I'll go one better than some of the other posters here and say that this episode is BETTER than "Epitaph One." It's breathless, brutal, heartbreaking, with style up the ying-yang.
It has converted me. I used to enjoy the show but was resigned to its eventual cancellation. Now, I say, "NO!" This show must continue! What must I do?!
Can we just have Sierra use her Australian accent all the time. With an American accent, she's just another skinny girl. With an Australian accent...
incredibly well-acted by all the actors.
Notice that the episode has minimal Echo & zero Ballard. I don't mean to keep harping on the issue but it's just frustrating that the lead actress on this otherwise brilliant show is the worst thing about it. (It's also uncharacteristic to have such uneven acting on a Joss Whedon show. His actors are usually uniformly excellent.)
Well directed by Jonathan Frakes.
Amen! This is the most stylish episode the show has ever done. I especially loved the shot towards the beginning of Topher through the magnifying glass.
This episode was also written by the same people that wrote "Epitaph One", which would explain why it was so good.
That would be Mr. & Mrs. Jed Whedon. They really seem to have the golden touch on this show. In addition to this episode & "Epitaph One," they also wrote "Stage Fright," one of the few decent mission-of-the-week episodes from last season. When they write, the show pops with a brutal ingenuity that is sadly missing from too many episodes.
I guess the lesson here is: Sometimes nepotism works.
He's grown wonderfully as a director!
