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The PAST LIVES crossover continues, with this, the penultimate installment. Twenty-odd years of watching DOCTOR WHO has taught me that the third part of a four part story is often a bit weak, so have Golden and Sniegoski managed to impress? Once again, we have former Watchers' Council operative, Alexa Landry, squaring up to Angel, but just as she didn't finish the job with LA's demon population, she doesn't finish the job here either. In fact, just as many WHO four-parters had a tendency for their penultimate episode to stand still a little, so does PAST LIVES. So, just as we open with Alexa escaping after a confrontation with Angel, so we close with Alexa escaping after a confrontation with Angel... In between, things do advance - a little. Quentin Travers reveals a little more about Alexa Landry's recent past, there's more about the history of the Landry family and Buffy calls up some support. This is perhaps the most disappointing aspect of PAST LIVES. We've seen both Buffy and Angel in tricky situations before, and they've managed to resolve them - either alone or with the help of their usual helpers. Alexa Landry might have a personal grudge against Angel - well, Angelus - and might have some nifty weapons, but is she really that much of a threat that Buffy has to call in the Scooby Gang? Well, not in my opinion. Had the story seen Buffy crossing over to ANGEL, then it would have worked, but with BUFFY (i.e. the entire show) crossing over, there's the potential for a massive character bloat next time out. In fact, that's already happening. The Scoobies don't really do anything here, other than discuss Buffy's summoning of the gang, except for Riley who has to stay behind for rather obvious reasons (in case we missed these, Anya helpfully points them out). Of course, this reduces the amount of space available to advance the main Alexa/Angel plot which, apart from the flashbacks, doesn't really move on here, which is disappointing. Art-wise, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Alexa might be evil (but you can't really blame her), but she looks a bit of a babe, although her delight at picking up the Izmir Dagger seemed a bit overdone. On the downside, Tara is largely awful and looks more like a guppy and Riley could have been anyone, so it's no real shame that he only appears in a couple of frames. PAST LIVES opened strongly, but has tailed off over the last two installments. Here's hoping that Golden and Sniegoski can pull things around in the final part. back to the top |
PAST LIVES,
PART 3 |
