Second, he killed a good guy! A complete innocent! (Okay, possibly not innocent, but not deserving of death at the moment.) Um, repercussions? Or at least recognition? The hell?

Yeah, I don't know what's up with that, and I think it's unlikely it'll be covered next week (unless Drogyn's alive or is revealed to have agreed to act as a sacrifice).

Doesn't Shanshu mean some sort of combo of living and dying, which the MoG simply assumed meant "becoming mortal/human?"

As I recall, Wesley said the word can mean either "live" or "die" depending on the context surrounding it. I'd have to check my DVDs.

I thought the X-Box/Playstation thing wasn't even a nitpick ... didn't someone say there were cross-platform versions?

Me, over here. *wave* I linked to the Amazon page for X-Box Crash Bandicoot at the start of this thread.

Random and possibly repetitive continuity porn notes

• The biggie is the kiss, obviously: brings in Cordelia, brings in Doyle, brings in dying a hero and passing the mission on. Brings in death as victory and not defeat.

I've always thought that Angel could work as a tragedy, as long as it was a heroic tragedy and not a nihilistic one, although I'm still not sure if that's how they're going.

• If you slo-mo Angel's vision, you see the bloodied corpses of Evil Pricks (TM KristinT) flung around in a circle, blood smeared on the wall, which reminded me both of the cellar post-Dru-and-Darla snackage and of the Beast constructing a beacon to destroy W&H and call down Jasmine. (Is it possible Angel's trap is only him trapping himself, creating Armaggedon by making the first blow? That is, the Beast did destroy W&H--only to usher in something worse. And W&H didn't even stay down that long.)

• The bronze masks the Evil Pricks wore were like the bronze mask on Voca's face in "To Shanshu in LA," the episode where W&H set the season-spanning Angel-entrapment arc in motion. (And by extension Voca now is associated with Jasmine, because Angel tore off his mask to show a decaying maggot face like Jasmine's true face.)

• The "Collect the whole set of S5 villains!" theme of the Prick Party.

• "Power Play" opens with flashback of Angel biting someone, like "Shroud of Rahman." In "Shroud," Angel was also faking his own fall to the dark side as a ploy to save someone/do good.

• Angel in bed in the sunlight, with a girl on his side, is like "Soul Purpose"; Fred peered in his chest with a stethoscope to find nothing but oddities there, and Nina pecks at his heart with questions, and finds determinations, darknesses, plans.

• Angel on humans as ants is like Illyria in "Shells," and Wes talking to Illyria in "Shells." (And Illyria on the game is a reprise of Angel's epiphany in "Epiphany." Only less goofy and more glum.)

• Angel talking about "setting the course" is a reminder of Lawson. (In the episode where Illyria discovers why we fight, where Angel reminds the rest of them of the same.)

• The circular staging of a lot of the confrontation scenes was an echo of "A Hole in the World," only Knox's presence as a secret enemy has turned into Angel's presence as a secret ally.

• Angel shutting the doors in Wes' face (and apparently in the face of his humanity) echoes Angel shutting the doors on Holland's wine cellar in "Reunion."

• Wes with his memories back faces Angel's possible betrayal with the determination to get the hero Angel back, the way he responded to Lilah's death apparently at Angelus' hands by going for Faith. Rescue, not revenge.

I was so happy to see broken Wes determined on mercy and not justice. Because it's mercy he needs.

What Plei and Victor said -- they're the Freemasons of the Simpsonsverse.

It's just a minor nitpick - much like the Italian from last week.

I don't consider the Italian grammatical errors a nitpick, considering that the characters were supposed to be native Italians, in Italy.

Surely the fact that we know that Spike and Angel were intimate one time is even more interesting in light of their not being intimate with both Dru and Darla concurrently.

Okay, there's no real through line there, but I really enjoyed typing it out.

Doesn't Shanshu mean some sort of combo of living and dying, which the MoG simply assumed meant "becoming mortal/human?"

The word Shanshu means death, but the culture behind the language view life and death as the same thing, so Wesley's supposition is that Angel both lives and dies: that is, becomes human until he dies properly. Which, frankly, is a neat interpretation, but it could mean something else entirely.

And chiming in with the "Oh my God! He killed Drogyn! That bastard!"

ETA: Cool post, Micole!

Final interpretation of the Shashu prophecy (from the shooting script--I don't have quick/easy access to a transcript, and the lines in shooting scripts can vary from what is aired)

WESLEY: Ooops.

They look at him.

WESLEY (cont'd): I may have made a tiny mistake... (to Angel) ...that word shanshu, that I said meant you were going to die... actually I think it means you're going to live.

CORDELIA: Okay, as tiny mistakes go, that's not one!

WESLEY: Shanshu has roots in so many different languages, and there's no precise word for it in English -- but the most ancient source is the Proto-Bantu, and they consider life and death the same thing. Part of a cycle. (looks up) Only a thing that is not alive never dies.

Wesley looks back to the Scroll, getting excited.

WESLEY (cont'd): It's saying you get to live until you die... (looks up at Angel) ...it's saying you become human.

CORDELIA: That's the Prophecy?

WESLEY: (re: scroll) ...the vampire with a soul, once he fulfills his destiny, will Shanshu...become human. It's his reward.

CORDELIA: Wow... Angel, human.

PUSHING IN ON ANGEL, smiling distantly.

ANGEL: That'd be nice.

A beat as they all take this in. She turns to Wes.

CORDELIA: What's that thing about him having to fulfill his destiny first?

WESLEY: Well... it means it won't happen tomorrow or the next day... he has to survive the coming darkness, the apocalyptic battles, a few plagues and some...several...not that many fiends that will be unleashed upon the world.

Maybe Drogyn's only mostly dead.

Oh, and I forgot:

Angel/Spike! Angel/Spike in canon! woooot!

Hee.

Well... it means it won't happen tomorrow or the next day... he has to survive the coming darkness...

Like blocking out the sun last year.

...the apocalyptic battles...

Plenty of those. This year and last year, certainly.

...a few plagues

Your definition of "plague" may vary, but one could argue that he's survived a kind of plague, like the Jasmine-love infection. And prevented a plague when he didn't remove Illyria and allow her to spread through the masses.

and some...several...not that many fiends that will be unleashed upon the world.

Every week.