over and sees the man has been gravely wounded. Now, just as a side piece of trivia, the guy who has been gravely wounded was played by actor Derek Anthony, who this is not his first appearance in Angel. He was also the imposing demon in the episode potential and will also appear in another episode of Angel as a hotel security guard.
Speaker 2:But anyways, getting back to the episode, angel tends to demand, but then the blind woman shows up, grabs Angel and literally tosses him across the room. But the thing about this is at no point, up until the very end, when Angel figures out how to beat her, at no point is Vanessa ever on the lesser end of the fight. She is always on the upper end, kicking Angel's butt left and right. And they do start to fight and, as I mentioned, her blindness is not even close to a hit in her ass because she is faster than him and she quickly just throws him around. Though during the course of the fight we do see why she is able to hold her own. Just with very quick shots of a heat signature of Angel, which, just as a side comment, it's established that vampires have no body temperature at any point their dead, their corpses. So why is she able to see a heat signature from him. Now great, at the end of the episode when he stands stock, still, he has none. But why would he have one, even when he is moving? Only thing I could think of is she is just sensing, not so much a heat signature, she is sensing an object moving, which does that mean she can't see any other object because they are still like seeing there is a door there. So she can't see a door. That one. I am not quite sure on her abilities, but anyways, getting back to the episode, as I mentioned she throws Angel aside and then she leaves just as quickly, which, if I was saying Jod be offended because she is using his Batman like trick and he looks to go to the man, but the man at this point is not dead.
Speaker 2:Now, this is a nice intro of the blind woman, of Vanessa, because it's disarming, because, as I mentioned, when you first see her walking down the alley it looks like she is going to be the person, not that he is going to be fighting throughout the episode, but that he is going to have to save that. Maybe she would show up later and at Angel investigations, say, hey, I need to be saved, or Cordelia was going to have a vision, say you need to go to this woman and help her out. No, it turns out she is the antagonist, not the victim. And also, with this fighting, as brief as it is, it shows the fact that she is a more than worthy opponent of his, that she is far from helpless, not just as equal in terms of fighting, but possibly his superior. And also by keeping her silent and not giving her any lines. First of all, it helps out, maybe got out of necessity, simply because of the fact that the actress playing her is a stunt woman and not an actress, so we can restrict her lying readings. But also it serves a nice purpose because it keeps her mysterious, because we don't know who she is. Why is she here? Why is she going after this man? All we know is she is there, she is killed, the guy and she kicks Angel's ass without a moment's thought. Just one other sign note about the actress, jennifer Badger, who plays Vanessa. As I mentioned, she is a stunt woman. In fact she was Charisma's stunt woman as well as Eliza's stunt double in various episodes of Buffy and Angel, and this is not the first time she has been in the TV series Angel in the episode Some Nambulist. She was one of the victims, ironically, in that episode, so she went from victim to his opponent in the course of the series.
Speaker 2:Well, the episode then goes to the opening credits. Then it cuts over to the next morning at Angel Investigations, where Wesley is trying to figure out what Vanessa is. So if he is trying to figure out, maybe there is a blind demon, and he is unable to find any. Now he mentions that there are no such things as blind demons, which consider all the different varieties of demons. This series establishes, as well as Buffy establishes, there are no demons whatsoever that are blind and use sonar or anything like that to fight. I mean, that makes me somewhat wary that there is none. Now he could say that there are none that have humanoid appearances that do that, and even there I doubt that. But for him to just say, nope, there is no such thing as a blind demon that uses sonar for its fighting abilities, that seems like an evolutionary ability that was missed. But then he does bring forth the theory that the woman is simply a human that has honed her abilities around her disability, which, well, in pop culture is not an unknown thing, considering the character of Daredevil is most famous for doing just that he was blind. That worked to his advantage by making all his other senses even more powerful. And also in pop culture, there have been other blind characters that have done this as well the character of Eli in the movie the book of Eli, played by Banzel Washington, the blind man in the movies don't breathe, kierriott M Way, the character in Rogue One, a Star Wars story, played by Donnie Yen, and then also Kane in the most recent John Wick chapter 4 movie, also played by Donnie Yen. And then, finally, nick Parker in the movie Blind Fury, played by actor Rector Howe. All these four characters that, yes, they were blind, but became superior fighters in spite of their handicap and, in fact, in most cases, used their handicap to their advantage because it made them even more aware with their other senses as to where their opponents were, so that, just like Vanessa in this episode, they were superior fighters than the sighted people.
Speaker 2:Well, cordelia, while Leslie is bringing forth this theory as to who she is, cordelia is looking up the LAPD website and somewhere or another she wants to get very quickly finds it, and I see somehow, because her search term that she is using is blind woman murder. Those are literally the only three words she is using blind woman murder and she locates a blind woman who is killing people, which the reason why I mentioned that search phrase. At no point is she finding anything of blind female victims who were killed? Nope, in the entire city of Los Angeles, sadly well, maybe not so sadly, but in the entire city of Los Angeles there have been no blind women who were ever killed. Nope, there has been one blind woman who was murdered, and they found her instantly, which actually makes me want to live in Los Angeles, because you could use that as your advertising slogan. We have blind female murderers, but no blind women will ever get killed, except by the vampire who later fights them at the end.
Speaker 2:But anyways, getting back to her record that they find, she does get some basic facts on her her name, vanessa Brewer, and her stats. Based on what we see on the screen, she was born July 18, 1967 in the city of San Francisco. She has brown hair and for eyes they say blind. Her height 56, weight 122, no known associates. And then they list her arrest, which, oddly enough, this is listed under personal data and not once in warrants or record. But anyways, for arrest for one misdemeanor doesn't say for what and two felonies, also doesn't say for what. And you would think that even on this screen they would have listed the charge or whatever. But anyways, they do say zero convictions and that she is on trial. Once again, they just say on trial, doesn't say for what. And just as she's on trial and out on bail now she does go onto another screen and we do find out more information, which this is what those episodes were.
Speaker 2:It's worth freeze framing, because what they write is so different that it was worth the time to read it. Because what Cordelia says out loud isn't doing justice to what is written on the screen. Because Cordelia summarizes what she reads by saying that she fled the scene of a homicide for her first incident, while the text on the screen actually gives even more detail than just fled the scene of a homicide, which that could have meant that somebody got killed and she ran off. Now, according to what was written on the screen, she was first of all driving without a license, while the fact that she's blind would explain why she didn't have a license but doesn't explain why she was driving. But it goes further and says and this is what it was written on the screen that she plowed into the side of a laundromat after having driven six blocks, fleeing the scene of a homicide. Yeah, cordelia forgot to mention the plowing into the side of a laundromat, but anyways, the arrest report says that she was determined to be completely blind and that no charges were brought, which then beg the question upon first reading, it was wait a minute. She plowed into the side of a laundromat and no charges were brought. Forget the homicide part of it, because maybe no charges were brought because there was no evidence that she was involved in homicide. But she plus again I just want to focus on she plowed into a laundromat and that wasn't enough to get her arrested for something. And she was driving without a license. I mean, for most of us, if I run a stop sign with a license, I get a ticket. She once again I'm sorry I have to keep dwelling on this, because this was the phrase they used at the arrest report was she plowed into a laundromat after driving six blocks without a license? And eh, she's blind, so we'll let her go. What can you do? It's blind people.
