Conversations with Dead People Gobbledygeek

What initially seemed like a pretty vague thematic grouping of episodes to discuss winds up proving to have some metaphorical meat on its bones. Returning friend Melanie Scala helps me find the significance of episodes 217, “Disharmony” and 218, “Dead End” beyond just the twin sides of the “where do we go from here” coin. In the former, a typically vacuous Harmony reconnects with Cordelia, somehow managing to conceal her newfound vampirism, and along the way maybe(?) helps the gang begin the process of figuring out what the new group dynamic will be. In the latter, Lindsey gets an evil hand and teams up with Angel to blow up the body shop, and along the way maybe(?) helps the gang continue the process of figuring out what the new group dynamic will be.
 
And then episode 219, “Belonging,” nominally just a prologue to the three episode finale arc we’re discussing next time, actually ramps up the “what IS our new dynamic” angst, and gives us our first tentative introduction to our beloved Winifred “Fred” Burkle.
 
BONUS: an inappropriately long tangent about the science of brushing your teeth. You’re welcome.
 
NEXT: the aforementioned three-episode finale arc! South-of-the-border friend and fan Johnny Ho takes a long, strange trip with me as we journey to Pylea and wrap up the season with episodes 220, “Over the Rainbow,” 221, “Through the Looking Glass,” and 222, “There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb.”
 
 
BREAKDOWN
00:00:55  -  Intro / Guest
00:09:10  -  Main Topic
01:35:20  -  Outro / Next
 
 
MUSIC
“Conversations (feat. Wesley Mead)” by Azura (2017)
“LA Song” by Christian Kane, Angel: Live Fast, Die Never (Music from the TV Series) (2005)
 

“If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.”
 
Reunited, and it feels so good. Mimesis author and Deli Counter of Justice co-creator Eric Sipple is back with me, this time discussing two of the very best episodes of the show, “Reprise” and “Epiphany.” We bid farewell, mostly fondly, to Virginia Bryce, Holland Manners, and Kate Lockley, welcome a contrite and humbled Angel back into the fold, and gush unapologetically about the beautiful thesis statement of the entire damned series!
 
Bonus: we bond over our shared love of inspirational inner arm tattoos.
 
NEXT: Melanie Scala joins me to talk about 217, “Disharmony,” 218, “Dead End,” and 219, “Belonging.”
 
 
BREAKDOWN
00:00:55  -  Intro / Guest
00:03:48  -  Main Topic
01:08:38  -  Outro / Next
 
 
LIBRARY
Mimesis by Eric Sipple
The Deli Counter of Justice by Eric Sipple, Paul Smith, and Arlo Wiley
 
 
LINKS
Eric’s website
 
 
MUSIC
“Conversations (feat. Wesley Mead)” by Azura (2017)
“Reunited” by Peaches & Herb, 2 Hot (1978)

“It’ll wash.”
 
NEXT: episodes 215, “Reprise” and 216, “Epiphany.” 
 
 
BREAKDOWN
00:00:55  -  Intro / Guest
00:04:09  -  Main Topic
01:11:11  -  Outro / Next
 
 
MUSIC
“Conversations (feat. Wesley Mead)” by Azura (2017)
“Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson, Bad (1988)

Welcome back, Dead People! [Insert excuses for another delay between episodes here] Friend and fellow genre nerd Sarah Kosheff joins me for the first time on the ‘cast, and she brought a couple of her very favorite Angel episodes with her. 210, “Reunion” shows us the aftermath of last episode’s shocking cliffhanger; the darkness that has been threatening to settle over our hero all season finally takes root; Angel makes a truly horrifying choice; and I do my very best to mire us in the ephemera of Whedonverse Vampire Cosmology. Again. Then, in 211, “Redefinition,” a line of demarcation is drawn in the status quo of the series, beginning and ending in fire; Angel smokes a cigarette; we say goodbye to Drusilla; and I question if the voice-over was really necessary.
 
And by the way, I agree with Cordy: Tequila is the REAL evil.
 
NEXT: 212, “Blood Money, 213, “Happy Anniversary,” and 214, “The Thin Dead Line.”
 
 
BREAKDOWN
00:00:55  -  Intro / Guest
00:08:50  -  Main Topic
01:29:46  -  Outro / Next
 
 
MUSIC
“Conversations (feat. Wesley Mead)” by Azura (2017)
“We Are the Champions” by Queen, News of the World (1977)

“Darla” is an absolutely brilliant directorial debut by Tim Minear, which acts as a companion piece to Buffy’s “Fool for Love,” but also stands flawlessly on its own to deepen our understanding of the Fearsome Foursome vampire coterie. “The Shroud of Rahmon” is equal parts engaging (noir homages; character death misdirects; foreshadowing Angel’s coming darkness) and forgettable (the McGuffin itself; stock, cliche goons).  And “The Trial” showcases some genuinely heartbreaking performances in the midst of one of the most shocking, jaw-dropping final scenes of the series.
 
Joining me to talk about it all, he’s flown in from England for literally every episode of this podcast since the very beginning just to read the intro, but this time I decide to let him stay on mic and chat, the voice of the “Listeners Council” himself, Wesley “Wezzo” Mead.
 
NEXT: fan and friend Sarah Kosheff makes her premiere on the podcast, discussing episodes 210, “Reunion” and 211, “Redefinition.”
 
 
BREAKDOWN
00:00:55  -  Intro / Guest
00:04:54  -  Main Topic
01:20:15 -  Outro / Next
 
 
LINKS
Wesley Mead on the Internets
 
 
MUSIC
“Conversations (feat. Wesley Mead)” by Azura (2017)
“Ill Wind (You’re Blowing Me No Good)” by Ella Fitzgerald, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Harold Arlen Songbook (1961)

Conversations with Dead People is back, and with hardly any time at all between episodes! Seriously, for all you could tell I recorded this episode the same night as our last one. Seamless!
 
Hollywood hotshot Michael Holland is here and we share a few words about the Apple TV+ series The Afterparty, which debuted recently and for which Michael served as Post-Production Supervisor, before continuing our journey through Angel Season 2. “Untouched” introduces us to writer Mere Smith, who will go on to pen some of the finest episodes of the series, and here considers sexual agency and trauma from the angle of two different Wolfram & Hart “special projects.” Then, in “Dear Boy,” the Boreanaz and Benz chemistry boils through the subterranean convent roof. And lastly, “Guise Will Be Guise” as Angel goes to therapy and Wesley bluffs his way into Virginia.
 
NEXT: our very own voice of the Watcher Council, the exceedingly British Wesley “Wezzo” Mead joins me to talk about episodes 207, “Darla,” 208, “The Shroud of Rahmon,” and 209, “The Trial.”
 
 
BREAKDOWN
00:00:55  -  Intro / Guest
00:21:41  -  Main Topic
01:33:22  -  Outro / Next
 
 
MUSIC
“Conversations (feat. Wesley Mead)” by Azura (2017)
“Everybody Have Fun Tonight” by Wang Chung, Mosaic (1986)