Chief Seattle review of "Epiphany"
Linda
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I have switched to newsfeeds. I hope this helps my efforts to cure any
formatting
problems but please let me know if these persist.
Epiphanies
I have generally speaking always been very cautious about the concept of
an epiphany in drama. The idea that a character suddenly comes to a sudden
realization that he or she is heading in the wrong direction and then turns
around 190 degrees can be both lazy and unrealistic. More importantly,
where
it is used to effect a complete break with the past, it is hard to get away
from the idea that the audience is being implicitly invited to disregard
what has gone before. And where the past is discarded in such a cheap and
easy fashion its importance is almost inevitably diminished. This was the
danger in Angel's epiphany in this episode. The writers had very carefully
and intelligently painted a convincing picture of a hero who changed because
of a combination of his own internal conflicts and the machination of
others.
If they had simply hit the reset button that whole process would cease to
have any meaning and the whole first half of the season would thereby be
greatly diminished. It could indeed be dismissed as just a temper tantrum.
But where I think "Epiphany" works is that it doesn't ask us to disregard
Angel's flirtation with darkness. Rather what it does is to provide Angel
(and the viewer) with a change of perspective through which the events of
"Reunion" and especially "Reprise" can be understood. In doing so it
actually
adds to the significance of the events on question rather than diminishing
them.
Angel's Shanshu
And here I return to "To Shanshu in LA". For Angel that episode seemed to
set up an optimistic future. As Wesley observed in "Blind Date" when he
first told him about the prophecies of Aberjian:
"There is a design, Angel. Hidden in the chaos as it may be, but it's
there
- and you have your place in it."
The prophecy he spoke of concerned Angel's Shanshu, his becoming human. This
was the symbol of his redemption. All he had to do in order to earn it was
to play his appointed role in helping to prevent to apocalypse in the
forthcoming
war between the forces of good and evil. Again as Wesley noted:
"He has to survive the coming darkness, the apocalyptic battles, a few
plagues,
and some...uh, several, - not that many - fiends that will be unleashed."
This idea of a grand scheme of things which specifically contemplated
Angel's
own future redemption conditioned Angel's actions and motives throughout
the whole Darla arc. We can see this by the extent to which he
identified
with the human Darla. Here was someone who had literally made him a monster
and who had been closely involved with him in his destruction and killing.
But, just like him, she too had been given back her soul and now had a
chance for redemption. She also had an opportunity to make something of
her life as a mortal, an opportunity she had wasted once before. The
parallels
between her and Angel were so strong that it would be hard to believe that
he didn't identify with her.
And then, just when she seemed to have achieved a redemption of sorts, it
was taken away from her; right in front of Angel and with him helpless to
prevent it happening. Having been a symbol of Angel's own journey of
redemption
so now she became a symbol that that journey would end in failure. That
was when he lost all hope for himself. But he still had something to hold
on to. He had the idea that, regardless of his own personal future, he
could
still gain some satisfaction from destroying evil, the very evil that had
pursued him so relentlessly since arriving in LA:
"Two hundred highly intelligent law-school graduates working fulltime
driving
me crazy. "
But his little trip in the elevator with Holland near the end of "Reprise"
destroyed that notion as well. When Angel asked him why Wolfram and Hart
were fighting he replied:
Holland: "That's really the question you should be asking yourself, isn't
it? See, for us, there is no fight. Which is why winning doesn't enter
into it. We - go on - no matter what. Our firm has always been here. In
one form or another. The Inquisition. The Khmer Rouge. We were there when
the very first cave man clubbed his neighbor. See, we're in the hearts and
minds of every single living being. And *that*, friend, is what's making
things so difficult for you. See, the world doesn't work in spite of evil,
Angel. It works with us. It works because of us."
As I said in my review of "Reprise", this undermined the idea that Angel
could achieve anything by fighting a war. In particular his prophesized
role in the coming apocalypse, which he had set such store by, now ceased
to be that significant at all. In other words what we saw in "Reunion" and
"Reprise" was the destruction of the foundations set up by "To Shanshu in
LA" for Angel's whole sense of mission. Gone was the idea of a great war
for the salvation of humanity and gone was the idea of redemption through
his role in that war. It is no wonder that the end of the latter episode
saw Angel in such a state of despair.
