Angel
You're Welcome
original air-date: 02-04-04
Can an
episode be both wonderful and disappointing at the same time?
Perhaps
it is the brilliance that makes a few minor flaws more evident.
That being
said, this episode is for the most part a tight, well done
offering that will likely leave most fans very satisfied.
If nothing else, Cordelia’s return is cause for celebration.
Miss Carpenter,
hair looking resplendent for the first time in a while, turns
in a solid performance despite her hiatus (perhaps she was
just happy to shoot some scenes without the dreadful Vincent
Kartheiser). A nice mix of humor, Jiminy Cricket-ry (not to
be confused with Jiminy Glick-ery), and nostalgia eventually
gives way to a sad ending that may leave even the soulless
teary eyed. After seeing this episode, many long time viewers
will probably conclude that the show was better with Cordelia
than without.
And whether
inspired by this return or the 100th episode milestone, David
Boreanaz also shines here. Angel is often most entertaining
when he is put on the defensive. Cordy, plucked from her mystical
coma into a world turned upside down, is the perfect agent
to knock Angel off balance while simultaneously getting him
back on track. Specifically, the Powers That Be (oh yeah,
remember them? Guess they still do give a “shanshit”
about Angel) send Cordy a vision about the threat posed by
the tattooed man, a.k.a. Lindsey.
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Speaking
of the latter, Christian Kane does a much better job this
week. But even his enjoyable portrayal of the one time W&H
rising star can’t hide some fundamental problems with
the story of late. For example, why did Lindsey and Eve even
bother to send Spike to save Angel from the psycho-slugs?
Why not just leave him trapped in a vegetative state? What
was the whole point of convincing Spike to play hero anyway?
Doing so had absolutely no effect on Lindsey’s plan to
activate the so-called failsafe.
And why
are Lindsey and Eve so worried about Cordelia waking up? They
don’t know about her visions.
Of course,
these questions all assume you buy into the basic premise
of Lindsey’s vengeance. The fact is, he really didn’t
seem that hellbent on revenge when he left LA. What happened
to him that changed his mind? How did he hook-up with Eve?
And really,
after all the set-up this season about that particular UC
Santa Cruz alumna, that’s it? Not that Eve’s been
a popular character, but what a letdown! And hey, the two
of us who are actually fans (me and my birthday twin Alison)
are really disappointed. Hopefully the writers still have
a trick up their sl-Eve.
It just
seems a little disappointing that the Lindsey-Eve arc has
just been throwaway filler to keep the fans occupied until
the writers introduce the main arc for the season. It would
have been more satisfying if they could have tied that arc
to whatever lies ahead. Perhaps they still will.
In any
case, even slow witted viewers know now that whatever comes
after next week’s throwaway flashback episode is the
main course.
Still
this episode makes a very satisfying appetizer. Congratulations
to the cast and crew of Angel on their 100th episode.
And a
special thanks to Charisma Carpenter. We’ll miss the
wonderful job you did in developing Cordelia from Sunnyvale
high school bitch to the beloved Heart of the Fang Gang.
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