"Shiny Happy People"

Written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain
Directed by Marita Grabiak


In which Jasmine, Cordelia’s child, reveals herself to the world, and everyone who sees her kneels in admiration...until something happens that changes Fred’s perspective...

Synopsis - Analysis - Memorable Quotes - Observations


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Synopsis

As the episode begins, Cordy’s child is fully grown, and simply exudes happiness and love. She thanks Cordy for keeping her safe and bringing her into the world, while trying to calm Angel and Connor, who feel unworthy of her presence. Angel offers his life for daring to attempt taking her life, but she disappears without harming him.

Back at the hotel, Fred tries to clean up the office while Wesley and Gunn dismember Skip in the basement. Fred laments that Cordelia has to die to stop the Beastmaster, and worries about whether Angel arrived in time. Lorne has trouble keeping up with the paranoid mood swings.

Then Connor walks in the door, and Fred decides to greet him with a knife in her hand. But Connor acts as though nothing is wrong. He’s just there to put away his weapons. Angel walks in with a comatose Cordelia, grinning from ear to ear. When the others ask if he killed the Beastmaster, Angel dodges the question, unable to admit what he tried to do.

Angel and Connor insist on finding Cordy’s child, but not to kill it. They want to worship her. The others catch on to the fact that something is very wrong, and Wesley tries to remind Angel of what happened in recent weeks. But then Cordy’s child appears, and everyone kneels like they just drank the magic Kool-Aid.

Cordy’s child offers to help them get past their struggles and pain. She tells them that Cordelia has been graced with a gift of eternal bliss. She tells them that she was on Earth before, prior to the coming of Man. A great power existed then, the seeds of what would become Good and Evil. But Evil became stronger, so demons were born. The Good left, but never stopped watching over the world. So when Man emerged, these Powers That Be thought that the new race might be able to establish a balance between Good and Evil again. Cordy’s child tells them that she could no longer simply watch, so she did what was necessary to bring about her rebirth as a mortal Power.

The gang, under the Power’s spell, buys the whole story, and when the Power tells them that they are meant to go out and destroy Evil, they are more than happy to do it. The first stop is a bowling alley, where some vampires have been hiding since the sun re-emerged, waiting for whatever is coming. Angel and the others crash the party, while Fred sits with the Power to watch the action.

One of the vampires manages to attack the Power, and her arm is wounded. Fred is practically inconsolable, thinking it’s her fault. Angel chases one of the vampires outside the bowling alley to a pavilion outside of a restaurant, and when the crowd sees the Power, they all fall into state of bliss. But one in the crowd doesn’t fall under the spell, calling her a monster. He attacks her, but Angel stops him, beating him mercilessly.

The Power stops him, and then touches her attacker gently on the face. The man is terrified. The Power asks Wesley to call an ambulance, as she tells the rest of the crowd that her attacker was so filled with anger and despair. But now, the rest of them need never feel that way again.

Back at the hotel, Wesley, Connor, and Gunn debate what name the Power should take. But Fred is more worried about getting the bloodstains out of the Power’s torn shirt. The Power tells Fred not to worry, but Fred can’t seem to get over her feelings of guilt. Connor wonders what was wrong with her attacker, but the Power simply tells them that he was afraid, and that led him to destroy what he feared.

The Power goes to speak with Angel in the garden, and comments on the jasmine. The Power tells Angel that he shouldn’t feel guilty about trying to kill her. But he is also worried about how much happiness he feels in her presence, because it might trigger the return of Angelus. The Power waves off his concern, telling him that all Evil will be gone soon, thanks to their work. She names Angel her general, affirming her faith in all of her new warriors.

As the days and nights pass, the Power drives the gang to drive out more and more evil. All along the way, Fred begins to obsess over cleaning the Power’s ruined shirt. After a week, violent crimes drops dramatically, thanks to their efforts. Lorne shows the Power the room he prepared for her, as Fred walks in with a new shirt, distraught over her inability to fix the old shirt. The others can’t understand why Fred is so upset, and why she feels so empty when the Power isn’t with her.

Connor visits the Power, and he tells her about his worry for Cordelia. He understands his purpose now, but he doesn’t think he deserves happiness after everything he’s done. The Power assures him that he is worthy. She tells Connor that this is the time for his destiny. Fred walks in, apologizing about the shirt, and looks on the Power...and sees a face of rotting, maggoty flesh.

