Angel 5.19 - Origin
This episode was kind of stand-alone considering there's supposed to be THE apocalypse. But it could be part of the bigger picture. I refuse to believe that the writers and Joss would be so crass with Angel's remaining episodes.

Despite the ambiguity and the shield thing, Connor probably got all his memories back. He didn't say anything to Angel, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know anything. In case all the pain, brooding, and awkwardness comes back. Besides, he goes to Stanford now. He doesn't need W&H or Angel to mess everything up.

Funniest parts: Connor lusting after Illyria and saying he had a thing for older women. Then Angel says that should've been fixed; Spike 'studying' Illyria and writing everything on his clipboard; Connor saying to Angel "So are you like 500 years old?" and "Do you make out with female vampires all the time like in Anne Rice novels?"; Wes saying that they're not being insolent towards Angel but Spike had to say "I am!"; Angel going "She ate a whole petri dish?"; Illyria saying Wes had frustration curling off of him, but Spike saying it was just scotch.

I don't know what the Origin is either. It doesn't seem to refer to anything, which is weird. Unless the Ultimate Drew was referring to the memories that Wes got back. And things will definitely be changed now. Only Wes knows everything. Gunn and Lorne are still in the dark. Speaking of Gunn, I'm glad he stood up to Marcus Hamilton. He probably had enough of W&H "propositions". And Marcus Hamilton's suit probably has a sheet of metal under it. Adam Baldwin looks so stiff in it. It's funny. But Vincent Kartheiser is probably the weirdest looking actor in Hollywood. He's not ugly. Just so, so weird. You can pick him out from a huge crowd a mile away. Maybe that's why he was cast as Angel's son.

Four episodes left. I think I'm going to cry.

Angel 5.17 - Underneath
Hey, new credit sequence. More Illyria, less Fred. And Harmony. Joss probably wanted to put her name in so she could call herself a regular. He did the same thing with Andy Hallett last year, by the way.

This was a surprisingly good episode, seeing as how it came from the women writers who previously screwed up. The best dialogue was between Illyria and Wes. Illyria's lines were very Shakespearian and well written. Amy Acker is finally getting more comfortable and more convincing reading those Illyrian lines. Too bad the dialogue didn't really lead to anywhere important. Everyone got all philosophical this episode. Which is fine because you don't get as much of it in BtVS.

Funniest parts: When Spike and Angel both scream at the sunlight when Gunn opens the door of the car; Spike going "There's fire hell. Ice hell. Well, ice hell.."; Illyria complaining that Wes drinks all the time and makes that noise through his nose; Spike commenting that "Well didn't see that coming" after Marcus Hamilton dramatically pulls out his pen; and the beginning where Spike comes in with the briefcase and cracks open a beer.

The part where Gunn, Spike, and Angel confront Lindsey in his suburban hell smacks of The Matrix. Very blue pill, red pill. Only Lindsey didn't get to choose and he got the red pill shoved down his throat. And the gunfight was SO cool. Everyone just pulled out a machine gun, even the kid, and started shooting. It was well choreographed. Gunn sacrificed himself. He has character, man. I have newround respect for him. But he'll probably be saved in the next episode. Wait, that means Connor's coming back. *shudder*

Angel is television that thinks. And makes its audience think. No wonder it's so unpopular among the masses.

The Fall of "Wonderfalls"
It happened sooner than I thought it would. I was prepared though. This was a pinch compared to the news of the Angel cancellation. That was just like multiple stakes in the old ticker. I remember seeing the first episode, "Wax Lion", and thinking: "This show is like Angel without the Shanshu-ing, brooding, or fancy stuntwork. The cast isn't phenomenal like Angel, but it's smart and it's funny. It's SO getting cancelled."

I hate it when I'm right.

What pisses me off is that Wonderfalls has more critical acclaim than any new show this season. But it sits on the shelf to debut in mid-season in the worst timeslot possible. While The O.C. will enjoy an elongated, never-ending, 27-episode season. Sure, Wonderfalls is being pitched to other networks like the WB and UPN. Like those asshole WB execs would touch it with a ten-foot pole. UPN might be the best chance, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I feel sorry for Joss Whedon, Tim Minear, and David Greenwalt. By now, they must've formed a support group because all their shows have gone to hell faster than you can say "WB sucks shit".

Even the actors who do the voices for The Simpsons are on strike until they can get more money. They make something like $100 000 per episode already and they want $300 000. And they haven't done script-readings in 3 weeks or something so the next season may be compromised. Argh.

