Angel - 5.15 "A Hole in the World"

I was really enjoying this ep of Angel, until I saw a very scary thing:

"Written and Directed by Joss Whedon".

After last weeks laugh-a-thon and warm-fuzzies, I should have seen it coming that this week would be all tragedy.

The first thing I'll say is, you don't pick on Fred.

I admit to not being a Spike fan, but I certainly agree that he brings a good vibe to the show, finally. It's only taken half a season. The argument between Spike and Angel was excellent, and one shot at that. For me, cavemen.

You don't pick on Fred.

Lorne was the best knight in shining armour, his colourful threatening of Eve one of his best moments.

I am a little confused at the way this ep was structured. Perhaps it is due to the serial structure of this season, but I felt like this apocalyptic event just came out of nowhere, so it doesn't have the impact of the previous revelations. By attacking a main character, the sole remaining female, to try and give it more impact felt forced rather than shocking. Yes at the end I went 'oooo', but it wasn't dumbfounded shock, like when Buffy walked in the door and found Joice's body.

It is a symptom of this season, I think, perhaps the constraints of smaller budgets and more intervening from the studio may have affected the stories being told. It's all history now.

Killing off leading female characters isn't a new thing from Whedonworld but Angel is a bit too testosterone heavy at times.

If there isn't some mystical way of reversing what has been done this fan will be most displeased.

You don't pick on Fred.