Speaker 2:But now, moving on to the felonies, her first felony was for aggravated assault and once again, this is literally what was written in the report. Subject was arrested after a brutal beating in which all evidence pointed to her as perpetrator, in spite of her obvious and documented blindness. Notwithstanding the strong circumstantial case, the DA was not able to take the case seriously and was even heard to be giggling in court. Okay, now we find out later that she was probably let off the hook on these charges because of Wolfram and Hart, because we've seen following scene that Lindsay is representing her in most likely the death of the black man we saw in the prologue. So maybe she was acquitted of the aggravated assault because of Wolfram and Hart. So that would explain that. But how does that explain the DA quote not taking the case seriously? This is written in the report and the DA giggling in court. As I said, I understand the defense side of it. Wolfram and Hart does evil things or presents the assassin and gets her acquitted. That's fine, but the DA was giggling in court. That's just a lot about the DA. But anyways, getting back to this, because the DA was not taking it seriously and he was giggling in court, it was dismissed without even a trial. The DA just dropped all charges, once again lying into the sight of a homicide, did a brutal beat down where all evidence showed that she was a perpetrator. But because she was blind, once again not even a get off jail free card. You don't have to go near the jail card. Finally, the other felony that she was arrested for was a homicide and for this one it was written in the report as subject was arrested in connection with a double homicide.
Speaker 2:While it is difficult to believe that the subject could have committed the crime, the case is a strong one. Now, I've read a number of police reports in my time when I used to work as a prosecutor. I've never seen them written with commentary Wow, it's difficult to believe that the subject could have committed the crime because, as a note, the defense can bring that comment alone into the trial and say you wrote in your report that it's difficult to believe the subject could have committed the crime and that sort of contradicts. The case is a strong one because, as a defense attorney I'm going to be focusing on you just said it's difficult to believe. So why is the case a strong one? But also as a sign note in this report, the names of the investigating officers for the arrest record were Will Batz, sandy Struth, david Burns and Kelly Manners. Now, just like in the previous episode where I mentioned the credits on the movie that Faith was watching, were people involved with the series. These people were also involved with the TV series. Will Batz was a set designer, sandy Struth was a set decorator, david M Burns was an assistant to Kelly Manners, who was a second unit director.
Speaker 2:So now also, we then learned further by looking at the report that one of the key reasons she was able to escape plowing into the site of laundromat sorry, I'm going to stick with that and Bruelly assaulting a person and will probably beat the homicide charge was because her attorney was none other than our favorite defense attorney, lindsay McDonald. And Wesley, while looking over the report, figures out that her abilities are due to her being able to see outside of the infrared spectrum and that's why she is able to fight angels so well. Well, while they're looking over this report, it cuts over to Lindsay, representing her import, and his argument is that she was physically unable to commit the murder due to her blindness. Now, this is a few side notes here on this scene is the fact that it's hard to tell is he doing an opening statement or a closing statement? It's hard to really tell because he's acting like this is an opening statement that the charges should all be dismissed, without even the purpose of the trial. But yet he's making the delivery as if also it's a closing statement, like here's all the evidence I brought in and here's why you should acquit her. It's really hard to tell, but it's a standard movie cliche of the attorney standing up making the impassioned plea, which doesn't really happen in the trials so much. I mean it is presenting evidence and then having that presented, except in the opening or closing statements. But they had to give Christian King a chance to make an impassioned statement for her. Well, while he's doing either opening or closing statement, angel enters the courtroom as Lindsay is making the argument about how the Nessa is this helpless blind creature who couldn't have heard a fly because of her disability. Angel tosses her glasses and, without her even perning around her hand, flies up and catches the glasses in midair which was a nice touch because of how fast they were being tossed and then Angel just turns around and walks out of the courtroom, having made his point.
Speaker 2:Now, one other thing here is that this scene with Angel going to the courtroom and tossing the glasses appears to be occurring simultaneously with the Wesley Cordelia scene because of the way it's edited, because it's cutting back and forth between the two of them. So the reason why I'm bringing this up is the fact that Wesley, in the first part of the scene, says, oh, she is on trial right now and Lindsay is representing her. And then it cuts back to Angel walking into the courtroom. But Angel was not in the first part of the scene so it's not of oh, we need to tell Angel. So did they pause, go tell Angel? Angel went to the courtroom and then it cut back to Wesley looking over more of her file. Or did Angel already know she was in trial? In which case, and what purpose did Wesley and Cordelia serve if Angel already knew all this about her? But anyways, angel returns back to Angel's investigation and he then tells them the fact of what they already told the audience that Wolfram and Hart is representing her, while he says pro bono. So I guess that was a new fact. That's sort of much purpose. But anyways, they're representing her pro bono, which, as he theorizes, if they're representing her free, that probably means she's working for them.
Speaker 2:Well, it cuts over to Wolfram and Hart and, just as a sign note, it shows us the exterior of the building and, as fans, you can easily go visit Wolfram and Hart in real life. You truly can. It is located at 10,000, 202 West Washington Boulevard, la. The reason why I'm able to give you the specific address of it, because that is Sony Pictures Plaza. The building they show for Wolfram and Hart is across the street from the main gate of Sony Studios and years ago I took a tour of it while this series was on the air and I looked up almost at the angle they shot it from and, yep, I said my God, that's Wolfram and Hart. But the building, as a note, is on the east side of Madison Avenue, between Washington Boulevard and Culver Boulevard in Culver City. So if you ever want to take a tour of Sony Studios, you can get your picture taken in front of the most evil law firm in all of Los Angeles.
Speaker 2:But anyways, getting back to the series, lindsay and Lee Mercer are observing Vanessa talking to Holland Manners. At this point we don't know who Holland is, but Lindsay and Lee are talking and Lee mentions that Lindsay managed to get her acquitted of all charges and while watching that I was thinking that's rather impressive, considering the angel stunt of tossing her with glasses was a nice stunt, and quietly gets rid of the oh. She's helpless and couldn't do anything as she catches glasses in midair without even turning her head around to look. But because of Lindsay's abilities he's still able to get her acquitted, which I'll bring that one up here in just a moment. Well, getting back to the episode, holland pulls Lindsay over and congratulates him on getting Vanessa off and Vanessa takes his hand and thanks him. And then Holland brings him into the room quietly and talks to him and Lindsay admits to his bad choices, that he's been passed, in particular signing faith after angel.
Speaker 2:But in spite of that, holland says that he's got full confidence in Lindsay and he wants to see him rise up the corporate ladder at Wolfram and Hart. He wants Lindsay to think about where he falls in terms of loyalty toward Wolfram and Hart, because he makes it very clear he's at a crossroads, or he's approaching a crossroads of should he go to one side or the other. And to help him down that path, he gives him his next assignment because he makes it very clear that Vanessa will be doing another job for them and he needs Lindsay to prepare for it by providing her with alibis, a strong defense, a sympathetic background, etc. Because he tells Lindsay that what Lindsay should do is to invent an abusive childhood for Vanessa In the event she gets caught murdering the children. Very heinous crime. Because Holland's thought is, if we can invent a background where she was abused as a child, that maybe we could get her off by being found not guilty by reason of insanity. Because his theory is the fact that if we can get her proven insane she wouldn't be incarcerated. And he wants to do that because she is such a valuable resource to her clients.
Speaker 2:Now, once again, just as a side note concerning this, is a law firm. Let's say Lindsay had gone down that path instead of working with Angel. Instead he created this fictitious childhood of hers. He does get her found not guilty by reason of insanity. It would not get her set free, as we have seen in real life. Not guilty by reason of insanity doesn't mean you don't get incarcerated. What it means is you get sent to a mental asylum or mental institution instead of a prison, and especially for a charge of murdering children. They're not going to put you back out on the street again. Instead, she would have been put into a mental institution for a very long time.
