Well. That was fun. Not all that much more to say, though. Except for the several rude gestures I made at the screen as the promo for next week rhapsodized about Angel and Cordelia's Destined Love...

Amen. “Theirs was a love of destiny.” Destined to suck.

And the map people should be put in a cell next to the promo people. As we all well know, the Tropicana is on The Strip, and Fremont Street is... not.

Aw, crap, Cordelia’s back. At least her memory’s shot, so perhaps she doesn’t know who she’d become. They can sit her down and repeat, “You’re a shallow bitch with long dark hair. You’re a shallow bitch with long dark hair…”

In spite of Cordeewya of the Destined Wub, I liked this episode a lot. It was fun and fresh and distinctive. Dumb Angel was funny. “I put a quarter in the slot, and I pulled that little lever.” And smart Angel (I don't use quote marks out of years of love) wasn't too shabby either: “This place was a lot friendlier when the mob ran it.”

Lilah and Wesley are so Mary Matalin and James Carville.

However, I think they’ve gone a bit over the top with Wesley. “Go!” and “Pryce here!” made me suddenly dislike him. He’s Wesley… he always says all three names. Walk a fine line, folks. He can be tough, but a tough wuss.

I loved it when Fred’s scream startled Gunn and Angel. Cute on all three sides. And Gunn sure was sexy when he clocked that guard. Guy can fake a punch.

Dude, taking Angel’s future away from him would probably be doing him a service… if his future is anything like his past.

I enjoyed this as well, though the inaccuracy of Vegas layout was blatant. I assume that's because the place they could reserve for interior filming was a more hungry, non-major casino, and there are tons of those on Fremont Street.

Lorne's show was awful- the green number was boring, and "Lady Marmalade" lacked the requisite kitsch that the song is able of bearing. I get that Lorne didn't sing with all-out devotion because of the blackmail thing, but I think they could have made that more obvious by making the dancers really into it.

I laughed quite a bit during the first half, but I can't remember the jokes now. I think I'll rewatch the whole thing, and I haven't done that yet this year.

Did Angel get to keep any of the 300K that he supposedly won on a fluke? Why would they leave without the $? They need that money if they're gonna compete with the Price agency.

Speaking of, Yum, with a side of Rowr! The idea of Lilah being so into Wesley that she'd de-panty during a meeting after she just became the boss is really fun.

I have a theory as to why Cordy is back, with no memory: the PTB threw her out on her ass for affecting change in order to help an earth-bound friend, and for trying to send messages of distress, and they can't have a human remembering all the stuff she learned while up there.

Oh, yes, I remember an exchange that made me chuckle (heavily paraphrased):
Angel: I know you're watching me.
Cordy: You do? Help! Angel, I knew you could hear me!
Fred: We're not spying, just concerned.
Cordy: Oh, crap.

Lilah took off her underwear? I thought she took off her shoes. But I guess there's no way to know.

I'm sure at this point that Lilah is really getting attached to him and is going to be crushed when things go bad. She's always been so needy... I doubt he's emotionally involved. It's more of a self-flagellation on his part. He's like Faith, only instead of crying in the rain, he's thinking, "I'm bad! I'm sleeping with an evil woman, and we're having evil sex, with evil condoms!"

I thought the "pair" meant undies, and you thought shoes. Uh-oh. I'm not sure what that says about either of us. :-D

Are they evil vampire condoms?

I liked this a lot. But I do think anyone but Fred would have twigged to the weirdness in Lorne's phone manner. Good characterization I guess, but bad Fred! And I like Fred.

A good fun-not-wacky episode. But what did Angel intend to accomplish in Vegas?

I think he just wanted to relax and get away. It's kind of sad - and funny - that the one time he actually wants to be human and have some fun, none of his friends believe him.

I think that was sort of what was going on with his comment, "I had a life before you guys, you know." I think they ignore the fact that this is a guy who's seen and done a lot... in between re- and de-soulings and killing and twitching, he's hung out with Baudelaire and the Rat Pack, he's gone shopping for clothes that make him look like James Dean, he's traveled...

Definitely underwear. I mean, unless Wesley has a big time foot fetish that we don't know about, what would be the point of "take off your shoes?"