Fred is terrified at what she sees, but when she looks again, everything is back to normal. She pretends that everything is fine, even as she tries to overcome her shock and horror. She tells the others that she needs time alone. She goes to Cordy’s side, sure that Lorne’s original vision from Cordy was true.

Angel walks in, and tells Fred how all his reservations melt away when he thinks of the happiness he feels in the Power’s presence. Fred mentions how easy things seem now that the Power is there, and how everyone just does what the Power tells them to do. Angel doesn’t seem too bothered about it.

Fred goes to the hospital, and finds out that the man who attacked the Power is named John Stoller. She finds out that he was transferred to the Psych Ward. Fred manages to sneak in, and finds John strapped to a bed. She asks him if he has a history of mental illness, and she mentions that she saw the Power’s real face as well. John shows Fred what the Power’s touch did to his face, and tells Fred that they have to kill it. He tells Fred that she was “called to the mission”, that it’s their duty to kill it. Fred refuses to hear it, and she runs from the room.

When she returns to the hotel, she finds a huge crowd. Lorne mentions that the Power took a walk, and all the people in the hotel followed them home. Fred takes Wesley aside, and asks to speak with him in confidence. When he agrees, she tells him that she saw the man who attacked the Power, and that she saw what the man saw. Wesley listens to Fred’s story, and he tells her that he believes her. He promises to help her, and tells her to wait. Then he goes and talks to the others.

Fred immediately realizes her mistake. She grabs as many weapons as she can carry from the weapons cabinet, and then takes aim with a crossbow. Angel leaps in front of the bolt, taking it in his shoulder. Connor leaps to his father’s side. As everyone converges on her, Fred pulls a knife on Lorne’s throat, telling everyone to stay back. As soon as she sees that she cannot win, she runs out of the hotel. The Power tells the others to let her go.

Fred drives out of town, as the Power tells her shocked warriors that Fred will be dealt with in time, and that they shouldn’t blame themselves for Fred’s weakness. They are sure that they will have to kill Fred, but the Power warns them that they should try to help her first. But the Power reminds them that it will be easier the next day, when more eyes will be able to look for her.

Indeed, the next morning, as Fred tries to eat breakfast in a diner, the Power reveals herself on a morning television show as Jasmine. Everyone in the room kneels to her image as she speaks, except for Fred. She walks out, her expression stricken. She knows that she has no place to hide.


Analysis

Following on the heels of last episode, which redefined the basis of the entire series, this episode can’t help but seem lacking in comparison. But in its own way, this episode could been seen as a continuance of the changes begun with “Inside Out”, fleshing out the mythology of the franchise in a way that makes a great deal of sense.

Jasmine’s story about the balance between Good and Evil sounds like it was based in truth, since it sounds reasonable. Of course, once she starts describing how the balance was broken, all bets are off. While it would make sense for The Powers That Be to be the opposing force to the First Evil, but given some of Jasmine’s previous activities, her claims to be one of those Powers doesn’t quite track.

Of course, the situation could be more complicated than that. While Evil typically finds a way to break the rules in order to spread its influence, Good is typically bound by those rules, forced into a kind of limited engagement. If Buffy’s return from the dead was the catalyst that allowed the First Evil to act as it wished, then would one of the Powers determine that it was time to start bending rules to force matters back into balance?

This could be the case, if Jasmine is telling at least something of the truth. After all, along the way, Jasmine’s plan has brought about the elimination of much which is easily labeled “evil”, and she is pressing Angel and the others to continue their work. At the same time, Jasmine seems to want to eliminate Evil through strict obedience. This is typically how someone with good intentions falls down a very different path.

However, it is just as likely, and perhaps more so, that Jasmine’s claims to being a Power are just an act. Jasmine’s main power appears to be the ability to subdue others to her will, and only those with a certain trait or capability can resist and see what she really is. Fred, for whatever reason, has that capability, and sees that Jasmine is not what she pretends to be.