Speaker 2:But once again, we're talking Los Angeles, where it has no blind women ever getting killed and being told that the blind can commit whatever crimes they want, and you just have giggling DA's and cops saying there's no way she could have committed crime. But anyways, so we're in this very peaceful alternate universe of Los Angeles, and Hollin, though, does make it very clear that her next victims will be children. He doesn't say why or who the children are, just that they're the target. And this, we can tell, does cause Lindsay to pause because, as I stated before, he's willing to do a lot. He is unapologetic about what he does, but this is a moral line for him, and so that's causing him to think am I willing to allow innocent children being killed? Well, it cuts back to angel investigations, and angel is now extremely upset because of the results of the trial, because he says that there was a hung jury.
Speaker 2:Now, once again, another correction for the show, which is the fact that he implies that hung jury is the same as her being acquitted or being found not guilty In real life. That's not the same thing. A hung jury results in a mistrial and the big difference between a mistrial and a acquittal is that if she was found not guilty, then double jeopardy would have kicked in and, no, she would never have been able to be tried for those offenses ever again under the Constitution. Hung jury slash mistrials are different because there was no actual verdict yet. The prosecution, if they wish, can bring charges again against her. So the prosecution could have tried to fine tune their evidence and get a second shot at her if they wanted. Now, in real life, where not they do will vary on the situation. If the evidence is so tainted that the prosecution realizes there's no point, we're just going to get the same result again. Yeah, they're not going to bother, but if they do sense, okay, we just need to get more evidence, talk to the witnesses better, so on. No, they'll go after her again, especially on a double homicide. I doubt they're going to just let her walk. The main point is because there was a hung jury does not mean she was acquitted, not the same thing.
Speaker 2:But Angel, not being an attorney, is still upset because in general he felt helpless, because, as he explains, that even though he didn't pause it, he couldn't fix the situation either and that's why he feels helpless, a cog in the machine. In previous episodes he was able to solve the situation, he was able to take care of it, but in this case he couldn't do a darn thing about it. He saw her commit the murder and yet he couldn't testify. And now the implication made by Cordelia is the fact that he couldn't testify because it was during the day which he was in the courtroom. So that means he was able to get into the courthouse through the sewers and up the grate and whatever.
Speaker 2:So why couldn't he sit in the courtroom? Because it wasn't like he was in direct sunlight, because once again he walked into the courtroom. In fact this is the second episode where he's walked into a courtroom in daylight, because in the previous episode with the gang member also supporting Lindsay's case strolled on in with the gang member. It was during daylight, during the trial. So why couldn't he have been called by the prosecution as a witness, saying this is what I saw, so who knows? But anyways, he says that he couldn't have testified and he is angry because he's saying that Wolfram and Hart is setting all the rules, that he's unable to fight them because they have rigged the game in their favor.
Speaker 3:All their world Wesley structure for power, not truth. It's their system and it's one that works. It works because there's no guilt, there's no torment, no consequences. It's pure. I remember what that was like.
Speaker 2:While I like about those lines is the fact that it's him reminiscing ruefully as his time with Angelus, because when he was Angelus he was like Wolfram and Hart. He was able to do all of these evil actions without remorse, without regret, as he said. That clarity, it was just through the actions, just through the evil. That was in his mind, pure, because there was no moral gray zone, there was no oh, should I do this or shouldn't I do that? No, it was evil, he wanted it, he did it. And that upsets him because he realizes how tempting that is to go back down that half to have that pure view of just do the actions, it doesn't matter who it hurts, or maybe do it because it hurts. And also, as I'll mention again later, is Angel will give a similar speech in the episode power play, where he comments that Wolfram and Hart in evil controls the world, and Holland in a later episode also comments the same thing that they aren't the true source of evil. Mankind is the source of evil. And so this is that, first of you of it is the fact that Angel is fighting a much larger battle, because and once again this is, this is what separates this series from Buffy. Because Buffy, even in season seven, where they battle the first, even in that season they keep it compartmentalized because they reduce the first, the source of all evil, down to sort of a creature or an entity by making it small, having her appear, having it appear in the form of Buffy, so almost lean the audience subconsciously to think, oh, you just defeat the first and it's gone. And in fact that's essentially what happens at the end in the final battle is she's battling an army of uber vampires and she has won, at least temporarily. Here even in this episode they're making it very clear Angel isn't fighting just one demon, one preacher, you know, or one evil, warlock or whatever. No, he's fighting a much larger battle and he is for the first time truly realizing that that just taking down Lindsay or just taking down Vanessa will not be enough, that Wolfram and Hart is much larger. Now he doesn't realize truly how large or how all-encompassing it is, but he is realizing he is a much larger battle that he was ever in when he was in Sunnydale. And also what this scene makes it very clear is that at this point he is somewhat remorse is the fact that he was always of the belief that, oh well, he can defeat evil because it is compartmentalized. Okay, I take this evil creature down. I take this evil doctor who is stalking a woman. Well then, I can at least defeat that source of evil. Or I can go after this little boy who is possessed by a demon. I can save the family.
Speaker 2:But in this case, here he is being in the field. What's the point? I can't defeat evil. Now, by the end of the series, the point of view will change and he will realize that the philosophy shouldn't be defeating evil but just the actual fight of evil, that you need to fight it. Even if you lose, you still win. But as he is discussing this and ruminating on this, that's when Lindsay enters angel investigation and makes it very clear to the angel that he wants out of Wolfram and Hart. Well, angel and Lindsay talk privately and Lindsay makes it very clear that he didn't come here willingly, that this wasn't all I need help. Let's go to angel that he did think this over and that he's here only because he in Lindsay's view, he has no other choices. And he then explains more of his background you think you got me all figured out.
Speaker 3:You think you know everything about me, everything I need to know. What was your father? Some merchant right, linen, silk, that pretty well. A couple servants till you killed him, just the one. I guess it's fair to say that you've never seen anything like real poverty. I'm talking dirt, poor shoes, toilet, six of us kids in a room come flu season it was down to four, seven when they took the house just came right in and took it and my daddy's being nice, you know, joking with the bastards while he signs the deed. So yeah, we had a choice you got stepped on or you got to step in. And I swore to myself that I was not going to be the guy standing there with a stupid grin on my face on. My life got dribbled.
Speaker 2:I love that monologue from Lindsay because, first of all, it very quickly gives us his background dirt poor kid who fought his way to where he was now and also very quickly establishes why he's unrepentant in why, why Wolfram and Hart was able to buy his soul so easily. Because he had nothing and he refused to ever go back to those days. For him, that is the thing that would scare him more than anything else is losing everything is going back to the way his dad was Also going back to Prodigal a father-son relationship just established. Just in that line where you can tell he has no respect for his father whatsoever. Because he said the fool had a smile on his face while signing over the deed and also having the boots stepped on his throat. At that moment he lost all respect for his dad and said you're a loser. I will never be like you, ever again. And that is why he went to Wolfram and Hart, because Wolfram said you know, have to be like your father, you can have it all and we will make sure of it.
