Angel

GROUND STATE

The Good;
Wonderfully clever opening, you think Gwen's parents and headmistress are uncaring but actually they love her, they can just never touch her no matter how much they want to. Also love Angel's drawing and Fred's show, especially her little ghost.

The Bad;
Gwen is fab, the rest of it is pretty stupid truth be told

Best line:
Gunn; (about their chances) "Operation chance in hell!"

Jeez, how did they get away with that?
Apocalypses: 5

Angel Cliches
In disguise; 8

DB get's his shirt off; 12

Cordy's tatt; 10

Fang Gang in bondage:
Cordy: 5
Angel: 12
Wes: 6
Gunn; 4
Lorne; 3
Fred; 2

Fang gang knocked out:
Cordy: 12
Angel: 15
Wes: 5
Doyle; 1
Gunn; 1
Lorne; 3
Groo; 1
Connor; 1
Fred; 1

Kills: 1 demon for Wes
Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons
Angel; 41 vamps, 57 and 1/2 demons, 7 humans
Doyle; 1 vamp
Wes; 13 demons+3 vamps, 2 humans
Kate; 3 vamps
Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans.
Gunn; 11 vamps+ 11 demons.
Groo; 1 demon
Fred; 3 vamp
Connor; 4 vamps and 1 demon

Fang Gang go evil:
Cordy: 2
Angel: 2
Gunn; 1
Wes; 1

Alternate Fang Gang:
Cordy: 2
Angel: 8
Fred; 1

Characters killed:
46

Recurring characters killed; Gunn dies for a few seconds but then comes back.
8;

Total number of Angel Investigations:3
Angel, Gunn, Fred

Angel Investigations shot:
Angel: 11
Wes; 1

Packing heat;
Wes; 6
Doyle; 1
Angel; 2
Gunn; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Lilah and Wes
Cordy: 4 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo
Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies
Wes; 3; Virginia, the bleached blonde and Lilah
Gunn; 1 Fred
Fred; 1 Gunn
Groo; 1Cordy

Kinky dinky:
Gwen RRRRRRRRRR! Love a bad girl in leather/PVC. And you can see her nipples through her outfit when she enters the bar. Justine described Lilah as 'incredibly loud' during sex and there's some belt snapping action between her and Wes. Lilah describes herself as Mrs Robinson and indeed Connor will develop a thing for older women. Gunn likes it when Fred is in charge. Gwen describes Angel as handsome and Gunn and 'Denzel' which certainly must have pleased him. Gwen describes Angel as a great kisser (the Furies were right) and sits astride him.

Captain Subtext;
Fred's plans include going to prison and becoming somebody's bitch. She hopes her cellmate will be gentle (see also What the fanficcers thought). Gwen seems very close to her cute blonde Marlene Detreich-like female butler. Gwen calls Fred honey.

Know the face, different character; 4

Parking garages;
5,

Guantanamo Bay;
Angel beats the building plans from a snitch

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;
Read an interesting one where Fred does indeed go to prison and becomes someone's bitch. Lucky for her that someone is Faith. Also the last appearance (or not) of Phantom Dennis. Read a lovely fic once where CC in 'You're welcome' goes to visit Dennis and tell's him that she loves him and it's time to pass over to the other side which indeed he does, his love for her all that was keeping him on Earth.

Questions and observations;
Wes has his own organisation with 3 employees, maybe that's what Gunn and Fred are broke, he's taking their business. The Chandler auction house is of course a homage to LA author Raymond Chandler. Angel's 2 previous break-ins were in The Shroud of Rhamon and Choices in Buffy. Neither is very successful. The squatter camp Connor goes to is the old power station you see in countless movies and TV.
So why does no one wonder about Groo? Possibly because he let Lorne, Fred, Gunn know of his plans or maybe he's been in touch with them since?
Marks out of 10; 7/10 but only due to Gwen really

Ground State was a really great episode of Angel. This episode first introduces us to a new character, Gwen, whose body harnesses and conducts massive amounts of electricity. Meanwhile Angel and the gang are searching for a way to find Cordelia when Wesley gives all the info he had gathered on her disappearance.I think Wesley is going through a lot of character development with all this and running his own crew, while sleeping with Lilah who has her own devious plans. I thought the interactions between Gwen and Angel had spark. I thought this episode had a good story and moves the season forward. Angel finds Cordelia and see's that she is in a higher dimension, but he doesn't know how bad she wants to come back!!!!!!!

Ground State is a highly entertaining, fun and cool episode that has everything; a bank heist, emotional moments and a sexy electrically charged woman who shows too much nipple. Excellent. Gwen is a fantastic character- she's basically a copy of an X-Men character but her personality helps you warm to her. She's witty, fun and cool and her power is awesome. Anyone who can melt 12,000 dollar watched with their bare hands has got to be pretty great and Gwen was really, really great.



The main plot with Angel trying to find Cordelia could have easily been made into a find-demon-for-relic thing but instead they went for something much cooler- a bank heist. I loved the entire bank scene and it made Angel the show look extremely suave and interesting with all the computer tech and lasers and ropes. It also had a main character dying but then being revived, which creates tension and drama. This episode also has some emotional moments, like Angel's speech about Cordy at the end. Here it becomes apparent that he is love with her and basically reminds us why. It was also good that he had the courage to recognize she is where she is needed and didn't attempt to bring her home. This shows remarkable selflessness and is one of Angel's greatest traits.



