conviction? (for the brutally honest opinion)
Oh boy, one of my least favorite Angel episodes! For sure my least favorite season opener!
Let’s just start with Angel’s hair and work our way down. What an awful look! Season 5 Angel is a blasphemy. I’m pretty sure season 1 Angel would’ve rather die than wear those ugly ass suits and style his beautiful hair that way. Like, guys, I get it. Angel’s been corrupted or whatever… He’s unrecognizable… But suits don’t have to be ugly. I mean, look at his apartment! It’s beautiful as usual so his wardrobe should be as well…
Moving on… I remember reading an interesting post here about how Conviction was like a failed retelling of City Of and I’m inclined to agree with that assessment.
I mean, Conviction introduces a new world, a new moral code, new old characters but it does without any charm or wit.
I find the whole “We’re doomed. W&H is going to corrupt us” bullshit very in your face. Everyone agreed to become part of W&H. They all knew who their clients and employees were. Joss Whedon was laying their ignorance and surprise on a little thick. These people have been fighting W&H for years. Hell, they were almost buddies with Lilah and Lindsey.
We didn’t need an entire episode of “Woe is me. This place is awful.”. Like I said, the audience knew that already. We needed a more nuanced take of W&H. Holland Manners, Lindsey, Lilah, those were nuance characters, the type of characters we were used to from a complex, morally ambiguous at times but still evil, law firm.
This episode just limits our perceptions of W&H by villainizing everyone, victimizing willing employees and painting a boring picture of W&H, represented by a cliche with the name of “Eve”.
Quite frankly, it’s a failure on every level. From the grotesque innuendos and dirty jokes, to Angel killing one of his own employees that apparently couldn’t follow orders (how convenient, another evil employee for Angel to talk down to).
Since when does W&H follow their bosses around? Lilah always gave orders. She didn’t have people undermining her authority. Yet, that happens to Angel. Why? So we can be told, one more time, how difficult it will be for Angel to help the helpless? Lilah spent hours on her own, and she was running the Special Projections Division, but Angel can’t?
At this point, I’m just repeating myself, but the writing is so obvious and unsophisticated…
I guess, 5/10? The parts not involving Angel (with Fred, Gunn, Wesley, Lorne) were more decent than the main plot.
Send me a BtVS/AtS episode and I’ll give you my brutally honest opinion
