It’s about the Power. — “Power Play” : The Rant

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Warning: Spoilerish to the amount of 10.

DISCLAIMER: This week’s edition contains strong language that may not be suitable for younger viewers.
[Matt] Welcome you miserable bastards to another edition of THE RANT! This week Mr. Poopy Pants and myself discuss “Power Play”…

[Eric] *humph* I’m not poopy pants! I’m Eric.

[Matt] Eric…Mr. Poopy Pants…same diff.

[Eric] Matt… Un-Employed… same diff.

[Matt] I’m employed. Look…. *pulls out car wash rag*

[Eric] You see Matt, you keep focusing on the little things. What is needed to make this site number one is power. Global power, and until I have that nothing matters…unless Jennifer say something does. Do you understand what I am getting at?

[Matt] But being powerful is hard. It requires a really long, drawn out plan….and my brain gets sore too easily. And yeah, I see. You’re very, very much pussy whipped.

[Eric] I already killed Jon, so the Black Thorn should accept me. I will have my place amoung the web’s greatest powers!

[Matt] Those google guys are funny. Watch out for those two….they’ll put a whoopy cushion under you when you least expect it.

[Eric] Oh, who am I kidding, I can’t even get my Credit Card accepted.

[Matt] Yeah, when the Visa people saw your credit history they hung themselves.

[Eric] What? I swear that those Russian Mail Order brides were purchased when my number was stolen. Don’t ask me why the evil SOB sent them to my house.

[Matt] Sure, Eric. Sure. And I hate women’s panties.

[Eric] Ummmmm…

[Matt] So “Power Play”….what’s your first thought?

[Eric] I thought it was TOTALLY AWESOME. Arguably the best episode yet, just for the last scene.

[Matt] Why must they continue to make wicked bad ass episodes so that I will miss the show more?

[Eric] Because Joss and ME are the only people making real TV.

[Matt] Yeah, but they could make it shittier so that I don’t care as much.

[Eric] I say we start our own network and call it good. TV that’s actually good! The WB’s name should be changed to crap, along with ABC, CBS, and NBC. FOX and UPN should be changed to “kinda trying”. And Good TV should cater to weird guys with a slight detachment to reality and bomb making skills. We are an important demographic.

[Matt] Fox isn’t trying…have you seen their summer lineup?

[Eric] They did give Wonderfalls a shot.

[Matt] No they didn’t. Are you even paying attention?

[Eric] Did they put the show on the air?

[Matt] Yeah, for 3 weeks. That’s not “giving it a shot”

[Eric] Do you think they wanted it to fail?

[Matt] Probably, after they saw production values. They sure didn’t help it by putting it on Fridays.

[Eric] I loved Wonderfalls, don’t get me wrong, but Dear-Air gets better ratings.

[Matt] Anyway, what did you think of Angel’s plan?

[Eric] Angel’s plan is cool, and heroic, but it is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. He is going back on what he stands for. I think it is cool, and gonna make some kick ass entertainment, but its dumber than Napoleon marching into Russia.

[Matt] Yeah, I was thinking while he was saying it, “If you’d save several people a day like you used to do, wouldn’t that be equal to what you’re planning?” I mean, if you can’t destroy the senior partners, what good is it to knock them off their stoops for 5 seconds? So let’s get inside the circle of the black thorn, kill all of them, and then in a couple days, the senior partners will rebuild evil.

[Eric] Right. If what we do doesn’t matter, then all that matters is what we do! For christ sakes the man said it himself. I think that is what the senior partners want him to do.

[Matt] I understand why he wants to do it, but I don’t think it’s worth risking some of your troops over…considering the lack of heroes in the whedonverse.

[Eric] To quote “Schindler’s List” – “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.” That is what the partners are stopping him from doing. He is the world.

[Matt] Exactly….

Hey, Angel got some play from Busty Nina.

[Eric] Yes, and that’s all it was.