The only consolation is that Alias will have its season 4. I found out on the same day too: Wonderfalls gone, but Alias lives on. I know the people reading this don't watch Alias, but it's a decent show and has cult status. I guess if Alias was on the WB or something, it would also be cancelled because it supposedly runs over its budget a lot and the ratings aren't jaw-dropping. But at least ABC is desperate and Alias happens to be its only signature show. Thank goodness for despearte networks.

Remember those 2 books I bought in that used bookstore? The F. Scott Fitzgerald one, "The Pat Hobby Stories" is really good. It's about a screenwriter who slacks off like crazy and tries to beat the system and get paid for it. It's quite villainy.

The Usual April Fool's
The fire alarm got pulled 3 minutes into the biology lecture this morning. I had to stand outside in the cold and drizzly weather for a good 10 minutes before we were let back in. It was productive though. Between three people, we solved the entire Jumble in the newspaper.

Classes will be over tomorrow. That's a relief. Too bad the studying isn't. I have a week to understand everything that I supposedly learned the last 6 weeks. And enrol in that stupid Subject Post and declare my major. I feel like going across the border and I have to "declare" something. Like I have a purpose in my undergraduate degree that I need to tell everyone about.

School sucks. But I'm thinking of taking a summmer course or two. See, there's this philosophy course called "The Art of Thinking". I guess it's like a critical thinking course. I don't think it's being offered next year at all, so this might be the last chance I have. It feels strange to know that there are people out there who consider thinking to be an art form. Are we really at that stage where the mere act of forming an opinion of something and expressing it coherently is so abstract that only a small percentage of the population are able to do it? Anyway, the course description has me hooked. And next year, I might take this course called "Greek and Latin for Scientists" so I have actually have a chance at all the nomenclature. Sometimes, I'm glad I go to a school with the power of W&H.

It hit me the other day that I don't have the common sense that most people have. I never think of the most obvious answers to questions. Like on a test, I'll screw up the easiest parts and actually do decent on the harder ones. I hope this is a gift rather than a curse.

I hate everyone I go to school with. They find some way of pissing me off every single day. I think I'm turning into a teeth-grinder like Stannis.

Bemoaning the State of Television
No Angel for weeks. SMG should be finished her stupid movie shoot in Japan by now and should make it back home. She better. After 'Shells', making us wait around for 5 weeks for Angel to go out in a 'big bang' is horrendously painful. It's like pulling off a Band-Aid. Do it quickly and do it now. You can't just peel it halfway, diddle around and shave some of the surrounding hair while the wound festers before peeling the other half off. It's unsanitary.

Wonderfalls fills the gap nicely, but it's still not Angel. Besides, it's too optimistic to assume that it won't mysteriously get cancelled a la Angel. Or vanish off the dial altogether. That Friday night death slot is the worst possible way to debut a smartly written series. The only people who watch TV on Friday nights are people who have no lives. So obviously, the ratings won't be as spectacular because smart people comprise only a small percentage of the common masses. It's like FOX has already dusted off its electric chair.

Even Alias has me worried. They've been spewing out some less-than-decent episodes in the past few weeks. At this rate, the only thing I'll be watching next year is The Simpsons.

Does anyone else feel like graduating right about now?

Angel 5.16 - Shells
This was very much the Angel version of "The Body". The way that Illyria refers to her body as "The Shell" and how Buffy refers to her dead mom as "The Body" is catastrophic because the living can suddenly become things that sound like they belong in a natural history museum. In both cases, someone that was not supposed to die, dies. Then you get to watch how those left living deal with it. On Buffy, the Scoobies stand in a circle and cry and stare at each other. On Angel, all the males blame themselves, then finger-point, then beat each other up.

It has to be tough getting on the stage after Joss Whedon. Expectations are high. But the script didn't implode under its own weight as much as I thought it would. Even Harmony was sort of useful. Best lines: when Angel asks Spike what he got from the doctor and Spike replies: "Screaming. Various bodily fluids.." and when Illyria says her last Qua-hai San was taller than Knox. Best parts: Spike sitting in front of all those tiny Jack Daniels bottles on the plane and doing the 'play on perspective'; the skeleton key that Knox brings to the gate is actually a part of a skeleton; and the fight scene where Illyria takes both Spike's and Angel's sword and swings them around in a circle.