Fred also seems to be taking up the slack here and seems to be coping well with running things. Angel and Gunn seem to think she is Cordelia, who was good at running things and research but as Fred's breakdown tells them, she isn't and can't handle it. Her telling Gunn "you died and left me all alone" was sad and I felt for here- the rest of the gang have gone and Angel and Gunn are leaving it to her to do everything and I'm glad she said she couldn't do it.



Lilah was also great here. I really like her and Wesley's relationship; they're polar opposites and fight on opposite sides, yet can't help but be attracted to one another and continue their relationship. I thought Lilah had some great lines here and "I'm still evil. I only do errands if they're evil errands" makes me laugh no matter what. I'm also extremely glad Connor had basically no part in this episode- he would have been a dampner and brought the quality down.



Ground State is an excellent episode that is action packed and fun. It is a somewhat light episode in a dark season and shines because of it.

Ground State-Angel visits Dinza, a Goddess of the lost, who advises him that an item called the Axis of Pythia can help him find Cordelia. With Fred and Gunn, he breaks into a auction house to find the Axis, but a beautiful burglar with electrical powers seems to have had the same idea.



Another stellar episode, this episode introduces this season's short lived recurring character Gwen Radian. Alexa Davalos is amazing as slick character born with power of electricity. The beginning teaser with her childhood is shot in a stunning bright yet gloomy lighting over the scenery. It's also very sad as you see young Gwen so alone not to mention hurting a little boy by accident with her powers. It's very X-men-eqse with a human born with uncontrollable powers and finding her place in the world. Wesley and Liah continue to make a great lustful couple as they sleep together yet never really trust each other. Also I loved Angel coming to Wesley and forgiving him somewhat, yet Wesley just ignores that and just gets straight to the point. There's also a little shocker where Gunn dies by Gwen touching her, but she brings him back. It brings out a touching scene as Fred breaks down after being under so much pressure for a few months. Amy really excels in that scene. There is also a great fight scene with Angel and Gwen that leads to some obvious sexual tension between to 2, which is fun to watch. The episode also has some disturbing scenes like Angel visiting Dinza, who is just creepy as she touchs Angel yet disappaers and reappears all around him. The episode ends with Angel knowing Cordy is a higher being, and leaving her be to which Cordelia reacts so frustrated to, lol. All and All, another great episode with a great new character, great fights, shocks and plot.

Angel is going crazy trying to find out what happened to Cordy and where she is. He isnt getting anywhere so he decides to pay Wes a visit under the guise of thanking him for pulling him outta the ocean. Wes sees through it and gives him all of the data he has on Cordys disappearance. He tells Angel about Dinza, a being who knows everything and everyone who is lost. Angel goes and Dinza tells him he will need to use the Axis of Pythia. Great. Angel threatens Lilah, who is spying on Connor (who is homeless still) and she tells him how he can get his hands on it. Angel also tells her he can smell Wes all over her and her on Wes, lol.

We also get to meet Gwen, an electrically charged girl who is a professional thief. This episode felt like a filler to me, but I still liked it. Angel finds out exactly where Cordy is, but he knows she cant be brought back.

awesome episode but i think its a rip off from mortal combat and xmen but still great. gunn dies and fred cries and it was all just awesome. the episode opener was one of the best of the show where gwen burns up that little boy it was funny. also the fight of her and angel and even if cordelia is still gone i didnt miss her that much and she was at the end anyway

Ground State



powerful episode with the best teaser of Jossverse ever. Gwen was a great character that would have add a lot to the show. the Angel searching for Cordy was a great storyline. Gunn died. it's full of character development. just another classic.



cut to a family bringing their daughter to a school and the teacher doesn't let her touch anything. then on the schoolyard a boy walks over to her and asks her if she's a freak and she says she doesn't know and he says she doesn't look like one and he tells her to hold on a car and when she touches it with her naked hand it electrocutes him and he dies.



the credits start



cut to Cordy's hotel and they are cleaning everything up because Cordy hasn't paid the apartment and Dennis doesn’t want them to go but they will and Fred says she's not coming back but means to the apartment and she asks what if when you come things aren’t how they should be and Angel says that you go find them. cut to Angel going over to Wes and he tells him that they're good again and Wes has his own gang now and Wes knows where Angel comes for and gives him a map to find a goddess Dinza who isn’t trustworthy but she knows everything that's lost and she will tell Angel where to look for Cordy and then Wesley goes away.



cut to Angel going to some sort of cave and there is someone around there and it's Dinza and she knew he was lost and that he wants to find his lost love and she tells him where to find and that she wants to keep him but won't because he has much more to loose. cut to Gwen going on a bar to a guy who gives her something to steal and she finds it okay and he doesn't think she's a good thief but she steals his watch and then burns it with her electric lightning. cut to Angel and Fred and Gunn making a plan how to brake in and the thing costs 33 million dollars so Fred will make a plan and Angel says it's amazing how she has stepped up and do all those things and then they talk about what they're gonna do and what they need to brake it. cut to Gwen getting ready and she has all the stuff she needs to brake in and she uses some hot lipstick.



