Angel (TV Series) The Price (2002) User Reviews

Guess Whose Back?

[Samuel-Shovel · 7/10 · 9 August 2018]

In "The Price", the spell that Angel used to summon Sahjhan comes back to bite the team. Every spell has its price and this one involves transparent slugs showing up at the hotel and entering people's bodies. These slugs are thirsty! They suck all the water out of one of Angel Investigations' potential clients. The slugs start to infest the hotel and one of them enters Fred's body. Desperate for help, Gunn goes to a very bitter and reluctant Wesley who tells him what to do. He tells Gunn to never visit him again.

Gunn feeds Fred alcohol which causes the slug to exit her body. Cordy discovers a new power from her demon side when she grabs one of the slugs and emits a beam of light throughout the hotel, killing all the slugs somehow. No real explanation is given as the episode comes to an end. We learn some destroyer is coming to try to kill Angel. Suddenly a portal opens and out pops a teenage Connor, back from the hell dimension.

This was a fairly forgettable monster-of-the-week episode... That is, until the final 10 seconds! I guess time works differently in other dimensions because Connor comes back all grown up. And from the looks of it, he's out for vengeance on pops.

I have to imagine that Holtz filled his minds with all sorts of ideas on who his dad is and now he's out for blood. Maybe the prophecy will end up correct after all in a weird roundabout way?

The Price doesn't wind up being all that much to pay

[nightwishouge · 7/10 · 4 April 2021]

When Angel opens a portal to a hell dimension as a tool to deal with Sahjhan, a few characters blather on forebodingly about the consequences of engaging with such dark magic. They said the same thing on Buffy earlier this season when the Scoobies perform a resurrection spell. In either case, these foreshadowed consequences, when they finally come to pass, are not so serious that they can't be dealt with and dispatched during a single episode.

I find that annoying. This is supposed to be a show ABOUT consequences, about impossible choices. Yet there's no real fallout. Well, except an innocent person once again gets caught in the crossfire. For someone who sets himself up as a champion of the innocent--a helper of the helpless--Angel sure puts innocent people in danger any time it suits his purposes. Letting Darla go free, opening portals to hell dimensions, not killing Wolfram & Hart when they're in the midst of very despicable things. I get that the writers are trying to show he's a fallible character who will alter his code of ethics when his emotions get involved--who among us doesn't?--but the problem is, nobody ever calls him out on it.

The episode is worth watching entirely for the uncomfortable scene between Wes and Gunn. I'm Team Wes all the way during this run of episodes. Yes, he could have handled the "prophecy" business better, but he did what he thought was right with the information he had. He's the only character who consistently sees things clearly, without allowing emotion to cloud his reason. This goes back even to season three of Buffy, where he expressed reluctance to endanger the entire world just to rescue Willow, who was being held hostage by the Mayor. Even then he was shouted down, as he is so often on Angel, yet he continues to abide by his own moral code with admirable integrity, no matter what it costs him. Gunn here becomes a representation of AI as a whole, and I take great pleasure in seeing Wes unblinkingly shut him down.

I really like this episode

[katierose295 · 10/10 · 1 March 2007]

Every once in a while an episode comes along in the Buffyverse that I know isn't brilliant, but I just love to watch. "The Price" is one of those episodes. It's got some flaws and it isn't the most dramatic episode ever, but I really enjoy it. You could follow the season without it, I guess. (As long as you saw the last 3 seconds.) But it's just a really neat episode, and the last chance to enjoy the show before Conner arrives and starts taking over. I recommend that you see it.

Basically, "The Price" revolves around the repercussions of that spell Angel cast trying to complete in "Forgiving." He's accidentally opened a rip in reality (or something) in the Hyperions lobby. Soon little glass slugs are pouring in from another dimension and infecting people. They quickly dehydrate human bodies, and Team Angel is afraid that if they escape the hotel, all of LA will be in danger. They barricade themselves in the Hyperion. When Fred is infected, Gunn goes to Wes for help. Wesley reluctantly lends a hand, but he says that this is the last time he'll bail them out. Meanwhile, Gru is jealous as Cordy and Angel grow closer. When Cordy calls on her new demon powers to kill the glass squid, everyone is briefly happy. Then something else falls through the portal... A 16 year old Conner.

