Angel Investigated - 2.20 Over The Rainbow
Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 03.16.2010
Cordelia is sucked into The Host's home dimension of Pylea, where humans are not very popular!
2.20 Mere Smith
Director: Fred Keller
Whedon Speak
Angel: I'm just waiting for Wes to have that Eureka moment. Wesley: EUREKA! Lorne: You mean he actually says Eureka?
Angel: I'm not on fire. Wesley: And we're together. And we didn't merge into a freakish four man Siamese twin. Gunn: That was a risk? How come no one told me that was a risk? Angel: Can everyone notice how much fire I'm not on?
Case Files
The Pylean Village was filmed at the same location as the Chinese Boxer Rebellion in this season’s ‘Darla’.
Ronny Sarnecky has the full review!
Darla is done! At least for now, the Darla character has been written out of the show. Instead of a final confrontation between Angel and the Darla/Druscilla tag team, the creative team at “Angel” decided to go in a whole new direction. I like the direction that the show is going in.
Up until the previous episode, the only thing we knew about Lorne was that he was a demon that owned a karaoke bar, and could see into people’s auras when they sang. We didn’t even know his name. Neither did the Buffyverse, as he was referred to as “The Host” at the time. In the episode “Belonging,” we started to learn more about Lorne, such as we met his cousin, and found out that he came from a different dimension called “Pylea.” This episode started to tear off the layers of mystery surrounding Lorne. The viewer discovered that, while Lorne doesn’t like his home dimension, the feeling is mutual, as the natives of Pylea aren’t thrilled to have him back either.
I found this episode a lot lighter then the usual dark offerings by “Angel.” First, there was the role reversal on Pylea, where humans where treated like cattle, to the point that Cordelia was referred to as a “cow” on numerous occasions. In true “Angel” fashion, this was comic gold. Even being faced with the prospect of being a slave, the egotistical Cordelia found herself complaining about petty things. When she overheard what she was being sold for, Cordelia was outraged that all she was worth was “one pig, one measly pig.” I also liked that in this dimension, Angel was able to walk about in the sun without fear of burning. I enjoy those scenes, because it’s something that is rare to see in this series. Plus, Angel’s reactions are always usually cool to see. Sometimes, he acts like a child getting a toy he so desperately wants. Other times, he just soaks it in, knowing this will not last much longer.
This is one of those episodes of “Angel” where I forgot what happened. I expected to have Team Angel break loose, escape, grab Cordelia, and be on the run. However, after they burst through the door, and saw that Cordelia was the Princess of Pylea, I was like “What the hell?” I thought that the writers of the show set this twist up perfectly. After Cordelia had one of her visions, the townspeople were calling her cursed, as well as being “infected.” The way they performed the scenes, you were left thinking bad things were ahead for Cordelia. Very nicely done.
Jeremy Thomas
Much like our Buffy episode this week, "Over the Rainbow" starts right where the previous episode left off. Cordelia is stuck in Pylea, where she quickly finds herself on the wrong side of society. Humans are "cows" in Pylea; humans are views as lesser beings and are enslaved. Angel, Wesley, a reluctant Lorne and (eventually) Gunn go out to find a new "hot spot" in order to get back through and find and rescue Cordy. I like the Pylea bits here; by taking the show off Earth for a storyline arc, they were able to do some fun stuff with the characters. There are always great things that can be done when people are taken out of their element, and that's exactly what happens here. I enjoyed Angel's realization that he can walk around in the sun here, and the introduction of Fred was nicely done as a "fugitive" and source of information for Cordelia. There's some continuity that doesn't quite make sense to me—for example, why was Caritas able to accept two portals (the one that brought the Drokken to Earth and the one that brought Landok & Cordy back to Pylea) but the library was only able to accept one? But those are minor quibbles and all in all, this is a fun episode that continues the great little side adventure that Pylea ended up being.
8
Jason Chamberlain
And we’re in Oz!
Looking back, it’s hard not to wish for a proper conclusion to the seasonal arc of Darla and Drusilla. It would have been very cool to see a final knockdown drag out between them and Angel. But scheduling conflicts apparently negated that, and so instead we get the Pylea adventure, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at.
Here we get our first real glimpse of Fred. Aww, Fred. How much does she grow in the course of the series! Here she is crazy, but still amazingly strong. Seeing more of Lorne is always great, though the best is yet to come (Numfar anybody?) and Angel’s joy at not bursting into flames under the sun is great. And I love Wes’ triumphant “I think we’re winning!” moment, followed by a smash cut to everyone tied up. Classic.
8
GRR!!! ARGH!!!
The 411: I enjoyed this episode very much. Seeing the gang in a new setting was really cool. This episode was full of comedy, which is a staple that Joss Whendon is great at presenting in the “Buffy/Angel” series. Seeing the full of herself Cordelia now being a princess, has so many comedic possibilities that I can’t wait for the next episode.
I found this episode a lot lighter then the usual dark offerings by “Angel.” First, there was the role reversal on Pylea, where humans where treated like cattle, to the point that Cordelia was referred to as a “cow” on numerous occasions. In true “Angel” fashion, this was comic gold. Even being faced with the prospect of being a slave, the egotistical Cordelia found herself complaining about petty things. When she overheard what she was being sold for, Cordelia was outraged that all she was worth was “one pig, one measly pig.”
I also liked that in this dimension, Angel was able to walk about in the sun without fear of burning. I enjoy those scenes, because it’s something that is rare to see in this series. Plus, Angel’s reactions are always usually cool to see. Sometimes, he acts like a child getting a toy he so desperately wants. Other times, he just soaks it in, knowing this will not last much longer.
