Ep by ep; The Magic Bullet.

THE MAGIC BULLET

The Good; All of open mic night is classic but Connor and Angel singing 'Oh Jasmine' to the tune of Mandy is so funny it makes me want to lie on the floor kicking my legs in the air with laughter! Whatever they paid to use the Beach Boys it's well worth it.

The Bad; So Fred just happens to fall down a slope and into a demon's lair who gives her the idea for defeating Jasmine? I guess we could just put this down to the PTBs. Personally I find the demon scenes boring and gross. Why doesn't Fred try to blow Jasmine's head off? The mind control books seem to burn very fast.

Best line; Angel; "Someone has to go and get Connor" Wes; "I'll do it. After all I've kidnapped him before"

Jeez, how did they get away with that? Finger food and religious zealots on fire!

Apocalypses: 5

Angel Clichés In disguise; 8

DB get's his shirt off; 12

Cheap Angel; 6

Fang Gang in bondage: Cordy: 5 Angel: 14 Wes: 6 Gunn; 4 Lorne; 4 Fred; 2

Fang gang knocked out: Fred at the shop, possibly Gunn and Wes Cordy: 15 Angel: 17 Wes: 6 Doyle; 1 Gunn; 2 Lorne; 6 Groo; 1 Connor; 1 Faith; 1 Fred; 2

Kills; 1 demon for Fred Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons Angel; 44 vamps, 58 and 1/2 demons, 5 zombies, 8 humans Doyle; 1 vamp Wes; 14 demons+5 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 humans Kate; 3 vamps Faith; 18 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans. Gunn; 11 vamps+ 13 demons, 5 zombies, 1 human. Groo; 1 demon Fred; 3 vamps+ 2 demon, 5 zombies Connor; 16 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 demons

Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 3 Angel: 3 Gunn; 1 Wes; 1

Alternate Fang Gang: possessed Lorne, Gunn, Fred and Wes Cordy: 4 Angel: 11 Fred; 2 Wes; 1 Gunn; 1 Connor; 1

Characters killed: 255

Recurring characters killed; 9;

Total number of Angel Investigations; Angel, Gunn, Fred, Lorne, Wes, Connor

Angel Investigations shot: yep, Angel by Fred Angel: 12 Wes; 2

Packing heat; Fred a dab hand with her .357 Magnum she takes from the shop Wes; 8 Doyle; 1 Angel; 3 Gunn; 2 Fred; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Cordy: 5 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo+Connor plus possibly the Beast Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies Wes; 3; Virginia, the bleached blonde and Lilah, 1 possible, Justine Gunn; 2 Fred and Gwen. Fred; 1 Gunn Groo; 1Cordy

Kinky dinky: The couple who spot Fred at the motel appear to be an amazingly voluptuous hooker and her trick, even Jasmine can't stop the world's oldest profession. Fred kisses Angel. Angel kisses a sleeping CC (aaaawwwwww!).

Captain Subtext; Lorne says that Jasmine 'Walked off the street and came into my ass' then hurriedly explains that's where his heart is.

Know the face, different character; 4

Parking garages; 6,

Guantanamo Bay; Actually Jasmine is correct, Lee Harvey Oswald did act alone when he killed Kennedy. Holtz used to tie Connor to a tree and then Connor would have to free himself and track Holtz down. Talk about tough love!

Buffy characters on Angel; 16 Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony

What the fanficcers thought; Not much, paradise on earth actually pretty boring

Questions and observations; Lovely idea that the woman Gunn and Wes mistake for Fred got her first ever TV job on Angel, I would have pegged her for AA's stand in. The bookseller rather reminds of the character of Denver from season 2 and Hank Azaria. Lorne refers to himself as Judas just as Lilah said Wes was. Love Lorne's baseball bat. Does CC get paid just to come in to work and lie down and go to sleep? When Jasmine's not at the hotel her power over AI seems to fade a little. You wonder if Angel got his CC's blood idea from Buffy and Dawn in 'The Gift'? When CC grabs Angel's hand is Fred telling him the truth about coma patients involuntary movements or just telling him what she need's him to hear? It's a small line in a big show but Angel seems to finally have forgiven Wes over the whole Connor kidnap. Possibly the longest ep of Angel ever at nearly 42 minutes

Wes refers to Houdini but actually Houdini was a firm disbeliever in the supernatural and spent most of his free time exposing fake mediums and séances. You think how dreadful it must have been for Fred to be a fugitive again having spent all that time hiding on in Pylea. They're wrong though, Fred never dumped Gunn, she wanted him back, he turned her down. Jasmine seems to experience what her followers experience and also tells the truth in a manner, much like The First seems to. You wonder if the demon in the hole is supposed to be a pastiche on Hollywood execs? Bet he was a Wolfram and Hart client. You wonder why they don't have any of the deleted scenes mentioned in the commentary on the DVD. Also a little dig at Smallville and it's habit of showing us some teenage skin although Buffy/Angel could also certainly be accused of that.

Marks out of 10; 7/10 I think