There are some great parts to this episode. It's the first time Cordy does her glow-y thing, which will come into play later and it's the first time that Gunn's fear of rats is mentioned. As a fellow rodent fear-er, I appreciate that he can casually kill slimy demons and evil vampires, but shudders at a mouse. Also, I like Gru and Fred criticizing Angel's choice of paint colors. Angel's annoyance over the way that Gru pronounces the word purple is especially fun. (Purp-la.) And it's fun to see them all working on a case again, even if Mr. Spivey does end up a pile of dust. It's also cool how the Angel and Gunn argument in this episode reflects the difficulties they'll have in season five. In "The Price," Angel resists the idea of sacrificing the lives of innocent people, even for Fred. Which will correspond to his acting in season five's "Hole in the World." Then there's Gunn who accused Angel of preforming spells for his own selfish interests, namely bringing Conner back, and endangering Fred. In season five, Gunn's selfish actions and tunnel vision are what leads to a disaster for Fred. It's interesting. Finally, I just gotta smile when Lilah has to open her email with an enchanted password spider. It's just cool.

When the glass squid things take over people's bodies, the human's faces begin to crack apart. Really there are a lot of references to cracks in this episode, signifying all the things that can, presumably, never fully be healed. Cracks in the walls of Angel's bedroom, because the portents that led Wes to take Conner have continuing repercussions. Team Angel is trying to patch them, but Angel can tell that things will never be the same. There's the portal to that hell dimension in the lobby, which is finally closed but not before it unleashes disaster. There's a cracked snow globe, because Conner's childhood can never be repaired and a crack in Wes's throat where Justine cut him, which is stitched up, but it will never fade. However, both of those things ARE mended in the seasons to come, or at least partially healed. I'm not sure what it all means, but I like it.

On the downside, is that pool in the Hyperion filled with water? Who builds a floor over a full swimming pool? I guess it could be one of those retractable floors, but its still weird. Also, I'm kinna unclear as to how those little glass-slugs lead Conner out of the hell-dimension. He tries to explain it in a few episodes, but I must constantly breeze out when he's talking because I've got no clue. Also a major mark in the minus column for "The Price"... Conner arrives. Hate him, Hate him, Hate him.

My favorite part of the episode: Gunn going to Wesley for help. I like that Wes is now as mad at Team Angel, as Team Angel is with him. Wesley is still the one that everyone turns to for help. At first he refuses to look up how to stop the glass slugs. But when he learns that Fred's the one in trouble, he finally just tosses a vodka bottle at Gunn to dehydrate the squid. Then he tells him not to come back. Gunn is so surprised and Wes is so bitter, that the scene just works really well.

I'm off to save my immortal enemy

[SleepTight666 · 10/10 · 13 June 2007]

I'm off to save my immortal enemy - From this episode onwards, season 3 is just an unstoppable fabulous-arc. I've always thought ATS was a quite dark show, but it sometimes really missed the great monster-of-the-week episodes, 'The Price' had everything those type of episodes are supposed to have, it had tension, character development, a great script and great monsters (Who doesn't love glowy slugs?). And it also had a great catch-phrase - We're thirsty!. The fun of those slugs was whomever they possessed, became mad with thirst and if it didn't drank enough water it would fall into a pile of dust, so it's always great when they get one of the main cast in trouble, in this case it was 'Fred' who was DYING for a good storyline. My favorite scene was probably 'Wesley's, he has just turned into his extremely dark and broody-guy but still he found a way to save 'Fred'. I also loved 'Cordy'-in this, i'm probably the only one who liked her hair-cut and her relationship with 'Groo' (Although I rather have Cangel, obviously) towards the end of the episode she glowed and made all those evil slugs disappear. I also completely loved the Lilah/Gavin tension and of course 'Connor' re-appearing as a teenager at the end of the episode - Hi dad!. GROO: Sunburst Splendor is a hue more worthy of a champion. Or, or...perhaps this unique one called...Pur-pleh. ANGEL: Purple. Yet you have no problems pronouncing "pomegranate." GROO: It was my mother's name. (10 out of 10)

Cordy: Tried soaking it out, tried scrubbing it out. No question, we've got "Ring Around The Lobby"!

