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Angel Reviews

Season 4, Episode 3, "The House Always Wins"

Connor is beating up a vampire. Angel is watching from a building above, critiquing his fighting style. In turn, Cordelia is watching Angel from her perch above, and critiquing his lack of saving her from the dread 'higher plane'. Cordelia is getting increasingly bothersome each episode. I never thought I'd say this, but I'd prefer it if she stayed in her 'higher plane'. Connor kills the vampire with a small assist from Angel. Again Connor's super senses displayed last season, seemingly fail to detect Angel. Fred & Gunn approach Angel. Gunn complains how distant Angel has been of late, and how Gunn & Fred look to Angel for direction.  Angel thinks they all need a Vegas vacation.

The Fang Gang arrives in Las Vegas as Angel tells of his time there. Angel knew Bugsy Siegel and hung out with the Rat Pack. Fred wonders if they'll see Lorne. Angel doubts it as Lorne would want to keep a low profile. The gang then drive past a giant billboard featuring Lorne. They attend Lorne's stage show, and witness him singing, "It's Not Easy Being Green" and "Lady Marmalade." This was very funny but went on a bit too long. I enjoyed the scantily-clad Lornettes. For the record, I prefer Kermit the Frog's and the All Saints versions of said songs. The purpose of this scene is to show that Lorne is taking readings from audience members as he gets them to sing verses. Gunn hopes Lorne will choose him for a verse, but Lorne walks by the gang. The funniest part of this scene is Fred wondering if Blue Man Group are demons. According to Angel, two of them are. LOL.

Backstage, the gang is amidst a throng of people hoping to meet Lorne. Lorne accompanied by body guards walks past and once again ignores them. In Lorne's dressing room, the casino owner, Lee DeMarco comes in and heaps insincere praise on Lorne. A bodyguard suddenly punches Lorne in the stomach, and Lorne reluctantly tells Lee the readings of the people from the audience. Lee leaves and bars the door. Lorne is a prisoner.

Back in Los Angeles, Wesley is speaking to Lilah on the phone, no doubt planning another round of 'relaxation'. He's also speaking to his henchmen, and mentions that he needs some object, device, or mechanism to be built, and that cost is no object. Wesley is slowly turning into a mad scientist. In Las Vegas, the gang is playing blackjack. They ponder why Lorne is ignoring them. Vivian, one of the girls who Lorne did a reading on, is given a special chip by a Lornette. The chip allows her to enter a private area of the casino, to play a special game of roulette. Angel gives a note to the Lornette with instructions to give it to Lorne. Angel walks around the casino and his 'Spidey-sense' tells him that something just ain't right here. Gunn & Fred mention how lonely Angel is and how this vacation will be good for him, as the casino bouncers take Angel and throw him outside. Angel beats them up, then saves Vivian who has wandered trance-like in front of a car. Fred & Gunn determined to speak with Lorne, sneak backstage. Fred dresses up as a Lornette (woo-hoo!) and manages to get in to see Lorne. Lorne explains that he's a prisoner of Lee DeMarco, who's using Lorne's powers to locate audience members who have successful futures ahead of them. These people have their destinies stolen from them via a magic roulette wheel. This robs them of motivation and explains why Vivian was wandering zombie-like. DeMarco then trades these destinies on the black market. Huh? Does e-Bay have a destinies page?  Angel locates the room with the magic roulette wheel. DeMarco gives him one of the special chips, Angel foolishly throws his chip on the table, where it's in play.  The roulette wheel stops and the house wins. Angel loses his destiny.

Fred & Lorne manage to escape. With Gunn in tow, they rush to leave the casino. They pass Angel who's at a slot machine with a blank look on his face. Gunn tells Angel to get the car ready at the exit. Angel nods, then goes back to playing slots. Fred, Gunn, & Lorne outside the casino frantically try to find Angel with the car. Lorne further explains DeMarco's plan and mentions that all the special chips with the destinies are kept near the magic roulette wheel. Gunn makes the connection that DeMarco must have Angel's destiny. Gunn confronts Lorne and blames him for selling Angel out to DeMarco. Lorne responds by saying that he tried to resist, and that a Lornette was killed in front of him as consequence. Gunn backs down from Lorne, then re-enters the casino to find Angel and finds him still at the slot machines. However, the security guards come in with Fred & Lorne as prisoner and quickly apprehend Gunn. Angel does not react at all to any of this. Fred, Gunn, & Lorne are brought before DeMarco. Cordelia looks down from above and determines to get Angel out of his stupor. She magically rigs his slot machine to win the jackpot. DeMarco is told that a slot machine just hit the jackpot. He's furious, as his slot machines are not programmed to pay out a jackpot. Seeing that it's Angel who won it, he demands that Angel is brought before him. Angel in his trance-like state convinces DeMarco that the jackpot must have been an incredible fluke. As Angel is about to return to the slots, Gunn attempts to escape. The violence triggers Angel's vampire mode, and he starts beating up the henchmen. Lorne finds where the destiny chips are stored and shatters their protective casing. The destinies are freed and flow back to their rightful owners, including Angel.

The gang with Lorne drive back to Los Angeles. Upon entering the hotel, they encounter Cordelia in her white flowing robes. She stares at everyone, and asks, "Who are you people?"

What I liked: The kookiness of Lorne's performance. The Lornettes. Fred as a Lornette.

What I didn't like: Cordelia. Let's briefly compare Cordelia with Buffy. They both spent time in heaven-like dimensions. Buffy is haunted by her experience and did not want to come back. Cordelia is merely bored, and is begging for freedom. And what exactly is Cordelia doing up there? This episode shows that she can influence events on Earth. Why can't she spend her time doing such 'good deeds' for people? Wouldn't that relieve her boredom? This entire storyline has been poorly written and very disappointing. And now amnesia? Even worse, it's turned me against a formerly favorite character. Connor had a promising episode in the premiere, Deep Down, but has been used sparingly ever since. Little of Wesley, Lilah doesn't even appear on screen. Gwen is no where to be found. I found the entire concept of 'destiny trading' a silly one.

Rating: (out of six)  2.   A nothing episode.  

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