Angel 3x21 Benediction Reaction

[@MrLorenzovanmatterho]

"If she asks..."

[@julesreacts]

😭😭

[@gungho1284]

He really keeps us guessing, but yes, Holtz was planning to set up Angel all along. The ultimate achievement in turning Connor against his father. It goes way beyond just stealing or killing his son.

[@ghostofdurruti]

It's remarkable how likeable Groo is despite being "in the way" of the show's main ship... It's not often that you see a character in that position be so likeable

[@biffstrong1079]

Yeah Groo is the guy who doesn't deserve it. Riley deserved a bit of what he got, not of all of it. But Groo (Gru?) The poor old Groosalug just a nice heroic guy who loved Cordelia when she didn't love him back. Poor guy practically has Slug in his name.

[@arc7375]

I’ve never liked the Angel/Cordy romance. It feels bizarre. I always pictured them as brother/sister. So it’s very gross to see the show very forcibly push them towards one another. Groo is indeed a wonderful character. He’s so utterly pure and good. It’s indeed very sad to see him make the realisation he’s not the one for Cordy. Poor guy.

[@biffstrong1079]

@@arc7375 He plays it very sympathetically. I appreciate his maturity in this situation despite being an essentially child like, naive character.

[@roujin518]

I think given the context within the episode its pretty clear it was deliberate that Holtz intended his death to be viewed as Angel killing him. He wouldn't have left that up to chance, and I doubt Justine would have done that on her own as she didn't even want to kill him. This was his final act of vengeance.

[@julesreacts]

Wow, it's absolutely amazing! What a plan!

[@andreduarte8372]

Almost done with this season, and then it's on to the craziest and most epic one! Not to mention most controversial, but I love it. Keith Szarabajka is such a good actor, he really made Holtz stand out!

[@horizonpeak793]

@andreduarte8372 I so agree with you that the next one is the most epic one .

[@T-ON-x5h]

The next season would be the best if it wasn't ruined by episode's 19 - 21 and the worst villain in TV history

[@sparicozwilliams5702]

I just realised that the actor who played Sajan the one who freed hultz was also the werewolf hunter in buffy.

[@julesreacts]

Ahh that is cool!

[@xenosaga8436]

Holz is 14-15 years older than he was. However many years Connor aged, Holz aged. He was basically in suspended animation as Sazion brought him to the present. He aged normally after that.

[@nilesstark]

Mainly because with each Hell, time stops compared our time. Ex: One person committed suicide and was pretty dead for 2 minutes. 2 minutes alone was a lifetime. Another instance was Angel spending 3 months in Hell and those 3 months were hundreds of years for him. In the case of Conner's hell, a few days were at 14 to 17 years.

[@lilywong9672]

They were there for 18 years.

[@willw6504]

@@lilywong9672 Holtz came through several hours after Connor, so Holtz may well have experienced even more than 18 years.

[@JoeThornhill]

It's just early noughties T.V. show makeup.

[@itsagreateridea]

Let’s go ahead and really solidify 17-18 years.

[@davidmeadows5627]

HAHA! I love how you figured it out at the last minute. I was going to explain that this was Holtz's deliberate plan, but you got it in the end! He's quite ingenious!

[@julesreacts]

If he really did plan that all along, HOW BRILLIANT! I cannot even begin to imagine the pain Holtz went through, to stew and rage and PLAN that for so long. It is unbelievable! Shocking!! He is such a memorable character. I can't help but still sympathise with him due to what happened to him, and I love that the audience can feel both love and hate for a character like that. SO good!!

[@Teeklin]

@@julesreacts It is indeed his plan all along. And it adds SO many more layers to the brilliant writing in his speeches in this episode. "I found something a great deal stronger than hate: love" and "I find that if this is vengeance, I have no taste for it" and "this is the only way I can ensure he keeps on loving me" Once you see at the end that he gets Justine to kill him with vampire punctures, suddenly all the things he's saying fall in line in a totally different way and that makes this one of my favorite episodes of the series.

[@andreduarte8372]

00:36 You totally could, though. Don't sell yourself short! 😊

[@julesreacts]

I would not like to bet on that 🤣

[@andreduarte8372]

@julesreacts Well, you could try in the all-shrimp dimension, but the Season 10 comics reveal that there’s a catch... 😂

[@Tantalus010]

@@andreduarte8372 Is it a catch of shrimp?

