Mark Watches ‘Angel’: S04E13 – Salvage

In the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Angel, everything is absolutely wonderful until everything is absolutely the worst thing imaginable. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Angel.

This was so good up until that final scene. I am now more confused than ever about Cordelia Chase. Are there two of her? How the hell was she able to talk to the Beast and leave the hotel without anyone seeing her? Did she hop out of a window? Have I been tricked about which version of Cordelia I’m seeing? I don’t get it at ALL. How can she be controlling the Beast? Is she an evil higher being? And if that’s the case, HOW DID THE POWERS THAT BE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN?

I’ll get back to that in a second. Let’s talk about Wesley, and then we’ll talk about someone else. First of all, Lilah Morgan is gone. God, it sucks so much. Her death was so shocking because it didn’t follow a pattern I’ve come to see in Whedon shows. Just as a character approaches the end of their character arc or just as they find redemption, they’re killed. Death can be rather ironic. With Lilah, it’s pure chance. She just happened to be next to Evil Cordelia and… Evil Cordelia doesn’t like Lilah? I don’t get why she was killed, to be honest. It appears to be just for the hell of it, which… okay, I’ll save my Cordelia thoughts until the end. I’m going to miss Lilah, and even when she appears as a figment of Wes’s imagination, she is still incredible. I loved how quick she was to poke fun of heroism. I loved her selfishness. I loved everything she chose to be. What’s so difficult about watching Wesley’s agonized reluctance is that he’s realizing this fabulous woman is now gone forever. I think that the figment version of her was right: Wes is torn up about not saving her from evil. He couldn’t control Lilah, and he couldn’t make her what he wanted. Lilah died exactly the person she wanted to be, and that’s what Wesley lost.

I harbored a hope that she might come back as the sassiest vampire in the history of fiction, but Wesley follows through and cuts off her head. UGH. Goodbye, Lilah Morgan and Stephanie Romanov. Y’all will be MISSED.

So I’m left with a bad taste in my mouth after being confused by Cordelia’s sudden evil turn and by the loss of Lilah. So what does this show give me in consolation? FAITH. OH MY GOD IT’S FAITH. I urge you to watch my giggle breakdown in today’s Mark Watches video as I devolve into nothing but laughter over her appearance. Y’all already know that Faith is one of my favorite characters in the Buffyverse, and I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT EVERYTHING SHE DOES IN THIS EPISODE.

Okay, so… I have to do a list about Faith. I HAVE TO. It is the only way to properly ~honor her.~

FAAAAIIIITTTTTHHHHH

• OKAY WHAT WAS THAT KNIFE THAT THAT WOMAN USED TO TRY TO KILL FAITH? Are we talking about some sort of extreme crossover here? Because I’ll be damned if that knife didn’t look exactly like the knife that the Bringers used to kill all those Potentials. IT LOOKED EXACTLY THE SAME.
• It was clear that breaking out of prison was not a difficult thing for Faith. It really wasn’t! Given that, that means that at any point in time, she could have left prison. She didn’t have to stay there, and lord knows Faith is talented enough to survive while on the run. That means she chose to stay there and pay for what she’d done.
• HELP THAT IS AMAZING.
• HAHAHA SHE TOTALLY IS MAKING FUN OF ALL THE WEIRD SHIT THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THESE PEOPLE’S LIVES. I mean, yeah, to an outsider, the Angel Investigations’ team has got some fucked up stories.
• There will never be a day in the future when I think about Faith cutting Connor down to size in the hotel lobby and I don’t smile at it. That one scene will allow me to get through any struggle in my life. Having difficulty with a close friend? Think of Faith yelling at Connor. Get sick? Think of Faith yelling at Connor. It’s the catch-all solution to my problems.
• In general, watching Faith take control is just so beautiful. I mean, you’ve got this group of people who can barely agree with one another because of recent events. Faith strolls in, gives absolutely no fucks about a single sob story they have to offer her, and barks out orders. I love her.
• I take it back. If I’m ever sick, I’ll think about Faith beating Connor in a fight without breaking a sweat. That whiny dude had it coming, and it is perfect.
• For what it’s worth, Faith is the only human to last that long in an interaction with the Beast. That’s right she is better than you.
• Throughout all of this, even after Angelus lures her right to the Beast, Faith refuses to kill Angel because he was the only person who truly supported her. This is now a Faith/Angel blog, the only true ship in all ships. Wait, do they have a ship name? Aith? Fangel? Wow, those are both super awful. I abandon this ship solely for that reason.

I was also not the least bit dissatisfied with the reveal that the only thing that could kill the Beast was the Beast itself. That’s kind of brilliant.

Okay.

So.

So.

I believed that the S.S. Nope had long sailed away and crashed on some deserted island, never to be found. Now I’ve discovered that it’s back. Because Cordelia is pregnant. With Connor’s child. And she tells him this with some weird evil look on her face. And I UNDERSTAND ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THIS. Who the fuck is on the screen, and what have they done with Cordelia? I don’t get this, and I don’t like it. I am 0% excited to see how this plot is used, and I am 100% ready to proclaim Cordy/Connor the worst thing in the history of the Buffyverse.

No. Just… no. No. NO. STOP TRYING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Ugh, what a disappointing end to an awesome episode.

The video commission for this episode is now archived on MarkDoesStuff.com for just $0.99!

Mark Watches ‘Angel’: S04E13 – Salvage from Mark Oshiro on Vimeo.

Mark Links Stuff

– I HAVE STARTED A NEW SITE IN THE MARK DOES STUFF WORLD! MARKPLAYS.NET. I WILL PLAY VIDEO GAMES TOTALLY UNSPOILED. Join me!
– You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook for any updates and live commentary on upcoming reviews I’m writing.
– If you’d like to support what I’m doing, you can click the little Donate button in the right sidebar, buy eBooks on MarkDoesStuff, or purchase physical books on Lulu.com.
– Mark Reads Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix JUST CAME OUT. It’s $4.99, it’s very long, and it is overflowing with feelings.
– You can purchase your very own Mark Reads OR Mark Watches video for just $25, and I will read ANYTHING you want, OR I will record myself watching any upcoming episode for Mark Watches. There is a complete list of all claimed episodes/chapters at the link!
– Mark Reads is now on YouTube, and you can watch all my videos right here!
– I am now putting Mark Watches videos on Vimeo as well (they’re all located here) to avoid copyright issues I’m having on YouTube. Mark Reads videos are still on YouTube.
– I’ve started reading The Shoebox Project for Mark Reads, the first fanfic “series” I’ve ever covered! Join me!