cut to Lilah and Wesley getting it on and Lilah knows about Justine and Wes says that Justine thought Lilah was Impossibly loud and that he had to save Angel because he has to fight people like Lilah and Lilah says he did her a favour because Angel kicked Connor out the house and now she can use him and she knows that Wesley gets turned on by her evil plan sand then he goes down on her. cut to Gwen braking in and she uses her powers to open the doors. cut to Angel and his gang entering and they go through the place Gwen went and Fred shows them the plans and Gwen is watching and says this isn't good. they own go their way and Angel sees the electric light and Gwen lets something fall and Angel cannot enter and then Fred and Gunn realise that they got company.



cut to Gunn arriving and Angel says please to Gwen but she doesn't care and he says he needs to find someone he loves and it's Cordy but Gwen doesn't believe him and then the alarm goes off and Angel opens the door and Gunn goes over to Gwen and tries to stop her but she electrocutes him and he falls on the ground when Fred arrives and Angel sees he's dead. Fred can't believe it and Gwen reminds herself of that boy she killed so she kicks Fred and brings Gunn back to life and she escapes with Angel's thing. cut to Connor going to sleep with the homeless and Lilah is watching it and Angel appears next to her and she thinks he's there for Connor and he still believes in the guilt thing but he's there for Lilah cause she has to find out for him who was the one fo made Gwen steal that thing but she says she's evil but he forces her and he says if she does it he'll ignore that she's close to Connor but just that once and he finds it interesting that she and Wesley smell like each other.



cut to Gunn and Fred and she is very mad and she asks him how it was to be dead and then she says that she’s tired of having her chin up and nobody else would do it and she says that he died and left her all alone and she's still shocked and he tells her it's okay and she cries in his arms. cut to Angel finding Gwen and they start to fight and she doesn't understand why she can't toast him and he wants the thing she has and she tries to electrocute him and his heart goes alive and then she realised he's not alive and he stays on the ground after kissing him but then they are closed by Elliot and he says that she isn't a professional and is getting rid of her and closes the lift that is gonna gas and then Angel puts Gwen on the ground and he brakes something and with her power they open the elevator and he goes out and begins to fight everyone. then Gwen wants to kill Elliot because she doesn’t want him to use the word freak but Angel tells her it's not a big deal and she knocks the guy off and Gwen knows what he's gonna do and she says it's a bummer and walks out.



cut to the gang and they see that Angel found her and he says that she looked very warm and save and that he feels like she's right by his side and that when he was in the sea he wanted to get to Cordy and when he found out she was gone he wanted to get her home but now he knows she's home and save and helping people. cut to Cordy wherever she is and she says 'what are you deficient? get me out of here!'



Black Out

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Best episode quotes:



Young Boy: Are you a freak?

Young Gwen: I don't know.

Young Boy: Guess you don't look like one.

Young Gwen: Thanks.



Fred: Smell anything?

Angel: Cordelia. Maybe some old incense or candles. Strangely enough lemons. Lots and lots of lemons.

Fred: I might have gone a little nuts with the floor polish. Wanted the place to look nice for when the landlords start showing it.

Angel: It does. Look nice. Nice and empty.

Fred: You should've seen the size of the dust-bunnies under Cordy's bed. More like dust sperm whales!

Angel: I can't believe it's been three months.

Fred: We paid the rent for the first couple, but then things got sorta tight, and, well, big apartment, no one living here...

Angel: Phantom Dennis! Does-does he know anything about Cordy, where she might be?

Fred: He's just ticked we haven't brought her home already.

Angel: We will, though. Soon.

Fred: Absolutely.

Angel: You said you already tried talking to Lorne in Las Vegas.

Gunn: Yeah. Emphasis on the word "try." Fancy-ass surround sound. Fred!

Fred: Already packed the band-aids, buddy. From the exactly twice we've been able to get a hold of him, we know that Lorne is keeping his eyes peeled, but... so far all's quiet on the psychic front.

Gunn: Did you show him the box?

Fred: See that one, with the pictures? That stuff was on the table the night Cordy disappeared. It's mostly personal stuff. Didn't mean much to us, but you might see something.

Angel: What about the police?

Gunn: Uh, let's see. Abandoned car. Empty apartment.

Fred: No signs of violence. No plans for travel.

Gunn: Please file a missing person's report.

Fred: And have a nice day.

Gunn: But, hey! That was only the first time. The next seven times, they left out the nice day part.

Angel: Something must've happened to her that night. Something big.

Gunn: Well, you guys were supposed to meet up.

Angel: I know why I wasn't there.

Fred: Sure. Banished to the ocean depths by your ungrateful snot of a son.

Gunn: Not that she's bitter.

Angel: I appreciate you guys looking out for Connor all summer. It's just he’s confused. He needs time. That's all.

Fred: Right. Time, and some corporal punishment with a large heavy mallet. Not that I'm bitter. Oh. Damn it, Dennis! She's not coming back! I'm sorry, Angel. I-I didn't I meant the apartment. I

Angel: It's OK, Fred. Anyway, we've got tons of room back at the hotel. We can keep everything safe.

