Watching The CW

And as long as I’m talking about Buffy, can I share a little gripe that I had recently about an Angel episode that was on TV? I was never as big a fan of Angel as I was of Buffy, although I own all those DVDs, too, and have seen every episode. Several times. Anyway, Angel is on TNT every morning at 6 am and 7 am (ET) and most mornings, I watch it while I’m doing other stuff.

The other day, they aired this one episode from Season 5 was entitled, “Why We Fight” and I’ve never liked it. Its not a bad ep, as episodes go, and I understand why they did it the way they did it, but I still don’t like it. And I’ll tell you why. That is, if anyone is actually reading this and actually cares. The episode is told through flashbacks to World War II, where they have Angel working with the US Navy to recover a captured German submarine with American sailors on board. The Nazis have got Spike and some other vampires in their employ. I get what they are doing. They need to have both Angel and Spike involved, and they wanted to show something in the past, to make the show interesting.

But from other Angel history that we’ve seen in the past 7+ years of these two shows, supposedly Angel had spent close to 100 years being all brooding and wimpy, eating rats and stuff to stay alive, after he got cursed with his soul in 1898. It just seems doubtful that he pulled together the chutzpah to behave the way they have him behaving in this episode, set in 1940s, cause we’ve seen him as a wreck, starting around 1900, and then in both the 1970s and 1990s. There was also an ep in 1950s, where he clearly wants no contact with humans. So what would make him decide to fight for the Americans during the war? Why would he even care, he’s not even American.

Also, we’d been given to believe that Spike didn’t know about Angel’s soul, when he first met back up with him on Buffy in Season 2. The implication was that they hadn’t seen each other since shortly after the turn of the century, back in 1900. Obviously, if Spike had hung around with Angel in the 1940s, he would have known all about the soul.

Like I said, I get it. Since Spike was turned in 1880, I realize that if they wanted to do something in the past that involved both of them, they only have about a 20 year span to place them in, and I’m sure they just got tired of that. Plus, maybe they didn’t want to have to deal with adding in Darla and Druscilla. It makes sense. But still the entire episode ends up feeling forced to me, since they are trying to play around with history. And I hate when shows do that.

I was watching an ep of Angel today on TNT. I realize Angel isn’t on the CW, and actually isn’t on anymore, except in repeats. But I’m using that same logic that allows to write about shows like Firefly on this blog. Angel was on the WB, which merged with UPN to make the CW. Therefore, I consider it fair game.

In any case, I was watching this episode, “Peace Out,” from the end of the fourth season. As I watched, for the first time, I felt sorry for Angel’s son, Connor (Vincent Kartheiser). I never really liked Connor much. I always felt that his story line messed up the show. Honestly. I used to think that somewhere in the middle of the third season aliens had taken over at Angel and I wasn’t happy with what they were doing. (Don’t even get me started on how miserable I am about what they did to Cordelia!) I just didn’t like the direction they took the show and I guess I kinda blamed Connor. Maybe I’m too old to just appreciate Vincent as being cute or whatever as well, but I just wanted him gone. I rejoiced when he finally left and we could have the fifth season mostly without him.

But today, for the first time, I really felt sorry for Connor. I stopped to think about his life for just a moment and see how he was constantly being manipulated by people he chose, unwisely, to trust. He’s stolen from his father, when just a baby, by Holtz, who raises him in a hell dimension. Holtz’s sole motivation is vengeance. He doesn’t care at all about Connor, but he is using him. Holtz even set up and uses his own death to manipulate Connor.

He is then manipulated by the Beast Master, parading around in Cordelia’s body, in as personal and intimate a way as possible. I mean he’s still just a young kid and he’s never had anyone close to him who just loved him and protected him. Angel would have, of course, but Connor never gave him a chance.

Finally, Connor is taken in by Jasmine. Of course, everyone is originally taken in by her, but it’s almost worst for Connor, because he knows what she is all along, but he was responsible for creating her and he feels bound to her in a way the others can’t. In the end, even through all that, he does the right thing in destroying Jasmine, but that basically drives him over the edge. He realizes that he can’t trust anyone and that there is no one who really cares for him.

For the first time, I’m glad he got to go live with a real family, and have all his bad memories wipe away so he could live a normal life. And not just glad that he was gone from the show.

I’m starting to like Supernatural again. Almost as much as I did in the first season. Almost. I am getting a little confused with all these random chicks, though. Who are they and why are they here?

I’m not against them adding more people, but I was liking Dean’s interaction with Ellen’s daughter, Jo (Alona Tal), and then they just dropped her out of sight entirely. Where did she go? Did she die in the fire at the bar? Did she get another acting gig so she’s no longer available to Supernatural? What happened to her and why don’t they ever mention it? I really want to know.

Now, they are adding all these other chicks, like, they had the crossroads demon, plus that demon who’s “helping” Sam, and now Bela (Lauren Cohan). And what’s her deal exactly? I mean, does she take the place of the yellow-eyed demon as Sam and Dean’s number one antagonist?

Also, I much prefer to see someone who has an interest in Dean rather than Sam. Pretty much only because I think Dean is just way, way better looking. I mean, just look at Jensen Ackles. He’s like a perfectly perfect specimen of a man. He’s just beautiful. Not that Jared Padalecki isn’t cute, but in my opinion, Jensen is just so much more gorgeous. I actually remember being surprised when I first started watching that Jared was considered the star, rather than Jensen.

Checking out what’s coming up, I see that this week, the ep (Fresh Blood) is about vampires, always a favorite subject for me, and it stars Mercedes McNab, another Buffy/Angel alum. I’m looking forward to it.

Supernatural, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Alona Tal, Mercedes McNab, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel

I’ve been meaning to watch Smallville again, but, honestly, I just keep forgetting. I get busy doing something and then I remember when it’s mostly over. I have caught the last few minutes the past couple of weeks anyway.

I just read somewhere that James Marsters was coming back to reprise his role as Professor Fine/Braniac and I don’t want to miss that. Actually, it was because of him that I started watching in the first place. I mean I did try to watch it back in the beginning, but I couldn’t get past the stiff writing and not so great acting. Sorry, I just couldn’t.

I wanted to like it. So when James played Braniac in the fifth season, I watched, and was teased that James might be on into the sixth season. That didn’t happen, so I saw maybe two eps of the sixth season and then I gave up. I did, briefly, contemplate going back to the begining and watching all the eps, just cause. (My nephew owns them, I wasn’t gonna spend any money.) But I never did and then I lost the urge. Maybe I still will. Over this winter when there are no new shows to watch cause of the writer’s strike.

Of course, no new Smallville means no James Marsters. He’s actually in a couple of other shows, coming to a tv near me soon. Or possibly someday (see above, re strike). He’s playing a recurring role in Without a Trace, another show I’ve never seen, but plan to watch just to see James. Also, he has a part in Torchwood, which just makes me so happy. For those of you who don’t know, Torchwood is a spinoff of Doctor Who. Granted the ep James is gonna be in won’t make it to a channel I can see for years to come at this point, since the first season of Torchwood still hasn’t (it’s actually just now airing on BBC America, however, I don’t get that channel; but I’ve heard rumors it’s coming to SciFi). In any case, since the first season, which originally aired in Britian in 2006, is just now here in the US, how long will I have to wait to see the second season, airing in 2008?

Smallville, James Marsters, Without A Trace, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel