Angel: After the Fall issue 4 summary and review

[moscow_watcher]

Summary:
Flashback to the fight that has been about to start in NFA. Angel's POV: he has lost his team and is teleported on the roof of W&H building. When he jumps down and discovers that he is human as he falls on a car and breaks his spine and legs. (I wonder if Lynch is aware of Boreanaz's joke that Angel got shanshued and got hit by the car and killed immediately after that. Don't remember verbatim, unfortunately.) Ghost!Wesley appears and they apologize to each other.

Cut to the present days. Wesley help Angel to treat his wounds with a spell from what looks like a black magic book. (Yay shirtless Angel!) Wesley reproaches Angel's decision to make a challenge and reminds him that he's human. Angel replies with a mysterious line: "It's what you wanted. We're prepared. We've planted seeds". Another interesting insight into Angel's psychology shows that he doesn't equate being human to shanshu: "I sighed that destiny away. I'm free of the vampire for one reason - THEY know: right now is when I need it the most".

Wesley reminds him that they use magic "to keep up vampire glamor" and it's dangerous for a human.

A portal appears and two "transuding furies" (from season 3) appear. They take Angel and Wesley somewhere in a car. Dragon follows them. As soon as they leave, Gunn and his team penetrate the building.

Meanwhile, Spike has visitors in his mansion in Beverly Hills. Two demons and a hologram of Teeth the Shark Demon want to see Lord Illyria. Obviously, Illy has another bout of time-jumping, is unstable and can't leave a metallic bunker. Spike presents himself to the demons as a "co-lord" and they reluctantly agree to pass him a "hagun shaft" - a device, Spider explains, that can end the existence of an immortal.

When the visitors leave, Spider starts to persuade Spike to "do" Angel arguing that he'll be killed this way or another. If it's Spike who does him, he'll get an opportunity to get more power and do more good.

Illyria's time-jumping catches Spike and Spider for several moments and they get transported back in 19-th century and then into the future. In 19-th century both are in the period clothes. In the future Spike stands with a weapon which looks like Buffy's scythe over the headless body of Spider. Ugh. Finally they're back to present. "Hagun shaft" is in Spider's hands. Spike sends her away.

Angel and Wesley arrive in Silverlake's zone, protected from the rest of Hell-A with a rampart. Silverlake is your typical peaceful suburb, only with demons instead of humans. And the local lord - or, rather, un-lord, since he doesn't like the title - is Lorne. He tells Angel he refused to take part in the challenge and even invited Groosalugg to help them. Nobody asks Groo how he has managed to get to Hell-A. Instead Lorne and Wesley talk about Wesley's ghostly state. According to Wesley, W&H don't control Hell-A, "there are forces at work that they have nothing to do with".

Meanwhile inside W&H building, Gunn and his team can't find "the package" they came for. Gunn finds the old photo of Fang Gang - Angel, Fred, Wesley with baby Connor, Cordy and himself - and takes it with him. Then he blows up the building. "That almost made the whole thing worth it," he says.

Back at Silverlake ghostly Wesley disappears as soon as the building collapses.


Analysis:

The plot becomes more and more complicated. Has writer put too many pieces on the chessboard?

In this issue Lynch reminds again about Illyria's time-travelling abilities. We have at least two occurences of characters using portals - transuding furies who travel within our dimension and Groosalugg who arrived from Pylea. There are holograms. There are healing devices. There is a "bubble" that keeps Silverlake peaceful. Lorn can "keep an eye on his friends" courtesy of Timothy who is a one-man CNN of Hell-A. And, last but not least, a mojo-of-the-month, "hagun shaft", very powerful and deadly/ is introduced. Or, rather, 8 of them.

According to FFXiclopedia,Hagun (Great Katana) literally means "Army Breaker" whatever it is. According to Spider, only 8 of them exist. According to Teeth, "all the lords have one". In issue 3 Angel and Wesley face 7 lords, and two more (Lorn and Illyria) aren't there. It makes nine. An error or a clue to a future plot twist?

OTOH, there is an influx of characters, old and new. We have Angel, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Illyria, Lorne, Connor, Gwen, Groosalugg, Nina. Ten characters from the show. Then we have Dragon, Spider, Betta George - characters that are likely to play important part in the story. Since there are secrets connected with them (dragon's name, Spider's past and her true intentions, Gunn's needs for Betta's telepathic abilities), they hardly have been introduced for decorative needs. Besides, we have a variety of Little Bads - Burge, Teeth and other lords.

The cast is huge. The assortment of mojos is huge. I can hardly imagine how Lynch plans to wrap it up in the remaining 8 issues. Especially given the fact that one of the issues will be a flashback to the night of the battle.

It's hard to judge an unfinished story, but, so far, it looks like we're still watching the first act. So far, the story is gripping and inventive. Hopefully the ending won't be too rushed.

This issue features some unforgettable scenes - Angel discovering that his heart is beating, Groo arriving on a black-winged horse, Gunn finding the old photo and then blowing up the W&H. Wonderful, iconic images.

Lynch continues to toy with the language. This issuedeals with the word "lord". "Co-lord" Spike and "un-lord" Lorne sound equally funny and quirky. "Re-die" is another highlight. Foreshadowing much?

Urru's gets another chance to shine as he draws the panels of Angel's reflections in the glass. The superpositions of Angel's face on the sky-scrapers are inspired. These panels vaguely remind of the Wong Kar-Wai movies. But the best panel is the first one, where Angel sees his reflection in the glass during the battle and doesn't realise what he is seeing. Brilliant.

I wonder why Teeth has sent a hologram. Did Lynch used it for the continuity's sake, to avoid inevitable "Spike, you still owe me kittens!" A hologram can't see Spike but can interact with him. Or maybe Lynch plans a hologram-involving trick in future issues, not unlike the one Arnold did in Totall Recall ( (judging by "Fred Sonja" joke, writer is into the Californian governor's stuff).

Time shift reveals two interesting details. First, Spider is at least as old as Spike; maybe older. Obviously, she plays her own game.

Second, in the future Spike will possibly behead her with a weapon that looks like Buffy's scythe. Hmmm, crossover much? Lynch said that it's not Buffy's scythe, but after the intentional foiler of a panel featuring game-faced Angel I think that misinformation is part of Lynch's game with us, spoiler'hos.

Questions:

1. Why nobody gets surprised or interested at the possibility of opening portals?

2. Why Groo has piercing blue eye in Hell-A? A side-effect of being in another dimension? Or a sign of something being wrong with him?

3. Where is the third fury?

4. The "package" Gunn searches, the "care package" Lorne mentions and "hagun shaft" - are they the same thing? (mrs_underhill thinks they are)

5. Why had Spike passed the shaft to Spider? Did she use hypnosis on him?

6. Has dragon found a pinky soul-mate in Silverlake or it was just a one-night stand?

To sum it up: fascinating and a bit frustrating. So much interesting stuff happens; so hard to connect the dots.