The Thin Dead Line • S02E14 • TPN’s Angel Guide
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2024
- Patreon: / passionofthenerd
Sources (links support the channel)
Angel the Series
amzn.to/3k9yYWK
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
amzn.to/2JcAPKZ
Angel Season 2 - Amazon Prime
amzn.to/3BFNR9i
MPC Film - The Lion King VFX Breakdown
• MPC Film - The Lion Ki...
Music Credits:
"Favorite Secrets" by Waylon Thornton
/ waylonthornton
This script was edited by Lani Diane Rich
Twitter - / lanidianerich
chipperish.com/
Twitter: / iannitram
Amazon: www.amazon.com/shop/passionof...
Facebook Page: / thepassionofthenerd
Discord: / discord
Subreddit: / thepassionofthenerd
Website: HTTP://www.thepassionofthenerd.com
Passion of the Nerd reviews The Thin Dead Line. From Angel, Season 2, Episode 14. Written by Jim Kouf and Shawn Ryan. Directed by Scott McGinnis. Starring David Boreanaz as Angel. Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase. Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. J. August Richards as Charles Gunn. And Andy Hallett as Lorne.
00:00 …sorta…still?
00:55 You’re not trying to draw undead pension…
03:08 The Thin Meh Line
04:50 Uncanny Valley Dialogue
06:40 Ben, is there something we can do?
11:18 You’re Not Going to Win
#angeltheseries #davidboreanaz #ShawnRyan 
Развлечения
Had a bit of an audio issue with this one that I tried to edit around. Apologies to anyone with good bass or great headphones. No idea what was hitting the mic stand. Starting on I Was Made to Love You next week and then our Spiral discussion on Saturday. Cheers all.
You're cute
We all been there excellent stuff as always - disagree but a very serious engagement like earned
It's still great
As a black person who spent most of his life in bad neighborhoods, I can say I get the message of the episode. Crime being down while people not actually being safer is one of the most common issues black people deal with in overpoliced areas. Sure less people MAYBE are being robbed but kids are being shot by cops and innocents are being jailed......so are we better off?
Exactly. Just because something technically works to reduce crime doesn't mean it's the only thing that works OR that there aren't other crimes being committed in the process that are ignored because of who is committing the crimes (the cops, the govt) and who the victims of those crimes are (poor ppl and ppl of color).
Covid reduced street crime bc people weren't outside their homes as much--does that mean we should start a pandemic when we want to get better crime stats??
Similarly, zombie cops terrorizing the ppl of the neighborhood in this episode makes them stay at home or in shelters and does make them less likely to do things like panhandle or deal drugs. But the process of terrorizing people so badly that they stay in their homes IS a crime--a violent crime. It's just that it's being committed by the people who are allowed, in our society, to commit violence and who won't get in trouble for committing crimes against the groups people they're terrorizing. The sad fact is, if these cops weren't literal monsters but just human ones, the shooting of Wesley would probably be the thing that got them in trouble and NOT all their previous attacks on black ppl and literal children
Cordelia: What are you doing here?
Angel: I heard about Wesley.
Cordelia: Well, that's great. Too bad it takes a gunshot wound to make you give a crap.
Wesley doesn't need you right now. We don't need you. You walked away. Do us a favor and just stay away.
The parallel between this and the scene where Angel visits Wes in the hospital a second time in Forgiven (Season 3) is incredible. I know it'll be a couple of years before he gets to that scene, but I was really looking forward to it before I realize he's been hiding my comments from his channel. I guess comments from anyone who doesn't kiss his a$$ are unwelcome. Not the best way to retain viewers.
@@keelahrosecalloway2812 Are you sure it's not RUclips hiding your comments? Because the YT algorithm is notorious for doing that, if a comment has been flagged before, even words like a$$ can trigger another flag
"Officer, wait! He's a friend of mine."
I have never been able to tell whether or not the writers were self-aware when they had Wesley say that.
Yeah, because "He's one of the good ones" was probably a bit over the top...
@@Shadowman4710 I always took it as either Wes knowing he wouldn't get shot because he was white (didn't work out unfortunately) and assuming the cops wouldn't murder his friend in front of him, or Wes trying to vouch for him knowing the cops were more likely to listen to him than Gunn.
It's also interesting that there's a mirror of that with Gunn at Annie's.
me seeing a new TPN nerd dropped:
"I'd still. I'd very still."
