1/4: I Fall To Pieces

[Techno-bot]

Teleplay by David Greenwalt
Story by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt
Directed by Vern Gillum
Air date: 10/26/99

Angel aids a woman being stalked by a deranged surgeon who has the unnatural ability to track the woman's every move with the aid of his detachable body parts.

[Lola m]

First things first. This ep? Seriously creepy. I mean, really really scary creepy to me. One of the ickier villains that ME has come up with. Put me right there with Doyle when he says “Not a lot of things that make me shudder, but this guy – crawling around under the covers. At least it was just his hands down there. Wish I hadn’t even thought that.”

I mean, you wanna talk “get the bleach” moments? When we first see his hands creeping into Melissa’s apartment and then up by her face and under the covers . . . Ewwwwww! **shudder, shudder**

OK. Stepping away from the ledge now to make a few offhand (ha ha) comments.

* This time I paid attention to the title! Yay, me! “I fall to Pieces” has at least two obvious and one possibly metaphorical meaning to me. First, it's like the “he’s coming undone” line that Angel says to Doyle about the doc. Obviously, he’s coming undone; he’s falling to pieces because he can separate into parts. (Ewwww! Shudder, shudder.) But he’s also “coming undone” and “falling to pieces” emotionally. Just like he really falls into bits and pieces at the end, both mentally and physically. (Ick, but also nice to think of him sealed up in multiple metal boxes and buried in concrete. ‘Cuz otherwise I might not be sleeping so good tonight.) And then there’s the corresponding “yay” meaning for Melissa – who instead "pulls herself together" at the end and stands up to the guy. You go, Melissa! I wonder, tho’ if this isn’t meant to be a warning / metaphor for Angel too. ‘Cuz he being obviously compared to stalker guy a couple of times in this ep. So, maybe he needs to “come together” himself? Not be so split – maybe, oh I don’t know – integrate his Angel and Angelus parts instead of trying to be in separate pieces?

* Which metaphor goes so nicely with Kate’s squad room speech that points Angel in the direction he needs to be of real help to Melissa. “This guy could go to jail tomorrow, Angel, and still kill her in her dreams every night. I’ve put a few of these creeps away and the hardest thing is knowing that he's still winning. She’s still afraid. He took this girl's power away and no one can get it back for her but her.”

* Leading to some great Angel’s lines: “He’s the weak one. You’re the strong one.” Yay, Angel!

* As far as the theme of “adults out on their own in the big city” goes, this ep is kind of the companion to “Lonely Hearts”, isn’t it? ‘Cuz there’s worse things than being alone. The other end of the spectrum would be to never be alone and that’s just . . . . creepy. Speaking of which - very effective camera work in Melissa's apartment while she's getting ready for bed and doing all the ordinary stuff. Making us voyeurs of her and then we see the creepy icky eye floating there with the nerves and being all voyeur-y too. Puts the viewer in sort of the same place as the doc. (Eeeep! Floaty eye thing! More eyes - we didn't leave the eye theme back at BtVs; it's followed us to Angel.)

Lola

Should I just start tallying the fab slashy bits from each ep? ‘Cuz tonight’s was one of my faves. The oh-so-sweet Doyle soliloquy to Angel’s swooniness, followed by the lovely slow-mo flowing coat moment. “Maybe I’m a little attracted.”

**giggle**

[Queen E]

Lola said:

First things first. This ep? Seriously creepy. I mean, really really scary creepy to me. One of the ickier villains that ME has come up with. Put me right there with Doyle when he says “Not a lot of things that make me shudder, but this guy – crawling around under the covers. At least it was just his hands down there. Wish I hadn’t even thought that.”

I mean, you wanna talk “get the bleach” moments? When we first see his hands creeping into Melissa’s apartment and then up by her face and under the covers . . . Ewwwwww! **shudder, shudder**

OK. Stepping away from the ledge now to make a few offhand (ha ha) comments.

