4x02 "Ground State"
Reviewed by Matthew Bon | Rating: 9/10

YOUR TOUCH ELECTRIFIES ME - When Wesley (Alexis Denisof) advises Angel (David Boreanaz) to visit Dinza (guest star Rena Owen), a dark "goddess of the lost" who has valuable information on how to find Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), he learns that a certain mystical antiquity can locate souls across dimensions. Angel, Fred (Amy Acker) and Gunn (J. August Richards) break into an auction house to retrieve the object only to discover that an electrifying cat burglar (guest star Alexa Davalos) has the same intentions. Vincent Kartheiser also stars. Michael Grossman directed the episode written by Mere Smith.

Overview:

Mere Smith has given us some delectable goodies in the past, and this was no exception. While the episode served no other purpose than to devise a way for the gang to find out where Cordelia is at and to introduce a new female character, there's no denying that it was an extremely entertaining 40 minutes. With Michael Grossman's excellent direction, Alexa Davalos' impressionable performance and some breathtaking designs from the monster and set departments this was a fantastic episode all around.

This episode brings the number of heists the series has done to 3 (I suppose you could include "Blood Money", bringing the total to 4), but it was as fresh as ever with new purposes and new complications. I am a very big fan of heists, with some of my favourite movies, "The Hard Word" and "Ocean's Eleven" being up there in my top 10 list. "Ground State" came off just as well as them on a modest television budget and I applaud the efforts of everyone involved.

The episode's title, "Ground State", came from Gwen's speech about humans putting too much faith in technology and science. What Mere Smith did to perfection in this episode was showcase how much magic and its properties ruled over science. It was rather like season 4 of Buffy's main theme of Magic vs. Science. But it also worked on many different other levels as well, especially due to the fact of where all the characters are in this point in there lives and how they relate to the word "grounded"

The episode also explores the consequences that mutants could have on this Earth (like Senator Kelly's speech in X-Men). We are just utterly unequipped to deal with their special genetic makeup and if rubbed the wrong way, they could begin (if they exist, but maybe they do?) a new power that could take over the world.

With Amy Acker and Alexa Davalos rising to the top of my favourites list this episode, this is definetly an episode I am able to watch over and over again

Angel:

Angel is back to normal, already, and I find it strange that 3 months in a box seem to have no real effect on him.

So, Angel forgives Wesley, but suddenly now Wesley doesn't want anything to do with Angel. That just came out of nowhere, and it certainly poses a lot of questions as everyone I have talked just assumed that Wesley had always wanted to be accepted back. Why did Wesley save Angel then if it wasn't to get back in his good books? Does Wesley have an ulterior motive that we are yet to discover? Either way, they better find a way to fit Wesley back into the group soon because much like Fred, I don't like the gang being apart.

So there you have it non A/C fans, Angel says he loves Cordelia and I feel a bit sick about it. It was just...wrong the way Angel said it. It just slipped off his tongue like he had said it millions of times before. What should've been a special moment for Angel, saying (as far as I know) it out aloud for the first time that he loves Cordelia and will do absolutely anything for her turned out to be a piece of dialogue that was just taken as any normal line.

I was going into this season all for an A/C relationship, but both the premiere and this episode have had scenes that just make me think that they might be better apart. If things clear up from now I will forgive and forget as it's all just complications before they are able to get together, but it's not looking good.

Gwen:

Some may remember last week's review where I mentioned that Angel and Cordelia seem to have no chemistry. Well readers, any chemistry that Angel and Cordy seemed to lack has found its way to Angel and Gwen. Both actors played off each other really well and there was definitely nothing wrong with Angel's sudden-purge-of-passion kiss with her.

She presents an interesting character study. She's someone that has been on the outside all of her life and doesn't like being called a freak, but her dress sense and her actions show that she wants to be noticed and wants to be given attention. In the future, Angel may be able to help her get back in touch with the Earth and become a useful member of society, but whether or not she will is unclear.

To me, her character obviously seems like an omage to the character of Rogue from X-Men. The opening flashback, the gloves she wears and her life threatening powers are all things that mirror the movie. But, Gwen wins hands down over Rogue because 1. She's much cooler, 2. She has this funny smart alec comment thing going on and 3. She's much hotter than Anna Paquin will ever be. RED LEATHER!

With kick arse moves, top lines and sexiness all rolled into one, this character has gone straight to the number 1 position of my favourites list.

Fred:

Twice in a row, Amy Acker has given us another truly amazing performance. Her antics at being jealous of Angel's drawings, and her subsequent lines going off to make a plan to break into the auction house were hilarious. But what has been her greatest moment on the show to date was her break-down in front of Gunn as she told him she can't handle it anymore.

Wow, that was just beautiful. Beautiful writing by Mere and a beautiful realisation of it by Amy. She wants the whole family back desperately and even I felt myself close to tears while watching her. Amy is to be commended on a fantastic performance in this episode and I hope even more character development may continue to be revealed to us.

Top 5 Quotes:

Elliot: I thought I said discrete
Gwen: What? Do you see a nipple?

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

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

Gwen: Okay, after I kick your arse, I'm gonna ask about that

Gwen: Figures. Anyone that bad at stealing stuff has gotta be doing it for love. Bummer.

In Closing:

Unfortunately this episode was not without its faults, with Cordelia rising to the top of them (pun intended). The season premiere's ending was hilarious, but trying to pull it off a second time (with a line that wasn't as funny as well) was not a good idea.

Another problem included Gunn's death. I found myself not caring at all which was quite strange, and I was totally unspoiled about it as well. If it weren't for the later scene involving Fred and Gunn back at the hotel which made it all worthwhile I would've taken off serious points. It was done cheaply and the way he was brought back was just too convenient. (although we did get a couple of good Gwen lines out of it, which is always a good thing) Maybe because this is just the second episode of the season and I just had a general inkling in my mind that Gunn would not die because he's a regular. But it still should've given me a surprise and it didn't.

And the other thing that really concerned me was Angel's heartbeat. What happened to it? After we saw it re-start we heard nothing of it ever again. Did it stop? Is it still going? Why was it not mentioned afterwards?

And one more thing, why is no one asking about where Groo got to? As we saw it, he didn't tell anyone he was leaving and wouldn't it seem coincidental to the group that he disappeared on the same night as Cordy?

But enough of the negative, Gwen is a character that holds much potential, and I pray the writers don't let it slip through their fingers. I hope she shows up for many episodes to come, along with Lilah who continues to impress. One thing that also made me happy was the way they are fitting all the regular characters into the show. I am a bit worried; knowing from past experience with Buffy how having too many cast members prohibits their screen time and overall makes them stagnant and useless characters. I commend Mere on being able to seamlessly fit both Connor and Wesley into the episode even though they are separated from the rest of the group, but I will be watching this issue very closely.

Overall, an extremely impressive filler which was great fun and while it had it's problems, it did have Gwen so I give this episode a

9/10

with the heist, the always excellent score by Robert J. Kral, Amy Acker's performance and the truly menacing guest spot of Dinza by Rena Owen gaining the episode points as well.


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