Speaker 2:Now also, what is interesting in this scene is the fact that faith was also an evil person. I mean, she killed numerous people, attacked even more Well, in her own way she was assisting in bringing down the end of the world. But Angel was willing to forgive her sins. He was willing to look for the goodness within her, even though everyone else the Watchers Council, retrieval Squad Wesley, cordelia Buffy, all of them had turned their backs on her. But he was willing to fight for her, even fighting against all of the others and standing up to them, because he said there is goodness within her, that I am here to save souls. But with Lindsay he's not willing to give him a chance. And this scene makes it very clear why he is so cold-hearted towards Lindsay and he's not willing to trust him, because with faith he could sense that she did want to be redeemed and that she was repentant deep down about what she had done, whereas Lindsay, as I mentioned before, he's unrepentant yes, this is a more lying killing children. He's not willing to cross, but otherwise, everything else he had no problems with. And that is the key difference between Lindsay and Faith. And that is why Angel. It says that basically he's here not because of any guilt or whatever, but out of fear, and that's the only reason he's here.
Speaker 2:It does also bring up an alternate universe. Before I mentioned the alternate universe of the show where what if Lindsay had worked with Angel in the season 5 instead of Spike? Also, how would the series have played out if, let's say, from this episode onwards, angel was willing to work with Lindsay, that instead of being cold-hearted towards Lindsay he is willing to fight for him, he takes a more sympathetic approach towards Lindsay that he did towards Faith? Would he have been able to save Lindsay's soul? My opinion is possibly not, because Lindsay, as I said, had no desire to change. So Lindsay probably would have ultimately gone back to Wolfram and Hart, but it would have made for an interesting series of episodes.
Speaker 2:Also, as a sign note here is in the dialogue that I was just doing, when Lindsay was asking Angel for help, the part I cut out at the very end was Angel shakin' himself away coming that oh I'm sorry, I fell asleep. Lindsay actually does a similar thing in the episode Not Faded Away. When Angel is talking to him and Lindsay makes the comment and says, oh I'm sorry, I nodded off there as a nice book, ending to him doing the same sarcastic response to Angel, the Angel just stood towards Lindsay. Lindsay does go on and reveals more about Vanessa, saying that she's been hired to kill some kids and at this point Angel was tuning Lindsay out. He would have just tossed Lindsay out on his ear, but that moment killing kids that did get Angel's attention, though he makes it very clear, as I mentioned before, the difference between Lindsay and Faith is the fact that, as he says, you're panicking right now, you can't believe how bad you let things get. That's not change. You have to make the decision to change. That's something you do by yourself. People never do and, as a result, that's why he's willing to work with Lindsay. But deep down he does believe that, unlike Faith, lindsay is not willing to change, because Lindsay even says I've worked some pretty hairy deals. That comes with the term.
Speaker 2:Now, the analogy here that I also got while watching this is almost like once again getting back to the alcoholism addiction analogy that the series has brought up in the past is in the case of Faith, she is someone who no longer wants to be an addict that she was sincere in changing and she's willing to do the hard work, whereas Lindsay is just the guy who, oh well, is an alcoholic, is an addict, but maybe got busted, is now for reckless endangerment or is now facing prison time or a possible divorce or whatever, and wants to change, not because he's sorry about what he did but sorry about the punishment. And you get the feeling that once that situation has been resolved he'll go right back to doing it Same thing with Lindsay. Once this situation is resolved he'll go right back to Wolfram and Hart. As I said, angel is still willing to work with Lindsay out of necessity because, as I said, innocent children is something that needs to be resolved, and Lindsay agrees to provide Angel with the info he needs, including getting the files which are buried deep inside of vault. He indicates and he says that the vault is guarded by a demon that Lindsay says he could never get passed. And Angel agrees that this is a two-man job, that he and Lindsay will have to work together on that. Those we find out is actually a three-man job, but we'll get to that in a moment.
Speaker 2:And Lindsay also reveals that there are shamans that can sense the moment a vampire crosses the threshold, that the moment a vampire enters, it sets off an alarm and Lindsay then makes an unquote of the righteous shall walk a thorny path. Now it sounds like he was quoting the Bible or some proverb or so like that, and I tried to google it and I couldn't find anything that was really matching up with that and wrote off his authorial license. The closest I could find was Proverbs 1519, which is the way of a sluggered, is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level of highway, which I said that's the closest. You know that is actually the opposite of what Lindsay just said, because Lindsay implied that the righteous have to face challenges, whereas Proverbs actually said that the righteous actually have an easier route. But wording wise, was the closest I could find.
Speaker 2:Well, angel realizes that he does need additional help on this, so the person he turns to is gunned. And one nice thing about this is the way he gets gunned to help out, because at first gun makes it very clear I'm not really interested in some rich guy's heartbreak, which ties in with the character from Warzone, whereas at first he's not willing to work with Angel because some white vampire and the same thing here, like you, can understand why guns really care about Lindsay having moral problems. So how does Angel get him to help out? By playing out as Deafwish I want you to help, because it's dangerous which immediately causes guns to say, okay, I'm in, so we're all playing out a consistency in character. Well, now it cuts to the scheme itself and next day Lindsay is walking into the firm.
Speaker 2:And as a note here, one nice thing about this scene is the fact that this is staged almost like a mini heist scene in a film like Ocean's Eleven or the Mission Impossible series or not so coincidentally the TV series leverage, which I mentioned not so coincidentally because it also featured Christian Kane, and it even had appropriate suspense, music and tilted camera angles as Lindsay is walking along, and rapid editing and even the sinking of rock watches, which I liked. But anyways, getting back to the scene, we see Angel's underneath cutting a hole through the floor and attaching two magnets to the floor, to the ceiling above him. Lindsay, meanwhile, is going down the sub level three and while he's there he runs into Laila who's coming out of the archives, and he just explains that he's there doing some research. He then swings by the guards office, which we see has a shaman present in there, and he's talking to the guard. Now, as he's talking to the guard, on the security cameras in the room he sees guns strolling into the office, making a huge, purposeful scene with the great line of woohoo, my god. They told me it was true but I didn't believe them. Damn, here it is.
Speaker 2:Evil white folks really do have a mecca, which is probably something that was charismatic fun delivery that J August Richards does in the entire series where it is so over the top that you can't help but laugh. Especially the evil white folks really do have a mecca line. Fun line as gun is causing a scene, causing, of course, all the security guards to come in, because he's dressed in typical street outfit, with the do rag, the hoodie, the whole nine yards to really stand out in this room and I like the contrast of it's all pristine white, black guy right in the middle of it and then continuing doing other cliched lines of did you just step on my shoes, you know? Did you just invade my space? I mean you. Usually every cliched line one could think of in a scene like this and you could tell the character is doing that purposefully, just to get everyone to pay attention to him, especially the security guards. But while he's doing that, he's going to sit at his watch looking for a specific time.
Speaker 2:We see angel and Lindsay doing the same thing in their scene, in their settings, look at their watches and precisely 1215. At the exact same time. That's when gun brings in a vamp into the lobby, setting him off and thus setting off the shaman, who of course starts freaking out because a vampire crossing into the threshold. Well, as soon as gun releases the vampire in the lobby, angel swoops up into the office from beneath the floor and that's why they sink their watches, because this way that the shaman's going off, the security guard is thinking it's because of the vampire that gun released, when in reality it's also because of angel getting into the firm. And angel is now dressed in a suit to blend in with the rest of the attorney. So he pops onto the main floor as the guards go chasing after guns, ramp and Lindsay and guard are in the guard rail looking at the chase and Lindsay quietly flips off the camera that shows angel sneaking around the hallway. So this way then the guard wouldn't say, hey, who is this guy?