* This time I paid attention to the title! Yay, me! “I fall to Pieces” has at least two obvious and one possibly metaphorical meaning to me. First, it's like the “he’s coming undone” line that Angel says to Doyle about the doc. Obviously, he’s coming undone; he’s falling to pieces because he can separate into parts. (Ewwww! Shudder, shudder.) But he’s also “coming undone” and “falling to pieces” emotionally. Just like he really falls into bits and pieces at the end, both mentally and physically. (Ick, but also nice to think of him sealed up in multiple metal boxes and buried in concrete. ‘Cuz otherwise I might not be sleeping so good tonight.) And then there’s the corresponding “yay” meaning for Melissa – who instead "pulls herself together" at the end and stands up to the guy. You go, Melissa! I wonder, tho’ if this isn’t meant to be a warning / metaphor for Angel too. ‘Cuz he being obviously compared to stalker guy a couple of times in this ep. So, maybe he needs to “come together” himself? Not be so split – maybe, oh I don’t know – integrate his Angel and Angelus parts instead of trying to be in separate pieces?

* Which metaphor goes so nicely with Kate’s squad room speech that points Angel in the direction he needs to be of real help to Melissa. “This guy could go to jail tomorrow, Angel, and still kill her in her dreams every night. I’ve put a few of these creeps away and the hardest thing is knowing that he's still winning. She’s still afraid. He took this girl's power away and no one can get it back for her but her.”

* Leading to some great Angel’s lines: “He’s the weak one. You’re the strong one.” Yay, Angel!

* As far as the theme of “adults out on their own in the big city” goes, this ep is kind of the companion to “Lonely Hearts”, isn’t it? ‘Cuz there’s worse things than being alone. The other end of the spectrum would be to never be alone and that’s just . . . . creepy. Speaking of which - very effective camera work in Melissa's apartment while she's getting ready for bed and doing all the ordinary stuff. Making us voyeurs of her and then we see the creepy icky eye floating there with the nerves and being all voyeur-y too. Puts the viewer in sort of the same place as the doc. (Eeeep! Floaty eye thing! More eyes - we didn't leave the eye theme back at BtVs; it's followed us to Angel.)

Lola

Should I just start tallying the fab slashy bits from each ep? ‘Cuz tonight’s was one of my faves. The oh-so-sweet Doyle soliloquy to Angel’s swooniness, followed by the lovely slow-mo flowing coat moment. “Maybe I’m a little attracted.”

**giggle**

Just finished my first draft of the analysis for this episode and noticed a lot of the same parallels between Angel and Meltzer. It really underscores, though, that the main difference between the two is the fact that Angel has a connection to the world through Cordy and Doyle; Meltzer, on the other hand, is very intelligent and very very isolated. He has "colleagues," not friends; at some point, he wasn't creepy, just isolated and pathetic.

And trivia note: Meltzer is D'Hoffryn!

[Rachael]

Tried, very hard, to come up with something new for this one - other than the "eww, eww, eww" factor, there's not a lot, for me - I felt like the metaphor was coming on a little strong, myself. But I love the stuff Lola came up with.

I did notice: Cordy trying to fix Doyle's collar. Classic grooming move. . .so obviously an attraction sign. Even though she's going to all this trouble to say things like, "well, you look like a moron".

[beccaelizabeth]

From the Angel Casefiles:-

Melissa Burns- first paying client for Angel Investigations.

Dr Meltzer is represented by Wolfram & Hart.

"Protecting young women such as yourself? Yeah, there've been, ah, four, and three of them are very much alive." Doyle reassures Melissa. Angel has succeeded in keeping their clients alive- except for Tina in 'City of'. (be notes- so we've been seeing everything he's been doing?)

As Scene in L.A.
"The first season, [Angel's] office building and everything was actually the back lot of PAramount, and the building that you saw in the establishing shot was a building on the back lot. Second season, when he moved into the [Hyperion] hotel, that is the Los Altos apartments which is right there on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Norton. And it's funny, because we've had people call our department and ask where it is so they can go by and look at it. That particular building is a historical landmark, and we shot that for ['I Fall to Pieces']. And they liked it, and they thought it would be a good location for Angel's home office." --Kevin Funston, Locations Manager.