Fred: It's just you count on stuff, you know. Things being where you left them. What happens if you get back and they're not there?

Angel: You go find 'em.



Angel: Need help?

Wesley: No. Thanks. So, Mr. O'Leary's being kept in a motel. How original. Free him. Report to base. Have Diana close out the file. Hawkins, back of my car.

Angel: Running your own game now, huh? I never got the chance to thank you. Finding me. Bringing me up. Must've been hard for you. No map. All that water. Look what what went down between us... I had a lot of time down there to think. You know, about the way things went, the way they could've gone. I just want you to know, as far as I'm concerned, we're OK again. What's this?

Wesley: What you came for. That's everything I have on Cordelia's disappearance.

Angel: Did your own investigation?

Wesley: I don't think she's dead. I can't say for certain, of course, but I don't believe she's in our dimension any longer. Beyond that... was a road I couldn't follow. No living thing can.

Angel: Who's Dinza?

Wesley: One of the Eleusian mysteries. A dark demi-goddess of the lost. Only the dead can enter her presence, and those that do, she often traps for eternity.

Angel: Sounds cheery.

Wesley: I managed to locate her lair, but obviously couldn't enter myself.

Angel: This Dinza can tell me where Cordy is.

Wesley: No. The most she'll tell you is where to look. Just beware. Dinza isn't remotely trustworthy.

Angel: What should I do, then? Send her a gift? Sacrifice? Unholy fruit basket?



Angel: Knock, knock. Door was open. Or it was a second ago.

Dinza: Are you lost?

Angel: Keep it up, you're gonna make me seasick.

Dinza: I doubt it. I think it would've happened before now. Tell me, do you miss the sound of the waves?

Angel: You-you know who I am.

Dinza: I know you were lost. I know all the lost things.

Angel: Really? City of Atlantis? Holy Grail? Jimmy Hoffa.

Dinza: Lost love.

Angel: So you know why I'm here, who I'm trying to find?

Dinza: She is far from you, champion, and needs you no longer.

Angel: I need her.

Dinza: They think that you should join them. That I should never let you out. But who listens to the dead. The Axis of Pythia rests close by. What you seek can only be found inside the Axis.

Angel: The Axis?

Dinza: An ancient power bridging all dimensions. Find the Axis, and find your lost one.

Angel: Why should I trust you?

Dinza: Because I'd love to keep you... but you have so much more to lose.



Elliot: I thought I said discreet.

Gwen: What? Do you see nipple?

Elliot: You're late.

Gwen: You're screwing me. The Axis of Pythia is worth 33 million dollars. You told me it was worth six.

Elliot: The Axis is merely a mystical object. It has no inherent monetary value

Gwen: Blah, blah, polysyllabic b-lah. I need a drink. Waiter, I'll take a redcoat, up, double the voddy, and can I get one of those swizzly things? Just love those. You were saying?

Elliot: My appraiser priced the Axis at exact

Gwen: Eighteen percent of its true market value. And seeing as how I steal stuff on commission, that's like getting me for eighty percent off. Now, let's be honest, Elliot...Do I look like a blue-light special to you?

Elliot: The street value is irrelevant. I only want the Axis for my own private collection. Now, as I recall, we had already settled on a rather substantial fee.

Gwen: Say it with me, big guy. Co-mis-sion. This my stuff? Auction house perimeter. Security system. Vent work. Vaults.

Elliot: Make the delivery to a private high rise downtown. I'll be waiting in the penthouse, and then we'll transfer the balance of your fee.

Gwen: Which we both know is gonna have a lot more zero's on the end of it, right?

Elliot: You know, Gwen, you came to me very highly recommended for your, uh... for your talents. But I have to admit, I was expecting someone a bit more... professional.

Gwen: I am a professional, and we professionals don't like taking the bone.

Elliot: Gwen, that is a twelve thousand dollar watch.

Gwen: And now it's surrealism.



Fred: The Axis of Pythia. Forged from the tripod of the Delphic oracle, the Axis, a metal arch set into a marble base, stands approximately two feet high and weighs 18 pounds.

Angel: Here. To give you an idea.

Gunn: Wow.

Fred: Is that You didn't draw that?

Angel: Huh? Yeah, I just, you know, scribbled it down out of one of the books.

Fred: Oh. Nice. Um, the Axis is said to have been imbued with many mystical qualities, one of which is finding souls or entities across dimensions.

Angel: Entities, like...

Gunn: Cordelia.

Fred: Wow. That's just

Gunn: Oh, hey, baby. I liked your little... your ghost guy.

Fred: I haven't slept, Charles.

Gunn: So, we need the Axis. How do we get it?

Fred: Currently, the Axis is being held in the vault of Chandler's Auction House, an establishment firmly rooted in the black market. Black market means money. Money means security.

Angel: But not to worry, 'cause I beat the building plans out of a snitch who thought I was dead.

Fred: The building plans are only half of it. Just because we know where it is, doesn't mean we can get to it.

Gunn: Surveillance cameras. Electric gates.