Speaker 2:And Lindsay, serving his purpose, then leaves the realm and meanwhile for the security guards, they quickly gust the vampire, because the main purpose that vampire served was not to cause any harm, it was just to distract guards and set off the shamans. So as a result? No big deal. But meanwhile angel then gets off the elevator and we see the demon that was guarding the archives. He fights him quickly, dispatches him because he blows some dust, provided by Wesley, which knocks the demon out.
Speaker 2:And angel then goes into the file drawers and takes a bunch of discs with whatever information he can find on them. And as he's leaving the realm, he does see a scroll sitting on the side which we can't tell if he's hearing this music or if he's just playing in the episode. But there's a holy music and you can tell by the look on angel's face that he's drawn to this thing for maybe reasons he couldn't even tell. In fact, at the end of the episode he even says I have no idea why I was drawn to, I just was. But the moment he grabs it, another alarm goes off because obviously this was a very valuable scroll. It was never meant to be moved, which makes me wonder why it's not behind a glass case or anything, but whatever. But anyways, the doors to the archives are about to slam shut and, just like in any action movie scene, he slides underneath it just in the nick of time.
Speaker 2:He then calls Lindsay up and tells him take off, leave, and he, he gets out through the hole in the floor. But as Lindsay is trying to leave, all of the attorneys are locked into the building and he reveals that there are mine readers now being brought in to find out what happened. Well, at this point, while evil people are wondering if there are other mechas they can go to, my spiny senses is tingly. It must be time for our pop culture segment, where I find every pop cultural reference in this episode. Compile it as a supercut and make heads or tails of what they are talking about your spider sense pop cultural reference sorry what Helen Keller is homo, sideless, be superman.
Speaker 3:Now, that's a big part, the perspiration, but the other part, the inspiration here it is evil.
Speaker 2:White folks really don't have a mech the part that would like to talk about is Hollins comment about the perspiration and inspiration. That's a reference to the famous quote attributed to Thomas Edison of genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, and Thomas Edison is credited with this famous adage about creativity and innovation. Now I found another quotation that specified a slightly different ratio, of two percent to 98 percent. So what did Edison actually say? Well, as in did discuss both of the ratios listed, and he also spoke of different ingredients such as hard work, and his popular aphorism, though, evolved over time. Also, before Edison's pronouncements were published, there were other precursor statements in circulation. For example, in 1892, a newspaper in massachusetts reacted to a statement by a prominent lecturer named Kate Sandborn. The newspaper indicated that sayings about the composition of genius were already being disseminated, and Kate Sandborn is being lots of credit for having said that talent is perspiration. That idea has been expressed very often, in fact much in the same terms. A common way of saying it is that genius is perspiration more than inspiration. Well, in 1893, sandborn delivered lecture in california that was reported in a riverside newspaper. Here. She suggested that genius was composed of three ingredients, but she didn't give a memorable fractional breakdown. Her subject was what is genius? She quoted copiously from ancient and modern writers giving their definitions of the word genius, and winnie added that genius is inspiration, talent and perspiration.
Speaker 2:In april 1898 the ladies old journal printed a remark about genius, credited to thomas eddison. The main ingredient mentioned was hard work and the ratio is 98 to expert. Ralph keys listed a citation in the quote verifier where he said once, when asked to give his definition of genius, mr Edison replied 2% is genius and 98% is hard work. And another time, when the argument that genius was inspiration before him, he said bah, genius is not inspired, inspiration is perspiration. Also in april 1898, the youths companion printed several remarks from Edison that presented a ratio of 98 to 2 98% of genius is hard work, said thomas eddison, and he added as for genius being inspired, inspiration in most cases is another word for perspiration. As the foremost example, one type of genius, mr Edison is an authority on the subject, as aphorism corroborates johnson's often quoted definition of genius the infinite capacity of taking pains. In 1898, the president of a shoe company deliver a speech to high school students and he incorporated adage ascribed to Edison, but hard work was not listed as an ingredient. Instead, two constituents were given inspiration and perspiration, and the ratio was 2 to 98. Even mr Edison is quoted as having said that genius may be divided into two parts, of which inspiration is 2% and perspiration is 98.
Speaker 2:In june 1898, a version of the aphorism was published in a montana newspaper and was attributed to a person who was writing about Edison instead of, as himself saying it, speaking of life and labors of thomas a Edison. A writer says that 2% of his great discoveries and inventions can be credited inspiration, while the other 98% is due to perspiration unquote. At last, in 1901, the modern version of the saying, with the ratio of 1 to 99, emerged in the newspaper in Idaho, where it was credited to Edison. This citation was located by top researcher Barry povett, who said genius is another name for hard work, honest work. Genius, says Edison, is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. People who take pains to never do more than what they get paid for never get paid for anything more than they do. Multiple versions of Edison's maximum weren't circulation at the same time. For example, in 1902, the magazine scientific american presented the following instance, with a ratio of 2 to 98.
Speaker 2:Quote to those who believe that asen's work is a product of an inspiration given by nature to but a few. The story of the manner in which he achieved success will seem shockingly unromantic. In the genius who works by inspiration, asen has no great faith. Genius is 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration is the incisive epigramic answer he once gave to a man who thought that a genius only worked when the spirit moved him. Unquote. In 1904 the Chicago Tribune published a profile of Edison that included a version of the saying well, his fondness for epigrams led him away from the spirit of true genius when he took occasion to say that genius is 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration. The saying inspired variation. For example, in 1907 a store selling shirts published an advertisement with the following formulation for success we carry the elements of success under our hat 1% luck, 2% inspiration, 97% perspiration. Watch us perspire when we show you shirts, as we have so many to show you. In 1910, a biography as in his life and inventions ascribed the most common version of the maximum to Edison.
Speaker 2:Quote the idea of attributing great success to genius has always been repudiated by Edison, as evidenced by his historic remark that genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. Again, in a conversation many years ago at the laboratory between Edison bachelor and eh johnson. The latter made allusion to g Edison's genius as evidenced by his achievement. When Edison replied stop, I tell you, genius is hard work, stick to it. This and common sense.
Speaker 2:In 1932, a man who worked at Edison's laboratory named Martin Andre Rosenthoff, published an article in Harper's magazine. They quoted. As, in taking credit for modern saying, quote you may have heard people repeat what I have said genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration, unquote. In conclusion, the basic idea that genius is composed of inspiration and perspiration was in circulation before Edison's adage was published but, as it can be credited, was presenting a clever fractional breakdown. Indeed, evidence suggested that he presented two different ratios 2 to 98 and 1 to 99. That's, it's reasonable to credit him with the modern saying that uses a 1 to 99 ratio. It's also acceptable to ascribe to him the maximum specified, a 2 to 98 ratio, and also, as a site note that this also played on the idea of how much of our results are due to what we do perspiration as opposed to who we are.
Speaker 2:Inspiration, going once again back to the theme of this episode that I mentioned, which was a refiner to do what we do, or do we have that choice? So now getting back to the episode itself, as I mentioned, the mind readers were brought into a room to investigate the attorneys, to read their minds. And Lila being innocent well, in Wolfram and Hart, innocent means she didn't do anything against the farm, not that she didn't do anything evil. She's obviously very unconcerned because, whether they can do it, read about the evil deeds she did. She did them in the service of Wolfram and Hart, so whatever. And so she knew she was in no danger whatsoever.
