"Ground State"

Written by Mere Smith
Directed by Michael Grossman


In which Angel and the gang encounter a thief with incredible powers over electricity...and who is also after the one item that can reveal Cordelia’s fate...

Synopsis - Analysis - Memorable Quotes - Observations


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Synopsis

As the episode begins, it’s October 28, 1985. In remote Gills Rock, Wisconsin, a young girl named Gwen is brought to a private, secluded school, everything but her face covered in thick insulated clothing. Ms. Thorpe, the owner of the academy, welcomes Gwen and her parents. Thanks to a sizable donation, Gwen has been admitted to the school, where her “special needs” can be accommodated.

Later that day, Gwen sits under a tree, trying to eat with her heavily gloved hands, as the other children at the school play. Wanting to get a better grip on her spoon, she takes off one of the gloves. One of the other children runs up, a small toy car in his hand. The boy asks Gwen if she wants to hold the car, but when she reaches out to grab it, an electrical shock rips through the car into the boy.

In October 2002, Angel, Gunn, and Fred pack Cordelia’s belongings into boxes for storage. They can no longer afford to pay rent on her apartment. Angel asks again if Lorne knows anything, but Fred reminds him that both times they’ve been able to contact Lorne, he’s been unable to provide much help. Gunn and Fred are more than a little bitter. Also, the police were only able to find Cordy’s jeep where it was abandoned.

Angel thanks Gunn and Fred for doing everything they could with Connor over the summer. In his eyes, Connor is just confused, and needs some time. Fred’s a little less understanding. They hope to keep Cordy’s stuff at the hotel for as long as it takes to find her.

Sometime later that night, Wesley and his new band of demon hunters are working on a kidnapping case when Angel drops by. Angel thanks Wesley for rescuing him, and tries to explain to Wesley that he had a little time to think about what Wesley had done with Connor. Angel makes it clear that as far as he’s concerned, things are all right between them now.

Of course, Wesley’s not stupid, so he knows what Angel’s really after. Wesley hands him a file on his own investigation of Cordelia’s disappearance, and tells Angel that he thinks she’s alive. Only, she’s not in their dimension anymore. But he did find information on Dinsa, demi-goddess of the lost. Only the dead can enter her presence, and most are trapped in her lair. Dinsa can tell Angel where to look. Angel asks Wesley what he ought to do, but Wesley simply walks away without another word.

Using Wesley’s information, Angel finds his way to Dinsa’s lair. As he walks into the lair, the door disappears behind him. Dinsa shifts and darts around the room, taunting Angel about his recent experience. But she knows what Angel is looking for, and tells him that Cordy needs him no longer. When he persists, she tells him that the Axis of Pythia will show him where Cordelia is.

Meanwhile, at an exclusive club elsewhere in the city, a very grown-up Gwen walks into the room, every eye on her. She walks up to a man sitting alone at a table. He’s perturbed at her rather eye-catching appearance, but she’s even less pleased. It seems that the man hired her to acquire the Axis of Pythia, but tried to buy her services at a much lower price than the item is worth. And as she works on commission, she wants her fair share. When the man persists, even as the man hands over the full schematics on the auction house where the Axis is being kept, Gwen deftly steals his watch...and then, sliding off a silken glove, fries it.

As Cordy watches from her perch in the higher plane, Fred debriefs Angel and Gunn on the Axis. Angel, to Fred’s chagrin, provides some nice sketchwork. The Axis has the ability to find souls or entities across dimensions. It’s being held in an auction house connected to the black market, and the merchandise is protected with a rather thorough security system. They plan to break into the auction house and steal it.

Fred goes off to develop a plan, while Gunn and Angel talk about what might happen once they find Cordelia’s location. Angel thinks it’s simple, that they do whatever it takes to find her and bring her home. Gunn’s not so sure, but he helps Angel think of what they’ll need to get past the security. At the same time, in her own lair, Gwen prepares for the exact same thing.

Meanwhile, in Wesley’s apartment, he and Lilah continue with their usual reindeer games. As they engage in the requisitely rough foreplay, Lilah confronts Wesley over his lies...pretending to not know or care about Angel’s fate, while planning to free him all along. She also teases him with the fact that he might have done him a favor. After all, Connor is alone and vulnerable now.

Sometime later, Gwen arrives at the auction house, and easily employs some simple theft technology and control over electricity to bypass the security systems. Not far behind, Angel and the others follow suit, with decidedly less subtle methods. Using the floor plans, Fred sends Gunn to secure their escape route, while Angel waits for her to shut down the vault’s security. Using the cameras for her own purposes, Gwen sees the three other intruders.