I always found the crime statistics section at the end of this episode hilarious. If your statistics got better. A. People probably stopped reporting crimes to the policeman that randomly beat you up and B. You aren’t counting all the murders and muggings committed by the cops.
Well the massacre at the shelter was all going to happen around the same time, so not a murder every two weeks just like 50 in one hour.
8:55 I'm surprised the zombie cops weren't another thing Kate blamed Angel for because despite the supernatural existing before he moved to LA she seemed to think he was the cause of it.
They turned her into a “Angel is why my life sucks now” trope of a woman cop, for awhile.
@@CorbCorbin Her mindset was apparently "Angel's responsible for my dad's death because vampires killed him and Angel's one." Even though it was Trevor's own fault for helping those vampires and their demon boss deal drugs to good harmless peaceful demons.
Ha ha great point. I guess they figured having her deliver the crime stats of that neighborhood was toxic enough for one episode.
Out of Gunn-centric stories, this is probably the best one. Which isn't saying much, since he gets the weakest centric stories, but this is the one I actually enjoy watching.
I'm so glad we are getting *so close* to Epiphany. I understand that the "Gray Angel" arc was trying to tell us interesting things but I'm SO READY to get out of the painful trudge (not because it's been completely terrible... Happy Anniversary aside). This and Sulky Riley arc made it difficult to watch because I don't like seeing the people I've grown to care for in pain.
It's interesting that this is (as far as I know) Anne's last appearance until the Angel finale. As a character originally intended to parallel and contrast Bufft at a low point in her emotional journey, what does it mean for Angel that she appeared in his life heading into his own emotional low point, and what does it say about Angel's growth coming out of this moment that she doesn't come back?
Considering the episode she was first introduced in, maybe to remind our heroes that even at their lowest points, when they think they don't have much of a choice, they do still have a choice. They just need to make it.
Angel had so many fascinating side characters who didn't get nearly enough screen time. In Season 4 there's one called Gwen Raiden that I would have LOVED to see more of. Likewise Nina in Season 5. But it'll be years before he makes any videos about those episodes, lol. We'll see if anyone's still watching by then. Hiding people's comments from the channel is a terrible way to retain viewers, and I just realized that that's what he's been doing to me. I guess comments from anyone who doesn't kiss his a$$ are unwelcome.
I agree with everything said about this video in the opening. There was so much about this episode that somehow seemed to go everywhere and yet also nowhere. Despite that I love seeing Anne back.
On my rewatch I did actually notice something that this episode highlights about Angel's fall. It starts with Angel being alone and ends with Cordelia telling him to stay away. This is another sign that the main factor of Angel's fall is actually his exclusion.
Supernatural or not, police working with no rules, or being held responsible, to stop crimes as they see them, is worse than the stats she mentions at the end.
Why was that neighborhood so crime ridden before? Because, it’s where poor people live, and police didn’t care about, except making a bust. It’s all in there, but the writer expects the viewer to know that without having it spelled out.
The stats that black citizens commit a giver percentage of crime, can be correlated directly with the higher rate of those living in poverty.
The number of incarcerated, being at a higher rate, can also be shown to be from a lack of resources to get a proper defense, racism, etc.
It works the same for white people, and all races. The poor live in the worst conditions(usually), then when a poor person is arrested for a misdemeanor, it’s much easier to become stuck within the system, because of having no money for an attorney, who would keep one out of jail.
These are the majority of people in prison.
Folks who couldn’t get through a probation period, because of a myriad of things, with having no money the biggest reason(usually).
Kate’s crime stats, don’t show if police were targeting said neighborhood, as we now know is standard practice. If one needs to bump up the arrest quota, they don’t go looking to bust someone for big crimes. They go looking for a drug dealer, in the poorer part of a city.
Crime creates poverty
Now, THIS is the kind of analysis I expected from Ian in this video! He missed the the mark horribly with this one. I was really looking forward to this episode and its themes are more relevant than ever before, yet aside from mentioning George Romero's film (Who let's remember, didn't even INTENTIONALLY insert racial themes into the movie!!) and a throwaway reference to Anne's cluelessness* about racial profiling, he ignores the subject completely and I'm utterly flabbergasted as to why. I understand if he's reluctant to make his videos political, but when dealing with such an overtly political topic it's unavoidable. He mentioned them filming the police with a video camera in a tone that suggests he thinks it's a dumb idea. No reference whatsoever to Rodney King. Yes the writers do some cringe things when it comes to Gunn's storylines and the POC side characters, but he spends more time focused on the one badly written black character than he does on any of the bad cop characters. Just a huge miss on nearly every level. And to add insult to injury, it turns out he hid comments from me just because I called him out on this bad video. Incredibly immature and a horrible way to retain viewers on this channel.
