Re: 'Dear Boy'
One thing I always remember from this episode was how nice Cordelia’s hair was (obviously Angel felt the same way...since he was
sniffing it).
Wesley trying to look ‘inconspicuous’ was amusing when he and Cordelia went ‘undercover’ for a case they were working.
As was him trying to hide after they were both ‘outed’ by Angel (I also loved Cordelia’s little wave).
But I think my favourite part of the episode was when Angel was telling the gang he’d seen Darla (which is one of my favourite exchanges in the whole show):
Wesley: "What you're saying is impossible. You staked her to dust three half years ago."
Angel: "I know that. I also know it was her."
Wesley: "Vampires don't come back from the dead."
Angel: "I did. And I saw her. I'm not crazy!"
Wesley: "Where?"
Angel: "Right between the clowns the big, talking hot dog.” *receives a look* [clarifying] “Walking on the
promenade."
I just love when Angel says something that comes out the wrong way and the reactions he gets.
I could’ve probably included these^ in my ‘Favourite BtVS/AtS funny moments’ thread, but since this thread dealt with this specific episode, I instead decided to post them here.
Unrelated to the ‘funny’ parts of the episode, I really liked how things played out. Firstly, I enjoyed Cordelia and Wesley’s bickering/snide remarks at each other, then there was the unusually long ‘teaser’ (I liked the action, and although the demon may not have been the most ‘convincing’, I did appreciate that they went for something a bit ‘different-looking’. Throughout the course of the show there were some demons that were interesting, but at times they looked a bit ‘same-y’, so I always appreciated the more imaginative-looking ones).
I also liked the reveal of Darla to Angel, then the later reveal of her still human status to him and how he was caught unaware a few times in the episode, but never once let up on his belief that she was still the same Darla (more or less) - even when she tricked him and set him up.
A friend of mine at the time mentioned how Angel dragging his fangs along Darla’s neck was like something they’d seen in
The Lost Boys movie. I hadn’t seen it at the time, but when I eventually *did*, I couldn’t help but notice the similarity. Still, it was quite effective and something we hadn’t seen any vampire do on either BtVS or AtS before.
I know a lot of people didn’t like the character of Kate, but I did (most of the time). However, in this episode she was possibly at her most unlikeable (it’s probably a tie with this episode and the Season 1 final – where I actually cheered Angel on when he’d had enough of her crap and told her off). I think at this stage she was just being as difficult to get along with purely out of spite. I did see reactions flicker across Elisbeth Röhm’s face in her later episodes of the show, after she was ‘on the outs’ with Angel, where it looked like she did realise she’d crossed a line, but she just wasn’t willing to back down in her vendetta/accept that she was placing blame on the wrong people. She was just too mad to let it go.
I really enjoyed this episode quite a bit.
As for the BtVS Season 5 episode ‘No Place Like Home’...it included one of my favourite Glory moments (when she was sneaking up behind Buffy and made a ‘shoosh’ gesture at the monk).
I had some issues with the rest of the episode, but I enjoyed all of Glory’s moments and her dialogue was oftentimes very amusing. What a fun introduction to a new character this episode was.