I've got a theory...

[fenchurch]

Most of this is stuff I said over on rahirah's LJ in reply to her review, but I decided to go ahead and restate it here. This episode makes the most sense if you assume quite a bit of time has passed since last week's episode.

Between the Nina stuff and the Fred/Wes stuff, I get the definite feeling that we've missed a few months worth of events between "Why We Fight" and "Smile Time." It would explain the sudden changes in relationships and some of the backstory they had to give tonight: Nina having been coming in for months and apparently flirting with Angel, Fred having gone out on dates with Knox and no longer being interested in him, Fred sending out signals to Wes that he should have been catching, Spike having settled into some sort of contact/relationship with Angel to the point where he could just walk in and get another car, etc.

I'm not complaining too much about it, but if you don't go into the episode with the assumption that we've missed a few months, then the interpersonal relationships in "Smile Time" make very little sense. It does feel a bit like they decided to make some changes and, realizing they didn't have time to show us, decided to just run with it and hope everyone catches up.

Other than that, I loved the episode... it was fun and funny, with a good plot and some creepy bad guys to defeat. Everyone got some good scenes, and there were subplots to keep everyone busy. Damn, I'm gonna miss this show.

Comments

[shaddyr]

I'm not complaining too much about it, but if you don't go into the episode with the assumption that we've missed a few months, then the interpersonal relationships in "Smile Time" make very little sense. It does feel a bit like they decided to make some changes and, realizing they didn't have time to show us, decided to just run with it and hope everyone catches up.

Yeah, I got when Nina came in and she made the comment about about being back again or some such. And also, time passage would explain why there was no mention made of Cordy. They've all dealt and moved on.

I'd really like to read the fanwank on what Spike was up to when he came in for a new car. He was obviously on some errand for Angel. I'm all curious now.

Re:

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I sort of assumed he was as well, or why would he be so casual about getting a new car and why would Angel let him. It makes me wonder if Angel hasn't been helping Spike out on the sly with the "helping the hopeless" gig. They've definitely got a better rapport going, with the feeling that they've fallen into some sort of regular alliance.

It also really makes me wonder what all happened during the time we're missing...

Re:

[shaddyr]

Hmm. See, at the end of Your Welcome, Spike makes that comment about feeling like he had a destiny or something? I got the impression that when he realized that Lindsey had been playing him, he went back to Angel and crew.

Though, I could be wrong.

Like I said, I'd like to see the fanwank on it.

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Totally agree about the Fred/Knox/Wes, which just seemed to come out of left field, but Nina made perfect sense to me. She's been coming in to stay in that cage three days every month since the first episode we met her. It's like the Dawn/Spike relationship in Buffy S6, we were supposed to just assume it was continuing, without them bothering to show it.

I agree...

[bittnbynyte.livejournal.com]

it did seem that the Episode picked up at least 'some amount of time' after the last ended. I think the only real frame of reference was the 'Nina' comment about having been coming in to W&H for a few months(heck if they gave me a 'suite' maybe I'd visit regularly too). Hadn't really thought about the timing issue until that partiular scene. Matter of fact for a second or two I didn't even remember who Nina was...duh.

[onetwomany.livejournal.com]

This episode makes the most sense if you assume quite a bit of time has passed since last week's episode.

::nods:: Yeah, it really, really does. I don't necessarily mind that, but it would have been nicer had that been made clear, I guess. Still, I loved, loved, loved the episode!