Tag: Angel

Comics / Graphic Novels

Book, Comic

I’ve been reading the Buffy and Angel comics that represent the eighth / sixth season for a while now. And I have read good critics about the works of Frank Miller – he wrote the graphic novels Sin City and 300 which were made into movies and Christian Bale’s Batman is also based on his interpretation of the hero.

So I decided to order a batch of new stuff.

These are the Buffy / Angel comics that I already have:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future For You

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wolves at the Gate

Angel: After the Fall

Angel: After the Fall: First Night
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Buffy: Season 1

Buffy Marathon, DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon

Deutsche Version | Buffy Marathon | Season 2

Disc 1

Welcome to the Hellmouth

Synopsis: Buffy and her mom have just moved to Sunnydale, California. She was thrown out of her old school in Los Angeles because she burned down the gym (it was full of Vampires). But she hopes that this part of her life lays behind her – how wrong she was. A very old Vampire – the Master – tries to free himself from the Hellmouth that is directly under the town. And she can’t even keep it a secret that she is the Slayer. Everyone seems to know: The librarian Giles, her classmate Xander and even some mysterious guy in the dark alleys.

My Opinion: I’ve seen this pilot for the first time on DVD on November 22th, 2007. And I have watched it 10 times in the past 16 months. I know all the lines by heart by now. “It’s dated?” – “It’s carbon-dated!” I have to say I liked it that the whole gang knew from the beginning. It separates it from other superhero shows (*cough* Smallville *cough*). That makes for a great foundation of their friendship even though each and every one will have secrets of their own over the years.

Shortly before Buffy killed her first Vampire on the show she made a remark that rang a bell – I had heard a similar remark spoken in a similar tone elsewhere. Wink

Buffy: Now, we can do this the hard way, or … well, actually, there’s just the hard way.
Darla: That’s fine with me.
Buffy: Are you sure? Now this is not gonna be pretty. We’re talking violence, strong language, adult content …

Jack O’Neill: Assuming – of course – you are the Tok’ra.
Cordesh: And if we’re not?
Jack O’Neill: Well, I guess we all start shooting. There’s blood, death, hard feelings. It’d suck.

The Harvest

Synopsis: She may have saved Willow and Xander, but she has lost trace of Jesse. But she won’t give up that easily and she has help: Giles is her new Watcher and Willow is a computer nerd who can find anything as long as it’s on the net. And she will need that help because the time of the Harvest is close and then the Master will rise if she can’t prevent it. Unfortunately there’s nothing they can do for Jesse: He’s already worse than dead: A Vampire.

My Opinion: I know that life had to go on, but I found the end a little bit cheap. All these victims at the Bronze should have been in terror and should be screaming instead of simply getting slaughtered one by one. And then the aftermath where everyone chose to ignore what had happened. But I don’t know a better solution either. And I loved how she outwitted Luke / the Vessel and then dusted him.

Witch

Synopsis: Buffy decides to try out for the cheerleading team. She has been a cheerleader back in LA and she wants to live a normal life here, too – as far as this is possible. But mysterious accidents seem to happen to the cheerleaders of this school and soon there’s no doubt that witchcraft is behind it.

My Opinion: The story of that episode wasn’t that interesting, but I liked certain aspects of it. For example Buffy singing “Macho Man” or her cheerleading tryouts. I also liked that they made their first magic potion with bio and chem class equipment (scalpel, test tube, …).

Teacher’s Pet

Synopsis: After their biology teacher had been found dead in a refrigerator, Buffy, Xander and Willow get a new substitute teacher – and she’s hot. Xander and all other guys totally fall for her and she obviously likes it. But what kind of woman is she really when even a Vampire is scared by her?

My Opinion: This is one of these episodes with the obvious storylines. There’s a new teacher when the old one was killed onscreen. You automatically know that she’s somehow involved. She’s insulted when someone calls an insect “ugly”. You automatically know she’s one, too. All the guys instantly fall for her? You automatically know pheromones or some other stuff is involved. Didn’t like it very much.
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Smallville: Season 5

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Smallville Marathon

Deutsche Version | Season 4 | Season 6

Disc 1

Arrival

Synopsis: Accidentally Chloe has been transported to the Arctic where the united stones have just built the “Fortress of Solitude” for Clark. Clark is allowed to rescue her and to fight a new enemy that has arrived with the meteor shower but he has to return until sunset. Meanwhile Lana and Lex meet these newcomers.

My Opinion: Sure, they were lazy, but I still thought that it was too easy for Clark to get rid of those two(!) Kryptonians. I really would have liked a scenario where Lana wouldn’t have been knocked out and would have witnessed the entire scene (with or without Clark’s knowlegde). But maybe the writers thought it to be too soon to let yet another person in on Clark’s secret.
I wonder – if this were for real – whether Chloe and Clark have recapitulated their past, unfolding all the events where only Clark knew the whole truth, or if he told her that she already knew his secret (Rush).

