User Reviews

Man, you just get darker and darker. And the weird thing is, your aura? Beige - I actually really enjoy this episode, I think the whole stopping time was interesting and I liked how it was done. The only negative things about this episode were that it was a little slow at times and even though I think it was entertaining, it wasn't the most necessary episode either. Even so, I enjoyed it, it was good to see 'Lorne' working with 'Angel', who was in a pretty crappy mood, I loved the car scene where 'Angel' explains why he fired the crew. Meanwhile the rest of the fang gang is doing pretty well, they have a new agency, even though it's very empty and depressing, 'Virginia' gets them a job, 'Wes' was hilarious, I loved the way he solved the case. I think this episode is well executed and it develops the characters a bit, still I wish that the writers would have continued the Darla/Dru storyline instead. ANGEL: Love,... it's a fire. GENE: You been there? ANGEL: It burns you. Alive. Down to the bone. And then it turns the bone to ash... THE HOST: I, I think what my chipper friend is trying to say here, Gene, is the wheel keeps turning. You can't stop it. Sometimes things get worse, sometimes they get better. GENE: I want the wheel to stop, which probably explains the whole time in a box disaster. I can't emphasize enough how sorry I am about that. THE HOST: It just don't work, Gene-y. It's like a song. Now, I can hold a note for a long time... actually I can hold a note forever. But eventually that's just noise. It's the change we're listening for. The note coming after, and the one after that. That's what makes it music. (8.0 out of 10)

Lorne needs Angel's help when he reads the end of the world off of one of his karaoke patron's fate. The rest of the gang try to start up their new business without the help of Angel.

This episode is a change of pace from the overarching dread and despair of Angel's current mood. Lorne has a great ability to lighten up episodes with his comedic chops and demeanor. The plot premise itself seems a bit odd for Angel and belongs more in a Star Trek episode. It's not a great plot but I think it still works.

The subplot involving Wesley's parlor scene was actually pretty funny. I enjoy the rapport the 3 of them currently have together.

Conclusion: An okay episode with a better subplot than the main one. Definitely skippable in the grand scheme of things though.

Sidenote: If those demons knew the formula to cause time to stop and create the end of the world, why don't they just do this all themselves. Why do they need this grad student to perform it for them?

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

The Good; Lorne really comes into his own, we see him set up to become a regular character . Love Angel Investigation's Agatha Christie moment.

The Bad; Why does the scientist act surprised at Lorne's appearance when he's been to Caritas? His plan is pretty stupid, surely after a while someone will notice and pull the plug? And won't the time freeze affect the demons too? And won't the time freeze stop the electricity thus disrupting the process?

Best line: Gunn; "Truth is there's always more down"

Apocalypses: oh yeah 5

Angel Clichés Damsel in distress; 17

In disguise; yep, posing as a grant fund agent 8

DB get's his shirt off; 11

Cordy's tattoo;3

Cheap Angel; 6

Fang Gang in bondage: Cordy: 5 Angel: 8 Wes: 3

Fang gang knocked out: Lorne, all the makings of an Angel investigations regular right there Cordy: 10 Angel: 12 Wes: 5 Doyle; 1 Gunn; 1 Lorne; 1

Kills: a demon for Gunn and 2 for Angel Cordy: 5 vamps, 1 demons Angel; 22 vamps, 33 and 1/2 demons, 3 humans Doyle; 1 vamp Wes; 1 demon Kate; 3 vamps Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans. Gunn; 5 vamps+ 2 demons.

Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 2 Angel: 2

Alternate Fang Gang: Cordy: 2 Angel: 6

Characters killed: 30

Recurring characters killed; 4;

Total number of Angel Investigations: 3 or 1 4, Angel, Cordy, Wes and Gunn

Angel Investigations shot: Angel: 10

Packing heat; Wes; 2 Doyle; 1 Angel; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Cordy: 2 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast Angel: 1;Buffy Wes; 2; Virginia and the bleached blonde

Kinky dinky: The sympathy bone! Does anyone actually ever do that for real? The most slow motion sex in history. How exactly do they know that Kevin is impotent?

Captain Subtext; Lorne acts in a stereotypically gay fashion but he describes Cordy as hot-o-rama suggesting he's actually Bi? The bartender remarks that they don't get many of Lorne's kind in his bar, we think for a moment he means gay but he actually means demon.

Know the face, different character; 2

Parking garages; 5,

Buffy characters on Angel; 14 Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, Master, Anne

Questions and observations; For some reason the demons seem to dress like Abraham Lincoln (or the Amish)? The weapons they use are similar to the hunga-munga used by Buffy in Anne. What do they do with Aunt Helen, turn her over to the police to charge her with murder by demon? A lovely metaphor from Lorne on holding the note. The beginning of Angel's eventual coming back to the good fight. Mike Hegarty who plays the Bartender is one of those faces you see all over US TV. Cordy dances, she's quite a groover just as she was in Buffy. Wes dances too and is much better now than he was in 'She'.