[Matt] So what? Gotta get some nookie in before you prepare to die. And that’s not a spoiler or anything, that’s just what he had to be thinking.

[Eric] I can see why Wes is joining him, but I would think that someone would suggest a better idea. But I still think that it’s cool.

[Matt] You know what’s really awesome about the last few episodes? Spike has really turned into a member of the group. And for some reason, I enjoy him SO much better than I did on Buffy. Probably because I don’t have to see him desperately trying to get in Buffy’s pants.

[Eric] Also he had that great dynamic with Angel – that helps.

[Matt] Right. What about the Circle of the Black Thorn? Do you think this is a half-assed plot device, or do you think it’s a brilliant way to beat evil (because we all know evil will never go away until the world ends) so they had to beat evil in some fashion?

[Eric] I’m not sure yet. I think that the senior partners know what is going on. I think they may still be playing Angel.

[Matt] Obviously, Hamilton was PHYSICALLY standing outside the room. So do you think he saw it? I did.

[Eric] If he did see through the glamour then they are all in serious trouble, but like I said, I think the senior parters already knew. Wouldn’t they have thought about this happening? They know how Illyria was brought back – they aren’t dumb.

[Matt] It’s kind of like that Connor ending. You aren’t 100% sure that Hamilton knows, but you’re pretty sure. I’m hoping Connor comes back for the last episode and helps his dad. YES, I SAID IT!

I never thought I would, but I did.

[Eric] I agree, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE CONNOR. That right there proves it’s the end of the world.

Hamilton looked to me more like he was thinking everything is going as planned. Not “I know what your are doing, a-hole.”

[Matt] Yeah, maybe you’re right.

Last but not least, we have to talk about Hamilton beating the absolute shit out of Illyria.

[Eric] I hated that scene. The deal before it with Crash Bandicoot was funny, but I get a bit annoyed with all the uber-strong characters they just pop into the series.

[Matt] To me, it was the only iffy scene in the episode. It was pretty disturbing, not really because he was beating her up, but the fact that she really couldn’t defend herself….we never normally see that in an M.E episode.

[Eric] Not to mention he was hurting my Fred’s body, it needs to be kept safe for her return.

[Matt] Let’s not start on the month-long debate about Fred “coming back”.

[Eric] M.E always has a problem with the way things work. She should have been able to knock him back more, even if he was 10 times her strength.

[Matt] Right. It seemed like a metaphor for spousel abuse. But in the Jossverse, we always see the woman hitting back.

[Eric] Speaking of Fred coming back – what about Illyria’s response to Wes ignoring her?

[Matt] Illyria is definitely acting more and more human. It was a very womanly thing saying “he’s ignoring me”.

….And the Crash Bandicoot scene with Draggyn was hillarious.

[Eric] All in alls?

[Matt] All in all, I thought this episode was one of the best ones this season, but who can count which one is the best by now? They’ve almost all been stellar. The lead-up to the final scene was intense, and the pay-off was tremendous. I’ll give it a 9.7

[Eric] This episode was one of Angel’s finest hours, the speech at the end gets your blood racing, despite it’s short comings, when it all comes down to it we all have been in the position of wanting to break out, to show our on Senior Partners that we aren’t gonna take this shit lying down. We will make a difference, a dent. We will show the world that good can triumph over evil. That there really are heroes. People who care about us though they have never met us, and that is why Angel is doing this. Yes, the Fang Gang may fall, but like with the Black Thorn, someone else will rise up and fight in it’s place, and why? Because it’s what is good, and right. Here at Angel Investigations we help the helpless. I give this episode a 9.9, near perfection.

[Matt] Nice speech, general.

[Eric] Charge Mother Fucka, Charge. Don’t fire until you can hit their asses, and get that goddamned senator first!

[Matt] True that. That’s all for this week’s RANT. Next week, we’ll be ranting on the last Angel/Buffyverse episode ever (hopefully not EVER). So come back for that. Later!

Matt’s Rating: 9.7
Eric’s Rating: 9.9
Overall: 9.8