Angel: Laser sensors. Handprint Recognition.

Fred: Not to mention armed guards.

Gunn: Yeah, but if it's an auction house, can't we just, you know, E-Bay it? How much is it?

Angel & Fred: 33 million dollars.

Gunn: I think my lungs have coffee.

Fred: We're still working on a plan, but so far, it involves being sent to prison and becoming somebody's bitch.

Angel: Nobody's going to jail, Fred. I told you, a heist like this, I've done it a million times. OK, maybe twice, but I'm good at it, I swear.

Gunn: Uh, you're not counting the time we stole the crazy-making death shroud that nearly killed us right?

Angel: The point is, this is how we find Cordy, so this is what we're gonna do.

Fred: OK. I'm just gonna take these and go over the details and see if I can, I don't know, whip something up... Say, a plan. OK.

Angel: I'm really strong, if that helps.

Fred: OK.

Gunn: That's my girl. Large and in charge. OK, teensy-weensy and in charge.

Angel: It's amazing how she stepped up when I was gone. Kinda reminds me of Cordy.

Gunn: Angel, say we use this Axis thing to find her. What then?

Angel: Then, we do whatever it takes to get her back home, where she belongs.

Gunn: OK, so what are we gonna need for "Operation Chance In Hell"?

Angel: Hmm. I can only guess. Probably some repelling hooks. Flashlights, obviously. Aerosols. What else?



Lilah: Ooh. I can't stay

Wesley: You said you could?

Lilah: Big meeting in a couple hours... Potential client... First time as the new boss.

Wesley: Not interested.

Lilah: I just want you to know why I'm going first tonight.

Wesley: If I let you go at all.

Lilah: You mean, like you let your little slave girl go? Justine, is it?

Wesley: So, you finally heard about that?

Lilah: I heard. I'm betting she heard a few things, too.

Wesley: The walls are soundproofed. Though she did call you "impossibly loud."

Lilah: And all this time, you're lying through your teeth. Wes is so apathetic. Wesley doesn't care.

Wesley: I had to raise him. Angel is necessary.

Lilah: For what?

Wesley: Fighting people like you.

Lilah: Good news is, you might've done me a favor. Soon as he dried off, Angel kicked Connor out of the hotel. Poor little guy, friendless, homeless... umm... looks like Connor's gonna need someone who cares, like a big sister, or a... Mrs. Robinson, if that's what he's into. I thought you liked the bad girls, Wes.

Wesley: I don't need to hear your evil plans.

Lilah: No, it just turns you on, knowing I have 'em.

Wesley: Shut up, Lilah.

Lilah: Make me.



Angel: Who are you?

Gwen: Who are you?

Angel: I asked you first.

Gwen: What are you, seven?

Angel: Tell me you're not here for the Axis.

Gwen: I'm not here for the Axis.

Angel: You're lying.

Gwen: I'm fibbing. It's lying, only classier.

Angel: What?

Gwen: Technically? I'm exciting the subatomic particles with electrical energy and then bouncing 'em off each other before they hit ground state. I just love that folks go for this hi-tech stuff. Electricity comforts 'em. Suckers.

Angel: What are you?

Gwen: I'm a freak. What'd you think?

Angel: Um, yeah, you know, I'm sure there's lots of other nice expensive things that you could steal in there. It just doesn't have to be the one

Gunn: Where's the bogey?

Angel: In there. She's after the Axis.

Gunn: She? As in she took out the four armed guards downstairs?

Angel: That's good to know.

Gwen: So long, handsome.

Angel: Listen, I need the Axis. It's an ancient mystical relic

Gwen: It's fun for a girl and a boy. I like to think of it as... mine.

Angel: Please.

Gwen: Please? Are you kidding me? Hey there, Denzel.

Angel: I'm trying to find someone. Someone very important to me, and the Axis there, it's my only shot.

Gunn: Come on, he's telling the truth.

Gwen: Oh, well, golly, if you say it's true... So what? You just wanna... borrow this thing?

Angel: You can do whatever you want with it, as soon as I find her.

Gwen: Her? Of course it's "her." Two questions, then. One: do you really love her?

Angel: Yeah, I do.

Gwen: Two: on a scale of one to ten, exactly how stupid do you think I am? Don't answer that.

Angel: Way to go, Fred.

Gwen: Let go!

Gunn: A little help here! Ahh!

Angel: He's dead.

Fred: No. No. No.

Gwen: Move! Sorry, honey. Just like starting a Chevy. There we go.

Fred: Angel, we gotta get to a hospital.



Angel: Miss me?

Lilah: Only in the sense of... no.

Angel: How's it going, Lilah? Still knocking 'em dead at Wolfram and Hart?

Lilah: You could say that.

Angel: I wasn't sure, what, with all the charity work you seem to be doing down here.

Lilah: You know, I was just telling someone how deeply I care for the homeless. Let him off pretty easy, didn't you?

Angel: The kid messed up, he knows he messed up.

Lilah: Oh, God. The return of the moral high ground? This is that "guilt is it's own punishment" thing, isn't it?

Angel: Kind of my specialty.