When Angel arrives at the vault, he waits for Fred to deactivate the security, but suddenly bars drop from the ceiling, sealing him out of the room. Keeping Fred out of the system, Gwen gracefully drops into the vault and removes the Axis without a bit of resistance. Angel begs Gwen not to take it, telling her why he needs to use it. Gwen seems slightly unhappy to know he’s looking for a woman he loves, but it doesn’t sway her.

Before Gwen can leave, Fred finally breaks into the security system, and Angel manages to lift the bars high enough for Gunn to run in and grab her. She doesn’t waste any time ripping him with a strong electrical bolt to the chest. Just as Fred arrives to help, Angel runs to Gunn’s side. He has no pulse, and is obviously a dead man under the circumstances.

Recalling the incident at the school, Gwen remains just long enough to knock Angel and Fred away from Gunn and zap him back to life. It doesn’t take long for Angel to recover, but Gwen’s not an easy target. She holds her own until Fred reminds Angel that they need to take Gunn to a hospital. As soon as the coast is clear, Gwen escapes.

Later, Connor finds his way to a place where there are dozens of other homeless squatters, while Lilah looks on. Sure enough, Angel steps up, confronting her about Gwen and the Axis. He’s sure that Wolfram and Hart knows who the buyer is, and in exchange for not killing her for even thinking of getting close to Connor, he wants the information. Lilah stands her ground, at least until Angel mentions how he can smell her and Wesley all over each other.

Back at the hotel, Gunn muses over the printout from the hospital’s EKG. He seems to be taking it well, but Fred is a bit rattled. In fact, she starts to lose it. She’s tired of having to worry over keeping everything together by herself, from the mission to the business to the hotel to their relationship. She thought it would get better with Angel being back, but nothing has changed. The thought of having to do it all, alone without him, is more than she can bear.

When Gwen arrives in her party clothes to meet with her buyer, Angel is there as well. Gwen tosses the Axis into one of the elevators, and then tries to take Angel out of the picture. Even when she loses the gloves and take him on full power, he doesn’t go down easy. They end up in the elevator, and she rips off his shirt, sending a full shot right at the heart. Unexpectedly, it revives the old thumper. Angel moves to fight back, but a very surprised Gwen stops him...with a passionate kiss!

At the same moment, bars suddenly close across the elevator doorway. The buyer, it seems, has decided to double-cross Gwen. The buyer has decided that Gwen was too visible in her operations, and intends to eliminate her. The elevator has been modified to prevent her from tapping into any available current. As the elevator seals, gas begins pumping into the elevator car.

As Gwen begins to succumb to the gas, Angel breaks through the side of the elevator car, allowing her to use the exposed connections to release them from the trap. Angel easily dispatches the buyer’s goons. When Gwen revives, she confronts the buyer, obviously intent on killing him. Angel tries to convince Gwen to let him go, but winds up having to knock the man senseless to stop her. With the situation over, Gwen lets Angel take the Axis, and she walks off into the night.

Back at the hotel, Angel uses the Axis, and learns about Cordelia’s ascension. After he tells the others, they are stunned, but positive that Cordelia wants to be where she is. As far as Angel is concerned, rescuing Cordelia is no longer necessary. Why would she want them to take her out of heaven?

Cordelia, on the other hand, wants nothing more!


Analysis

Much like “Buffy”, there seems to be a concerted effort to slowly work through the emotional fallout from the end of last season. The season opener, of course, had to deal with the more obvious plot-driven issues between the main characters, but now we get to see more of what’s been lying underneath. And along the way, we also get to meet a possibly recurring character.

Based on the time taken to give the audience a glimpse of Gwen’s childhood, we seem to be looking at Angel’s next possible “reclamation” project. And should the nascent romance between Angel and Cordelia hit a roadblock, as we might expect, Gwen certainly appears ready to step into the picture.

There’s some slight layering done in this episode, in terms of exploring the yearnings of several of the characters. Angel, of course, wants to find the woman he loves, and is willing to do whatever it takes to get her back. Wesley is sublimating his feeling of guilt and betrayal into his passionate affair with Lilah, perhaps the most evil individual on the series at the moment. Gwen secretly wants to find someone who can relate to her imposed isolation. Fred wants to stop having to keep everything together. Lilah, of course, wants to stay on top of the hill, now that’s she’s finally made her move. Oh, and Cordy wants someone to get her out of Heaven!

