Now it seems abrupt.

I noticed this too. I've noticed in other series as well, and always chalk it up to watching several eps in a row on DVD rather than waiting impatiently for a week between each ep. In BtVS and AtS, it may also be because I know what's coming.

I think this impacted my enjoyment of Babylon 5 quite a bit, too, and then there was no knowing what was coming, because I didn't see any of that when it aired.

I've noticed a similar effect when I've glommed a whole bunch of the same author's books in a short period - you start noticing tropes and themes and even word choice in a way that becomes really distracting. That happened to me with Jennifer Cruisie and it made things feel more formulaic than was probably the case.

Yes, I've noticed it with books too. I've had to stop reading works by certain authors that I adore, for this reason: Piers Anthony, Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey come to mind.

pop tarts:

I've been rewatching AtS S3. Just got to The Price.

I can't believe I never before figured out that when Cordy went all glowy at the end, long (well, awhile) before she ever became St. Cordy, was when The Destroyer came into the world. I've watched the whole run about 3-4 times, maybe more.

I am so incredibly dense.

I am denser, because I'm not sure what you're getting at.

Weirdly enough, I was just thinking of "The Price" an hour ago while watching The 4400. I forget what triggered it, but I thought of that great "Hi, Dad" cliffhanger. And then I wondered how Connor could have possibly recognized Angel.

I like it, but I don't think it works. The sluks say that they came into this dimension because they were running away from the Destroyer, and that it's coming after Angel. And Connor talks about chasing them later on.

And then I wondered how Connor could have possibly recognized Angel.

You don't think Holtz described him in great detail over the years?

And then I wondered how Connor could have possibly recognized Angel.

I don't think he did recognize him, per se, but that Holtz had let him know what to expect. He was probably able to sense that he was a vampire, or maybe just assumed the big one in front was him. Or, what Strega said better in fewer words in xpost.

I'm not sure what you're getting at.

I probably didn't explain it well. We know that at some point, Cordy was taken over by the demon that was and gave birth to Jasmine. I had never figured out at what point that happened.

Near the end of The Price, the weird clear shrimplike things (although, they're kind of big, so maybe I should say prawnlike) that had indicated that they were afraid of The Destroyer. Or, anyway, I think that's what they called it, but in any case something like that. The, Cordy goes all glowy and and the prawnlike things all die.

It just this evening dawned on me that this is the point that Cordy was taken over. This makes some of the things she says when she comes back in You're Welcome make more sense, and it also makes me not hate St. Cordy quite as much, because St. Cordy isn't really Cordy at all. Of course, it's certainly possible that I missed something else and got this all wrong, but I'm pretty tickled at this point.

I always assumed Cordy was taken over when Skip demonized her.

At first I assumed it was when she ascended. Then I assumed it was when Skip demonized her. But I think this makes more sense. First, the demonization was her choice, when in You're Welcome her comments make it sound like it wasn't. Then, I don't think it was until about this point that she really started acting like not!Cordy. She could have been taken over at the ascencion. That might work even better, except if she was taken over at The Price, then St. Cordy was not!Cordy, which makes me all sorts of happy.

You don't think Holtz described him in great detail over the years?

I wonder what he said. Hee. I don't know how quickly I could recognize someone just based on physical descriptions. Did Connor expect to run into Angel after punching a hole through dimensions?

Eh. Television.