*One point he could have made is how weird it was that Anne was so clueless about this in the first place, since she's evidently been operating and living in that neighborhood for a long time, and interacting with its POC residents on a daily basis.
Agreed that this episode is hella fun even in spite of some really messy and not-great thematic stuff and social commentary, but MAN does that scene with Cordy telling Angel to fuck off make the entire episode for me.
I like this episode well enough but my favorite thing about it is the Gunn and Wes friendship, something I love every time they focus on it. You're right about how it feels when Wes gets hurt. I also always kinda wished that Ann and Gunn had ended up together in the end because I love their relationship and wish it had gone further after he and Fred break up.
Wesley's "Well, it's bloody lovely!" giggle is one of my favourite moments in the series. I quote it a lot even though vanishingly few people get the reference.
In fairness, it's a generic enough line that even hard core fans of the show probably wouldn't remember it.
@@keelahrosecalloway2812 yeah, I mostly do it for my own amusement. I don't expect anyone to get it, apart from my brother.
Have you ever BEEN in this world? I knew at least 3 guys like that in my brothers gang days. It's like Tom in the frat. Purely bad people are drawn to groups where darkness is permitted or inevitable: war, high crime areas, high power/wealth areas, the legal system.
I like Ian, but it does seem that he is one to make judgments based on listening too much to the media vs actually seeing what the real world is like.. I predicted that this would be his take on this episode.
@@talynstarburst2l2l2l I like him as well. Little personal for me as it's an issue that needed more addressing, not less because of people who have never been there would be offended on behalf of people who were. It's a sad state of today's world and takes the most insightful among us at times.
LOL! Angel thought he was just casually kicking a human cop’s head off XD
This episode was crazy weird but I appreciate the Gunn and Wes pairing
Also I finished both series last month, so I’m definitely looking forward to your takes on them cuz….whooo boy, as a first time watcher, it’s a lot to take in
Have you read the comics yet? They continue both shows in them.
@@CorbCorbin nope I’m good
just finished both series too last month
@@alfonso6062 how was it for you?
@@ninjanibba4259 kinda sad that its finished all episodes for me is well written and actos are awesome but the cgi an special effects threw me off sometimes
Having just listened to a podcast about "Night of the Living Dead." yeah it's true that Romero said that there was no intention to make the film a statement about race. In fact, the character of Ben wasn't even written as a black man. It just so happens that the actor who got the role was simply the best one to audition. But given the time the film was made, and the imagery of everybody else in the film being white, the implications are unavoidable.
As far as "Wesley whump" episodes go I do appreciate that the effects of this one linger? He gets a cross to the neck and is fine by the next episode. He's a mess in Sanctuary where it's relevant that he's beat up, but there's not even any lingering bruises by War Zone. Wesley recovering from his gunshot wound in the following episodes is one of the few times I can think of in the Buffyverse where a character's injuries lingering from episode to episode isn't plot relevant. He just Is Hurt, because he's a normal person and gunshot wounds take awhile to heal.
I didn’t enjoy the cops killing “potentially bad” people as much killing lawyers working for demons. I’m not anti-lawyer, but they did bring back Darla to torture Angel & make him turn into Angelus. W& H have the power there & the cops had the power here.
This is an episode that needed to have been written in a different real world.
I distinctly remember reading one review of this episode in an Angel guide - the writer was white, for the record - saying that the episode sets up, and then avoids, the potentially fascinating question of whether you have to police a city full of demons *with* demons. And that would be an interesting idea to explore, and you wouldn't necessarily need to come down on one side or another...if we lived in a world where racism and police brutality didn't exist. Because we don't live in that world, though, any attempt to paint the zombie cops as anything but an unalloyed evil is going to have implications for the victims of police violence and racism. And even if it is a straightforward condemnation of police brutality, then the fantasy context risks adding extra layers that muddy the waters regarding a topic that is, as you said, *very charged.*
That review and this one kind of got me thinking. It's not just that the episode has nothing to say about deeply charged topics, it's that...I don't know whether it could have effectively said anything at all without the real world parallels kneecapping the episode. *Maybe* if basically the entire LAPD (sans Kate) knew about and helped cover up the zombie cops, and there was no "both sides"-ing, then it could have worked. But even that's a maybe.
Though I have to say regarding Kate...given that she immediately asked Gunn if he had any priors upon meeting him for the first time, the idea that she's kind of racist herself isn't a stretch. If it wasn't for Jackson, that line *might* have only painted Kate's character in a very negative light, as opposed to giving the entire episode a bad aftertaste.
Ian, I need you to do an Angel breaking through windows and glass counter like Giles’ knock out counter
I expect that a 2021 version is substantially different than this episode from 2001. This episode would've been stronger if Kate's defensiveness had been clearly connected to guilt about the zombie police being used to punish people of 'bad' neighborhoods collectively.
There are a number of simple fixes that could've worked, for sure.
I wanted to say a massive thank you for these reviews and to tell you that one in particular (Guise will be Guise) has played a big part in helping me overcome the worst mental health issues I've had.
I've been binge watching the reviews over the last 6 months or so. Mentally the last year or so has been so hard for many reasons and I'd been sliding deeper and deeper. It was the commentary on GWBG, starting at the point where you talk about imposter syndrome and then dissecting the conversation between Angel and Bethaney that finally got through to me. Watching it I broke down in tears and even rewatching the last part of the review a few times straight after was the same, but this released something in my mind that therapy sessions hadn't. From that point on I've slowly dragged myself back and am in a much better place now. I believe in myself again and actually know i have things to look forward to and people around me that care. It's so easy to overlook these things when you're at your lowest. It was the message in your video that began this process for me and I want to say thank you, for helping to save my sanity.
I know this is not the video it happened on, but I wanted to write this comment on your most recent Angel one. You're doing amazing work.
Fred love triangle or not Wes and Gunn are brothers that fight laugh and cry side by side and this episode proves that. Wesley taking the bullet for Gunn initiates Wesleys growth and character development.
the Wes & Gunn bromance is my favorite and it always ruins me when it's destroyed in Waiting in the Wings and never really gets mended, probably the main reason why I dread Waiting in the Wings despite its popularity: for me it's the end of the sense of a "team" in the series' run. There's only betrayals and losses to look forward to after that episode.
@@jordanhyman9877 The 'end of the sense of a team' you mentioned is almost palpable in that episode, it's painful to watch, but worth it every time, they're far more than Angels group at that point, it's a collection of established, developed individuals making their own choices.
@@lolaandjoe123 yeah the character arcs it brings everyone are tremendous. it's a huge turning point for the series character wise. but it's still such a change and, yes, very painful to watch because of it.
Yes, rewatching episodes like this is so sad when you see how genuine their friendship was and how much deteriorates because of one woman. It would have been a lot better if the writers had let them handle that rivalry in a more mature way and maintain their friendship, but of course that's not the only reason Wesley got estranged from the group . . .
@@jordanhyman9877 Plus it's honestly not even that great of an episode. Very overrated.
always found this episode fun as a very buffy-verse style inversion of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. Also interesting just how similar the premise for this episode is to the 80s Bruce Campbell cult classic Maniac Cop
Necrotic (dead) tissue is much less strong than healthy tissue...Angel could have totally kicked the cops head off without much effort.
6:32 The "government wants to make supernatural creatures controlled soldiers" thing could have been interesting but Season 4 didn't do it well.
I was thinking today about how a Frankenstein pieced together from the body parts of others actually stood as an interesting metaphor for what the season had to say about indoctrinated group think. It's too bad 4 went haywire the way it did. A lot of potential was there.
@@PassionoftheNerd I think Season 4 works a lot better if you take the Big Bad to be the lack of unity between the Scoobies instead of Adam, much like how Season 6's Big Bad was more Depression than Warren/Willow.
@@englishgiraffe2124 That's a good thought I might have to think of it that way. All big bads for season 4 and 6 were kind of a let down for me. They did some interesting things but I was disappointed in the execution overall.
Always seem to post on nights I need them most. I'm ready
Woo! Finally up to my two favourite Angel episodes with reprise and epiphany. Can not wait to hear you dig in to these juicy eps
I have missed these commentaries soooooo much! Thank you!!!!
Your videos are THE BEST! God I love when they drop.
Continue with your firefly analysis!!! 😭
It was really good!!!
It is always a little better day when a TPN guide video pops on my subscription list. Thank you.
I would say the reason the zombies head came off is because he is rotted and decayed zombie, so of course his head popped off easier but if that was true, how would he just be walking around perfectly fine?
This video is officially certified by the Recommending Ones & Zeros.
You have no idea how satisfying it is to be the one to take this video from 999 likes to 1000 even.
Oh dear. I'm going to haaaate the next ep review. Because it's pronounced "re-preez". It's French.
I would have changed it to the neighbourhood before the zombie cops arrived. The crime rate was low. Traffic violations, gambling, public intoxication, and trespassing; all victimless crimes.
When the zombie police arrived, the violent crime began to rise, which ended with the zombie cops shooting people in the neighbourhood. The show would later in the Captin who made the zombie cops would falsify reports about the nature of the crimes to make it seem like his zombie shooting people was the right thing to do.
In addition, I would keep it somewhat unclear whether Jackson committed all those crimes or not.
What does "The show would later in the Captin" mean?
Finally Reprise is next!!
Zombie movies are actually about letting stuff go and not fixing problems before they become major. I can tell you this confidently bc of my MANY, MANY zombie nightmares where I'm watching them coming for like, HOURS, and I can't get anyone to leave the house with me.
I once had a dream that I was on a boat and zombies were coming out of the water and trying to climb onto the boat and drag everyone into the water. Zombies don't usually bother me too much but that dream was terrifying.
Great way to start my day! Thank you 😊
I get your point about Jackson and Kate making the commentary confusing but Angel locked the doors in a room of capital V villains. The zombie cops were sent to a homeless shelter.
It's 1 a.m. I'm tired and can't think of anything to say right now so I'll leave a comment for the youtube algorithm.
I really enjoy Anne being a recurring character ever since Buffy Season 2.
Episodes like these would probably be clearer if written now, but I commend the show for trying I guess
Thank you peacock I finally get the office and Parks and rec references.
I always remember this episode as a turning point for Wesley's character. And Gunn feels like he becomes part of the family in these "grey angel" episodes. I don't think any TV show ever comes down too hard on police because it would be taken as justifying violence against the police. I expect the writers wanted to make their point more clearly but the network wouldn't allow it.
That Chris Tragger clip is litrally the best thing I’ve seen on YT ever 😂
Keep up the good work.
Passion of the Nerd uploads: I click immediately
Oh my God you have no idea how much I needed that after the past few days
The senior partners didn't care about Angel locking the lawyers in the room. They regularly chop the heads of employees for poor performance.
03:14 LMFAO! First time I noticed that they were using a colleagues head to take down the door lol
Ah Potn before bed excellent
I see you figured out the geek /nerd debate lol btw I agree
YES! We're through the slop finally! God I can't wait for the next 2 Guides!
Awesome review.
love it.
just not sure i agree with the point raised at 10.15, that of the identical opinion of the murder of the WRH lawyers in the wine celler being just, with that of the zombie LAPD attacking the shelter.
I get that, no, the end does not justify the means. and the subplot exists to reinforce that Angel is figuring he can't just butcher everyone on the wrong side of him.
but... i feel like the subjects of each incident are fundamentally different, as well as the objects therein.
Angel (subject) is condemming a group of lawyers et al (object) who he, and we know are the Big Bad of the series. and have proven their evilness time and again both before and after the incident in question. the means are abhorrent, especially to Angel's mental state, but the action can be seen as with the best of intentions given the current, and future circumstances.
whereas the good/evil divide is reversed in Thin Blue Line. with the LAPD (subject) condemming a group of homeless teens in a shelter (object).
it's not so much that Angel is the same as the LAPD, resorting to extreme violence for the sake of the greater good, but more that the objects in each group are so fundementally different.
there might be innocent victims in the wine celler (sommaliers?) but the company they're associated with deserve everything they get and more.
the kids in the shelter are nothing but innocent.
therefore while Angel is heavy handed (to say the least) i feel that comparing his actions to zombie LAPD here is... a stretch. it's an interesting comparison, but i just don't see Angel as that severe.
Would i have abandonded the lawyers? i don't know.
would i have murdered a group of homeless teens with undead state muscle? defintely not.
10:08 I genuinely don't consider what Angel did to the Wolfram & Hart lawyers and the people at the shelter being the same. I'm fine with the former and not the latter. I mean, how can you? The people in the shelter aren't evil lawyers who knowingly deal with evil on a daily basis. You just really lost me equating those two groups of people. Maybe I need to go back but there's no reason I know of to think that anyone in Holland Manners' wine bunker were innocents by any measure.