In showing Angel's recovery from that despair the writers could have tried
to hit the reset button. They could have rebuilt the whole idea of his
Shanshu: his redemption through making a decisive contribution to the
victory
of good over evil. With that could have come a new found belief in his
mission.
But that would have implied that the whole of the Darla arc had no
significance
for Angel as a character or for the direction and philosophy of the series.
They would have in effect cheapened if not entirely negated their own work.
They didn't do so. Instead of a revelation that his whole experience with
Darla had been meaningless or that Holland's whole speech to him in the
elevator
had been entirely without any significance what we saw was Angel taking a
second look at those experiences and at Holland's words. Only this time
he saw them in a new light.
Previously he had looked at things essentially from the first person
singular
perspective. He was the special one. He had sinned uniquely; he had a
special
destiny. In this scheme of things everything assumed a significance because
of the way it related to him and his destiny. This was Angel's Achilles
heel because, if you destroy the idea of a unique destiny, you destroy the
very foundations of Angel's world, or rather what he thought were those
foundations.
The epiphany in this case was that they weren't. The epiphany in this case
was that it wasn't all about Angel. It was about everyone else:
Kate: "I feel like such an idiot."
Angel: "Lotta that going around."
Kate: "I just couldn't... my whole life has been about being a cop. If I'm
not part of the force... it's like nothing I do means anything.
Angel: "It doesn't"
Kate: "Doesn't what?"
Angel: "Mean anything. In the greater scheme, the big picture, nothing we
do matters. There's no grand plan, no big win."
Kate: "You seem kind of chipper about that."
Angel: "Well, I guess I kind of worked it out. If there's no great glorious
end to all this, if nothing we do matters... then all that matters is what
we do. 'Cause that's all there is. What we do. Now. Today. I fought for so
long, for redemption, for a reward, and finally just to beat the other guy.
I never got it.
Kate: "And now you do?"
Angel: "Not all of it. But now I just wanna help. I wanna help because
people
shouldn't suffer as they do. Because, if there isn't any bigger meaning,
then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world."
It is implicit from Angel's statements here about his new-found
determination
just to help that he realizes that the previous approach to his mission was
misconceived. That is why he cannot go back to it. What we have instead
of a return to the old inward looking ways is something much more outgoing,
more open to the world. Where this new concept leads us is anyone's guess
at this stage. But I really do like the way the writers have used arc in
this context. As I have already suggested, it is greatly to the benefit
of the conclusion of the Darla arc that the writers have not just hit the
reset button but have instead chosen to use the experiences of that arc as
a catalyst to set the series and its lead character off into another
direction.
Secondly, in doing this they have achieved a seamless and natural
transition.
First and foremost their analysis of Angel and his preoccupations rings so
very true. It is not my intention here to overstate the case by appearing
to suggest that Angel's interest in his redemption was entirely
self-serving.
As a statement, that would lack any fairness. However, Angel was always
an inward looking creature. He had a constant preoccupation with his sins
and his redemption. His brooding was the outward and visible sign of that.
Then there was the failure to connect properly with the world. He had a
very small coterie of friends. But, outside these, the only ones he really
connected with were those with whom he shared common ground - Faith, Bethany
and Judy for example. What struck a chord with Angel was not so much them
as individuals but rather their problems. And these problems - the need
for redemption, to control a dangerous and unpredictable power or the sense
of being neither one thing nor the other - were all reflections of Angel's
own most personal concerns. Even Darla only assumed the importance she did
because of the way it came to symbolize those same concerns. And in his
pursuit of those concerns in the Darla arc he did have a tendency to forget
about everyone else. There is undeniably a degree of self-indulgence here.
Secondly the writers used this analysis and those preoccupations as an
integral
aspect of Angel's descent into the darkness. I have analyzed this process
to death (actually to several deaths) so I do not propose to go over old
ground here. But it was because that descent did have real lessons for
Angel
and did change his perceptions of himself and his role in the world that
ultimately made sense of his decision to stop obsessing about his own sins
and what they mean for him and to look outward.
And this is perhaps what I like most of all about the way in which the
writers
have approached this episode. They have used it to delve deeper still into
Angel's psyche. In doing so they have not been unsympathetic. But they
have been unsentimental. Whereas previously the tendency has been to
portray
Angel's quest for his own redemption in a positive light here we see the
negative side of it. It would probably be going to far to say that it was
to blame for his wrong turning but certainly the fact that it was so central
to his view of the world is now being portrayed, very convincingly I think,
as crucial in the way that the whole Darla arc played out.
And by now seemingly distancing Angel from this concern for his own
redemption,
the writers are opening up all sorts of questions. And I think quite
deliberately
so. The mere fact that Angel has been persuaded to concentrate on
individual
acts of kindness for others rather than his own place in the great scheme
of things does not mean that the writers have turned their back on the idea
that he does have such a place. Quite the opposite. There were several
hints that Angel's fight continues to take place in the context of a greater
struggle. For example, take the slaughter of the lawyers:
Host: "That was slated to happen with or without you. The Powers were just
trying to work it so it'd be without you, that's all. You just...well...You
weren't much help in that department, were ya, sparky?"
Angel: "I wasn't much help? If they wanted me to stay away, why didn't they
just tell me?"
Host: "Would you have listened? Besides, what makes you think they didn't?
Over and over and, as for example, over."
This confirms the call to help the would be suicide in "Reunion" was
intended
to keep Angel to the path someone had marked out for him. But even more
importantly there was the fact that Angel was able to rescue Kate without
an invitation. At first this seemed merely a piece of carelessness on the
part of the writers. But it wasn't:
Kate: "I'm... grateful. I never thought you'd come for me.
But I got cut a huge break, and I believe... I don't know what I believe,
but I... have faith. I think maybe we're not alone in this.
Angel: "Why?"
Kate: "Because I never invited you in."
The Night with Darla
Ultimately, however, the effectiveness of this story comes down to the
extent
to which it is believable that Angel suddenly undergoes the change of
perspective
I have just been discussing. And fundamental to this is the idea that
sleeping
with Darla represented for him rock bottom. When she realizes that he still
has his soul she is confused:
"I don't understand... Was I... was it... not good? Well, I don't accept
this. You cannot tell me that wasn't perfect. Not only have I been around
for four hundred years, I used to do this professionally and that was
perfect!"
Angel's reply was:
"And it was perfect, Darla. It was perfect despair."
Despair was the only reason Angel did sleep with her. It certainly wasn't
because she meant anything to him. And when he woke up he realized that.
As the Host later said:
"What's not to understand? You think you're the first guy who ever rolled
over, saw what was lyin' next to him, and went 'Gueeeyah!'".
It focused his attention on whom and what he had become - someone who would
have thrown away his very soul and endangered who knows how many people.
Darla: " Yes. But I was going to kill you tonight. Take you out of this
world,
the same way I brought you into it. But then I didn't have to... you gave
yourself over so completely, Angelus. I felt you surrender."
Angel: "I gave you everything I had left..."
Darla was herself going to release Angel's soul but in the end she didn't
even have to try. He would have given it up voluntarily. Again to quote
the Host:
"It's called a moment of clarity, my lamb. And you've just had one. Sort
of appalling, ain't it? To see just exactly where you've gotten yourself."
But more than that he saw why he had become like that:
Angel: "You were the reason. You've always been the reason. You're the thing
that made me what I am. I thought... I thought if I could save you, I'd
somehow
be saving myself. But I was wrong. And when I failed..."
Darla: "Stop it.."
Angel: "...when I failed, you saved me. And I have to thank you for that.
There's nothing I can do for you now Darla, I can't even hate you."
His preoccupation with his own redemption as symbolized by his preoccupation
with her had led him to this pass and it was this that he decided to change.
To me this does indeed seem to be a credible picture of an epiphany. It
brings together the two essential elements needed. First was Angel's
realization
that he had taken a wrong turning. The slaughter of the lawyers in
"Reunion",
the way he had treated everyone in "Blood Money", the heart to heart with
the host in "Happy Anniversary" none of that had been sufficient. It needed
something of a qualitatively different nature to waken Angel up and the
risk of losing his soul seems to me to constitute just such an event. But
the second element was also important. He had to understand why he had gone
wrong. The events post "Reunion" were, I think, intended to be seen as the
result of powerful forces at play deep within Angel's psyche so no change
in his behavior which failed to recognize and deal with these forces would
have been credible.
This aspect of the episode is not without its faults. And the most serious
problem concerns the possible loss of Angel's soul. This was the
consequence
of "perfect happiness", when the soul no longer plagues the vampire with
its guilt. And yet psychologically we had the exact opposite - perfect
despair.
The soul (and therefore the demon) could hardly be more tortured. So,
where
did the risk lie? Why was Angel so appalled by his actions? It seems to
me that this introduces yet more confusion to the question of whether sex
alone can be responsible for lifting the curse. And I have to add that in
this context I did not find the opening shots, which repeated the beginning
of "Innocence", especially helpful. I can understand why they were included.
They reminded us all of the danger of Angel losing his soul. And it was
this rather than the dialogue that is intended to inform the viewer of what
lay at the heart of Angel's epiphany. But I found that problematic. It
suggests that Angel was at least having to fight to retain his soul and may
have only just succeeded. If that were the case then it would greatly
strengthen
the central idea of this episode. If Angel had narrowly avoided losing his
soul through his own stupidity that would certainly qualify as such a
life-changing
event that it would justify an epiphany. But how exactly would that work?
Are we now to suppose that Angel, through will power, can in some
circumstances
affect the operation of the curse? If that was intended it clearly wasn't
thought through. The more likely explanation is that it was no more than
a tease. But if so to me it rang false.
And so too did Angel's decision not to kill Darla. He had already made up
his mind to do it in "Reunion" and the reason he gave for not being able
to kill her up close and personal in "Redefinition" no longer held good.
In this episode he had explicitly recognized who she was and what she was
capable of. He may have felt sorry for what he had not been able to do but
there is nothing to suggest he had any human sympathy lefty for her. In
fact quite the opposite.
Apart from that, however, I really did like the treatment of sex in this
episode. It happened apparently three times between Angel and Darla.
Physically
it was perfect but it was empty. In the end Angel was simply using her.
First he tried to use her as a means of ridding himself of the pains and
torments of this life. As it turned out she performed a quite different
service for him, albeit unintentionally. But it came down to the same
thing.
For her part Darla probably found sex with Angel repugnant. This was not,
after all, Angelus but a human soul that still disgusts her. Having sex
with Angel was just a way of getting rid of it.
So, for neither was the sex an expression of love. It was in fact an act
of prostitution. There was a hint of this is Darla's reminder to him of
her former profession. But much more explicitly we find it in her bitter
little comment in Lindsey's apartment. When he sees her with the ring Angel
had taken from the senior partner and which she evidently rescued from where
he had thrown it she says of it:
"It was my payment."
This subverts the whole Buffy/Angel dynamic in "Innocence". There, genuine
love was responsible for the loss of Angel's soul. Here, cold empty sex
saved it. The irony is perfect. Yet like all the best irony there was a
very simple logic to it. In "Innocence" sex with Buffy was the means to
Angel becoming happy with himself for the first time since his soul was
restored.
That was the reason why it had such a devastating effect. In "Epiphany"
Angel realized that he didn't respect himself. That was what caused the
reaction there.
But the counterpoint is even more telling. Lindsey's reaction showed just
how much she meant to him. He had risked his career, his very life for
Darla.
She had already betrayed him once by her attempt to kill the senior partner
and steal his ring. And yet he doesn't rebuke her for it. He is in fact
remarkably understanding:
You should have told me what you planned to do. I would have talked you out
of it... or... or helped you. I don't know..."