How cool is Wes with a gun? How come he's the only one that uses one? And how good is Alexis Denisof's acting? The spotlight was completely on him this episode and he manages to outshine the spotlight. The scene where Wes is packing up Fred's stuff was heartbreaking. Especially when he got to Fred's stuffed bunny. Poor Wes...he's willing to help Illyria just because it looks like Fred. Everyone knows that Fred is gone because her soul was destroyed, but none of them truly accepts that fact yet. The montage was bad. Or maybe it was just the horrible, horrible choice of song. Any Sarah McLachlan song would've fit the bill much better.

Gunn cried. That was major character development, seeing as how he started on Angel as the 'muscle guy'. It looks like he'll be discharged from the Fang Gang like Wes was last season. Gunn deserved to be stabbed. He got off easy considering the state of devastation that Wesley was in.

That last scene where Fred says goodbye to her parents and drives off in a huge station wagon was so sad. It's the most painful reminder that Fred is truly gone.

Angel 5.15 - A Hole In the World
No one remind me why this show is getting cancelled. It'll be like watching Fred sob and die in the arms of a helpless Wesley. Complete devastation. Amy Acker did a fair job, considering she's not the greatest actress to walk this earth. Whatever Amy Acker didn't do, Alexis Denisof made up for it. Did you see the guy's face when she died? Joss does love torturing us with doomed love. Nonetheless, Joss should clone himself two or three times so he can write and direct each of the remaining episodes. The other Angel writers can pack it in and get the hell out.

Best moments: Lorne punching Eve and telling her to go die; Wes shooting the guy in the leg without batting an eyelash; Gunn finally getting some conflict and character; more Spike vs. Angel; Angel walking around with a sword stuck in his chest while a bug hangs out the back; Spike admitting he'd never flown before; the look on Wes' face when Spike asks him whether astronauts or cavemen would win in a fight; Spike asking Drogyn questions then saying it was a statement; and St. Petersburg.

Joss always knew what to do with Spike (i.e. not let him sink into the background like the other writers did). He even tells us why Spike is still hanging around W&H even though it's has nothing to do with this episode. Also having Spike say the most important line on a show titled 'Angel' is a testament to Joss' love for Spike. That manigificent line..."There's a hole in the world.." is heavy. That whole bridge scene pokes at the brain cells much more than Buffy has in recent memory. Thumbs up to James Marsters too, who likely that line while staring at a blinding green screen.

Best shots: the "revolving-door" shot where the guys congregate in the lobby of W&H. (Very reminiscent of "Chosen" just before Buffy went to open the Hellmouth. But it makes you dizzy) and the one in Fred's bedroom where you watch a reflection in the mirror of Fred and Wes hugging or something (I want to know how they did that without the camera showing up on the mirror too). Too cool.

Wes will probably kill Knox. That conversation in the beginning where Wes asks Gunn if he's okay with him being together with Fred--Gunn ironically replies if Wes hurts her, he'll kill Wes like a chicken. Looks like Wes will be the one killing people like chickens.

The apparently insignificant detail that Angel didn't know Fred & Wes were together while the rest of the world knew will likely become significant later. You know Joss. Subtle and deadly.

The Entry That's Not Supposed to Exist
Angel is cancelled. Fest is cancelled. But exams remain conspicuously un-cancelled. So that's why I'm sitting here typing this bloody entry. Aren't Supervillains supposed to have super-immunity to viral infections and other contagious diseases? Not even super-rehabilitative abilities? *ahem. Looks pointedly at Cat*

Anyway, the Mini-Fest (Without the Sickly Cat) at Ryerson was interesting. Highlights:
>KW-2 leaving.

>watching KW-2 drop her lettuce after finding out James Marsters is like 40.

>going to that tiny bookstore that lives in the shadow of the World's Biggest Bookstore and getting two decent books for just over $10.

>visiting the Ryerson gym that looks nothing like an athletic facility on the outside. It looks like a museum. Or the only part of an otherwise burnt-down mansion from 100 years ago. But not something that would contain dumbells or treadmills.

>the complete lack of specimens make me feel so much better about my own sorry campus.

>BtVS could've been shot here and we won't know because the hallways look exactly like the old Sunnydale High. They're complete with wine-red lockers, half-brick, half-paint layout of the walls, and wide enough to do a couple of cartwheels.(More room with which to kick demon ass, my dear).

>walking past a classroom filled with old people. That was hilarious. It was like stepping through a time-warp where all the youth of today suddenly aged 60 years.