Speaker 2:And the mind readers just silently study each attorney, one after another, after another, and you do see him pause in front of Lindsey and concentrate very heavily on him. And then they go and consult with Holland. And then Holland turns to the group and reveals that one of the attorneys has been disloyal Because he's approaching Lindsey and Lindsey just has a subtle look of fear, which is appropriate, and but then he makes it very clear that the traitor is Lee, our favorite creepy attorney. And it turns out that Lee was in secret talks with a rival firm. And but before he can make any form of an excuse, I had no intention to leave, they approached me, I didn't approach them, etc. A security guard behind him shoots him point blank right through the back of the head and a bunch of the blood splatters onto Lindsey just standing right next to him. And nice symbolism of the fact that Lindsey is now realizing he'll never be able to get the blood of the firm washed off of him, no matter what he does, and that there is always a price that he will have to pay for his actions.
Speaker 2:Holland excuses all the attorneys except for Lindsey and he talks to him quietly. But while he's doing this, angel has returned to Angel Investigations and he gives the disk to Cordelia to have her look up the information on Vanessa, and he hands the scroll over to Wesley and says I saw this here, I need you to see what this is. And he explains that he has no idea why. He took the scroll, just spoke to him. Well, cordelia puts the disk into the computer and she sees immediately that they are encrypted, so she's going to need assistance.
Speaker 2:So, going back to Wolfram and Hart, holland sits Lindsey down and talks to him and he asks him a similar question that Angel asked him early in an episode and that is are you afraid? Now, what's interesting is the fact that when Angel asked Lindsey that question, lindsey said no, I'm not afraid. And he explains he's not afraid of Angel because he realized Angel's not going to hurt him. Now Angel sees that Lindsey, even in that scene, is lying because he says oh no, I can smell fear on you. But as we realize, especially in this scene, his fear is not of Angel because, as I mentioned also in the previous episode, five by five, when he's talking to Angel in his office, he's not afraid of Angel because he knows Angel's not going to hurt him, because he's not a direct threat to Angel. So Angel's world code will say no, I can't kill Lindsey because Lindsey's not doing anything that justifies me killing him.
Speaker 2:But he is afraid and in this scene with Holland he's not afraid of Angel, he's afraid of Wolfram and Hart. But unlike Angel who, when talking to Lindsey, is cold and brutal you're not going to change, I don't like you. And he's nodding him off, as Lindsey's training explains background, holland's taking a much softer approach and even when Lindsey reveals that he is afraid, holland responds very kindly and says that's understandable. I mean, he's very soft spoken in how he says his lines and he refills that. He knows that Lindsey is working with Angel. He knows that. It's not a surprise to him.
Speaker 2:He also makes it clear that Lee was a sacrifice. He killed Lee just as a way to make it very clear to Lindsey that I like you, but I will kill you as well. Because he says you know, be very careful about your answers, because all I have to do is just nod my head to the guard behind him and the same fate will be fall Lindsey. And it's very clear Holland's not laughing. That's why he killed Lee, right next to Lindsey, to make it clear this is not a bluff. You give the wrong answer, I will have you killed and nothing twice about it. And he gives a similar speech to Lindsey that Angel gave him, except in this case he's made it very clear Lindsey has to decide what side he's on. And he makes it very clear you can't have it both ways. You can't play for good and evil, you have to choose a side. And at the end he allows Lindsey to leave. He says go and do what you have to do. You know, think things over.
Speaker 2:Well, now it cuts back to Angel investigations and Cordelia is now on the phone talking to Willow who, being a computer expert, is providing her advice on how to decrypt computer files, and she even makes a reference, saying that, oh, yeah, they're decrypting files as well, which, for fans of the series, when this episode first aired, this had aired right after the episode Primeval on Buffy, where Willow in that episode was also decrypting files. So that did as a nice quick line tie in between the two series and as a nice throwaway joke. When she says, yeah, they're decrypting files as well, angel says quietly what are the odds? Yeah, it's a nice fair. So, as a side note here, as I just mentioned, even though the episodes were aired somewhat the same, it were aired on the same evening.
Speaker 2:The timeline doesn't quite sync up because, as I said, this was when Willow was decrypting information on the creature Adam in that episode to get from the initiative. Well, here's the problem is the fact that in the episode Primeval she was finishing hacking those files less than the day after Angel had left Sunnydale. Well, angel had returned to Sunnydale before the beginning of Warzone. That's why that episode occurred and that episode, if you recall, took place over approximately about four days. So that means Willow had to have been doing the hacking before the events of Warzone were over and therefore before this episode ever began. So they weren't quite as parallel as her line oh, she's decrypting files as well, would imply.
Speaker 2:Well, anyways, willow does give her the steps in terms of the keystrokes to do the decrypting and she does hack in and decrypts the files and we see the menu structure. And it is an interesting menu structure. The folders are cases, billing, records, inventories, associate. Okay, that makes sense. Very well from all those make absolute sense. But then it has two special folders one on Vanessa Brewer, a folder just for herself at the root menu, and one on Lindsay McDonald, which, wow, he isn't valuable to the firm because he gets his own separate folder at the root level and then also lists other offices as well Los Angeles, new York, boston, chicago. They did list the realm office that we see later on in series, but anyways, it then gives us a brief bio on Vanessa and, according to the file, she lost her sight on purpose at the age of 21.
Speaker 2:Doesn't explain why she lost it on purpose, but anyways, she then spent five years studying with cave dwelling monks who believe that enlightenment is achieved through seeing, with the heart and not the mind. Now here's the cute thing about this is Wesley, who's in the scene, stands up and starts talking about this, about the cave dwelling monks, as if this was knowledge that he had, whereas watching the episode, you see this is literally what it says up on the screen. So Cordelia could have said it just as profoundly as he did, as it was some deep knowledge that nobody else knew. It was literally what was said on the screen. It would be cute Cordelia just say thanks, wesley, I can read, or something like that, but anyways, the file also makes it very clear that she uses her frail appearance because Vanessa is a very more petite, fitter, smaller woman. So the result she uses that appearance to make authorities think, oh, there's no way this small woman could have attacked and killed people.
Speaker 2:And also says that her son for powers are highly developed extra visual perception and that she's able to penetrate the most sophisticated of defenses. Not sure what that means. We never really see that in the episode. We find that she's able to find the most hidden of objects, which, once again, another ability that we never actually see. It's not like she walks into a room and is able to sense a hidden door or a trap or whatever. No, we only see out for three powers. Is her extra visual perception that we do see? You know to? Unfortunately, a wasted ability is what we never get to see in years.
Speaker 2:But the file says that she's been working with the firm since 1991 and her most recent job a grand file is to kill three children who are all seers, and they were founded remote locations and able to see into the heart of things. And we're told that individually their power is limited, but together the powers can increase exponentially. So almost thinking maybe something out of minority report where they can foresee the future. I don't know, it doesn't actually say what their combined powers would be, but we're told that the kids were arriving that morning and were being kept in a safe house until their mentor arrives that evening. Some were from the east, though the file doesn't actually say what east could be. For all we know that could be China, or actually that could have been Iowa, which would be interesting if that's what revealed was yeah, it came from the far east of the land of Iowa. So Lindsay does arrive.