[@andreduarte8372]

@@Tantalus010 Don't wanna spoil it but you're not wrong!

[@theadamabrams]

18:20 Yes, it has to be deliberate---at 15:11 he says "again"; there's no reason to do two punctures _except_ to frame Angel. Out of every Big Bad in the Buffyverse, Holtz is the only who who arguably just **wins.** He swore that he would show no mercy to Angel when Connor was born, and he 100% followed through. Holtz stole Angel's son, and made him view Holtz as his father, and now manipulated him into believing that Angel murdered his "real father". There may be no way to ever get Connor to reconcile with Angel at this point (and even if there is, Angel still never got to raise Connor from the start). Holtz is absolutely brutal.

[@julesreacts]

Geez, it's honestly shocking. At the time of watching, I thought "again" just meant to make sure he was dead. It was SUCH a surprise to even contemplate that it was deliberate 😮

[@becca1189]

It's interesting how Holtz's vengeance wouldn't have worked if Angel wasn't so very different from Angelus. Of course, Holtz was too far gone to care. Lovely reaction, as always! It was cool to see you put things together in real time. Hope you have a wonderful week!! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜

[@dariusthegr8one81]

Holtz is such an amazing scumbag. All the great lines they gave him and his erry and quiet delivery. Making it feel as tho this man is empathetic but all along he’s just as scummy as it gets. Love this season.

[@ashleytuchin7693]

Second-last episode, here we go! You're correct Jules, Holtz deliberately set Angel up for his murder. He's a devious bugger, isn't he? As much as I hate that Connor will think Angel killed Holtz, you've got to respect the man's cunning and appreciate that he finally managed to get the vengeance he'd sought for so long. As for Gru, I feel sorry for him. He's a good and noble guy but it's become increasingly clear that there's no place for him on the team or in Cordy's heart. He'll always come across as a discount Angel and frankly, he deserves better than that. Also, it's really hard not to hate Conner for how he treated Lorne. Lorne's like Kayley from Firefly - nobody's allowed to be mean to them. I'm looking forward to the finale Jules, som stuff is well and truly going to go down.

[@rogertemple7193]

It's time for more Angel today and it's almost the end of season 3 I'm still hoping that Wesley and Angel will make amends but the way things are going now it is uncertain. have a great week and until the next episode thanks my friend.🧋📺🇦🇺

[@nilesstark]

Holtz had a point. He tried using Hate to win against Angel. Only to realize that Love was a better weapon.

[@Wannabe_Baby]

That was quite the scream when Connor attacked Cordelia. :) And I like that you describe Holtz's ploy as "a cheeky thing to do". That's an understatement! I do still feel bad for Holtz though. It's like he has righteous anger but he's putting that anger before reason.

[@julesreacts]

Yes, I feel bad for him, too! What a polarising character. SO interesting!

[@lionlyons]

Did you know that Keith Szarabajka was the VA for Herschel Biggs (Cole's partner after his demotion to the Arson Desk) in _LA Noire_ ?

[@julesreacts]

Someone did mention that, yes! It's amazing as I never knew until I was told haha

[@killianlpc]

I think the writers used the last two episodes to really set up S4. It was always of course the intention of Holtz to set up Angel with Justine's help, and with Connor pretending to to now be friendly with Angel and the rest, he is able to work his way into them. Some great little comedy moments again, as always, but the dark side of these episodes is still there. Interesting collaboration with Wesley and Lilah, and some great lines from Wesley here, who has now gained an absolute 'hardness' since having his throat so brutally cut by the abominable Justine.

[@joselopezforque8745]

Holtz looks very old, having spent about 18? years in a hell dimension protecting a baby. That's not the same as 18 years on Earth

[@lionlyons]

Who else feels bad for Groo?

[@julesreacts]

Absolutely!

[@haydn60]

Yes, even though he's slow of mind.

[@mjchmb]

This is why we can never have nice things

[@Buffy8Fan]

So Holz after 15 years was always just using Connor to set Angel up and sadly, did an excellent job.

[@tigerstripe6796]

The plot thickens.

