I hope Superhero Girl did not see this episode.

And I hope she doesn't read this review.


[Begin Spoiler for "Smile Time" — Highlight to view]

So that was the puppet episode, huh? I should mention that despite my best efforts, there are several things for which I could not help but be spoiled. That this episode was about puppets was one of those things. That Cordy died without ever waking up was another. (I was pleasantly surprised to not have all the information on that one.) I was spoiled mainly through a profile picture on the board (tigger is the person's name?), and that picture contained a puppet Angel and a puppet Spike. So for this whole episode, I was waiting for Spike to get puppetized, and was confused when that didn't happen. Maybe it's an extra on the DVD. I COULD GO WATCH THE DVDs AND CHECK. [/subtle]

Yeah, so, as a rule, I don't find puppets intrinsically hilarious. By which I mean, I'm not entertained merely because there are puppets. You can blame a childhood orchestrated by Jim Henson. I'm cool with puppets being part of a story. So, I can't react with, "Heee! IT'S PUPPETS!" Or, "Angel is a puppet! Heeeeee!!!" Or, "They're fighting! And it's hilarious because they are puppets!!" ... I'm not that easy.

Moreover, I was really distracted by the Puppet Angel, because ... why is his puppet face so messed up? Seriously. Does his real face look like that? I mean, I get that they have him all frowning and brooding, and the prominent brows made me snort, but what's up with his mouth? Why is it all deformed and over to one side? It was really weird to look at. Also, I noticed after the attack that part of his eyebrow is still missing. I wonder if it will still be missing in the next episode. That would be neat. But also weird, since I bet that's probably a gang signal in Los Angeles.

However, I will give this episode many points for having the puppets be SO FREAKING CREEPY. I mean, you know, creepy and scary. Because the puppet ... getting off on the child energy? DISTURBING. So disturbing. And using David Fury as a puppet and laughing at him as he begged for death. DISTURBING. And yet very awesome. Another great moment was when Angel was walking around the studio and in the back very fuzzy you could see one of the camera operators just standing there. It was cool, but made Angel look highly unobservant that he didn't notice her.

I noticed that they used the same girl who played Anya's daughter in Hells Bells. They must really like her. Is she someone's kid?

The wolf chick: Okay. That's random. And it's a weird thing to just thrust at the viewers. "Hey Angel, you should casually date this girl! She's totally your type!" And she's been making moon eyes at him, eh? Perhaps it would have been nice to see her in at least one other episode prior to this, then. You know, for the sake of actually trying to build that story. I guess there wasn't enough time to do that and have the characters sit around uselessly and repeat exposition for the millionth time.

So, I guess they solved Gunn's problem? And ... it made no sense? Why did the doctor think it was impossible that Gunn's implant could be fading, if he then later admitted that he'd only given him a non-permanent one, and that there was a permanent type available? Lame. Also, it's interesting that a few episodes back, Gunn was chastising himself for not hitting stuff like he used to, yet as soon as his lawyer skillz start to go, he "can't go back to that." Either Gunn is a complex man, or the writers are confusing themselves.

Fred and Wesley. Well it's about freaking time! Seriously! I approve.

Also, David Fury sold his soul to some devils, but didn't read the fine print, and now he's being used as a puppet-figurehead, eh? I wonder if that has any parallels to the overall arc of this season! Seriously, are they just finding different ways in each episode of saying the exact same thing?

Other than that ... I felt like this episode left a lot of things not wrapped up. I almost wondered if TNT cut things out. I COULD GO WATCH THE DVDs AND CHECK. [/subtle] But ... why did Angel become a puppet? I mean, besides the fact that they wanted to make Angel a puppet. The big smiley ball is ... for what? Black market youthful energy? That made no sense. It made no sense that Angel became a puppet. Or that it will take days to turn him back. And how did all the workers become zombies? Who was that guy under the big smiley ball? David Fury? Why were they keeping him in there? What happened to all the people? And ... the demon puppets just die when you rip them apart? That's it? It's over? And where did Spike go in this episode?

Oh, speaking of which. Spike got his ass kicked by a puppet. That's just sad, man. Once you get your ass kicked by a puppet, you have hit a new low.

[End Spoiler]