The Pen is Mightier
Final Cut
Cut due to length, this exchange in Melissa's office took place between two of her coworkers:
Penny: I sent my husband a bouquet the day the divorce was final.
John: And they say there's no romance left in the world.
Stage directions: Back to Doyle. He's in pain but not a writhing, drooling kind of pain.

Pop Culture
-The title of this episode, 'I Fall to Pieces', comes from a song popularized by Patsy Cline in 1961, written by Harlan Howard and Hank Cochran. Xander HArris listeend to it on BtVS 'Prophecy Girl' after Buffy turned him down for the Spring Fling - ie Prom.
-"And people who need people are the luckiest-" Doyle recites lyrics from 'People', written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne, popularized by Barbra Streisand when she sang it in Funny Girl in 1968.
-"I don't get it; this guy has a lot to lose. What is it about Melissa that's got him going all OJ here?"
Cordelia makes a reference to OJ Simpson, the actor and sports celebrity who was accused of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman in 1994. He was acquitted of criminal charges in 1995 after a long, spectacular trial, but found guilty for civil damages in a subsequent civil suit.

Our Heroes
"When you do research, do you use forensics books?"
Dayne Johnson, Makeup Department Head: "That's pretty much what you have to do. It can get pretty gross. They have a few books out there that they sell, like dermatology books, or those forensic-type books, you can find some pretty gnarly stuff. You can find some of that on the Internet.
"Have you ever had to do an effect or a makeup application that made you sick, or grossed you out too much?"
Dayne Johnson: "Never. And it amazes me how people get grossed out. When I see somebody's head get cut off, or somebody slashed, or eye poked out or something [in a movie or TV show], I just go, oh, makeup. Because you know it's makeup. It's a television show, you know it's makeup. I mean, that's the way my mind thinks about it.
"It's like, Oh, here I am flinging blood. It's not gross, it's sticky, and somebody's got to clean it up. It doesn't gross me out at all, because it's just makeup. But then when the final look is doen, I can see how it can gross somebody out. Which is good, I like to see somebody grosse out, because then I know my job's done. It's supposed to be gross."

[beccaelizabeth]

Sunrise in the city of Angels. Opening shot.

Then the sunlit exterior steps of Angel Investigations. Its a really pretty doorway.

So it is daytime and Cordelia and Doyle are in the office.

Nice office, with random railings, shiny grey filing cabinets with things tuck to the side, pink flowers, prints of flowers on the wall. Coffeemaker, whiteboard, pinboard. Computer desk with disk box, twissly chair. Vaguely yellow walls with color coordinated artwork in frames. And some very optimistic plants hung behind Cordelia's desk. Theres a whole row of black and red folders in front of the windows to Angel's office (horizontal slats). The light fittings are a bit twirly. Mostly its yellow and cheerful. Theres a lot of wood around so also warm and natural. Theres a pretty blue glass mug with suns and moons on Cordy's desk. Its a nice space. Friendly.

Cordelia's hair looks like she maybe brushed it recently. I mean theres not much effort put into that hair. The natural look I guess.
Theres an animal print thingy on her left wrist. So, CC had her tattoo by then?
www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo/celeb-carpenter.htm
Rosary on her left wrist, not so great for Cordelia to have around her boss. But also a useful resource. If tattoos of crosses work. Except they'd probably burn the wearer.
Slightly pink top with a picture on it, kinda matches the office. Black skirt. I'm no clothes expert but the outfit doesnt scream designer to me the way Cordelia's usual stuff does.

Doyle in the black leather again, over a blue shirt. Black and blue just like last time in this office. Lounging in a chair next to the desk not on a sofa this time. But still slouchy lounging, shuffling a pack of cards (gambling theme again). Whilst Cordelia buzzes round the office doing actual noticeable work.