Marks out of 10; 7 out of 10, funny enough but not really a classic and suffers in comparison to what's gone before and what's to come.

The premise for this episode was rather far fetched, a bloke finding the formula to freeze time forever! Lucky those dodgy demon blokes were about to fudge his formula and make it work! I suppose most of the series was a bit far fetched but for some reason my suspension of disbelief didn't kick-in the way it normally would. His plan to be knocking boots with his girlfriend forever was almost flawless and it almost worked, but guess what!? After having a bit of a to do with the demons in the library Lorne and Angel managed to sort it all out. It's probably at least a couple of months since I last saw this episode so unfortunately I can't remember what the demons had to gain from having time frozen. For some reason I wasn't so keen on this episode, but it was original!!

This is a pretty entertaining episode. Lorne is always fun and "Happy Anniversary" has him really teaming up with Angel for the first time. Lorne will be involved in more and more of Angel Inc. investigations as time goes on, so it's nice to look back and see him here. (He also does a fantastic rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" in the Hyperion lobby, which is reason enough to watch the episode.) Anyway, I really recommend that you see "Happy Anniversary" if you're watching the season on DVD.

"Happy Anniversary" revolves around Lorne reading a guy in Karitos and discovering that the world's about to end. Sometime over the next day, the kid will do something that will end existence and Lorne wants to stop him. He heads to Angel for help. Angel grudgingly agrees to help Lorne find the guy and they start searching karaoke bars around town. It turns out that the kid is a grad. student named Gene. He works in the physics department at the local university and his new invention will freeze time. When Gene's girlfriend decides to break up with him, Gene comes up with the idea of freezing them together in one perfect moment forever. Little does Gene know that a sect of demons are trying to bring about the end of the world. They see his invention as the perfect way to wipe out humanity. When Gene activates the machine, it won't just freeze him and his girlfriend. It will freeze the entire world. Angel and Lorne have to kill the demons and stop Gene from accidentally ending humanity. Meanwhile, Wes, Cordy and Gunn work to set up their own detective agency and solve their first real case.

There are some really cool parts to this episode. I like seeing Lorne involved in an investigation. He and Angel are very funny together, fighting demons in the school library and trying to get around in the daylight without human help. Lorne can't drive, so he nearly crashes the car while Angel hides under blankets in the backseat. Then Lorne has to pretend to be the new college mascot as he and Angel look for Gene. ("School mascot?" One guy finally repeats skeptically, "For the Buccaneers?" Lorne rolls his eyes, "Not your school, silly.") Anyway, Angel is annoyed at visiting 15 karaoke bars, Lorne is annoyed by Angel's grouchy mood. The two of them finally get into an argument where Angel admits that he didn't want his friends around. They couldn't take the darkness growing inside of him. But, now he's starting to regret tossing them out of his life. Which is a pretty big admission for Angel. Lorne has a way of getting people to talk about their feelings, whether they want to or not. I also like Cordy, Gunn and Wes's difficulties in running their own agency. They don't have any power or phones or clients. They have to share a desk and they still don't have a new name for their business. They end up sitting quietly in the dark, because, as Wes puts it, "Sometimes you just have to wallow." By the end, they're finally beginning to stand without Angel... But they still can't change the agency's name.

On the down side, there's a lot of back story on Gene and his girlfriend in this episode. Since we'll never see them again, it seems like a waste of time to watch them so much. Also, what's the point of Gene's invention? It really doesn't seem to have a lot of practical applications. Who would want to preserve their dog in an impenetrable bubble, like Gene suggests? Is there a big market for that?

My favorite part of the episode: Wes solving the case for the rich family. He does it like the detective at the end of a bad murder mystery show. Wes is pointing at the suspects and people are gasping as he tells everything that he's discovered about them. Only we haven't seen any of the build up to the murder's "reveal." We didn't watch Wes investigating or even have these people introduced to us, so the whole scene has this great, silly, disconnected quality to it that I really enjoy. I laugh every time I see it.

Happy Anniversary is about Lorne seeking Angel's help, after reading someone who has no future, along with everybody else.

A quality episode, which takes that 'moment of happiness,' all too literally. Angel and Lorne make a good combination. Lorne's never afraid to speak his mind regardless of the danger to himself, though he's not in any way dependent on Angel like the others may be, he gets Angel to open up. Cordy, Wes and Gunn get their first paying client. I don't like how Gene yells out "I did it!" When he didn't even write the equation, hah.