Mortal

Synopsis: Three patients can escape from Belle Reve and they take Lana, Martha and Jonathan hostage. They force Clark – who has lost his powers because he disobeyed his father – to break into LuthorCorp and steal an experimental Kryptonite-based drug. In the past this wouldn’t have been much of a problem, but this time it turns out to be a good thing that he doesn’t have his powers.

My Opinion: It’s always funny to hear Clark saying, that he’s not to keen with heights. I also liked the comparison of Pete and Chloe in their role as “sidekick”.
But I also think, that the concept of “Belle Reve” and Lex’s influence there is a bit of a plot hole. Lex may not believe one particular loony in there but if he really has spoken with a few of them and promised them something and they would have told him all the same story about Clark Kent’s abilities (and there are quite a few in there that could tell such a story) then he wouldn’t need to resort to such crude investigation methods – especially when he adds his own experiences with Clark.

Hidden

Synopsis: Clark is still human and he and Lana have slept together and are very happy. Can it get any better?
In 60 minutes Smallville gets nuked and Clark lies in the hospital, dying from a gunshot wound. Can it get any worse?

My Opinion: Lionel takes up the role of Jor-El. In a weird way, Lex and Clark are now actually brothers. This episode marks the climax (pun intended) of Clark’s and Lana’s relationship. From now on it will go downhill. 🙁
What’s even more interesting about this episode, are the discussions on the internet about it. For example, people were seriously offended that he didn’t tell her about his true nature before they were sleeping together, because he is an alien. There were sentences like “If Lana were my child I would want to know that she’s sleeping with an alien.”.

Aqua

Synopsis: Lois is back in Smallville and she moves back to the farm. On a warm sunny day she, Chloe, Lana and Clark go swimming in the Crater Lake. Suddenly Lois nearly drowns and gets rescued – by Arthur “AC” Curry. AC can swim fast, even faster than Clark. But his motive to be in Smallville is not to rescue drowning girls but to save the oceans from a terrible weapon, created by LuthorCorp.

My Opinion: After the events in Arrival Lex has gone into full defense mode. It’s pretty ironic that he who wants to defend this planet from aliens will become the planet’s greatest threat by the end of the season.
I really liked the appearance of “Aquaman” and the hints they implanted in the script, especially when AC proposes the foundation of a “Junior Lifeguard Association” and Clark replies that he isn’t ready for the JLA yet.
And Tom seriously has to reshape his washboard abs, he looked pale in comparison to Alan Ritchson (AC) and he is supposed to be Superman.
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Stargate SG-1: Season 10

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, SG-1 Marathon

Deutsche Version | Season 9 | The Ark of Truth

I have bought the first nine seasons of Stargate SG-1 here in Germany. Each one had an average price of 80-90€. Back in the days that were simply the prices for season boxes, Star Trek boxes had cost a similar amount. But times change and I was no more willing to pay 77€ for the 10. season in Germany. Thus I bought the complete box in the US for 135€. And it does look nice. I will chip the first nine seasons on eBay.

Disc 1

Flesh and Blood

Synopsis: The defence of the Supergate ended in a slaughter of the defenders. The four Ori ships had no problems with breaking through. Aboard one of these ships Vala has just given birth to her daughter. But she is growing very fast and she is supposed to become the leader of all Ori troops in this galaxy.

My Opinion: The more often I encounter the story it the less interesting it gets: chosen childs. Offhand I can recall: Gabrielle’s daughter Hope (Xena: Warrior Princess), Xena’s daughter Eve/Livia (Xena: Warrior Princess) and of course Angel’s son Connor (Angel). If we add movies, we can also add Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (Star Wars).
I was also a bit disappointed that Bra’tac has learned very few since he first encountered G_1 over eight years ago. Back then he also wanted to prepare for death after they had successfully sabotaged Apophis’s ship.

Morpheus

Synopsis: SG-1 visits one of the planets where they hope to find Merlin’s weapon. But there isn’t a single living being, not even animals. But the inhabitants of the village seem to have died peacefully in their beds.
In the meantime Vala has to undergo a psychiatric examination before she can join the Stargate program.

My Opinion: This episode was literally soporific.

The Pegasus Project

Synopsis: Daniel hopes to find more information about the location of the weapon in Atlantis. And Carter has developed a plan to render the Supergate useless with the help of a black hole in the Pegasus galaxy.

