Angel: 5x7 Full Reaction
Added 2025-10-20 15:00:07 +0000 UTC"Lineage"
Comments
Eve was shown staring at Spike briefly more than once before elevator scene.
Morgan Williams
2025-10-29 04:59:49 +0000 UTCThat's pretty funny, I hadn't caught that, so at least one philosophy major missed it. My favourite obscure Buffyverse joke is the one where Spike is having Angel tortured by the torture expert who finds playing Mozart's 41st Symphony to be "highly effective" in accompanying his torture techniques, and Spike says he prefers Mozart's "earlier, funnier symphonies". Any script that calls out both Mozart and Woody Allen in the same line is a success in my book!
Arlo Murphy
2025-10-22 02:38:24 +0000 UTCA couple of things I think on Wesley in this one. First, when he was "patronizing" to Fred about her getting shot, he'd just gotten reamed out by Angel about this and was repeating Angel's version of events. That's what ya gotta do when your boss smacks ya down. Second, on the "daddy issues" front - yes, he has issues with his father, but the bit on the roof is the exact opposite of that. Wesley deals in absolutes. He does what he thinks is right, without hesitation and without consideration of the "little things" (like, you know, who might get hurt). It's not that he secretly wanted to shoot his father - it's that the identity of the person pointing the gun at Fred doesn't matter to him. The reason he didn't hesitate is because he has no daddy issues at all - someone threatened Fred and that someone got filled with exactly the same amount of lead as anyone else would have caught.
Arlo Murphy
2025-10-22 02:24:49 +0000 UTCIf I recall correctly, the last time we "saw" Wesley's father (so to speak) was in season two, when Angel Investigation had split when Angel was doing his personal vendetta against Darla and W&H. Wesley called his parents after Gunn and Cordelia made him The Boss to tell them the good news, and we saw Wesley's side of the conversation. Just like in this episode, even without seeing his father's side of the conversation we can tell EXACTLY how the conversation is going and just how poorly the relationship is between them. Like everybody else, the lack of ANY hesitation is what always hits me hardest in this episode. Wesley doesn't blink for even a second. Every time I see it I feel taken aback, even when I know it's coming. You're right that they're definitely writing Spike differently here than they did in Buffy S7. I think it makes "sense" given the different circumstances, but I also get why some people think it's over the line. Being intangible is naturally going to make anybody more flippant and lippy since they have no other way of interacting with people, and Spike also doesn't have a strong emotional connection to any of these people like he did with the Scooby gang. Except for Angel these are all complete strangers to him, so there's no guilt or baggage or strong bonds between them. I think it's natural that he be more jocular and unconcerned.
JBK405
2025-10-21 22:59:33 +0000 UTCMy two favorite acts of love in cinema history... #1. The porch scene from the movie "The Village" and #2 Wesley not hesitating to shoot his own father at just the thought of Fred being in danger....
Bryan J Brown
2025-10-21 03:05:44 +0000 UTCThis episode contains what is, beyond question, the most intellectually obscure joke in television history, Angel says that the worst thing about losing your free will is "you get really nauseous." The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described the feeling one gets when one realizes one has no real free will as "nausea." The connection point: In BtVS episode 3x8 Lovers Walk, the one where Spike makes his brief return, at one point we see Spike spying on Angel, who is reading. The book Angel is reading is Sartre's 'Nausea.' I'm sure it got a big laugh from all the philosophy majors. 😁 Angel's last speech to Wes marks a big step in their relationship. When he says that he never understood before how hard it is for Wes to make the hard decisions, he is, by implication, finally forgiving him for kidnapping Connor. Sad that Wes doesn't know that.
DanielOrme
2025-10-20 23:31:11 +0000 UTCI like that we get to see both Wesleys in this episode. Fumbly bumbly Wesley à la Buffy/Angel S1 and the newer, darker, tougher Wesley. The examination of some of his character traits. The moment when he shoots his "father," the interruption mid-sentence, no hesitation. Absolutely iconic.
Preaching to the Horse's Mouth
2025-10-20 17:37:16 +0000 UTCWesley has grown so much as a character from his by the book fool bumbling idiot in Buffy S3 and the dorky rogue demon hunter in Angel S1. Its tragic that despite all the development the psych profiles from his days at the Watchers Council still allowed this robot group know enough to manipulate him by pretending to be his father.
James Smith
2025-10-20 17:30:34 +0000 UTCThis is one of my favorite Angel episodes of the entire series. I love that there was absolutely no hesitation from Wesley when it came to protecting Fred. I also like that he threw up after thinking he killed his father, even though there was no hesitation in shooting him.
Christine Cox
2025-10-20 17:15:02 +0000 UTCYou mention that you think it's all in Spike's head when he says that Eve can't keep her eyes off of him, but when he pushes the beaker off the shelf in the lab, the camera switches to a shot of Eve definitely watching him.
Christine Cox
2025-10-20 17:09:35 +0000 UTC
