Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

The previews of last night's 'Angel' episode, "Smile Time", had me worrying that Angel would finally jump the shark, but it wasn't bad at all (especially with Gunn explicitly referring to the awfulness of the last few seasons of "Happy Days", which were responsible for "jump the shark" having entered our TV vocabulary). It will never be on my list of favorite episodes, but it was fine for what it was trying to do -- whether that was delivering an 'edu-tainment' on the need for self-esteem, or an allegory on what it feels like to deal with Network executives when you're just trying to get your show on the air, or some combination of the two.

First off, we've got David Fury (whom I'd last seen as the pizza delivery guy getting ripped-off by James Marsters in "Chance") -- the "mustard man" himself -- portraying Gregor Framken, the poor sod with a demonic puppet's hand up his spinal column, pulling his strings and perverting his life's work. How strangely appropriate that this should be the first episode scheduled after the WB's surprise (well, it was a surprise to ME, anyway) announcement that "Angel" has been cancelled. I can't help but wonder if Joss Whedon's bad experiences with Fox over "Firefly" and with the WB during season 5 of "Buffy" were the basis for his contribution to the story last night. I guess that fine print (and the fact that you're dealing with demonic powers in the first place) will get you every time, if'n you don't watch out.

Then we've got a bargain-basement version of "Sesame Street" with felt puppets (I guess only the Jim Henson people have the legal right to use the term "muppets"?) spouting good moral lessons and scholastic values while sucking the life out of the children they're supposed to be helping. Hmmm. I never succumbed to the charms of "Sesame Street," myself (must have been too old by the first time I saw it -- but I loved "The Muppet Show", when Kermit and Co. went out on their own), but I always took it on faith that the show was supposed to be good for kids. Maybe so. But then, all those 'edu-tainment' programs DID have the effect of getting little kids used to the idea of relating to TV characters, rather than going outside and making some real live friends. Is this an implied critique of young children watching TV in general? Nah. That's too much of a reach, even for me. More likely, this was just about raising that very dissonance between the warm fuzzy feelings we're supposed to have about fuzzy felt puppet characters, on the one hand, and the inherent creepiness of vampires and demons, on the other hand -- a creepiness that we, as frequent visitors to the Joss-verse, accustomed to liking and identifying with Angel and Spike and Lorne, no longer notice, perhaps, until we're brought up against it all over again, as the world of monsters temporarily collides with the world of muppets, creating a tremendous shock-wave of "Ewwwww!"

On to the self-esteem issues ("Ooh! My favorite!").

Just in case we didn't catch on to the recurring theme of the episode, we have that persistent "Smile Time" song reprising at the end of the episode, just as Wes finally clues into the blindingly obvious fact that Fred is into him in a big way: "Self-esteem is for everybody. Self-esteem is for everyone. You can do or be anybody, but self-esteem is how it gets done" (or some words to that effect --working from memory, here). Wes, though quick enough to accuse Angel of blindness in regard to wolf-girl Nina's interest, misses or wildly misinterprets all Fred's attempts to tell him that he is NOT an utterly sexless shoulder to lean on, but rather her stud-muffin of choice. And we infer that his self-esteem issues (explicitly illustrated in "Lineage", even if that wasn't his real dad after all) have a lot to do with his obtuseness. He's protecting himself from rejection or disappointment by not getting his hopes up, even when he should. Yeah, got it. And Angel tells Wes that he's "not that guy" -- the guy who's charming and emotionally useful, etc., the guy who can respond to a woman's expression of interest and maybe run the risk of being just a little bit happy. Until Nina tells him (just before she nearly devours him, because he is STILL not paying attention to what's going on around him) that he IS a hero, made of felt or not, and a good person who is worthy of her affection and interest.

But it's the case of Charles Gunn, esq., that has me concerned. Were all Gunn's experiences with electro-Gwen last year (when she came looking for HIM, 'cause she needed a real live hero to help her crash a party, and he showed just how James Bond-y he could be, working from only his own knowledge and charm and prowess) lost in the great memory-wipe? Guess so. Or maybe it's just that a few positive experiences, demonstrating that his own talent and intelligence, aren't enough to overcome the habit of being regarded, and even regarding himself, as just "ignorant street muscle" (in the doctor's charming words). Yes, it's been good to have someone with legal knowledge in multiple dimensions on their team while they're trying to run a law firm, and his report from the Library of Demon Congresses certainly helped to speed things along this time. But Gunn is obviously smart enough (high school drop-out, or not -- heck, I'M a high school drop-out, if you want to get technical about it, and it's never kept me out of graduate school) to study and learn the old-fashioned way -- maybe not all the demon languages and super-powered legal skills, but enough to continue to be a useful asset to the group. We know he once traded his soul for a truck in order to be better able to protect and defend his group of homeless kids, and now it seems he's trading it again for enhanced skills and knowledge to protect and help his friends, all because he doesn't think he's GOOD ENOUGH as he really is. Dang! This sucks! (Not the episode, I mean, but the situation and the pain Gunn is in.)

Oh, and speaking of "I'll take 'Things That Suck' for 100, Alex" -- another episode where Spike has nothing to do but a walk-on as the buffoon (whose major contribution to the good fight these days somehow involves decimating the Wolfram & Hart motor pool, one sports car at a time). SO tired of that. Yeah, maybe being around Angel causes Spike to regress at times, becoming irresponsible and even MORE irreverent in reaction to Angel's patriarchal disapproval (we've all seen that happen -- you're an independent and mature adult, but after three days staying under your parents' roof, you find yourself regressing to the habits and status of a teenager). But this is too much for even me to explain away. At least next week's episode looks more substantial, for Spike and everyone else.

Final verdict: "No sharks were jumped or harmed in any way during the filming of last night's episode. However, several small barracuda WERE disturbed by the presence of water-skiers in a nearby lagoon."