Speaker 2:And just as a quick backtrack there on that one, also to show angels cold hearted attitude towards Lindsay, when angel shows up with the disc at the beginning of the scene and he's asked oh, did Lindsay make it out of there? And angel, instead of say oh, we need to go back there and save Lindsay, or whatever says basically takes a lot. If he does, he does. If he doesn't, he doesn't. If he made out there, great. If he doesn't, nothing we can do to save him. I mean, it's you literally didn't care if Lindsay live or died at that point because, as far as angels concerned, his fate is sealed and he served his purpose. But nevertheless, lindsay did make it out of their life. And he gives a white lie to the AI team about the fact that the firm doesn't know which files were taken, but they'll figure it out. Now, this is a lie because we've seen the previous scene that Holland knew very clearly what Lindsay was doing. Thus he knew what files were taken. But nevertheless, angel sends Wesley and Crudely to intercept the mentor for his safety, so that he didn't get killed by Vanessa, and that Angel will bring the kids to the mentor.
Speaker 2:Well, it cuts to the safe house where the kids are being guarded by a kind looking guardian who is feeding them lunch. At that moment, vanessa shows up and stabs with her walking stick, stabs the guardian and she approaches the kids. And we do see that kids have a couple of interesting toys. For blind kids. One has an Etch-a-sketch and the other one has a Rubik's Cube, which Rubik's Cubes are difficult in and of themselves. For us sighted people, for a person who literally cannot see anything on the cube, even more of a challenge than the same thing for the Etch-a-sketch. But since they're seers I guess they have the ability. But anyways, vanessa approaches the kids, who are understandably scared because they can sense a threatening force coming upon them, and she is very, very clear she's about to kill them and she turns just as Angel and Lindsay enter the room and Angel attacks and as Lindsay rescues the children, pulls them to safety and, as with the previous fight, she very quickly gets the upper hand on Angel and Lindsay, who is also fighting, and she's moving faster than both of them in anticipating each of their moves.
Speaker 2:And as a note here, special Effects Supervisor Loni Parastarr says that they couldn't afford to shoot Vanessa's perspective using green screen, this heat signature effect. So instead they came up with the crazy idea of painting the actors with glow in the dark paint and shooting the scenes in the dark, and the effect was intensified by offsetting the footage to create tracers and then reversing the image. As she said, it was supposed to tell the story that she sees the action before it actually happened, which is the thing that Wesley and Cordelia commented at the beginning of the episode. As Loni mentions, it was such a wacky idea that and it really worked well, which I will give credit. They don't show it too often, just very quick flashes of it, but it is effective because we do see this blurry heat signature and also as a note in the script for blind date.
Speaker 2:The scenes in which Vanessa sees are described as follows like curly and photography video, like Roy and fluorescent colored outlines with people more bright and vivid than objects. Angel's movement sends a tale of light, like a comet, and that is what we're seeing here in these flashes. Well, during the fight, as before, she tosses Angel around very easily using her martial arts and, as I said before, with these fight scenes it is very clear that the actress is a stunt woman because she moves very gracefully and very easily in these scenes. It is quite clear that the actress is very comfortable doing moments like this. But during the fight, angel will some or another figures out that his only defense is to stand stock still, because when he stands completely still he is invisible to her. She knows he's there, but she literally cannot see him, even with the extra sensory perception, and he also, as a vampire, has the ability to move very quickly. So what will happen is she swings out at him, he moves stock still. Then, when she has her head turned, he then swings at her, freezes again and does this movement again get swing, freeze, swing, freeze. And it does make for a more interesting fight than what we've seen previously in the series because of this stop, stop, start, stop, start, stop, approach. But then he then then grabs her cane that she has any stamps her wasn't there by killing her. And it is interesting in the fact that he doesn't seem to have any moral problems with killing a human. Yes, see, she's an assassin, but she's still human. So, but instead of knocking her unconscious, like he would some other humans, like he did in sanctuary with the retrieval squad, where the squad members were just knocked out cold, well, she, on the other hand, is killed, and he has no problems with that. Well, now it cuts to the epilogue In Angel's back at Angel Investigations thinking things over.
Speaker 2:Wesley then comes and talks to him and lets him know that the children are safe and what they're meant to her, and he then presents a scroll which he ideas as the prophecies of Abizuron and he comments that the prophecy has not just a bit about the children, which Wesley explains is why Wolfram and Hart knew about them arriving, but also an entire passage about Angel, and it talks about a vampire with a soul, and that's when he uses the line. There is a design angel, hidden in the chaos as it may be, but it's there and you have your place in it, which I'll come back to that line here in just a few moments. But one thing to note here is now the role that Wesley is serving now in this show. He has now taken over Doyle's role that Doyle had in the first several episodes, which was Angel's Conscient sort of his guide, as it were, towards redemption, because in previous episodes, after Doyle left, it was Cordelia who would do it. And it's better to have Wesley do it, because Wesley is older, he's more mature and it's more in his tone to be the calmer, rational one, because Cordelia is blunt but she's not the type to be that self aware and to provide advice to Angel. It never came across as sounding credible to her character, whereas for Wesley a scene like this makes sense because he is educated, he has seen stuff over the years, so it would make sense for him to be the calm one to Angel and provide him advice.
Speaker 2:Well, it also cuts over to Wolfram and Hart, and Lindsay has entered Holland's office. As Holland and others are packing his stuff up, lindsay returns to Holland to make it very clear that he has made copies, as he says, enough to keep him safe, to make sure that he doesn't get terminated either. And he explains that all he wants is just his own life and not to be at war with Wolfram and Hart. And that's when Holland, once again adopting the father attitude, just shakes his head and just looks him kindly and says that Lindsay will all part of something larger Parallel Lee Wesley's comment. And he says that he handpicked Lindsay back in law school because he knew that Lindsay had potential for something greater he could. Holland was able to see the bigger picture and saw how Lindsay fit in it.
Speaker 2:And that's when he uses the lie. It's not about good or evil, it's about who wields the most power. And we wield a lot of it here. You know what? I think the world is better for it, which I'll get to the first part of the line and dressable about who wields the most power. But nice justification is that the world is better because of us. He knows what they do is evil and he feels that he's improving the world because of the evil.
Speaker 2:And that is almost like an interesting justification. He's not saying I'm better or we're better because of our power, the world is better, and thereby setting once again Do the evils serve as much purpose in this universe as the good do? Would people like Angel or, in this TV series, smallville, superman? Would they serve as much purpose if there weren't people like Lindsay McDonald's or Lex Luthor? What would Superman do if he didn't have Lex Luthor? But now getting back to that first part of the line, that line about power will be echoed again by Angel in his big monologue in Powerplay when he says almost the exact same thing and again he acknowledges that Wolfram and Hart is the one that yields the most power. And Buffy even did a similar line about that as well by the first in season 7.
Speaker 3:It's not about good or evil. It's about who wields the most power. There is one thing in this business and this apocalypse that we call a world that matters Power. Power tips the scale. Power sets the course. Until I have real power, global power, I have nothing. I accomplished nothing. It's not about right. It's not about wrong. It's about power.
Speaker 2:So result? In all three episodes we have them acknowledging that power does exist and it's almost a nihilistic approach to that's. All that matters in this world is power, though as a side note though, in Angel in the Powerplay episode, when he's come in, we find out later that he's somewhat sincere about that. Yes, he is sincere about Wolfram and Hart having the most power. But the focus that the world should have isn't on achieving power. That's not all that matters. It's fighting the power that matters. So the show does end up taking a slightly different approach, a less nihilistic approach towards whether or not the ends justify the means in the world. But now, getting back to the episode, holland then offers Lindsay a huge promotion with a large raise and, as he says, ungodly benefits which, considering this, is an evil law firm. It does make you wonder how truly ungodly these benefits are concerning no God. And what is also interesting about this scene is this is almost like Satan tempting a soul who is on the edge, unwilling to give you the world, and just the way Satan is usually portrayed in a lot of movies and TV shows quiet, kind, pure evil, but kind. I'm willing to give you everything, and in fact Holland even says what I'm offering you, lindsay, is the world. Now, I know you pretty well and I'm betting that you're going to take it, and this is reminiscent of the story in the Bible of Satan tempting Christ out in the desert by saying I can offer you all the kingdoms, now just turn and serve me. Holland is doing the same thing to Lindsay I'm giving you the world. In fact, he even says that I'm offering you the world. And he's making it very clear that Wolfram and Hart's decision is to promote Lindsay because they're hoping that the power corrupts him after he won a righteous battle against them. And this is very similar to the same offer that they make to Angel at the end of season four.