Re-watching the review is helpful as it is pointed out that there would be dates for those lawyers, there is no evidence that all of the people married to or dating Wolfram & Hart people know what they do. There were also caterers who are probably just broke young people. I don't quite put them on the same level, but that wine party was not 100% evil people.
@@francesca234 I dunno, to me there's still a very significant difference though. Don't get me wrong, I'm truly not condoning Angel's locking them in - even if he had just walked away, that still wouldn't have been the RIGHT thing to do, let alone locking them all in like he did. But at the end of the day, with the W&H massacre, Angel did NOT deliberately set out to put that violence in motion; they made their own bed with that one; he only aided in letting it play out.
Hell, I'd even say that the very fact of Angel being in vengeance mode by that point... was 100% their own doing. They had deliberately psychologically tortured him into letting his dark side run free... like he said in Happy Anniversary, is it really such a shock that it worked? They screwed and screwed and screwed with both Angel AND Darla. So as much as I know it's not exactly right to let Angel totally off the hook, part of me really does want to even put any innocent lives that may have been caught in the crossfire more on them than on him too. I just can't bring myself to put it more on Angel for not saving whoever might have been innocent than on them for pushing him past the point of being able to care.
The cop going after a SHELTER just because it was in a high crime community or whatever was not just letting violence play out. It was deliberately inciting the massacre, and not even against a group of obviously harmful people. It was a shelter full of people the cop knew absolutely nothing about, who he was actively looking to kill on the sole basis that it's possible SOME of them COULD have in theory been involved in violence that killed his cop friends.
Great job My friend
while I agree with the narrative parallels between this precinct wreaking havoc and angel doing horrific things in his twisted, furious sense of "Justice" i don't think the siege on the shelter is exactly the same to lock darla and dru in that room full of lawyers. Both actions are evil, but one has a justifiable defense for angel's actions, however hand wavy it is and however much it misses the point, those lawyers on some level were complicit in horrific actions day in and day out by choice. Then there's a man summoning the bodies of dead cops to murder children who are already homeless, poor and likely without many connections outside of that shelter. there's morally bankrupt humans being attacked by vampires without a way to escape, and then there's legions of cops swarming a house full of mostly innocent children. I think the episode certainly prompts that comparison, i just don't think the comparison is fair or equal in any moral sense
I actually ended up really liking this episode.
I don't know if you're going to read this but man, I just had to say something about how ON POINT this whole analysis is. I normally never watch your Angel video series, instead saving it for later, after you're done with Buffy. This morning I told myself - You know what? Let's watch this Angel video while I'm having coffee - and I was blown away by how incisive and objective it was. Incredible. Especially in the light of the current cultural and social backdrop. Simply delightful and thought-provoking.
The only criticism I have is maybe you should try slowing down the pace of your narration as sometimes it feels like you're literally bombarding us with information and analytical points and - I know I do anyway - sometimes feel like I might be missing something.
But please keep these series going. Your analytical skills only seem to be getting sharper and it's a blessing to be able to witness and enjoy that. Cheers.
At one point in this analysis he suggested that they should have driven the ambulance to another precinct, despite the fact that a police officer just murdered them. He makes several great points in his videos, but sometimes he really steps on a rake, analytically speaking. That's the wackest thing he's said in any video of his I've seen so far, and I think I've now seen all of them. Which makes it all the more ridiculous that he's apparently decided to hide my comments from his channel. I guess if you don't leave comments sucking up to him and telling him how great he is, you get muted. Horrible way to reward loyal viewers.
The fact that this was written by Shawn Ryan who went on to create distilled Copaganda is the least surprising twist since we found out that Elon Musk was under investigation that would soon come out when he tweeted some whiny crap about how he was going to be attacked due to his beliefs.
Zombie heads _are_ barely attached. Especially zombie cop heads. So, there’s your answer. 😄
It's a shame that this is technically one of the episodes which seems like it puts some effort into being a Gunn centric episode, and COULD be seen as one of the better ones... Eh, I think it's not just like the writers not being great at writing jargon for, particularly the Initiative storylines run on Buffy, which in my mind is more forgivable, as that always had room for cheesiness, and could be balanced out by characters we like appearring pretty quickly to help the episode. Whereas this is one of the pretty small number of main characters, designed to fit into the world and themes of your show. I used to feel that Season 5 was the best for Gunn episodes, but looking at it again, I think it's just, arguably, when the writers are most successfully fitting him into the season AND series arcs, and (like in better episodes from earlier seasons) he is written as being a large or even small part of someone else's story, or most often a very engaging part of team-centric episode. And kudos to J August Richards for the charisma and sometimes underrated abilities to work with some of the cheese he is given. I always felt slightly bad for Marc Blucas, as, despite his character being a bit of a drag, I thought he didn't get enough credit, indeed mostly abuse, for his pretty charming, and sometimes even compelling screen presence, even while being hindered by the some of the cringe in writing and direction of his character. However, I don't think I appreciated how underused or misdirected J August Richards' talents were a lot, until a second run through of Angel.