For perhaps only the second time since joining Wolfram and Hart, Lindsey
was not controlled or dominated by the need to further his career. He put
someone else above his own self-interest. And yet they had never had sex.
I think we can assume this fact from Lindsey when, in an effort to protect
her from Wolfram and Hart's retribution he says:
"We should probably clear your stuff out of here. We can move it into my
bedroom..."
The fact that their relationship remained chaste is itself a strong
indication
of how much he did love her since he clearly wasn't helping her simply
because
of the sex and he might even have been in a position to blackmail her if
he wanted to. He therefore treated the prospect of sex between them as
something
special and important. That is why the revelation that sex had been treated
as some sort of commodity between Angel and Darla produced in him the
reaction
that it did. He obsessively demanded to know from both of them the details
of what went on. And when he goes after Angel something has changed. This
isn't the cool, calm and calculating lawyer who is in control. It is now
something raw and visceral; something that even the loss of his hand (a fact
that we were specifically reminded of) couldn't bring out of him. Of the
three involved in the triangle, Lindsey was the only one to give his heart.
He was also the only one to end up really hurt. Perhaps the real message
from this is a better one than the traditional "sex is bad" line from ME.
Perhaps what the writers are really saying is that the real problem comes
not from the sex itself but from whom you give you heart to. Angel had sex
with Darla but recognized what sort of a creature she was and because he
did he was set back on the right path. Lindsey clearly did not understand
about Darla and, despite the fact that his love for her remained
unconsummated,
as a result ended up not only with a broken heart and a broken hand and body
but an empty apartment. The real question here, however, remains what
effect
this will have on the future direction he takes. Has this episode given
him yet further reason to hate Angel and thereby cemented his loyalty to
Wolfram and Hart? We shall have to see.
The Consequences
For me, there was a further major point about this episode. As Angel
himself
admitted to the Host he has done things to feel guilty about.
Angel: "I don't know how to get back."
Host "Well, that's the thing. You don't. You go to the new place. Wherever
that is."
Angel: "I don't know if I can. I've done...things... questionable things."
As I have already suggested ANGEL as a series is about redemption. Whatever
Angel does redemption is always possible. But it is also a key message of
the series that it isn't easy. This was the message he gave to Faith in
"Sanctuary". An apology is a good start. Again from "Sanctuary":
Faith: "Are you saying I got to apologize?"
Angel: "Think you can?"
That is why it was good to see Angel apologize not only to Wesley, Cordelia
and Gunn but also to Darla and indeed to Lindsey for the past mistakes he
made with them. But this is only a start. For his transgressions there
have to be consequences; and ideally they should not be arbitrary ones
either.
There is a crude justice about a punishment fitting the crime that I find
very appealing and that is certainly what we got here. As we have already
seen, at the heart of Angel's problems lie his preoccupation with his own
problems and a sense of his own uniqueness. And both of these traits find
expression in his pride, the slightly arrogant way he assumes and imposes
leadership and a marked tendency to trample objections underfoot. For
someone
like that there is nothing more salutary than to defer to others. When you
have been used to exercising unquestioned power, when your whole sense of
identity to built around that power it is hard to accept a subordinate role.
As Wesley observed in "Shroud of Rahmon"
"You don't tell *him* what to do. He's the boss."
But as I have already said the lesson in this is that it is not about Angel.
It is about helping others and the outward and visible sign that Angel is
now going to place others first is his willingness to accept a subordinate's
role. That is the real importance of the final scene:
Angel: "I'm sorry."
Wesley: "Understood. However, before you say anything more, I should tell
you...we've all discussed it and none of us feels we're ready just yet to...
Angel: It's okay, Wesley. I don't want you to come back to work for me.
Wesley: "Oh. I see."
Angel: "I want to work for you."
Gunn: " You wanna work for us?"
Angel: "Yeah, I do."
Wesley: "Why?"
Angel: "I think I can help."
Cordelia: "How do we know we can trust you?"
Angel: "Guess I'll just have to earn that."