Well, that was it. I thought he might have a shoe thing, and shoes are often a big part of S&M scenarios. He's cribbing from The Story of O at this point.

Funny, and I thought it was earrings.

Just kidding.

I liked the episode. Still hate Fred and I really don't think showgirl is a good look for her. It was sort of a silly episode but everything moved along relatively quickly and had purpose. Nothing to complain about there. And I like the idea of Cordelia being amnesiac. The less we have to hear about the shiny path to heaven, the better.

I do wish that Cordelia has emoted a little, as a person in starnge surroundings, with people she didn't know. Wouldn't she have been at least a little bit freaked out?

I have to wonder whether the directors are even paying attention to the motivation of the characters, or if they are just trusting the actors to do that.

Also, maybe she'll have forgotten all the sickening verbal mannerisms she's picked up since this series started. "Mr. Broody Pants"... "the ass is weirder than you think"...

I thought it was nice that Gunn made a reference to last year's trip to Tibet, since the punchline to that trip was, "I should have just gone to Vegas."

I was wondering about the geography of it all. I was only in Vegas that one time, but that didn't seem right to me. I'm taking the whole Fremont Street scene as a personal shout out, though. It was on my list of things I wanted to do during VegasCon, but it we kept missing it.

I fully expect that the latest billboards say, "Even vampires are dying to see Danny Ganz!"

I really liked Fred in this one. Maybe it was all of the ringlets and ruffles, but she looked less gaunt than usual.

I'm really hoping that one of the things that Cordelia forgot was her reasons for ever dyeing her hair. And maybe she'll forget why she convinced herself that she loved Angel, too. Say, without the memory of their terrible kiss, maybe Cordy and Wesley could get together. But only if she makes a return to old-style Cordelia.

I know we didn't really "do" Fremont Street but wasn't that where we saw the amazing Johnathan?

Yeah, but we missed the big music/flashing lights thing. Boliver and I stepped out into the last one of the night very briefly while we were looking for ejg. You were busy getting picked up by U2 fans, I believe. ;-)

I thought this was a solid episode. Nothing spectacular, but then filler is only supposed to be fun and this episode delivered well enough.

I was so afraid that a trip to Vegas would bring back dorky Angel, bounding all over the place and excitedly playing every slot machine, grinning like an idiot, but maybe there's a higher being protecting *me* because the writers seem to have finally dropped that.

I didn't mind the rat pack references in the continuity sense, but I still prefer the old quiet pop-culturally retarted Angel who would have in no way realized that meeting those people was a big deal. Less boasting and name dropping more nonchalant and disinterested while Gunn and Fred's jaws drop. Still, it didn't make me crazy. If DB could scale his performance back one, maybe two notches, we'd really be in business.

Blank Destinyless Angel cracked me the hell up. And I was actually struck by how nuanced his performance was. Like, ok, many of us joke about how blank his expression *always* is, but I really did see a difference between his usual stoic broody gaze and the completely empty stare he had here. I think I even saw it subtly change in that moment just before he vamped out.

Only major gripe- Cary's performances went on waaay too long, and there really should only have been one. Also, I thought he sounded really bad.

Wes and Lilah. Phone sex didn't bother me in the "yuck" sense because again, I didn't find it very in your face. And I saw it as another indication that they're becoming more intimate and playful than cold and manipulative. Trouble brews there, but it better brew quickly because it's going to get old fast if it doesn't go anywhere soon.

I don't find this Wes unbelievable, but I am starting to miss the old Wesley as the last vestiges drain away. I wouldn't want him to revert or anything, but eventually a decent balance would be nice. Also, I want him to start wearing his glasses again, at least occasionally. Beacause I like 'em.

I agree, there. I think that this current persona is not the real Wesley... it's the old Wesley, grown (we hope temporarily) hard out of necessity. The old geekiness and sensitivity feed into what we're seeing now... he loves Angel so much and Angel is so important to him that the abandonment drove him to this. He's so hurt that he's shut them all out for self-protection. Wesley was always more capable and more intelligent than the Angel gang knew, but because he's very reserved and adult about his relationships, he (rarely) felt the need to flaunt that stuff.