Not sure any of that made sense, mini-essay over.
I can't help but wonder how viewers outside the US interpreted this racist zombie cop story. I realize that police brutality can happen anywhere when a police force has too much power and too little accountability, but America's history brings specific things to this episode. The LAPD has a reputation of militarism and police violence. This is where Rodney King was beaten, it was videotaped, and the police were acquitted anyway.
Likes are at 666. I'm not going to be the one to change it😆, but I set a reminder to come back and like it😁
Two thoughts:
O'Brien must suf ... I mean... Wesley must suffer
Kate is still a cop; and a cop is a cop is a cop.
Yeah haha the ending didn't tie it together ... Kate's perspective was kinda lame to me. I guess we could say the episode brings up good ideas ?? Without drawing a conclusion but like you suggested, their counterargument in favor of zombiecops felt kinda weak
Honestly, if they wanted to include the Kate and Jackson POVs in the show, just give them their own episode(s). I wouldn’t have liked it, because that’s too pro-cop for my tastes, but it was definitely the wrong move to include it in _this_ episode. The zombie cop trope has such a clear metaphor, but they muddied it by trying to add EVERY SINGLE SIDE of the issue.
Just kiss - keep it simple, stupid.
The whole series is about moral grey areas. Lila even gives a fantastic speech about it in Season 4. That's what makes it such a fantastic series. From this to ending world peace at the end of Season 4 to bringing the minions of hell to LA in the series finale, this is a great example of how the gang's actions often wound up making things worse.
I like that you use the Lion King footage when you were talking about CGI being seamless implying that, that CGI was seamless which it was not.
Also it's not as simple as picking a lane. What Kate says in what the drug dealer guy does are realities and ignoring them to "pick a lane" does nothing but obfuscate the truth.
Didn't suggest ignoring them though I get 'pick a lane' is unclear. Everything the episode says are problems, are problems. I get that.
@@PassionoftheNerd Then why'd you spend so little time delving into them? And why are you muting comments from a black woman who is telling you frankly how badly you missed the mark on this? Utterly disgusting behavior towards someone who has been supporting your channel for many years.
It was good, I didn’t like the angel away arc though.
OMG get to season 4 already :)
Right?! 😭
Shocked he didn't hide your comment from his channel like he did all of mine. He must have missed it!
This show was desperately in need of a real black presence in the writer's room, and that's all I'll say on that.
I guess the zombie cop was rotting away for 6 months and only shambling along thanks to Evil Magicks so I can believe his head was less attached than a living person's. Totally sick backwards spin kick still seems like something that would realistically break the jaw (at the very least) of a living person, though. Not that this franchise is ever consistent on how strong a vampire or a Slayer is at any given moment ...
God how true that is of just so many of my favorite sci-fi and supernatural shows that were made in my youth.
What's worse was the community not being able to handle any criticism for so long.
Like I love Fringe but there was an obvious lack there as well.
I'm honestly disappointed by your analysis of this episode (this is very rare). Just looking at how LA is now, due to Defund the police should be a clear, real-world example of the issues this episode tries to cover. You seem to not want to actually talk about that though. Rather approach the whole episode as if it were some muddled attempt to make cops look um... bad, but also... not? The message of the episode seems pretty clear to me. Law enforcement is an important part of society, However, putting people in charge of enforcement over other people is and always will be a difficult balance. People with too much power over others will always abuse that power. Marshal law enforced by zombie cops is never a good idea. It's soooo hard to find good help these days.
This review open the door to this , Crime is bad yes Poverty is bad again I agree with you and of course Racism is horrible again I agree with you and the issue with the episode Police Brutality , But what about the crimes like murder rape and robbery aren't those equally as bad ? also I compare Jackson To Warren , both despicable characters who in real life should have to deal with the cops the system and prison for the rest of their lives
I get a little touchy when it comes to police , There is a lot of good women and men in uniform that uphold the law , protects the community and I feel like they get a bad rap cause there are some bad apples in the department
Finally I was made to love you and reprise is next , I will have my box of tissues ready for both episodes Nice Job on this episode Ian look forward to discussing Spiral with you next week
Agreed. For someone who often points out reality is more complicated than, um no pun intended I swear, black and white I don't understand his objection to the inclusion of such a character. There are good and bad people in all groups and demographics. That's just life and the episode is true to life. No sense in being upset about it.