She's been working there a month.

My current deep thought is I have to get my hair dyed regularly to have it as black as Doyle's. He matches the jacket.

"don't need much in the way of clothes" is just the smooth and sophisticated line

Angel wearing black with a side order of black. But its soft and fuzzy looking. I mean not muppet skin fuzzy, but soft and not shiny. Shiny chain round his neck still tho.

Polymalt scotch Gambling and drink already.


"Guess I'm going to work."

echo. Line has extra weight now.

swoopy coat of coolness

"Maybe I'm a little attracted."
;D


This new place, not a friendly space. Huge tallness with that tip your head right back camera shot. Dizzy.

Damsel in distress of the week (how many damsels does that make so far? gender balance and girl power very different in this show.)
Grey grey grey. But surrounded by color. Even the cupboards are a bit blue. So she looks greyer. Also theres flowers but they manage to look black.

"You've only been here a month"
like Cordelia

Mistakes about names, telling her she should be Penji from now on (shudders)
doctor guy telling damsel who to be?

Pills. three little pills. because things must be worse if they take more.

"It's my job."

lots of mentions of jobs so far, also work and money.

Angel has more of a tan than the lady does. But we do not notice this. For we have been told repeatedly he is really pale. By Oz, who should know.

"As vampires go you're pretty cuddly."
lol
I just got a mental image of puppet Angel. Cuddly!

smart about mysterious stranger vs man doing a job (theres that word again)

"You're a lot smarter than you look" all surprised
and the look Doyle gives her

City Trust bank
trust

Big reaction, jumping back from him. We know right away he's scary. And we hear him be creepy.

Blue blue blue all dark clothes. Suit and tie. First suit and tie we've seen today. Other people ties, but no suit jacket. Suit is supposed to say respectable but he is being too creepy and controlling. So suit also says authority.

"I prescribed" = creepy doctor.
who can see what she did in the bathroom
yeah we all know the story, but how intensely creepy is that?

Ronald. hmmm, associations of that name. heh.

creepy stalker romantic guy nice and clear

"I'll see you tonight."
see all his words, with a different other half of the conversation, and a different delivery, could be nice normal caring words. But instead they're very very very creepy.

"Angel investigations. We help the hopeless."

I just did a search of the episode transcripts we've already seen to see if this is the first time we hear that. It is. But I also counted all the times they use the word 'help'
City of 16
Lonely Hearts 10
In the dark 8
I fall to pieces 15

which struck me as interesting. Obsessive, but interesting.

mentions of work in this episode 15. And another four of job.

I have this pet theory about when Angel went off course, and it boils down to being about this motto. I've said it before at length, but I reckon their cheery little motto helps divide the world up into damsels and saviours, and puts Angel on his seperate and higher champion place, instead of connecting with fellow people. And you can totally hear Cordy voice in that phrase, high school Cordy with her airs and feeling of superiority. She deigns to help people. Doesnt feel like one of them.
I'm maybe being a bit cranky, but this one phrase seems to me to set the course that ends with the big dumb plan, suicidal lone heroes, instead of the Buffy share the power thing.

Angel changes shirt. To a white version of the exact same thing he was wearing a minute ago. It bugs me that Doyle seems to have two colors of the same jacket, and now Angel has two colors of the same soft top.

Angel in black and white, Cordy in black and whiteish, Doyle in black and blue. So Angel matched Doyle a minute ago and Cordy now, without looking wierdly color coordinated.

Is that behind Angel meant to be bricked up windows? Theres the same kind of alcove in the main room, but its all full of frilly green stuff. Behind Angel theres just bare brick and a framed picture apparently not hung up yet.

All his desk stuff looks ancient, especially compared to Cordy's desk stuff. Yet as he just moved in it must be new to him, yes? So he bought old looking desk stuff.
In or Out tray seems empty.

Out in the office theres lots of file folders, here in Angel's office theres lots of matching leather bound books.

