Jordo - You're right.  S/he should have said "beyond awful."

I've always been fond of "Touched."  Somewhere along the line I started being a characters-above-all person and so Buffy and Spike finally establishing real communication (after I always figured she was a better person without him - I was never a B/S "shipper") represents the exact opposite of filler, for me.  Also, I…

In some interview or other during the months of pre-_Dollhouse_ hype, she mentioned not smoking anymore (or drinking, for some reason).

I don't really agree that the Jasmine arc peaked, since I never loved watching it.  "Sacrifice" is pretty dull, but "Peace Out" is when we fight back.  And, as you say, it's Connor's episode.  S4 doesn't always show the character at his best, but he makes a lot more sense when you realize how thoroughly damaged he is…

Also, you can see with the "a few palaces" bit how what lives people have left will gradually become subsumed by worship of Jasmine to the exclusion of all else.

What you say about DMP vs. EP is completely and totally reversed from the "correct" opinion (well, my opinion).

As a shameless sucker for Big Reveals, I love Season 4.

Man, there's a lot to appreciate about these Jasmine episodes, but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy watching them.  Which I don't.  I admit that I think some of the analysis in this review is a bit of a reach, but that's what delving into these shows is all about, right?

Not my idea (it was noted as "ironic" on Wikipedia or TVTome or something in a blurb about "The Puppet Show"), but since I stopped reading at that point, I managed to remain unspoiled about to why exactly playing Oedipus would eventually become ironic.  I was waiting all series for him to kill his dad or have an…

In this episode, at least, he argues at all that being-a-whore stuff isn't an individual woman's fault, and seems to see it all as part of some larger pattern.  He also doesn't much care for men either, and hasn't found anyone in life he connects with until becoming enraptured by the purity of straight-up evil.  He's…

Heard the same thing.  I don't know when in the process it was made, but Xander's role as the observer (and "seeing everything") is played up heavily almost from the beginning of S7, so the switch from death to maiming must have been pretty early.

Shit, totally forgot to mention:  Fun bit of accidental foreshadowing - Xander playing Oedipus in the scene that plays over the end credits of "The Puppet Show."

"Are you the bad Slayer now?  Am I the good Slayer now?"

I believe that Lorne's first episode as a main cast member was "Salvage."  It was definitely one of the Faith episodes.

Sharing the love for "Inside Out," a writing favorite of mine too.  We've gone from a climax of the season in "orpheus" to a low-key standalone, and then things get positively EPIC.  Skip is a favorite of mine, especially when he just turns on the menace (and mocks the much detested "Saint Cordy" viebs from late S3),…

LMPTM is brillinat in parts; I'm one of those who loves most of Spike's scenes and hates what the episode (and he season in general) does with Giles.  I'm sure there are others who like and hate different parts.  Caroline Langerfelt is amazing at creating two totally different characters in about 45 seconds of screen…

A large part of S7 is about very deliberately tearing down any remaining mystique that Giles once had as the person who has the answers.

Couple good, if flawed episodes for me.  You're right about the tonal
shifts, but there are times when the show does mopey very well.  I adore
the twisted Watcher-Slayer dynamic between Wesley and Faith as she
decides how willing she is to let him take her back to dark places.

"Calvary" is a nasty piece of work; Angel is a little crueler to the rest of our heroes this week, the show gets us to almost like Lilah as one of the rag-tag heroes before seemingly killing her off, and then ends with a Big Reveal that totally throws everything off.  I'm a sucker for huge plot twists and big reveals,…

Bleah
TKIM is a great example of how to take a potentially good idea and do it as wrong as possible every step of the way.