I think this is an extremely well thought out and very satisfying solution
to the problem of how Angel is going to earn redemption for his
transgressions.
And I for one do not underestimate just how difficult a task it will be
for him. Not only will it be hard; the discipline needed to continue to
focus on simply helping others rather than being continually preoccupied
with his own redemption will actually be good for him. It is what he needs
to live in "the new place" the host referred to. And above all it is
entirely
consistent with Angel as a character. He is not perfect, for all the
reasons
I have just discussed. But his is a trier and he does want to do what is
right. It's just that sometimes his judgment as to what is right is a
little
flawed. But once he does see what needs to be done he will do it,
regardless
of the cost to himself.
It also serves to give Wesley and the others due credit for their
achievements
in maintaining "the good fight" in Angel's absence. The writers have gone
to some pains in the course of this episode to assert their importance.
They stressed the fact that Cordelia in particular was Angel's link with
the Powers that Be. Despite his physical handicap Wesley was able to make
very successful efforts to defend himself and we saw his depth of knowledge
about the supernatural in his encyclopedic knowledge about the Skilosh
demons:
Wesley: "Skilosh, a notoriously violent, a- sexual, self-replicating species
of demon, has the distasteful habit of implanting its demon spawn into the
cranium of a human host.. One of the key diagnostic symptoms being, of
course,
the tell-tale third eye on the back of the host's head. If the condition
is not arrested in time, a newborn Skilosh will erupt,full-grown, from the
skull of its human host. This is, of course, fatal. For the human host. Not
the Skilosh. Obviously."
We see their comradeship and care for one another and indeed their
self-confidence
even without Angel. When they see Cordelia with the third eye they decide
not to wait for him:
Gunn: "That's gotta hurt."
Wesley: "It'll hurt more when the thing that's gestating inside of her
hatches,
I can assure you."
Gunn: "Try not to use the word "gestate" again and how long we gonna wait
for Angel?"
Wesley: "We're not."
Gunn: "Good."
Wesley: "Well, why should we?"
Gunn: "We shouldn't."
In short the writers are suggesting that "Angel Investigations" is not now
simply a one man band. And this is of course a very important consideration
in view of the new dynamic we have been introduced to.
That, however, is about all I have to say about it that is positive about
this aspect of the episode because there are major problems with it. The
first thing I disliked was the way in which the Host tried to play down
Angel's
part on the death of Holland and the others. Certainly it is entirely true
what he says:
"That was slated to happen with or without you. The Powers were just trying
to work it so it'd be without you, that's all. You just...well. You weren't
much help in that department, were ya, Sparky?"
If Angel had helped the would be suicide Darla and Drusilla would still have
shown up at Holland's wine tasting and a massacre would still have taken
place. But the point is that he was there and he did lock the door thus
helping them. If the series really is about redemption it should be about
embracing facts like that and dealing with the consequences rather than
trying
to sidle around them.
But that is not my main complaint. I am afraid that I cannot buy the idea
of Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn being the injured parties entitled thereby to
the moral high ground in their dealing with Angel. First of all though,
as prime mover in the whole Darla arc, Angel must shoulder most of the
responsibility
for what went wrong. Cordelia and Wesley in particular failed in their
responsibility
to a friend. If, as they clearly did, they could see the dangers he was
running it was their duty as such to warn him in clear and explicit terms.
If he refused to listen that was his own look out. But time and time again
they chickened out, essentially through moral cowardice. The classic
example
of this was the exchange between Cordelia and Wesley at the start of "The
Trial":
Cordelia: "Don't say Darla! I'm sick and tired hearing about Darla. If
I hear the name Darla one more time! And he is not distraught, he is
obsessed!
And I thought you were gonna be a man and talk to him about this!"
Wesley: "I was a man! I said...things."
Cordelia: "Like what?"
Wesley: "Like ... did he prefer milk or sugar in his tea. It's how men
talk about things in England."
Wesley and Gunn as good as admitted their failings at the end of "Reunion":
Wesley: "We've all been worried about you, and I guess it's fair to say
we all share some of the blame. We should have spoken up sooner."