[bombersflyup · 10/10 · 17 January 2018]

The Price is about the hotel being invaded by demonic slugs, fleeing from the "Destroyer," also known as Connor.

While there are quite a few moments I do not care for, it's an engaging and meaningful episode. Cordy isn't the most enjoyable here and without Wesley there and Fred taken over by a slug, it lacks in the quality dialogue department. Angel's still there to carry the torch though, literally. The slugs are neat and the cracking of the skin effect on the host superb. Don't need the Lilah/Gavin scenes, they aren't funny and add nothing. Wesley makes a brief appearance and bitter. Connor enters, a fantastic character with all sorts of layers.

Angel: Okay! So maybe I wasn't thinking too clearly. I mean, I was drunk for a while. Drunk on my own son's blood, slipped into my food by the good folks at Wolfram and Hart. And my head was a little clouded with rage over a trusted friend stealing my child from me- Damnit Cordelia! You got me talkin' about this.

Not my favourite

[Joxerlives · 5/10 · 7 March 2012]

THE PRICE

The Good; Very much an 'in the bottle episode'. Do like Fred drinking the snowglobe.

The Bad; I think the Schlucks (or however you spell it) are deeply stupid, this doesn't really work for me

Best line: Cordy; "We have a pool?"

Jeez, how did they get away with that? The poor guy crumbling. Also Lilah's assertion that when a co-worker at WR&H pats you on the back you should check to feel for the knife.

Apocalypses: 5

Angel Clichés Inverting the Hollywood cliché;

In disguise; 8

DB get's his shirt off; 12

Cordy's tatt; 10

Cheap Angel; 9

Fang Gang in bondage: Cordy: 5 Angel: 11 Wes: 6 Gunn; 4 Lorne; 3 Fred; 2

Fang gang knocked out: Cordy: 11 Angel: 14 Wes: 5 Doyle; 1 Gunn; 1 Lorne; 3

Kills: Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons Angel; 39 vamps, 57 and 1/2 demons, 7 humans Doyle; 1 vamp Wes; 12 demons+3 vamps, 2 humans Kate; 3 vamps Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans. Gunn; 10 vamps+ 11 demons. Groo; 1 demon Fred; 1 vamp

Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 2 Angel: 2 Gunn; 1 Wes; 1

Alternate Fang Gang: schluck possessed Fred Cordy: 2 Angel: 8 Fred; 1

Characters killed: the poor guy who get's dusted 46

Recurring characters killed; 8;

Total number of Angel Investigations: Wes makes his first moves towards returning back to the fold 6, Angel, Cordy, Gunn, Fred, Lorne and Groo

Angel Investigations shot: Angel: 11 Wes; 1

Packing heat; Wes; 6 Doyle; 1 Angel; 2 Gunn; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Cordy: 4 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies Wes; 2; Virginia and the bleached blonde Gunn; 1 Fred Fred; 1 Gunn Groo; 1Cordy

Kinky dinky: Depending on how much you're into the Alien mythology you could interpret the Schlucks possessing Fred and the guy as metaphorical rape. CC describes Groo as 'sexy, well-built, go-all-night'

Captain Subtext; Groo starting to pick up on CC's feelings for Angel.

Know the face, different character; 4

Parking garages; 5,

Buffy characters on Angel; 16 Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony

Questions and observations; Drawing from Alien, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers and The Thing a great deal. Our first appearance of grown up Connor for good or ill. Love Lilah's tarantula, once asked Stephanie Romanov at a convention did she have a problem with that scene but she said no, they're 'furry like a kitten'? Groo's mother was called Pomegranate? 'Puppy-dog' is how CC describes the Groo and how she described Jesse in the first ep of Buffy. Gunn once again demonstrates his loathing of creepy-crawlies. 'Thaunmogenisis' is also the term used for the demon created when Buffy was resurrected. Love Lorne's hat. Note when Fred drinks from from the snowglobe she cuts her lip a little. Powerful scene between Gunn and Wes. First real signs of CC's greater power. Lorne uses the traditional Buffyverse line "Standing right here".

Marks out of 10; 5/10 not one of my favourites