Angel: 5x4 Full Reaction
Added 2025-10-08 15:00:11 +0000 UTC"Hell-Bound"
Comments
The train whistle is the hardest laugh I’ve had in a while
Isaiah Bryant
2025-10-14 18:27:21 +0000 UTCFun fact: when this episode originally aired on TV, it had a “Viewer discretion advised” warning at the beginning. It’s the first time a Buffyverse episode ever had that
Ariel17
2025-10-10 05:57:43 +0000 UTCLast episode it was a werewolf, just a different species. They called it Lycanthropus exterus to distinguish it from the “common” werewolves we saw previously in Buffy. This was cover for the meta reason: they wanted a scarier and less silly looking werewolf design. They did try to improve the common werewolf in Buffy a few times when Oz wolfed out but by creating a new species they could start again without any need for visual continuity.
The Testimony of Mushroom
2025-10-09 09:12:01 +0000 UTCHave you ever seen the movie Ghost (with Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze?), this ep has a lot of those vibes - it would be a fun movie for the spooky season!
Minna
2025-10-09 01:30:55 +0000 UTCSpike and Angel doing their vampire hangy thing was the best! As for the duos that Spike compared them to: Hope and Crosby - Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were major stars of the 1930's, 40's, and 50's, Hope a comedian, Crosby a singer. They were teamed in the 40's in a series of movie comedies that made them even more popular. Crosby, Stills, and Nash - David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash joined to create the 60's/70's folk/rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, and Nash (sometimes Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young when they were joined by Neil Young). Chico and the Man - A popular sitcom of the 1970's, starring Freddie Prinze Sr and Jack Albertson. (This is possibly an inside joke, since at the time this episode was filmed Sarah Michelle Geller was newly-married to Freddie Prinze Jr).
DanielOrme
2025-10-09 00:31:11 +0000 UTCA very spooky episode, great for the Halloween season! I think Pavayne was responsible for all the times that Spike had been vanishing, turning translucent, being unable to be seen or heard by the group, etc- as a way to mess with Spike (with the one exception being when the necromancer in Episode 2 was able to make Spike vanish from Angel's side and re-appear next to the necromancer). Also I don't think that Pavayne was exclusively using his own willpower to change things, he had dark magic to supercharge that ability.
James Smith
2025-10-08 20:28:55 +0000 UTCSpike may have had his soul in S7 of Buffy, but in my opinion this is the real beginning of his redemption arc. True, selfless redemption. It makes sense in a weird way that it would be Angel who's the one to bring it out of him, like he did with Faith. I'm not the biggest Spike fan when he's on Buffy, but he works great in this season. Bangel? Spuffy? No, move over: Spangel is here to stay lol - "I like your poems" ❤️ Just kiss already you two! The production value of this season is top-tier, I'm always impressed when I rewatch it just how consistently high quality it is. Cinematography, action choreography, writing - the team behind the scenes have really mastered their craft by this point in the series. Simon Templeman, who played Pavayne, has such a great and iconic voice. I know him mainly from playing Kain in the Legacy of Kain games.
Jordan McLaren
2025-10-08 20:12:28 +0000 UTCI won't swear to it 100%, but I think this may be first time in the entire franchise that Spike uses Angel's human name, "Liam". It's always been Angel/Angelus up to now. I think one reason Angel is SO down on Spike getting redemption is that he feels guilty for molding Spike into a monster in the first place. Drusilla may have sired him, but it was Angelus who turned him into a legend. Since Angel can't forgive himself, he can't forgive Spike. You got all of the high points about the plot here, so don't worry about being confused. To sum up: Pavayne was solely responsible for Spike "blinking out" and seeing the visions, but he is unrelated to Spike being a ghost in the first place. The reason Spike is "stuck" here is because he is bound to the Amulet, and the Amulet is the property of W&H, so he is bound to W&H. He mentioned previously that when he walked to the city limits, he popped right back to W&H once he crossed the border. What we don't know is who sent the Amulet to W&H in the first place in the season premier, or how they dug it up from the ruins of Hellmouth.
JBK405
2025-10-08 19:20:21 +0000 UTCThat train horn 😂
MaggieStormborn
2025-10-08 18:18:48 +0000 UTCI like this episode a lot; the straightforward horror elements are great, and Pavayne is a wonderfully skin-crawling villain. Creepy to think he tortured the likes of Lee Mercer and Gavin Park. As for explanation, Pavayne was indeed responsible for the disappearances so Spike is now just incorporeal and bound to Wolfram & Hart. Everything else was Pavayne.
Jorgalorg
2025-10-08 18:11:50 +0000 UTCTiming worked out very well for Halloween season for this one.
Preaching to the Horse's Mouth
2025-10-08 16:06:49 +0000 UTC