My Opinion: This episode I liked again. McKay was great and the way Daniel and Vala blew the cover of the Ancient “Morgan le Fay” was also good. While there are significant difference the Ancients and the Ori strongly reminded me of the Vorlons and the Shadows (Babylon 5) in this episode. All four are far superior to the normal Humans and within their universe they have a mutual exclusive point of view on how to interact with the Humans. Although the Ancients are the only ones of the four that don’t intervene at all (with the usual exceptions to that rule).
The “phone bill” of this episode could be interesting. Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy calls the SGC who in turn call Teal’c at the Supergate and he relays the message through the open wormhole to the Odyssey in the Pegasus galaxy. 😉

Insiders

Synopsis: The allegedly real Ba’al comes to Earth and offers his help to find the weapon. But for this, SG-1 would have to kill all his clones who have uprisen against him. But every clone insits on being the real Ba’al and soon the SGC is swarmed with Ba’als.

My Opinion: Oh Sam, come on! Have you learned nothing from the RepliCarter disaster? I am annoyed that this highly intelligent woman falls for such plans. Yes, granted, she was in a hostage situation but how many lives will it cost when Ba’al is successful?
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New Pictures

DVD / Blu-ray

After I’ve bought a couple of new shows over the last months, I had to ( 😉 ) update my picture collection. Recents additions (amongst…

Stargate SG-1: Season 3

DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, SG-1 Marathon

Deutsche Version | Season 2 | Season 4

Disc 1

Into the Fire

Synopsis: Hathor has set up a quite good copy of the SGC. She wants that one of the three (Jack, Sam & Daniel) becomes a host to a Goa’uld. And General Hammond has no authority to send reinforcements to free SG-1.

My Opinion: This was a far better continuation than the first part could promise. As far as I know it was for the first time that we’ve seen a Gao’uld Death Glider (although a dated model) flying through a Stargate and it looked really cool. I also liked the fact that Teal’c tried to convince his brothers and sisters to join his path.

Seth

Synopsis: The biblical figure Seth is also a Goa’uld but he has disappeared for thousands of years. He is on the run from both the System Lords and the Tok’ra. As it turns out, Seth keeps himself hidden on Earth and is a leader of a cult. There have been “Cults of Seth” before and they always ended in the collective suicide of the worshippers.

My Opinion: I like the idea that a Goa’uld could be a cult leader and is using Goa’uld technology for this. But this episode had many logic holes and I don’t like them. For one, how Seth is able to build new ring transporters on Earth. Or where he got himself a personal forcefield, a technology that was new to Teal’c in the first season. Even the ear device with the electrical shock was implausible because it couldn’t possibly be as strong as a Zat Gun.
Interesting is the fact that the humans have increased their Goa’uld killing rate, first Hathor and now Seth.

Fair Game

Synopsis: Sam gets promoted to Major but in the moment Jack wants to congratulate her he gets beamed up to an Asgard mothership. Thor is in the orbit of Earth and he brings a warning: The Goa’uld see the Tau’ri now as a serious threat, after they rid themselves from three System Lords (Ra, Apophis & Hathor).
The Asgards plan to include Earth into the Protected Planets Treaty and for this three System Lords come to the SGC: Cronus, Nirrti and Yu.

My Opinion: One should neither poker with Jack nor with Thor. 😉 I again liked the fact that they took elements from former episodes and continued them: The protected planets from Thor’s Hammer, Nirrti from Singularity and the Re’tu from Show and Tell. Ironically the Re’tu will be mentioned again but we’ve never seen them again since Show and Tell.

Legacy

Synopsis: SG-1 finds nine death Goa’uld from the “minor league” but they can’t explain how they died. But then Daniel starts to hallicinate and hears voices. He has to go to a mental facility.

My Opinion: Again a great acting of Michael Shanks. I loved the trip to the nuthouse.
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Angel: Season 5

Angel Marathon, DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon

Deutsche Version | Season 4

Disc 1

Conviction

Synopsis: The gang tries to settle in with their new lives at Wolfram & Hart. Angels new assistant is Harmony who doesn’t know yet about the fate of her friend Cordelia. Gunn is being re-clothed. And then there is this client of W&H’s who threatens to kill all the people of California if he gets convicted for the crimes he has done.

My Opinion: Cordelia has left the show. 🙁 On the other hand, Spike isn’t as dead as it looked like at the end of Buffy – ok “not as dead” as a vampire can be who additionally is a ghost now. While I liked the season opener, it’s pity that they lift Angel’s restirctions more and more. The show loses its dark touch a bit. The idea to upload a lawyer’s knowledge directly into Gunn’s brain was very matrix-y but really cool.

Just Rewards

Synopsis: The gang uses the resources of W&H to find out what happend to Spike who isn’t happy with his life as a ghost at all. Despite their mutual despise, Angel and Spike work together to stop a necromancer who gets his dead bodies via W&H.

My Opinion: One can feel how they both really like each other. I liked Spike back in Buffy and I like how he badgers Angel – this season has to be good.

Unleashed

Synopsis: A young femal jogger is bitten by a werewolf and the full moon will be up for another two days. Spike on the other hand has the problem that his essence is more frequently and longer being pulled into the direction of hell. He asks Fred for her help, to return him into a body of his own.