Gunn: "And louder."
So, I take with a large pinch of salt the following impassioned encomium
for Cordelia delivered by Wesley:
"It's the visions, you see. The visions that were meant to guide you. You
could turn away from them. She didn't have that luxury. She knows and
experiences
the pain in this city and, because of who she is, she feels compelled to
do something about it. It's left her little time for anything else."
She didn't exactly go out of her way to help Angel. But then when she does
confront our fallen hero, his failure to help others wasn't exactly top of
her list of priorities either:
Angel: "You okay?"
Cordelia "No."
Angel: "You're not?"
Cordelia: "No. You really hurt my feelings."
This is what continues to ring completely false about Wesley, Cordelia and
Gunn's reaction to Angel's "dark period". On a couple of occasions, as
indicated
above, Wesley expresses disgust at Angel's abandonment of the "good fight".
But there is no attempt to show he had any understanding of what Angel was
doing. Did any of Angel's former colleagues try to understand the
difference
between fighting the good fight in the sense of helping others and fighting
a war? When they last had contract with him he had just actively
participated
in the deaths of the Wolfram and Hart lawyers and had fired them when they
tried to convince him he needed to change. This was more than simply
walking
away from his duty. This was dangerous. But the problems do not end there.
The quote from Cordelia suggests that what really annoyed her and the
others
was being fired and then abandoned by a friend. A reaction like that
amounted
to little more than personal pique. For individuals who have dedicated
themselves
to helping those in need this strikes me as a remarkably unforgiving
attitude.
Whatever happened to bearing friends infirmities with patience? That
itself
is bad enough because it would be to completely trivialize what had
happened.
But more importantly there is an obvious difference between the two
reactions
just discussed. But there is really no attempt on the part of the writers
to distinguish between them. Rather the dialogue seems to switch between
the two randomly.
Plot
The basic plot can be fairly readily summed up. The Skilosh lured Cordelia
to the Sharp's house as part of their attempt to gain revenge for the
killing
of one of their unborn offspring. They later found Wesley and tried to kill
him in his apartment. Angel was told about this by the Host and by helping
save his friends he began to be re-integrated with them in "the good fight".
There were a few problems with the set up of the basic plot. I haven't been
able to work out the time line for the night and if someone had the patience
to do it, it might make very interesting reading. But certainly Cordelia
too an awfully long time to get to the Sharp's home. The Host was in bed
and he ran a karaoke bar. Did she really expect the Sharp's to be awake
that late? And then why did she come by taxi and pay it off instead of
having
it wait for her? Finally, in the middle of the night she finds an unlocked
front door in a family home and just walks in. I mean short of pinning a
"Watch out it's a trap" notice to the front door what else could the demons
have done to warn her. Besides we had already seen the trap being set up
so it came as absolutely no surprise at all when it was sprung.
The raid on Wesley's apartment was also more than a little obvious and it
begged the question why lure Cordelia to the Sharp's instead of attacking
her either at the office or her own place.
But, on the whole, the writers were able to inject enough tension into these
pretty standard scenarios to keep out attention. For example, in the attack
on Wesley's apartment I really did enjoy his frantic efforts to arm himself
as the Skilosh closed in. And the confusion between himself and Angel first
over the latter's entrance and then the way to kill the demon were also very
entertaining. Less enjoyable as such but nevertheless important was the
impregnation of Cordelia with the Skilsoh spawn. This not only gave the
Skilosh a believable reason for keeping her alive but also added to the
creepiness
factor. Even though we realized that Cordelia would be rescued the fact
that she was treated like this made it feel as though she was under threat
and that is always important.
But the best part of the plot was the way it was interrupted by the
sub-plot.
