4x03 "The House Always Wins"
Reviewed by Matthew Bon | Rating: 7/10

VEGAS OR BUST - Tired of dealing with Connor (Vincent Kartheiser) and looking for Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), Angel (David Boreanaz) decides to take Gunn (J. August Richards) and Fred (Amy Acker) on a road trip to Vegas to visit Lorne (Andy Hallet) who is performing in a showcase at one of the casinos. They discover that Lorne is being coerced by the casino owner into stealing the "significant destinies" of audience members to sell on the black market. When the casino owner learns that Angel is destined to play a major role in the apocalypse, Cordelia must come to his aid from a distance to prevent his future from being stolen. Alexis Denisof and Vincent Kartheiser also star. Marita Grabiak directed the episode written by David Fury.

Overview:

David Fury has been a wonder for Angel over the last couple years. Even though he has only written one episode per season they have all been up there as the top episodes of the season. Unfortunately, while 'The House Always Wins' was a good episode, it lacked the certain power and finesse that his previous attempts have had.

Marita Grabiak though gave her all with this episode and did her best with what was there to work with. Lorne's stage show was somewhat of a highlight and Fred dressing up at Lornette was a brilliant move. The small moments of Connor & Wesley were enough to keep me entertained, although I think that Wesley is now taking his affair with Lilah a little bit too far. Phone sex? Now people, I think we have to draw a line somewhere.

Lorne:

Lorne once again one of the highlights of the episode and he kept me puzzled as to why he was ignoring the gang the way he was. I thought for a moment there that stardom had really gotten to him and that he had turned against all that had helped him to get where he was. My sigh of relief was very loud as I saw the bars close across his room, although that was quickly followed by a streak of anger at DeMarco. Lorne was really able kept my emotions churning, and also kept me bopping along to his talented musical acts.

And thank god we finally found out what fluffy meant.

One thing that Andy Hallet can do well is act, and he did so brilliantly in this episode. I could feel his pain, he wasn't his usual happy self and it really got to me the way he was forced into telling DeMarco people's futures after seeing someone's brains blown out in front of him. We've never really seen Lorne before unhappy, even his stint in Pylea was more focused on the comedy side of his acting abilities - whereas this for the first time was very dramatic. I'm sure Andy was very happy to be able to show the viewers his skills.

And swear I can still hear people rejoicing to the heavens now that it looks like Lorne will be back in the show on a regular basis.

Gunn:

Just wanted to say about Gunn that I thought his attack at Lorne for selling out Angel was totally justified. Gunn was there and saw the way Lorne treated them when he came off the stage after his performance and that couldn't have been a event that planted positive seeds in his mind. It seems that Gunn may just be beginning to trust Angel a little more after the events of 'That Old Gang Of Mine' of last season and has taken on a protector role of both Angel and Fred as he hasn't really shaken of his "Alpha Male" role that was bestowed on him during Angel's disappearance.

Fred:

Once again the best character of the episode, giving us some well deserved humour. Her depiction of a Lornette was hilarious, will not be forgotten, and will be treasured forever.

Cordelia:

Cordy's back! Let's celebrate, then stop and ask...why? Was she sent back to Earth as punishment for using her powers wrongly and altering the course of the future? (or was it in fact destined from the beginning that Cordy would use her powers, but then why would TPB banish her if they knew it was going to happen? But maybe the TPB knew that and knew that would get rid of her from day one, even before they chose her to become a higher being. But then what's the point of picking her up in the first place? God, this gets complicated eh?)

Hopefully this whole amnesia thing will be interesting as it's failed dreadfully in the past in other shows. But hey, this is Angel! (and the other amnesia shows have mostly been soaps, and hey, what can we say about their class?) It's also quite funny why this has happened now, as a lot of people didn't like Cordy's characterization in the later end of last season and the direction they were taking her. Is this just a quick way to bring back the bitch? It's a smart move by the writers, and I can't wait to see how it all pans out. Will she still be half demon? Will she still have visions?

It poses many questions, and I can't wait for next week to give me some answers.

Top 5 Quotes:

Cordy: (Realising Angel wasn't actually talking to her) Oh for crap's sake

Fred: (Screaming at Lorne jumping off stage, then becoming very embarrassed) He's very good

Gunn: Something's starting to feel a lot not right about this
Fred: That's what I've been saying! Only with better grammer
Fred: Oh my God, it was horrible. He attacked me with these, um, laser beams that -that shot out of his horns and he escaped. He's gone!
Guard: There's no other way out.
Fred: Right! No! Cause-cause, he went through some sort of...of... demon metamorphoses thing.. and-and he spit out his entire skeleton like-like-like, Blahhhhaaaaa. Like that, and-and then he-he just slithered away, down the drain, in the sink, in the bathroom. Hurry!
Lorne: This is Vegas sunshine. Generally speaking, you lose here, you don't get it back

In Closing:

Having heard some of the negative feedback about this episode I sat there watching it trying to find a reason why I should not like it, and the reason stood out loud and clear. The basic plot line!

I must admit this episode was kind of a let down as the opportunity to go to Vegas should've been something to celebrate and make a huge event. I think people's expectations were too high for this episode and it's unfortunate that they weren't able to enjoy it as much as they should've been able too, but that's also the fault of the makers. There was much more that could've been done with this episode and the direction they chose, while good, was a little bit on the unrealistic side. The stealing of destinies was a good idea, but I'm sure they could've been a better way to pull it off than a corny 'Million-Dollar-Spin-To-Win' thing. LAME!

Also, there was much more that could have been done with Angel's destiny in the bad guy's hands. Hello! This is the greatest champion on Earth fighting for the PTB, who has a huge role in the impending apocalypse and they just toss it out with a few lines of dialogue? They needed to get some buyers in on the action, ideally Wolfram & Hart.

Although the robbing of destinies DID create a nice ironic link with Angel since he didn't have Cordelia, and was is in fact destiny-less already.

It was interesting to note how Wesley is stealing away Angel's clients and potential money that the gang desperately needs (Although they might be safe for a while if they got to take home all the money and both Angel & Fred made at the casino) to escape their eviction pressures. Angel is without his link to the powers, he's got nothing to fight and he's lost the mission. I like it that way at the moment as it does create interesting stories, but we eventually have to get back to the essence of the series. Even though Angel was technically helping the helpless in this episode, he was doing in a proxy sense so that doesn't count.

I also thought Martia did a fabulous job with the chase scenes through the casino and the streets of Vegas. Even I felt very disoriented just watching them trying to escape from the security guards and then what fun to see Lorne's singing skills getting them out of trouble once again. I never get tired of seeing that.

While that lame plot was really...lame, all other aspects of the episode were very good and it just makes you wonder how brilliant this episode could've been if it weren't for such a weak basis for it all. The more I think about it, the lamer it gets, so I better hurry up and finish this review before it ends up with a rating of 0.

But looking back, this was a fairly solid filler that achieved what it set out to do, and that was bring Lorne back to L.A. (hopefully in a regular role) and bring Cordelia back down to this plane of existence.

With some entertaining music, a truly hilarious performance by Amy Acker, great fight scenes with all of the gang contributing (nice punch Fred!) and a truly shocking surprise setting up next week, this was a good episode, but the really lame (I need to fine a better word than that, but it really does sum it up nicely) plot that drove the whole episode forward forced everything down a couple of levels. I give this episode a

7/10

knowing the writers could've done a much better job with our main plot device. This season, though, is off to an amazingly strong start, its better than I could have ever hoped and I eagerly anticipate next week's episode and hope that if there is a new characterization for Cordy, it's one that we all will love.


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