My Opinion: Spike won’t be a ghost for the entire season, that much is certain now – in my opinion. I presume that he will return to his body within the next few episodes. The story about the werewolf was ok, but currently I am more interested in Spike. Unfortunately Angel has again abandoned a human – even if he had a werewolf bite – even though he knew that he would die. I still don’t like that.

Hell Bound

Synopsis: Suddenly Spike is not only a ghost, now he is a ghost no one can see or hear. And he starts to see dead people who are disfigured.

My Opinion: “I never told anyone this, but I liked your poems.” – “You like Barry Manilow.” Yes, Spike gives the show a new spice. This foru episodes have already made me forget the last season and even Harmony fits in. I am just a bit sad that Angel doesn’t believe in his mission anymore.
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Angel: Season 4

Angel Marathon, DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon

Deutsche Version | Season 3 | Season 5

Disc 1

Deep Down

Synopsis: Cordelia and Angel have vanished from the face of the Earth, Lorne is in Las Vegas, Wesley has a life of his own now. Three month have passed and Gunn and Fred try to keep the business running and to care for Connor. But they have never given up the search for their friends – neither has Wesley.

My Opinion: I really like the dark Wesley much more than the duffer he was back in Buffy and in the beginning of Angel. That Angel would be found was obvious. At first I thought he would need some time to recover but they’ve found a nice way to remind us that he has spend a century in a hell dimension between the Buffy seasons 2 and 3.

Ground State

Synopsis: To find Cordelia, Angel plans to steal the “Axis of Pythia”, a mystical object to find a soul no matter what dimension it is in. Gunn and Fred are of course helping. But there is another player involved who wants the Axis.

My Opinion: She looked like as if she’d belong to Magneto’s group rather than Xavier’s. 😉 I liked it.

The House Always Wins

Synopsis: Angel decides to go to Las Vegas to visit Lorne and to convince him to return to L.A.. Unfortunately Lorne has got an offer he couldn’t reject and soon Angel finds himself irresistibly attrected to the slot machines.

My Opinion: Angel is a Blues Brother! He puts the band back together! Only Wesley is missing but I have the feeling that it still may take a while before he comes back. It was an interesting list of people that Angel claimed to have met. And Andy Hallett’s (Lorne) singing was gorgeous again.

Slouching Toward Bethlehem

Synopsis: Cordelia is back, but she has amnesia. She has no idea who or what Angel is or who she is. The gang cautiously tries to re-awaken the memories without going like a bull at a gate. Wolfram & Hart also learn of her return.

My Opinion: It was a lose-lose situation. If they would have been upfront I presume she would have run screaming. Let’s see what Connor’s plans for Cordelia are. I don’t trust him and I have the suspicion that he’ll do something to hurt Angel. Wesley blew it once again but as I said I like him as an outsider.
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Angel: Season 3

Angel Marathon, DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon

Deutsche Version | Angel: Season 2 | Angel: Season 4

Disc 1

Heartthrob

Synopsis: Angel skips about the same time as Buffy did. Buffy has been dead for three months and Angel has been mourning in a monastery in Sri Lanka for about the same time. Now he’s back and on his first hunt he kills an acquainted vampire before he recognizes her. But he also knows her boyfriend James and he wants vengeance.

My Opinion: On one hand I find it a pity that they jumped over these three months, on the other hand we would have only seen a broody and solitary Angel. The episode itself wasn’t that interesting and a bit weak for a season opener.

That Vision Thing

Synopsis: Cordelia now gets visions that physically hurt her and several of it in a very short span of time. It is unclear why the “Powers That Be” would suddenly hurt Cordelia but Angel does anything in his powers to quickly finish the assignments.

My Opinion: I am quite interested in that prisoner. He could be a formidable enemy or we could never see him again, both is possible in Angel. If it was not settled until now, now it’s clear that it is a bad idea to try to blackmail Angel.

That Old Gang of Mine

Synopsis: A number of demons are arbitrarily killed and there is no pattern to be seen. Some of them are dangerous, some of them are totally harmless. As it turns out, Gunn’s old gang is somehow involved in this.

My Opinion: I think it’s historic irony that a group of black people tells other living beings that they don’t belong here, that they have no right to live. Granted, demons are indeed no humans but blacks also were told that they were less worthy. The world is grey, it’s not black/white and neither is it separable into good/evil.

Carpe Noctem

Synopsis: Angel and the gang investigate in a case were a number of men mysteriously died. Everything points to a certain gym – or to the building opposite of it.

My Opinion: I love body-switch episodes. They are always fun because the actors can behave in a way which their usual role doesn’t allow. It’s also nice to see the confusion that comes out of such switches. The best body-switch episode I’ve ever seen was a Farscape episode.
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