As we see these desires unfold, the overall plot continues to move forward, inch by inch. After Wesley’s methodical rescue of Angel last episode, it makes sense to find that he’s pulled together a gang of his own. It also makes perfect sense that he would have done everything possible to find Cordelia. The lack of a quick and easy resolution to the rift between Wesley and the others makes the situation much more interesting.

What’s even more interesting is Angel’s knowledge that Wesley and Lilah are involved together, and one has to wonder what kind of thoughts he might have on that. After all, Wesley is striking out in his own directions, and while that hasn’t resulted in a confrontation yet, there’s plenty of reason to assume it could. Angel might not be sure whether or not Wesley is playing Lilah, or vice versa. It doesn’t look like Wesley or Lilah are any more certain, and there’s a great deal of potential in that. Never mind the fun of seeing Wesley and Lilah in some down and dirty interludes!

It’s also interesting to see Fred losing some of her composure. She’s never been the most sane individual, thanks to her time in Pylea, but the constant cycle of loss over the past year or so is really getting to her. This is where her relationship with Gunn takes a slightly unnerving turn, and I think that’s for the best. With Gunn’s fairly simple way of dealing with the mission, not entirely worried beyond the needs of the moment, Fred’s going to have to learn to live with that side of their lives.

Rather than letting the episode drag along on the depth of the character conflicts, we get the search for the Axis and the rather appealing Gwen. In this first appearance, Gwen doesn’t exactly strike me as the most original character in the world. Her appearance and isolated existence are strongly reminiscent of Rogue of “X-Men” fame, and the whole idea of presenting a tough exterior to cover one’s inner demons is hardly new. But given the relative inhibitions of the rest of the characters, it’s fun to see someone with a flashy style. Granted, there’s Lorne, but would he look as good in skintight latex?

Even so, without the overarching plot threads that weave in and out of the situation, this episode would come up short. As much as we learn about Gwen, we don’t really know much about what she wants, other than to find someone she can safely connect with. And there’s no indication as to whether Angel’s beating heart was a momentary effect, or something more substantial. And it might have been better if Cordy was mute.

Enjoyment of this episode, ultimately, rests on whether or not one enjoys the character of Gwen. Having very little interest in the too-thin Fred and the suddenly lifeless Cordelia, I enjoy the idea of another dangerously sexy bad girl. The rest of the plot advancement balances out the weaknesses that might exist.


Memorable Quotes

FRED: “You should have seen the size of the dust bunnies under her bed...more like dust sperm whales!”

WESLEY: “Be aware...Dinsa isn’t remotely trustworthy.”
ANGEL: “What should I do think I should do then, send her a sacrifice? A gift? Unholy fruit basket?”

DINSA: “I know you were lost. I know of all the lost things.”
ANGEL: “Really? City of Atlantis? Holy Grail? Jimmy Hoffa?”

ANGEL: “Why should I trust you?”
DINSA: “Because I could keep you...but you have so much more to lose...”

MAN: “That’s a $12,000 watch.”
GWEN: “And now it’s surrealism.”

GUNN: “I think my lungs...have coffee...”

GUNN: “That’s my girl...large and in charge. OK...teensy-weensy, and in charge...”

WESLEY: “I don’t need to hear your evil plans.”
LILAH: “No...it just turns you on knowing I have them...”
(Damn right!)

GUNN: “This is so much harder than it looks on Batman!”

ANGEL: “It’s an ancient mystic relic.”
GWEN: “It’s fun for a girl and a boy...”


Observations

- Gwen must have some serious powers...after all, her hand goes right into her pudding cup, and none of it gets on her hand!

- OK, that hair, those clothes, that attitude...Gwen had me from the moment she walked into the room...

- Don’t worry, Fred, I thought your little ghostie was cute!

- Gotta love a woman who doesn’t consider herself prepared for breaking and entering until she puts on the sexy crimson lipstick!

- Gwen’s little explanation does absolutely nothing to explain how she could bend the laser beams... but hey, nice try!

- “Flipping out and crazily accusing your loved ones of abandoning you...an unfortunate side effect of hunger.” (Hey, Fred, get yourself a case of Snickers, OK?)

- Between the red latex pants and the black latex pants, I think I like Gwen better in the black. It contrasts nicely with the tight red latex halter...

- OK, how would electricity instantly revive heart muscles that have been atrophied from more than 200 years of disuse?

Overall, this episode strikes the usual balance of immediate thrills and intriguing long-term planning. Adding Gwen to the mix gave the episode some additional sexual edge, which thankfully fit the character and situation well enough to work. Hopefully, if the character returns, the writers will resist the urge to soften her look and attitude.

I give it a 7/10.


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