When Wesley spotted a truck driving around Angel Investigations Offices
I thought it might be the Skilosh or even perhaps someone from Wolfram and
Hart. But when Angel was so unexpectedly run over by the truck I had no
idea at all that it would be Lindsey. And the fury of the attack was
something
else that made it very difficult to catch my breath. In fact, while this
was going on I basically lost interest in the main plot and was more than
a little annoyed when it interrupted the Angel/Lindsey confrontation. Not
that the outcome was in any doubt, although I very much liked the fact that
the inevitable Angel fight back was delayed as long as it was. That was
what kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering just when he would get up
and finish Lindsey off. But apart from that, and the suddenness of the
attack,
the thing I liked best about this scene was the way that Angel apologized
to Lindsey very simply and very sincerely (and without any hint of irony)
while he was beating him up. Angel had reserved a special venom for Lindsey
up until now. Implicitly I think he was judging him for what he was. Here
to we saw a marked change in Angel's attitude.
And this brings me to the most important point about the plot. In the main
it must be said that it merely served as an opportunity to reintroduce the
four main characters to one another. And in this respect it worked
reasonably
well. The down side of this was that in parts the episode was a little slow
moving with individual scenes with high drama such as the raid on Wesley's
apartment and the impregnation of Cordelia separated by lengthy scenes in
which nothing actually happens to propel the narrative forward. But the
point here is that in these scenes we were given ample opportunity to see
the resentment that Wesley in particular feels towards Angel and the
latter's
very awkward attempts to ingratiate himself with his former subordinate were
highly amusing. The scenes between the two of them helped illustrate
Angel's
new found resolve to be a "team player" and as such made a solid
contribution
towards establishing the basic premise of the episode. But there was a
lightness
of touch about them that worked very well. Angel's clumsiness both served
both to take him down a peg or two and simultaneously made him a more
sympathetic
character than he had been for a while. As such it was an important part
in the re-humanization of the character. I am bound to say though that the
dialogue between Angel and Gunn did not work at all well. Basically Gunn's
response to Angel was sarcasm. Wesley's cold, deliberate refusal to give
Angel an inch was very effective in communicating the thought that he would
have to do rather more than that to make his peace with his friends without
appearing to be overly aggressive. But sarcasm only works where the other
is behaving in an overbearing fashion. When the other person is already
showing humility and contrition it's the response of the bully. The best
that can be said for it is that it isn't terribly attractive.
Overview
A- (8.5/10) There were some parts of this episode that I loved. As I have
already mentioned I started out with significant reservations about the
prospect
of an epiphany. But this part of the episode was handled very well indeed.
I liked in particular the fact that it did not try to pretend the Angel
goes dark period didn't happen. Rather they used it to get Angel to look
at what his mission should really be about and to admit to himself some
failings
in his whole attitude. In that sense it preserves the continuity of the
arc. It remains recognizably a single story where changes and developments
that take place are naturally seen to affect what follows rather than being
arbitrarily discarded. And the writers have not neglected the consequences
of Angel's actions but have instead provided us with a very satisfying sense
of him paying his proper dues. Moreover, in charting Angel's psychological
evolution through the arc the writers have again delved deeper to add
further
to out knowledge of the vampire and his motivation. Remarkably what they
seem to be saying about him is not only consistent with the character as
he appeared before but also forms the basis for what appears to be some very
interesting change and growth for the character. And this psychological
understanding also raises some important issues for the philosophy of the
series, in particular what is the nature of Angel's path towards redemption.
I look forward to yet more exploration here. Having said that, however,
if the second half of the Darla arc was bedeviled by one consistent failing
it was in the treatment of Angel's former employees. In their attitude to
Angel and to his turning dark little for me rang true and there was almost
nothing which went beyond the superficial. The fact that we saw little or
no appreciation from them of the meaning of "the good fight" in opposition
to Angel's concept of fighting a war was especially disappointing. In
retrospect,
by treating as they did Angel's actions as a personal betrayal of them,
afforded
the writers the opportunity to set up the ending of this episode where Angel
has to swallow his pride and work for his former employees. That was
certainly
a very natural development of their offended pride. But for my money it
was purchased at too high a price in terms of the overall credibility tom
be given to the actions of Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn. This is one of the
main reasons why I have marked it down. The other difficulty lies with some
of the plot problems I have mentioned, especially the decision not to stake
Darla which was in terms of the story as told wholly inexplicable.