What I'd like to see is the old Wesley reemerge, a little battle-scarred and more wary but back to his old sweet self. I tend to think that the reason Wesley's voice sounded so off when he was yelling over the machinery in that episode was not only that Denisof had trouble maintaining an accent while yelling, but that Wesley doesn't yell. The soft-spokenness is an essential and reflective part of his personality. So I'd hate it if the writers suggested that this new curt guy was the real Wesley all along, or if he stayed that way. And I saw worrisome hints in this episode that they might take him too far.

Mmkay, I trust SNeaker in all things canon, but I guess I've swallowed the revamping wholesale. When was Angel pop-culturally retarded?

From Eternity:

Rebecca to Angel: “Excuse me – are you alright?”
Cordy: “Oh, he’s fine. It was such an honor to save your life, Ms. Lowell.”
Rebecca: “Thank you. (To Angel) I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
Cordy: “Cordelia Chase. I’m so glad you weren’t – oh. (motions towards Angel) He doesn’t eve know who you are.”
Rebecca to Angel: “You don’t know me?”
Oliver: “Sure he doesn’t. I’m sure he’ll accept a small reward anyway. (Pulls out his wallet)”
Angel: “No thanks.”
Oliver: “We’re not gonna be held up here.”
Rebecca: “Oliver, down. He doesn’t know who I am.”
Cordy: “He’s culturally retarded that way.”

On the other hand, he has made pop-culture references before (and when I say "before" I mean before his dorkification in Epiphany) so maybe what I mean is...less retardation, more disinterest. I used to really believe in Angel as someone who was a very old soul, and the fact that someone who's lived for so long wouldn't waste time obsessing over celebrities made sense to me. Like, "They all come and go, why waste time obsessing over them." You know?

It may just mean that, because he's an old dude, he's never taken to television and movies. He likes to read and paint... and listen to music, probably. So I'd say that he has contemporary knowledge, but it's patchy and irregular. Basically, after 200 years, you only occupy yourself with what you're really interested in (heck, I do this after 31 years), and let the rest of the flotsam float over you. It'd be hard to pay attention to every star, work, and title for eternity.

Angel does know Chow Yun Fat, but I assume that's because he watches martial arts movies for inspiration on his own technique.

I just figure there's a difference between not knowing Frank Sinatra and not knowing [fill in TV starlet here]. That was superficial actress!Cordy speaking (I miss her too!), and her word on celebrity is not law.

Well, I concur with the consensus. That was really fun and I didn't expect (from the promo) to like it!

Despite the hilarious 'Green Velvet Fog' tag, Lorne's act was awful and I am happy to accept the fanwank that he wasn't giving it his all. I wonder what he'll do now back in LA. He was otherwise great in this episode, though, as was Gunn, finally back to his real cool self - and all take-chargey, thus making a mockery of Fred's witterings from the previous. Or was it meant to be him making more of an effort because of what she'd said?

Chef-girl Vivienne looked very familiar, as did Di Marco's handsome henchman who got shot. I just generally thought the idea of futures trading was neat and I liked how it tied in with Angel's general 'what do I do with myself now?' feeling, since the two people he started off with (never mind Doyle) have now gone, the business has gone belly-up, the Darla thing's over, the Connor thing, while not over, is temporarily out of his hands, Cordy apparently was doing fine: so what's his mission again?

Speaking of Cordelia, I'm glad she's back simply because those scenes of her talking to herself were clunky. What on earth was she doing up there? Was there no one else with her, fellow Higher Beings?

Wesley. Oh my. Aw Eej, you really thought it was her shoes? That is so sweet! I like to think that he is acting a development of the Rogue Demon Hunter persona, a hardened, tough-guy act that he perceives as being the way he 'should' be, perhaps the way his father encouraged him to be? So it's almost a self-conscious veneer he's putting on, but it's still coming from himself.

As for the Angel references, I'm undecided. I'm glad that they emphasised that he wasn't really a part of these groups - that he was basically a hanger-on or just ran into Elvis & co - because that's better than him really being a big shot Zelig. But I certainly preferred the time when he said he knew ... um, whatever famous painter it was that time in the museum.

I probably am a naive rube. Or maybe I think of underwear as singular. It's all about the tense agreement.

I think that all of Andy Hallet's singing this season has been weak. I'm not sure why.