Man, am I ever confused.

So, I watched this episode late last night again (my last opportunity), and now here it is 4:30 the next day and I'm still stumbling over a review. I had planned to watch it again before attempting, but, man, screw that. I read over the review thread for "Origin" and then I started thinking all these complex thoughts, and ... now I'm tired. There are so many things that sound good in my head but will never be heard by others because I exhaust myself of the subject before writing anything down.

It's not always about Jesus. Hee!

Anyway.

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

Well, I'll tell you what. I was greatly entertained by this episode. I really don't know what the hell was going on for most of it, but I was entertained. I still haven't really sorted it out. But you know how sometimes, when you watch something sci-fi (strike one - Angel should not do sci-fi), and stuff will happen that you don't really understand, but you don't really feel all that compelled to figure it out, either, because you realize it's just a bunch of nonsense flung together for the sake of convenience, and trying to make sense of it really isn't going to help anything?

This whole episode was like that. I just sort of put my hands up and said, "Okay! Whatever!" Because, as stated, I was entertained. And why mess with that?

Although, for a moment, I really did wonder if they were going to kill off almost all the main characters mere episodes before the end of the series. (Oh my God! Only three more episodes!) Would they do that?! Well, no. Obviously. But for a few seconds I thought they might, and I was really excited and intrigued about how that would work.

But all the superfluous stuff was good! Lorne saying, "And yet, I still like him better than Eve." Oh, Lorne. Yes. I love you. I know people keep calling Adam Baldwin "Jayne," but I've never seen Firefly, so I just can't get on that wagon. For me, he'll always be Animal Mother. But, whatever, because he's awesome. But he makes me sad. Because why did they have to have Eve for most of the season? So she could have sex with Lindsey? Woe betide! Having Adam Baldwin in this role just makes me realize how nice it is to watch actors who are really good.

On the flip side, Jaime Bergman. Oh, man. Oh man. I've never seen her in anything prior to this. I just ... Okay, listen. Menfolk. Let's say there's a special lady in your life. She agrees to marry you and maybe even secure your genetic immortality by giving you some offspring. You may feel like you owe this woman a great deal. And you do. However, this does not make it okay to allow her to do a job for which she is clearly unqualified, especially when doing so puts others in danger. In danger of the pain like the pain I had to endure watching this woman on screen. Oh, ladies, same sentiment, genders reversed.

Seriously, the chick makes Sarah Thompson look like Judi fucking Dench. I wonder how many desks Boreanaz had to kneel under to get this to happen.

Moving on. I love the way Gunn's story is being handled. Really. This is the one thing that they have been completely solid on this season. Especially, I like the fact that it actually keeps *moving forward* instead of just getting arbitrarily "resolved" in some episode. Like, they keep having all these issues brought up, and they then do nothing with it, and then some amount of episodes later, boop!, it's *resolved*. And then in the next episode everyone just goes about their business. Because that issue has been *resolved*. But this isn't like that. It keeps growing and changing, and *evolving*, which is so much better. Now that's how you tell a story.

So, Illyria rescued Gunn. So his story kept up the perfectly appropriate pace and Gunn continues to evolve. Furthermore, we deal with the whole Illyria situation head on, which I liked because it made her interesting again. I liked all her thoughts on "winning." Hmm. Her ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to her newsletter. There were some quotes I really liked in this episode, but I'm too lazy to go check to see what they were. Maybe next time I'll take notes. Anyway, they addressed the fact that she's been hanging oddly around Wesley, which is good, because I was wondering about that. They both showed her to be a threat and kept her manageable, which is good. They figured out a way for her to be useful in a way that makes sense and is intriguing.

Which leads to the end with Angel and Gunn. I am intrigued! So, Angel thinks they have an ace in the hole against the Senior Partners (Illyria), and so is willing to lose this one person to evil in order to ... keep things calm until they make their big move? Maintain the element of surprise? At any rate, he's willing and eager to make a deal/trade in order to achieve the ultimate win. And Gunn's position is so totally different. He knows that deals/trades are not good things to make, and I especially liked his line, "She is our next move!" Who's right? I'm betting it's Gunn, especially since it really seems like Angel isn't at all sure of what he's doing.

But a final note - what with Wesley going all Gollum in his office? It's fucking CREEPY.

[End Spoiler]