Why Fred begins to see Jasmine’s true nature is hard to figure out. Several theories come to mind, based on what was shown in the episode. Jasmine’s hold on Fred slowly begins to crumble as Fred tries to clean the blood from Jasmine’s torn shirt. Also, the vampire that slashed Jasmine was thrown into Stoller outside of the restaurant, and some of Jasmine’s blood might have touched Stoller’s skin. However, it was never shown that Stoller had blood on him, and it doesn’t explain why Angel wouldn’t have also gotten Jasmine’s blood on his own skin.

There is also the possibility, raised by Fred in this episode, that those with a certain kind of mental illness don’t react the same way to Jasmine’s spell. One can easily think of how this could happen. Those with a form of dementia or borderline personality disorder could perceive the world in a way that is just different enough that Jasmine’s glamour doesn’t completely affect her. Fred has never been entirely stable since her experience in Pylea, and Stoller certainly didn’t come across as the poster boy for normality.

The other possibility is that seeing Jasmine in her true form requires a combination of exposure to her blood and borderline mental instability. That would cover Fred pretty well, and explain why it took almost a week for Fred to see what Stoller saw in a matter of minutes. Jasmine’s reaction to those who see her true nature suggests that she has no qualms about taking out those who cannot be controlled.

There are a number of thematic connections between Jasmine’s arrival on “Angel” and the season arc on “Buffy”. The theme appears to be the restoration of balance between Good and Evil, with Buffy and Angel both playing vital roles in establishing the new paradigm. Buffy can only defeat the First Evil by finding a way to restore the balance, since utterly defeating Evil is impossible. At the same time, if Jasmine is indeed a Power, Angel will need to stop Evil’s polar opposite from going too far.

This is a nice way to allow for a thematic crossover between the two series, now that “Buffy” is coming to an end. If this is also the last season for “Angel”, then it allows the restoration of balance to be the crowning achievement of the franchise, truly defining a story with scope.

If “Angel” does continue, then this season’s plot arc provides an interesting possibility. Whether Jasmine has intended it or not, her actions mirror many of the elements of the Christian conception of the apocalypse. At least in the thematic sense, Jasmine’s crusade is very similar to that attributed in the Bible to the Antichrist. Given that the biblical apocalypse is supposed to be the final battle between Good and Evil, leading to a new balance (from a certain perspective), then the current plot threads could be intended as depicting the same apocalypse that has been described in many of the prophecies on “Buffy” and “Angel”.

More specifically, this apocalypse could be the one that Angel was always meant to play a central role in, and Connor’s birth could explain why Angel’s part in the outcome has always been so ill-defined. Angel serves Evil by effectively being Jasmine’s pawn, but at the same time, Angel could be the one to end Jasmine’s threat. Thus, Angel plays a role on both sides, making it impossible to clearly explain.

But the end result was clear: if Angel survives, then after the apocalypse, he would become human again. This would be the perfect ending to the series, or the perfect way to shift the series into a new concept once the current plot threads are resolved.

This is a transitional episode along the way, but for what it reveals about Jasmine, it is clearly important. There might be some disagreement over whether or not the execution of the episode was completely effective, but after the pace of the previous episodes, anything with a slower pace would be a letdown.


Memorable Quotes

LORNE: “OK, I was expecting a transition, but still...”

CONNOR: “I can’t wait...you’ll go nuts!”
GUNN: “That’ll definitely help us relate better...”

WESLEY: “My God!”
JASMINE: “People keep saying that...”

GUNN: “Clorox...she bleaches away the hate...”


Observations

- OK, waaaaay too much of the “shiny happy” in this episode...it served a purpose, I know, but damn...it was just...wrong...

- Now that might make bowling just a little more interesting!

- So, I wonder who else is bowling in the background...demons, or just some very jaded humans?

- Sign on the wall that some vampire hits when Angel tosses him: STRIKE!

- Gina Torres is always a fine-looking woman, but there was something about that grey dress that was perfect on her...

- So Lorne is also an interior decorator?

- Is there no security at that hospital, or is it a normal thing for people to come and go at the Psycho Ward?

- What the hell is Angel wearing in this episode...something from his “Mandy” collection?

- I like how the one guy just peeks into the diner, only to kneel on the sidewalk outside...

Overall, this episode eased back on the pacing a bit, giving the impression that the episode was not as high quality as the last several have been. However, there is clearly some important groundwork being laid here for a huge final conflict, and the connections with the current season of “Buffy” add some intriguing possibilities.

I give it a 7/10.


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