Speaker 2:Leading into season five is the fact that you have bested us. You have stood up to us. So now we're going to try a different tactic. Instead of fighting you head on, we're going to tempt you and they do the same thing with all the members of the AI by tempting them with different items. To say that's how we'll defeat you is not through fighting you. No, because you will resist us, will do it instead by tempting you, by giving you what you want. Instead of taking stuff away from you, we'll give it to you. And that's the approach Holland is doing with Lindsay not fighting him, not threatening him, but tempting him.
Speaker 2:And in this case, after Holland leaves, lindsay approaches the door, shuts them, thereby making very clear what his decision is and shutting the doors metaphorically on his redemption, that he's going to go all in on evil.
Speaker 2:He then sits down and contemplates his future, which is reminiscent of the scene at the end of Godfather, part two, where Michael Corbillone is all by himself complying his future and the decisions that he has made and the impact it will have on his future.
Speaker 2:He then looks outside and surveys the scene as it fades over the angel, who's doing the same thing from his point of view, and it's a nice use of a fade, as opposed to the standard smash cuts that the show does, and it shows how intertwined these two characters are by fading. One is part of the other, both are part of a greater whole and the camera makes it very clear which side each of them are on, because of the fact that Lindsay is shot from the left an evil side and the camera turns as he's turning away from the camera, thereby turning his back on good, whereas angels shot from the right good, and he's turning towards the camera, accepting the need to be good. So one is turning his back, one is turning towards it, and the lighting on them makes it very clear that they are yin yang, their opposite sides of the same point, and the episode ends. Well, that now leads us into our next segment, favorite kills and lines, where I discuss my favorite kill and my favorite line in the episode.
Speaker 2:Well in this episode I actually had a number of deaths going through each of the main characters. Angel, at the beginning, killed two vampires in a warehouse and then, as I mentioned, at the end he killed Vanessa. Vanessa, being an assassin, got her death in. She killed at the beginning of the episode victim in the warehouse. Though the police file indicates a double homicide, we're not told who the second death is. So I'm not counting that, I'm only counting what we see in the episode, which is the gentleman in the warehouse. And then also at the end she kills the guardian of the three children and then, meanwhile, wolfram at heart security. They end up killing guns vampire, and then the one security guard ended up shooting Lee Mercer. Yeah, a moment of silence for our creepy attorney. Okay, that's all, but anyways. So that takes our kill total for this series up to 33 and a half deaths for Angel, one half of the death for Wesley, one for gun and 52 for all other characters. So the total of 86 deaths. Now, far for your kill. Another moment of silence for Lee Mercer who, as the passion of the nerd, love to describe him as the the Bazinga lawyer because of his appearance and vocal similarity to Shelling Cooper from the Big Bang Theory. Now, what is notable about this stuff? Not just because he's a regular character, because he had been in several episodes prior to this in a notable role, because he had a name Lee Mercer, but also what this does.
Speaker 2:This raises the stakes for both the characters of Lindsay and Lila, and it makes it clear to the audience that leaving the firm is not an easy situation. They, even though Lindsay said I'm out, I went out of here, as that scene showed, no, if you leave, you'll die. And we see the same thing later on with Lila is the fact that, as she reveals, even if you die, your soul is still in the service of Wolfram and Hart. You're never free of the firm. And that scene gives that hint to it very quickly, and also it lends additional possible motivation for Lindsay's decision to stay at the end.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, there was the corner office, the ungodly benefit, so on, and then also the fact that Holland quote understood him better than Angel did. But also it might be a bit of fear saying him thinking well, if I walk out the door, the security guard is just going to shoot me through the skull, so I'm going to stay and have the corner office. It's either leave and die or stay and live, in which case, in his point of view, stay and live. So, as a result, by killing off a semi regular like we Mercer, it's sort of nice thematic and implied purpose for the other characters.
Speaker 1:Now for my favorite line there is a design angel, hidden in the chaos as it may be, but it's there and you have your place in it.
Speaker 2:That line from Wesley at the end of the episode is my favorite line of it Because, as I've mentioned throughout this episode is this series is bringing up the theory that everyone has a role to play, because notice how Wesley's line is paralleling Holland's line to Lindsay, saying that we're all part of a greater whole. They're saying the same thing to different characters and in this case, here the two characters are thematically different. Angel is good, lindsay is bad and, as I've mentioned before, is without evil. What would angel be able to do to redeem himself? He needs care, people like Lindsay, he needs the demons. He needs that to redeem himself, to atone for his sins. So, in a way, is Lindsay serving as much of a purpose in the greater scheme of things as angel is? Yes, the prophecy spoke of the vampire with a soul, but is Lindsay just as important of a character?
Speaker 2:And also this gets back to what I was going to say at the beginning was the deterministic view of life is are we meant to do this? Are we destined to do this? And, as a side note here, the issue with a deterministic view of life is the fact that I take no responsibility for my actions, because if I'm compelled to do this. If they had said I'm supposed to murder 15 people, then why should I be blamed for just fulfilling my destiny and killing those 15 people? Why should I try to be good if I was meant to be evil? That's somewhat of a somber view of destiny is the fact that everything I do, I was meant to do is preordained, but that is the view this series now takes.
Speaker 2:From this point on, that angel, especially, is destined to be good. He's destined to be a champion. It's just a matter of how he gets there, and the series will delve into that a lot more. In that line there is a design angel hitting the chaos as it may be, but it's there and you have your place in it. That now becomes almost the mantra of the show An angel has a place in this world. It's not random chance. And we see this also play out even heavier when Skip points out that everything that happened up to that point with Connor and Darwa and everything else was a part of a grand scheme similar to what is Veggie and Prophecy Girl, where even quote choices characters thought they were making, they were being manipulated into those choices that the powers that be or whoever was guiding them into those choices to cause other things to occur that literally were all just helpless puppets. Well, on that note, that's it for this week's episode In the next show.
Speaker 3:I will discuss the following episode.
Speaker 2:I will continue my retrospective with the episode to Shan Xu in LA, which brings the entire season to a finish, where a lot happens, including a permanent change in the character, the explanation of a prophecy that will become Angel's guiding motivation for the rest of the series, a showdown with Lindsey, a new change of phase of operations and proof that you can never assume that characters are gone forever. So join me as I discuss whether or not this episode wrapped things up in a satisfying way and how well it set the series up for the second season and beyond. So join me, stephen, for the next episode of Wolfram and Cast. If you wish to reach out to me with any questions or comments, you can reach me on Facebook, instagram or Twitter at Wolframcast, or email me at Wolframcast at gmailcom. Feel free to write to me and I might read your comments or emails on the air. Please leave me a rating and review and be sure to press subscribe on iTunes, spotify or wherever you get your podcast entertainment. But for now,