>the classrooms that are sunken deep into odd corners and crevices while outside there are two or three lockers that suddenly stick out at a 90 degree angle from the normal orientation of lockers. And don't forget those classrooms that have a door opening into an impossibly oval-shaped space. The only conclusion that can be drawn from these rooms: architects must've been on acid.

>the RCC building is really nice. Plenty of psudo-fresh air and sunshine. It's good for claustrophobic people.

>the Registrar's Office needs a huge sign to let people know that it's an office since it looks nothing like one. They seem more like those booths at skating rinks where they offer to sharpen your skates.

That's all I can think of right now. I think that's enough for an entry that wasn't supposed to be written because we're supposed to be Festing. *looks pointedly at Cat*

Angel 5.14 - Smile Time
This episode would've been much more enjoyable had there not been the cloud of cancellation hanging over the TV set. It's hilarious episodes like this that make Angel's cancellation so much more painful to swallow. Apparently, around the same time that the WB announced it was pulling the plug on Angel, it renewed Charmed. It was an early renewal too and networks rarely do that in reality TV-land nowadays. Charmed's totally undeserved renewal makes the cancellation even more bitter because it's the worst show on the WB's pitiful roster. Longest-running show on the WB. But by far the worst. If you want ratings, WB, clone Dawson's Creek and pit it against The O.C. Hormone-ravaged teens would be besides themselves.

Anyway, Smile Time. Puppet-Angel needs more screen time. He was so cool. Vamped-Puppet-Angel was even better. You know who else needs more screen time? Spike. His role has been reduced to beating up Puppet-Angel and then disappearing again. Pretty soon, he's going to get fewer lines than Harmony. Spike needs fast cars all the time because he keeps crashing them, but what's keeping him from taking the Viper leaving W&H altogether? Joss better be thinking of something to make both Angel and Spike Shanshu properly.

Fred and Wes' was long-awaited kiss was nice. It was satisfying. Until the next episode. It better be good since Joss wrote and directed it. Do science nerds wear mini-skirts underneath a lab coat? Or was she trying to attract Wes?

Angel has been such a goof on romance that he can't even believe that Nina likes him. Which is strange because for the first 3 seasons of Buffy, Angel was supposed to be the smoldering hunk. So Angel is a goof around girls other than Buffy?!

There were some funny lines too. The puppets saying that they steal childern's souls while upholding a quality standard of edutainment. Lorne saying Smile Time is the highest rated show in its timeslot and telling Angel that he can't just jihad the place. Fred trying to touch Puppet-Angel and calling him cute. Some Bush-bashing when Gunn and Wes talk to the puppeteer guy.

This was a solid episode. If only the damn show wasn't cancelled. *sticks middle finger up at WB execs*

Operation Occupation
I've decided to take a break from brooding and blog instead. I've been trying to keep my mind off Angel for the past 72 hours. Anything that doesn't trigger thoughts of Angel. Studying. Cleaning my room. Going on downloading frenzies. Studying. Checking the library site for the 50th time to see if my copy of ASoS has come yet. Figuring out those physics problems. Looking for a job. Watching the Coldplay DVD over and over again. Studying. Rearranging my sock drawer.

No words or thoughts exist to describe the utter devastation and void left by the death of Angel. Imagine, only 8 episodes left to properly conclude the show before the remnants of Jossverse get sucked into WB's black hole faster than you can say 'WB is a shitty network run by anal-retentive, hairline-retreating bastards.' I wasn't this sad when Buffy ended because you felt like the show its full course. And it was half-expected because Sarah Michelle Gellar was at the end of her contract and her growing disloyalty to her fans was becoming more and more apparent. But Angel. New energy. New set. New writers. New stories. New characters. But none of that matters anymore. Good television doesn't matter anymore.

I saw Britney Spears' new video, "Toxic". That song is so annoying it gives me earwax just listening to it. The scene at the end where she steals a bottle of green goo is shamelessly stolen from the pilot of Alias. In the pilot, Jennifer Garner breaks into this vault thing while sporting a fire-red wig and a skin-tight black (but not leather) suit. Britney is smart enough to watch Alias? Because that show's plot may not be as philosophically deep as Buffy or Angel but is so complex that it makes your head spin even if you're just being a couch potato.

Okay, that was counter-productive. I was on a roll, then I had to go mention Buffy and Angel.

The Sarillorn quoted me on her blog. No one has ever done that before. And I wasn't aware that I have an eloquent streak. Thanks, dude.