Lilah: Whatever. I don't get it. Lemme guess. You're just gonna bird-dog the kid 'til he gets weepy and... pulls a prodigal.

Angel: I'm not here for him, Lilah. I'm here for you. Earlier tonight, the Axis of Pythia was stolen from Chandler's Auction House.

Lilah: Black market. Upscale.

Angel: Thief was too. What you might call specialized. The kind only people like your clients can afford

Lilah: And you want the name of the buyer. Look, Angel, I know you've been out of loop for a while, but I'm still evil. I don't do errands unless they're... evil errands.

Angel: I think you'll run this one.

Lilah: Why? What's in it for me?

Angel: Just this once, I'll ignore the fact that you were within 50 yards of my son. Just this once.

Lilah: So much for moral high ground, huh? It's interesting. You... coming to me for help.

Angel: You know what I find interesting? The fact that I can smell you and Wesley all over each other. Start making calls. You got an hour.



Gunn: Kinda looks like art, doesn't it? I call it "takes more than that to kill me, punk." "Punk" is what makes it art.

Fred: Did you take your pill?

Gunn: 'S hard to believe these little pointy jobbies are the difference between life and death.

Fred: Did you?

Gunn: You handed it to me.

Fred: So, what was it like?

Gunn: What's what like?

Fred: Being dead. Gone. See anything interesting? White light? Shirley MacLaine?

Gunn: Nothing. I don't I don't remember.

Fred: All it was was luck. If that woman hadn't come back again...

Gunn: Fred, we've been through this. You would've done CPR. I know you

Fred: What if I hadn't been there?

Gunn: Then Angel would've picked me up and Flash Gordon'ed me to the ER.

Fred: Sure, but, then again, it could've been too late, and Angel would have had to swear blood-lusty vengeance on the woman that killed you, and we all know how well that one works out.

Gunn: Fred, what the hell?

Fred: I am so sick of holding everything up around here. First Wesley leaves, then Angel, and Cordy. I-I'm sick of taking care of everything and paying bills and making peace and plans and keeping my chin up God, I am so sick of my chin being up!

Gunn: You know what, just electrocute me know, 'cause I don't know what kind of alien female thing

Fred: I thought it would get better when Angel came back. I-I thought I would finally be able to breathe again.

Gunn: Fred, no one forced this responsibility on you

Fred: Well, who else was gonna do it? Who else was gonna hold everything up after you left me all alone? You died and left me all alone!

Gunn: Shh... It's OK, baby.



Angel: Nice color.

Gwen: OK. After I kick your ass, I'm gonna ask about that.

Angel: I don't wanna hurt you.

Gwen: That's what they all say. I don't usually enjoy the hand-to-hand this much.

Angel: Maybe you haven't been doing it right.

Gwen: Why are you not toast?

Angel: I'm not even warmed up.

Gwen: Oh, really. I can fix that. Warm enough? You're alive.

Angel: You felt that? My heart...

Gwen: It was beating. It doesn't, does it?

Angel: Cordelia! I gotta get out of here.

Gwen: What the hell is going on?

Elliot: Well, that should be obvious... to a professional like yourself.

Angel: It's a double-cross.

Gwen: I'm now slow. I know it's Shut up! Is he one of yours?

Elliot: No, I thought he was yours, what, with the... tonguing and all.

Gwen: In his dreams.

Angel: Not even close.

Elliot: It doesn't matter.

Gwen: The job's done. Elliot, you don't have to do this.

Elliot: I have no choice. The job you did for me was a train wreck. The noise, the publicity, that little stunt you pulled in the bar

Gwen: That was just a joke

Elliot: Professionals are discreet, young lady. You, on the other hand, are a freak. A dangerous freak. Which is why I had them remodel the elevator you're standing in. More of a retrofit, really. Low-teched the whole thing with six inches of Plexiglas separating you from any available current. Tempered Lucite.

Angel: He's gonna seal us in and turn on the gas.

Gwen: What are you, Lex Luthor?

Elliot: What do you think, I'm gonna stand here and duke it out with electro girl? No, don't worry. Uh, I'm told that the gas is very fast-acting. You'll be dead within... uh, whoops Where does the time go?

Angel: OK, there's gotta be something. Get down! Now! Get low!

Gwen: Ow! You jackass! You get low!

Angel: I don't need to. I don't breathe.

Gwen: Gee, must be a real turn-on for the girlfriend.

Angel: Utility panel right about here, you think?

Gwen: Plastic's too thick, you lunk-head. I can't get through to blow the charge.

Angel: Simple question! It is here or not?

Gwen: Yes! It's there.

Elliot: We should be finished here any time now. Uh-huh. I see. Uh-huh. Well we had the tuna casserole last Thursday, Molly.

Gwen: If I die

Angel: You're not gonna die!

Gwen: Nice kiss.

Angel: OK.

Elliot: Get rid of him.

Gwen: I expect to get screwed. Professional thief. Hazard of the biz.

Elliot: Just wait a second, please...

Gwen: What I don't appreciate, Elliot, is being called a freak! That's my word. And I get cranky when people like you use it.

Angel: Gwen, think about this...

Gwen: Ever been struck by lightning, Elliot? I've been struck by lightning 14 times. It's not my fault. I just attract it. You know what else attracts lightning? Maggoty little norms like you.