Cordy put her hair up to meet clients.

eye conversations on "reasonable fee" funny

Angel's hair is... okay, everyone knows the jokes. It is entirely worthy of said jokes.

On Angel's wall looks like framed old maps. Theres a fireplace, and above it theres something framed, black with red letters. I *think* it says OMEN! but the freeze frame is totally fuzzy. Also walls are two tone beige and blue. Aura of badness and sadness? Colder than the yellow walls but not stark, softened like the old book colors. Lots of horizontal lines, and grid work in the lit glass. Closes the space in. Shiny window with outside light behind presses in on the space, like the outside pressing in?
Theres a lot of chairs around for a guy with no friends.
Angel's chair is shiny, black leather? Executive chair but lower than shoulder height even when slumped, not one of those bit I own the room chairs.
The propped up pictures beind him has a black frame, and seems to be some sort of vase and fruit still life. Still lifeless more like.
Theres a subtle vertical pattern in the lower half of the walls too. Like bars.

[beccaelizabeth]

Day to night transition with shiny rushing cars. I love that effect. Movement, busy, modern, kind of alien and wierd.

I thought for a moment that the picture on creepy guy's desk has her wearing the same outfit as she is taking off in the bedroom right then, but it lacks even muted flowers, just plain grey.
Fuzzy plain cardigan, all soft and unassertive. Like the opposite of wearing shoulder pads.

Doctor guy has a wall full of frames that are probably certificates.
Do real doctors do that? Cause my doctor has cool Escher artwork wrapped into 3d shapes on a mobile and stuff like that to look at. Course I usually meet in the offices meant for childrens. Always more colorful.

The camera does a lot of moving around and looking her up and down. It isnt standing still letting us watch like objectively. Its definitely creepy eye cam.
very
very
very
creepy
but using the camera like that is putting us in the same place as the stalker guy. Suggesting that our viewing of her is equivalent to his somehow. Disquieting.
eyeball with creepy little tail bit hanging down somehow much more alive looking than eyeball on its own.

I fall to pieces. Eye I. funny. in a deeply creepy way.

These episodes never exactly scared me, but now I'm paying close attention they are creeping me out a lot more than they have for a while.

Big building. Famous building? Cop building like on badges?
Lots of pictures of the angels on the building. subtle.

And Angel in yet another not quite black top of the exact same style as the black one. This one is charcoal. Do you think he got one of those variety packs?

Cop place full of color matching people in grey and black and leather. And Kate in white.

date or favour- Angel breaks eye contact and looks down and away- "And I'm gonna go with favour."

Doyle in the office- brown coat again, red thing looks like it could be a jacket itself, with a zip, and under that a t-shirt. Same number of layers as usual. Doyle the man of many layers. All covered up.
T shirt seems to have incomprehensible vertical writing on it. mystery meanings.
Also, this week is a whole lot less patterned or ugly, so far.

Damsel slightly less grey today but not by much.

"four- and three of them are very much alive"
look on her face lol
also, what we've seen is what they've done. no in between weeks damsels.

"you'll be wanting to jump off a bridge again"
lol
Doyle just isnt good with the making of words huh?
but he does try. And covers any awkwardness with more words.
Kind of like Xander, with a drink problem and an accent.

Wolfram and Hart

Cop hair like Cordy hair, not smooth, just kinda there. Work hair.

Solution isnt just the physical fighting, its helping the hopeless not *be* hopeless or helpless. Helping her be strong. Like last week the woman finding her faith in herself. A more mature message that I felt got a bit lost when Doyle went. I'm not sure if that would be true if I went through and tried to figure, but it got a lot less client focused somewhere along the way, and when only the heroes have power that gets elitist.

flashy images between scenes. Door says 'Private', one of those wierd heads divided into zones, lots of books.
more really tall buildings. This time with swanky looking chairs and really big art.