[@jdoyle5255]

Happy 2025 everyone great to be back and catching up . The title benediction captures well how key characters are lost and need help. I was hoping for a happy ending but with Angel and Buffy there's often that last scene twist.

[@drb6771]

⭐⭐🌟🌟✨✨🌠🌠👋👋👏👏🙌🙌

[@instigatorartworks]

A Juliette classic. "This is why we can't have nice things."

[@julesreacts]

I'm a bit late to learn, but it's one of Joss' specialties 🤣😭

[@ronfehr7899]

The first time I ever saw this episode, I was convinced that Holtz had a change of heart towards Angel, and was willing to give Connor back to him. And then he had Justine pierce his neck twice. It was revenge after all.

[@julesreacts]

Yeah, I totally fell for it, too!

[@pixy-onewing]

❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍

[@michaelkreitzer1369]

Of course it was deliberate. A highly effective way to ensure Angel continues to suffer.

[@julesreacts]

What a brilliant plan, if he really did mean to do that!

[@brion0220]

Looking forward to your reaction to the finale. You should treat yourself and do it a little early. 👍

[@julesreacts]

Aww thank you! I am quite ahead over on patreon 😄

[@KeatonWarner1]

👍

[@Brandyalla]

Do not feel sad for Holtz!

[@julesreacts]

But that's one of the reasons why I love the character so much! His entire life was shattered when his whole family was murdered by Angelus and Darla. I cannot imagine the pain he endured during that time, and the many years to come. It's been a fascinating journey! I, of course, always put Angel first but I still feel bad for how Holtz suffered 😔

[@Brandyalla]

Sure, he's been through a lot, but the way he went about fixing his problems were never worthy of sympathy from me. He's obsessive and vengeful

[@trufamilybromontqc]

So sad the manipulation Connor is getting 😞

[@nilesstark]

Some people are players, others are pawns.

[@trufamilybromontqc]

@nilesstark you're right

[@Twiceborn_by_grace]

I think it’s funny that the actor’s who plays Gru real life brother plays in Twilight while this actor is around real vampires…not that I think vampires actually exist, but just that Twilight vampires are lame.

[@julesreacts]

I've not seen Twilight! I want to react to them!

[@Twiceborn_by_grace]

@@julesreacts Don’t waste your time and torture your viewers. 🤣

[@tomswift3482]

Hello Jules. 💜 Congratulations, on reminding Fred that sweeping generalizations are just not true - 0:35 Yes, once again, just more evidence as to why we cannot have nice things. 🥲 Did Holtz mean for it to play out this way? I think he did indeed, and if you go back over the various talks he had in this episode - you know the saying Hindsight is 20-20 - you can see that it was the ultimate step in his plan. He gave up his vengeance and made it a real entity. He tells Connor he’s never lied to him, when, in reality, he was lying all along - indoctrinating him - especially the conversation at 8:17, and the brief earlier one, when he first returned after the lounge fight - “He tried to trick me … but I’ve seen his true face.” “And I’ve seen yours.” Holtz, seeing Connor and Angel goofing around, in the alley, having good time, knew his plan was ready to roll out, and Justine was all he needed. With his lies to Connor, Angel, the final note he left with Angel, and his meeting with Justine, his plan was complete. Yet it can be easy to sympathize here. Many would have the same feelings, having gone through what Holtz has. Angel himself regrets the actions of Angelus - he lives with them every day. But it is still a very clever, yet evil plan - and you figured it out, right there during your outro - nicely done, Jules! 🤗 Groo is pretty done it seems, although I think the writing was sort of on the wall a few episodes back when Cordelia sort of dissed him, sort of describing him as childish, yet fun. It think it signaled the beginning of the end for Groo, even though she didn’t realize it, he was to become something she just outgroo. 🤭 Oops, sorry. 😅 Lilah testing Wesley, but really just trying to spark the dark in him. She’s a manipulator, for sure. Well Jules, 💜🫂💜 an eye opener here this day. I hope you’re having a fine week. Another late comment here, as my week has been a bit of all sorts of things - thank goodness for your videos - they are like a bit of peace in the midst of everything 2025. 🥰 But better days are out there and I am sure to see them soon. Thank you, again, and I look forward to your next offering with Always great anticipation! 😊