Angel 5x12 You're Welcome

What destroyed me most was the ending and even knowing that it was still VERY effective Cordiellia was only in her early to mid 20's character wise from what I remember and I just got no words Undoubtedly a POWERFUL episode though never did get to go out for that drink with her friends one last time but maybe she knew she wasn't supposed or wasn't able to what an episode such OUCH

Kinda strange re watching knowing what the ending is lol. What an episode

Of all the emotional gutpunches in this episode the one that stands out to me is Cordy rewatching Doyle's video. I know it messed me up. I can remember when you reacted to Doyle's last episode I left a comment and somewhere in the middle I quoted Cordy in this episode, "First soldier down." Not a spoiler because I hate spoilers but I couldn't help myself to throw that in there as you would forget about that sentence 4 seasons after.

I've never liked the whole "she was dead the whole time" trope.... how did Lindsay lose his powers if someone didn't pull that stone out? I get if nobody acknowledged her or she didn't do anything physical tothe world and we find out it's in Angel's mind, but no... Maybe I'll have to look that up. And Fred.... that look you speak of, my goodness she looked absolutely gorgeous in that shot.

There is an excellent DVD commentary for this episode with David Fury, writer and director, Sarah Thompson, playing Eve, and Christian Kane, playing Lindsey. A lot of what they talk about is very spoilery for the rest of the season. David Fury did mention how emotionally hard it was for David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter to shoot two scenes in particular. The scene where they are talking about Doyle and the final good-bye scene. Glenn Quinn had passed away about two years earlier. Christian discussed that he knew Glenn before working on Angel and how close he, David and Glenn had become and that they had hung out together even after Glenn had left the show (for real life reasons.) Sarah talked about shooting the scene where Harmony is slapping her around and how Mercedes accidently slapped her for real and spent the rest of the day apologising to her.

The season 4 drama around Charisma's pregnancy relates to some abominable things said by Joss Whedon. If you trust us on the fact of that you're better off not knowing the details. They led to the decision to remove Charisma from the show for reasons related to her pregnancy, and replace her with Marsters. If he'd known he might have thought twice about signing up but none of this came out for fifteen years. This episode's drama was much smaller. Charisma agreed to return on the condition her character wasn't killed off. I can't recall at what point she found out how things went. The ending we get does make good sense in story terms: we get closure, we get a twist, and I'm not sure if we would if it was a return to coma deal. It's a great episode this. It feels like event television. Charisma looks top. So much energy. I love there's a focus on Cordy and Angel but that the rest of the cast get a look in. Christian Kane makes really interesting acting choices. His posture, his tones. Enough so we can read between the lines about why he's back and what he wants to achieve. Its vintage Lindsay but also new: old and weary yet spoiling for a fight. Keep those tissues handy. Would you consider doing a livestream looking back after the door closes on the Buffyverse?

Yeah, this is a sad one. As expected for the 100th episode. That scene at the beginning in the hospital when Cordelia says something like...that girl has one foot in the grave, and then draws the curtains. That was Cordelia lying there. :-( But wasn't this a great celebration of Cordelia? It was so great to see old Cordelia back after the fake Cordelia we had all 4th season. And she came with a fresh mind to wake up Angel to get him on the right path, and I think she succeeded. This also, in a way, was a celebration of Glenn Quinn (Doyle). I've heard there were loose plans to have him guest starring in season 4, but nothing came of it as Glenn died...:-(

I love the parallel of the phrase “I get that now!” Angel 1x9 Hero Doyle: “The good fight, yeah? You never know until you’ve been tested. I get that now!” Angel 5x12 You’re Welcome Cordelia: “Doyle pissed me off so righteously going out like that! But he knew. Knew what he had to do. And didn’t compromise. He used his last breath to make sure you’d keep fighting. I get that now!”

I feel that Cordelia's character arc is the best in the Buffyverse by miles.

I hate that they gave us Cordelia back only to kill her off in the very same episode 😭 I don't know what's worse though, losing Cordelia or the fact that Spike was playing Donkey Kong on an Xbox! You know, Donkey Kong, that famous NINTENDO game that also happens to feature Mario. How did this mistake happen? Were there no gamers on the Angel crew!? (Joking of course, losing Cordelia was obviously worse) Thanks for another excellent reaction Juliette. Hope your week is going well so far 💜

Happy 100th episode! After not having the real Cordelia for all of season 4, this episode was such a wonderful breath of fresh air! It was great to see her at her best one more time. Her personality and energy add so much to the show. Really glad we got one more ep with her! Heartbreaking, yet beautiful ending.

💕💕😢😢

Here's where the *controversy* kicks in... :) (Related sidenote: Charisma Carpenter's birthday is in a couple of days...)