Angel: So you're a freak. Boo-hoo. So what?

Gwen: Excuse me?

Angel: I think you've already figured out I'm not the poster-boy for normal. Sometimes, you gotta let go.

Gwen: Hey! I wanted to do that.

Angel: You were gonna fry him.

Gwen: Was not.

Angel: Don't fib.

Gwen: Fine. Did you at least break his nose? You're really gonna use that Axis thing to find her, aren't you? It figures. Anyone that bad at stealing stuff has got to be doing it for love. Bummer.



Fred: But she was beautiful?

Angel: God! There was all this light around her, and the light seemed to be made up of ... pure joy. And warmth.

Gunn: You think higher beings get to take vacations?

Angel: The way I saw it, felt sorta permanent.

Gunn: Too bad. Could've all gone to Vegas.

Fred: Guess we should've known back when she started that glowy thing, the powers were up to something.

Gunn: Yeah, but who thought it would've been this?

Angel: To tell you the truth, it doesn't surprise me. In some small way, maybe it even makes it easier, knowing the good she's doing up there. Even if I can't see her or talk to her, it's like...she's still on my side.

Fred: Doesn't mean you miss her any less.

Angel: No. All those months, under the water, I kept thinking to myself I gotta get home... to Cordelia. I get back and I find out that she's gone. I keep thinking, I gotta get Cordy back home. Finally I find her, and I realize she already is home. Where she belongs.

Cordelia: What are you? Deficient? Get me out of here!



----------

Story: 10

Acting: 10

Writing: 10

Picture: 10

Gripping: 10

My Rank: 10

----------

Total: 10

This episode marks the first appearance of the criminally cool character Gwen Raiden or Electrogirl as she's more widely known.



Ground State introduces us to Gwen, a young leather-clad woman who has the ability to control electricity, who is searching for the mystical Axis of Pythia, which is also what Angel Investigations want to find the missing Cordelia.



The opening scene is one of the best teaser sequences in Angel history, with a young Gwen being taken to a new school, where she must sit alone and not touch anybody, due to her electrifying abilities. It's a really creepy sequence, reminiscent of various movies and comic books, including Carrie and X-Men.



Alexa Davalos makes an immediate impression as Gwen, with her sultry slow-mo entrance into the restaurant being one of the episode's standout scenes. Her Catwoman-like slinkiness is awesome and it's a shame that she wasn't used again in more than the two further appearances she makes in season four.



The rest of this episode is excellent. Dinza is an effective demon and the raid on the building housing the Axis is well filmed and thankfully doesn't end up in Entrapment territory. The scene where Gwen literally restarts Angel's heart whilst kissing him could have been corny but works well on screen. Gunn's death, however, is slightly pointless as you know he couldn't possibly be killed off in episode two of the season.



Ground State is a massively underrated episode with some excellent guest stars and an intriguing mystery behind it. Shame about the continued lack of Cordelia though...

First and foremost, when is Tom Irwin going to catch a break?



Supporting dad character on single-season wonder "My So-Called Life," he skates around in shadows and obscuria before making an appearance here in David Greenwalt's production of "Angel," and then in Tim Minear's production of "Miracles" -- which you don't even necessarily know about because the episode he was in -- "Ghost" -- was meant to air right after the pilot episode but was pushed back and pushed back and ultimately ended up as No. 11 -- back among the "never aired" episodes.



As an actor, his arc reminds me of a line in Julius Caesar:

"There is a tide in the affairs of men

Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune.

Omitted, all the voyage of his life

Is bound in shallows and obscurity."



The boy is due for high tide.



And what can be said of Gwen Raiden that hasn't already been mumbled incoherently in a million darkened bedrooms? In one of her first lines, she talks about what she's doing to the lasers, and her line would have been as accurate if she was cut off two words in -- to wit: "I'm exciting."



You certainly are.



She gets a great introduction -- sort of a Batman without the social conscience and with an actual superpower. Can't say I didn't have a lot of immediate affection for "Nick," who showed up for four frames to hand her some lipstick -- but who had a lot of warmth and an excellent Q rating that reminded me of a young Nana Visitor or Mia Sara.



Tracing around to the main course I'm going to pause for a "JASMINE WATCH!"



There's no way Cordy has been possessed as yet. That's so completely //her// up there and, while Jasmine does speak in her idiom once she's in possession, I think she's still hiding among the nebulous clouds surrounding Cordy up there in cloud-land.



And off we go to the story.



There's discussion of loss -- who CYNTHIA! has lost, those who have slipped off into the shadows and into the distant limelight, and left them a few heroes short -- "CYN!" if you will.



With the return of Angel and his rightful supplanting of Connor in CYN!, Angel wants to get the rest of his team back -- largely, one assumes, for the sake of doing it.



But then again ...



Connor's in town (tho hardly a functioning part of CYNTHIA!) Angel could get to Lorne. He actually meets with Wesley (although Wes has got his own team now and his own issues to work out).



But he focuses like a laser on Cordy.