'Community Service Award'
icky
black and white office, very shiny, much bigger chair
and wierd dancing statues.

one of these things is not like the others with the books. Angel with the mad detective skillz

"Do you know what it’s like to be so much a part of someone that you don’t know where they end and you begin?"
Angel speaking from experience?
speaking directly to the psycho.
Early Angel was very very clearly a scary man, not just because vampire but because *Angel*. He worries if its the clothes, then goes on knowing from experience how a stalker thinks. No Angel, just you.

Angel has his head down doing the intense stare thing, threat display.
Dr the creep does this little head raise when Angel mentions money
gee what caught his attention?
(I love figuring out the body language, its one of those things where you usually get the meaning without thinking about the way that meaning is put together. Its really interesting to notice the layers.)

See now that is a Cordelia hairstyle. Complicated, fluffy, with stuff in it, little shiny band. That is hair that someone put up on purpose and with a mirror. And its the first time this week we've seen it. When she is pretending to be someone else.
purple top with little frilly bows. This is journalist wear this is.
acting skillz
she sucks less at undercover than Buffy

Left wrist still covered. And will be forevermore iirc. This time with a watch though. Cordelia has to know time now she all working.

Cordy: What is stalking now a days – the third most popular sport among men?”
Angel typing on the computer: “Fourth – after Luge.”

lol
Angel *bantering*. Angel made a funny. Calendar event!

also, Angel can use the computer competently

Angel: "it’s about rage. This guy is too messed up to deal with a real woman and he can’t stand that. So he creates a fantasy about a girl he barely knows. But eventually even she fails him. So he has to hurt her, because when he looks at her all he sees is how useless he is, how damaged..”
Cordy interrupts him: “Uh, what a fun date you must have been in back in your bad vamp days. (sits down) On the other hand, it should give you some insight into the jerks of the world.”

making it very clear even to the new viewer that Angel was not always a nice guy. Theres a definite darkness in him. All the bad guys so far reflect aspects of him. Vampire, desperate for love, long history with Spike, crazy obsessive about women (specially blue eyed blondes. cop lady much? So the surprise when that never went anywhere.)

Cordelia is leaning in to see what he's reading when Angel goes into his stalker speech. Then she stands up and moves away to say 'fun date', but moves back in with a comfy chair for 'on the other hand'. Distance from the creepy, but close to the turns it into heroics. Still not as close as before he got creepy.

also also, 'creates a fantasy about a girl he barely knows', Buffy Buffy Buffy. Changes his whole life around. This ep is so about Buffy. The creepier side of that relationship. Part of the reason I cant watch season one Buffy and be all romantic about it is stuff like this really changes the spin.

"did you steal this book" "yeah" "good" and the yeah is so small and the good is so... see Angel be law abiding citizen

New set, many many colors and dark and funny lamps and cushions and stuff. A ton of statues and stuff sitting around. Big contrast.

[beccaelizabeth]

Really really creepy hands, with interesting sound effects. Doesnt sound like anything particular, but very creepy. And the dramatic music.

Also I'm all distracted cause thats the outside of the Hyperion.

creepy wiggly veins and eeeeew and this is why I rarely watch this episode.

shapes on the door glass are different where he breaks it. handy.

okay, I've reached my creep limit and now I'm giggling. Hands! Round his neck! aaagh!

"not a lot of things make me shudder"
Doyle knows lots of things then

"Wish I hadnt even thought of that."
us too

"Just trying to fix your collar"
jumpy

"stalked plenty of... books on the subject"


the lift is one big cage, with those doors that I never dare touch cause I think they're going to eat my fingers. And a round thingy at the back. Lever? It all looks old fashioned, and slightly scary, and really cage and restriction. Much clunkier cage than the book cage, bigger bars.

Lights and swoopy flying to get from place to place. Glittery artifical wards off the darkness. Rich folk buildings, huge and shiny and big glass cages. Distance- see it all from above.