-Aren't those equally bad.
Yep.
-Jackson being bad isn't the problem. From the standpoint of the fiction, Warren is a FAR bigger bad, obviously. Warren also doesn't have a bit of dialogue related to him used to justify/explain why an injustice is being done to an entire community. That was the problem I was trying to highlight. Remove Gunn's dialogue and I don't have a problem with Jackson. Leave it in and Jackson feels like an exhausting oversimplification.
Thanks, Russell.
@@PassionoftheNerd From what I hear from black RUclipsrs that I listen to they would say that Jackson's excuses are no excuse for his behavior at all and they would have a few things to say on the subject themselves. They are actually pretty tired of white people making excuses for the bad apples in their community as well. They say that their problems will never be solved until they acknowledge the problems and address them instead of making excuses or trying to sweep them under the rug like they don't exist. I'm paraphrasing their arguments I'll admit, but I've listened to a lot of them talk about these things and they wouldn't agree with you. I wish they could be here to tell you in their own words as I am not doing the best job summarizing what is a large catalogue of their videos on the subject and honestly I am not comfortable speaking in someone on someone else's behalf, but there is no help for it in this case.
Good storytelling should provide all sides of the issues/stories. "Having something to say" often comes across as being preachy. ST:tNG was a good example of this. They often presented contemporary social issues wrapped in alien worlds and sci-fi stories. Rarely did they take a stance on the issues, buyt rather presented all sides, and allowed the audience to think without feeling like they were being preached at. I believe this is the best way to address complex social issues in shows--if you feel the need to include such things.
Oh come now, they break the prime directive, on hunches, many times.
Wesley steps on the grass.
Prime Directive; what is that? 😄
Their telling a story not writing an essay.
"Good storytelling should provide all sides of the issues/stories." is an utterly false statement, and very "there are good people on both sides" of you. So if a WWII story only shows Nazis as evil people, it's automatically bad? A story is only beholden to its author's point of view, and a talented author can make anything good.
@@keelahrosecalloway2812 My statement was an opinion, certainly not something that can be proclaimed "utterly false." You are free to disagree wiht it, but you cannot so simply dismiss and invalidate it. As for your rhetorical question about WWII, yes, I would conclude a one-sided biography of a war to be bad.
@@tekmansam You didn't phrase your comment like an opinion, so I didn't respond to it like one. When you present something as a fact it can certainly be classified as false.
8:52 No, she's saying life isn't that black and white. She's saying life is complicated. People look for easy answers but there aren't any. She's also saying, if you want to do this the right way, he must be aware of the unintended consequences and not just focus on the "big bad".
There's also an implication that he can't do it alone, cos the problem is bigger than just taking out one bad guy.
So the writer that penned all that cringe inducing, shitty 'street' slang in the shelter scenes got more work?
Thanks good review this show has made me look and think of this show in a new light for some reason this ep l call the zombie cops but I’d will admire cops are also a stereotype because they harasse anyone who does not are who they reperesent they do but I suspend my disbelief when I watch
First!
Lame!
@@keelahrosecalloway2812 A bit, yeah
@@EmrysMerlin8807 🤣
It should be obvious why they went back to the shelter: it was closest. They knew the cop's backup was coming. Really weird that you'd suggest they could've gone to a precinct after a cop literally just tried to murder them.
It's also disappointing that you didn't get more into the police brutality theme here. With everything that's happened in the last two years from George Floyd to Breonna Taylor, this episode is more relevant than ever, and I was looking forward to your in-depth analysis of it. The parallel you drew between Angel's actions with the lawyers and the cop's decision to make the zombies attack the shelter is indeed interesting, and something I had never considered before. And I'm glad you highlighted Kate's lines at the end. But the rest of this video is a huge miss, quite frankly. There are certain episodes I really look forward to from you, and this is one of the few times my hopes have been in vain.
Interesting how you chose to hide all my comments from your channel. I guess comments from anyone who doesn't kiss your a$$ are unwelcome. Not the best way to retain viewers.
"You can't fight evil with evil." That's the message I got from this episode.