This speaks to questions he wants answered, longing he has felt in his heart probably since she was infused with demon essence, perhaps before. Cordy and he were, on some level, forming a couple before Groo showed up, and then looked all but foregone before Connor and Skip stepped in at the end of "Tomorrow" (S3x22).



He is focused on getting Cordy back. Not Fred, the demonstrated brains of the group (but not the artist -- I loved her argument "I haven't slept" to excuse her simplistic hamfistery [loved the ghost and its "BOO!"], up against Angel's acknowledged draughtsmanship abilities). Not Gunn, the acknowledged heart of the group (if you don't believe me now, wait 'til it's on his sleeve in "The House Always Wins"). No dark mystics, no lighter -- well, //greener// mystics, no redundantly broody superstrong patricidal nutjobs.



He wants Cordy, the //soul// of the group.



CYN!s run-in with Gwen was just wild, and here's the coincidence I was talking about in the teaser. Wes guides Angel to Dinza, and Dinza points him in the direction of the Axis of Pythia.



And at exactly the same time -- while it just happens to be in town -- Tom Irwin gets it in his head that he ever-so-wants this very same Axis of Pythia (at one heck of a discount) and for at least the second and possibly the third time, CYNTHIA! finds itself at an auction house (Gunn choking on coffee was hysterical).



Again, like the crazy-making death shroud, there's no street value for Axes of Pythia and Tom could probably just bid on it and get it cheaper than hiring Gwen. Or, for that matter, Angel could steal it from the buyer, who may or may not have better security but would certainly have less traffic.



But because this is how the show is written, both forces converge on the unsuspecting Axis of Pythia (rendered by Fred as a sybaritic not-a-stake) and get in each others' way. Gwen for no reason whatsoever kills Gunn (and Fred reacts outside all proportion, but then she needed a breakdown to make "Supersymmetry" make a little more sense) and, in some whipsaw editing indicating an internal motive for redemption, she starts up the Chevy that is Gunn (and what a wasted opportunity -- Gunn could've seen //something// while he was out and about), forging a nice little tie for them to revisit later in the season.



Gwen gets away, and Angel tracks her to Tom, learning something interesting on the way about Lilah and Wesley, and using a lovely bit of leverage -- which he couldn't, ultimately use -- about Lilah's tracking his son. If he does anything about it, her //corpse// isn't likely to be especially informative.



However, without this confrontation, we wouldn't have had the delicious Lilism:



"I know you've been out of the loop for awhile, but I'm //evil//. I don't run errands unless they're //evil// errands."



It's reminiscent of Spike in "This Year's Girl": "When are you bloody Scoobies going to get it through your thick skulls that I don't like you!"



Angel gets more value out of Lilah's information and there's a renewed confrontation in Tom's office. But the elevator trap is so lame. Both of them are fit and trim individuals and would've had no trouble wriggling through those horizontal bars. But add the fact that a //taser// knocked Angel on his bum, one wonders why Gwen was having so much trouble.



Tom wouldn't have been able to recover the Axis anyway because along with Gwennie, there was a vampire in there with it and everyone knows you can't poison a vampire (unless the script demands it like in "Graduation Day" and "I Fall To Pieces"). But Tom was going down anyway -- just a matter of how.



And now ...



Now ...



Now we come to the very important Last Minute And A Half.



When Buffy was quite dead -- mystically dead, but dead all the same -- and her soul was at peace and floating about in a heaven dimension, she was pleased to be there. This information would've been available to Willow if she'd been interested in tracking it down, and instead, her friends, determining that she has died, decide to bring her back to life.



If they'd had an Axis of Pythia, they could've found out that she was at peace, happy, surrounded by light made out of pure joy. They may or they may not have marshalled the magicks to drag her out.



Angel does find out where Cordy is, determines that she's happier where she is, figures that she's earned that and decides he's going to let her stay.



Within an episode, the "heaven dimension" has spit her out, clueless, into the lobby of the Hyperion.



This is never explained. But more importantly, the //one// person he's been chomping at the bit since he returned to reincorporate into CYN! -- the one who's been screaming at him in her extradimensional-type way to get her out, by the way -- is no longer an objective.



It's not explained. But maybe it //is// hinted at.



Cordy's reappearance in the next episode happens once all efforts to get her back cease. This seems to indicate that if //any effort at all// had been made, it would've succeeded, and perhaps too effortlessly.



What could this mean ... ?



* considers revisiting the Jasmine Watch! portion of this discussion, but decides, this bit of explication laid down, to leave it tantalizingly at that *



We, folks, are indeed being toyed with.



Masterfully.



What an extraordinarily cool eppy. :)

After recovering from sea-trip Angel is now looking Cordela and he goes to Wes, to help him, he couldn't find where she was but he finds out she's happy.



Gwen, this a girl with power electicute people and objects which makes human contact impossiable. We learn she has become a burgular and break into most secure place due to her power to change electic senors so that she cannot be detected. With that entrance in the bar i was gobsmaccked, she stunning and really brillant. She stole the show.



Angel & Gwen meet when he steal a nixus to find Cordela which Gwen was hired to steal. He begs her for it she just couldn't resist.



I'm looking forward to other episoide this season with her, but i was very impressed with this chacter and can't wait for the next episoide with her in.