When I was 8 I started studying Judo with a guy who turned out not to be actually qualified to teach. But we learned some valuable lessons anyway. Like, he'd call someone up in front of the class and say "See this hand?" then thwap you with the other one. "Didnt see that one." So helpless victim du jour would try watching both his hands. So he'd kick them. So they you try and watch everything at once, and he'd throw you anyway. lesson being, you need skill, but you also need global alertness. Dont be distracted by the feint. However creepy the one hand is, there is always another.
You'd think Angel would know that by now.
But, I guess he doesnt usually play in a world with ranged weapons. Demons arent all big with the technology, and Angel hasnt had to worry about guns for a while, let alone keep track of them. So he didnt see the injector.
Luckily paralysing agents cant kill him. Can be a problem though. pretty cool.

Dr Stalker is in white red black, heavy on the black. Striking colors.

Angel's bed has bars. Theres grilles and grids and bars all over down there, specially in the corner they're filming this week. Trapped.

Doyle and Cordy conversation just not encouraging to Doyle. And Cordy knocking him back pretty much by reflex, like not pausing or changing her thought at all for it.

We move away and get the voices fading and the creepy music growing.

Doyle noticeably gulps and advances sort of sideways, but heads straight for the weapons. Scared but fighting.
*misses him*

the particular weapons they get are interesting- little wiggly dagger for her, little fiddly axe for him. Looks a bit like the one Wes has later but less fancy. Not a big manly two handed axe like Gunn, a little fiddly one hand axe. Not a fighter, not going for a sword, just a chopping things thing.
er, weapons interest me.

the fake conversation, with the actors acting like they cant quite act, a bit scared but trying anyway.
card games again.

Oh yes Doyle, stick your head down the hole with the scary thing. Because you havent watched any horror movies EVER. *facepalm* eesh.

also, scary. would be all with the suspense if I wasnt hot and tired.

Cordy gets knocked out.
I'm trying to work in a smart remark about Giles here but like I said, tired.

creepy creeping hands

"I think you dissapoint yourself"
yaaay, damsel saves herself! woohoo!

and he goes all to pieces
creepy

Flying teeth! Giggling again.
this guy is creepy but not scary. I mean whenever the parts start being violent I get giggly not scared.

Sunrise again. Over trees, with only a flash of the big shiny buildings. Different vibe.

Angel in black and blue (bit beat up?)
Doyle in black coat and green/yellow shirt
kind of matching Cordelia
damsel no longer grey

Cordy sliding in fast to grab the money

"Hope I never see you again"
the way to make the hero happy

"I think I'll stay here and not burst into flames"
LOL

and again highlighting the differences and seperation. He isnt the hero who goes home happy, he is the non matching, never see you again, stay here and not burst into flames broody slightly creepy dangerous guy. See the whole connecting with people thing has a few little difficulties.

"You think everything's a cause to celebrate"
and that happy spreading optimism was so sorely missed once he was gone

"I just can't perform on demand."
*giggles*

Angel standing there watching them walk off, but smiling.
and now I'm getting a cause I'm thinking, these people make him happy, for how many weeks? And then theres the broody darkness making stuff again.

And the last couple of lines I only 'heard' via subtitles but funny-

Cordy: “We need the clients. Have a vision.”
Doyle: “That money has corrupted you.”
Cordy: “If I hit you on the head, will you have a vision?”
Doyle: “Get away from me. You’re insane.”
Cordy: “Am not. Now will you have a vision?”

which is funny, but also, money corrupts? Right from the first time they get paid, makes things wonky. In an amusing way, starting small, but wonky.

I think Cordelia, with the best of intentions, messed up the mission. Changed the focus and priority and it just kept sliding that way.

Okay, so in our world the writers changed direction to tell stories that were also interesting and cool, but in that world it was Cordy who changed the focus.
Which is kinda sad.



Anyways, this episode creeps me so I dont much watch it. But theres stuff to see.
3500+ words worth of stuff apparently

[beccaelizabeth]

the flashy scene transitions where you cant quite catch all the images are like mini visions
leave you with an impression
but Doyle doesnt have freeze frame on his so its a wonder he can ever get anything out of them