"Angel" Smile Time (2004)

Director:

Ben Edlund

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator) &
David Greenwalt (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Angel" (1999)

Original Air Date:

18 February 2004 (Season 5, Episode 14)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

Angel and the gang set out to foil an evil puppet show that is sucking the brain power of all the children who watch...

Plot Keywords:

Title Spoken By Character | Vampire | Redemption | Vampire Slayer | Spin Off

Cast

David Boreanaz	...	Angel
James Marsters	...	Spike
J. August Richards	...	Charles Gunn
Amy Acker	...	Winifred 'Fred' Burkle
Andy Hallett	...	Lorne
Alexis Denisof	...	Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brad Abrell	...	Puppet (voice)
Tim Blaney	...	Grufus
Ridge Canipe	...	Tommy
Leslie Carrara	...	Puppet (voice) (as Leslie Carrara-Rudolf)
Alice Dinnean	...	Puppet
David Fury	...	Gregor Framkin
Donna Kimball	...	Puppet (voice)
Drew Massey	...	Puppet Angel
Abigail Mavity	...	Hannah
Mercedes McNab	...	Harmony Kendall
Jenny Mollen	...	Nina Ash
Marc Vann	...	Doctor Sparrow
Jennie Vaughn	...	Tommy's Mother (as Jennie Vaughn Cambell)
Jonathan M. Woodward	...	Knox
Victor Yerrid	...	Polo

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Mutant Enemy

Trivia:

Cameo: [David Fury] [plays Gregor Framkin.]

Quotes:

Angel: I'm not very good at any of this. I spent so much time worrying about the past and the future and my very complicated life. It's been a while since I looked up and really saw what was goin' on around me. It's not my strong suit, you know, but I'm workin' on it. I'm paying better attention to...
[Nina's turned into a werewolf, and grabs Angel]
Angel: Oh! Geez! No! No, Nina! Bad Nina!

Movie Connections:

References La flûte à six schtroumpfs (1976)

Just... genius

The Buffy/Angel universe has never been afraid to lace horror with comedy, but it's rarely been done so perfectly…

Bear in mind that the investigation's subject itself is really nasty. Kids enjoying early morning TV shows end up being rictus-bearing comatose liabilities, shown full of tubes in hospital beds.

The script is wonderful. It's chock-full with the sort of throw-away gags they've long since cornered the market in, but is balanced by some genuinely tender dialogue between Fred and Wesley. Aaaand The Joker is even given a name check!

They even manage to squeeze in a decent explanation for Angel's transformation – as revealed by muppets!

'Angel' as a series is an astonishing achievement which rarely puts a foot wrong. This episode, without a doubt, puts two feet right.