Angel
Forgiving
Episode Air Date 04/15/02

The show that did too much...

In the history of Angel, we can say that this season has been very strong overall. Whereas some of the weaker episodes have favored "talking heads" in lieu of action or plot development, some of the outstanding episodes have delivered healthy portions of story served up at a satisfyingly brisk pace.

Last night's episode, however, may have tried to deliver too much. Consider in one episode:

Angel figures out where Conner and Holtz are.

Gunn and Fred uncover Wesley's fate.

Angel visits another nexus, sans fast food, into TPTB (presumably that's who she is; boy, it sure would have been funny if, like a Pepsi commercial, she had unzippered into, say, Ashley Judd, and then Judd Hirsch)

A "rejuvenated" Sahjan reveals his true agenda and is subsequently issued the magical equivalent of a "Dear Sahjahn letter." As tiresome as Sahjahn's schtick was becoming, the audience deserved more than a few sentences as denouement.

On top of all that, the episode tries to deliver both dramatic tensions as well as the trademark snappy repartee.

The result is more all-you-can-eat buffet than seven-course gourmet dinner. Sure, you're full. But are you satisfied?

Given the events of the mid-season cliffhanger, the opening tone was serious. But instead of achieving the dramatic success of say, famed Buffy episode "The Body," the initial scenes come closer to one of those out-of-place, unappetizing twilight sitcom episodes requisitely promoted as "Tonight, on a very special…" To his credit, Boreanaz does an admirable job conveying mixed emotions (he even creates an entirely new facial expression that falls outside the stock brooding and goofy camps).

Not so enjoyable, however, are lame one-liners (one exception to the lameness: an inside joke about spelling Sahjahn that's an apparent nod to the far-too-prolonged debate on Angel fan boards). It's as if the writers wanted to create drama and panic, then hastily forced in some jokes to hedge their bet.

Worse, the one character that should be witty regardless of Angel's suffering - the ultra-dry Linwood - is serious to the point of being dull. And one must question how a man so easily broken could ever rise to the upper ranks of Wolfram & Hart.

Fortunately, the episode improves steadily after a shaky beginning. The humor flows more naturally because it comes mainly from characters, Lorne and Sahjahn, whose inherent wit superposes any circumstances. Also, the initial encounter between Gunn and Justine, along with the ending hospital scene, work especially well.

As stated before, there is a lot here for fans starved during the hiatus. However, serious fans may find that a few plot and character lapses (including the aforementioned behavior of Linwood) weaken the episode. (Warning: Stop reading to avoid spoilers).

First and foremost, why didn’t Wesley die?

Second, it seems unlikely that book-happy Wesley would toss his diaries. More generally, why would anyone bother to keep a diary if they would ever throw it
later? Besides, Wesley would take his books before his toothbrush, his extra glasses, or even his favorite CD of Broadway show tunes.

Finally, Justine’s behavior was too inconsistent. If she was so hell bent on Angel’s destruction, why did she save him at the end? And just why was she so obsessed with killing Angel? Given that Holtz betrayed her, would she be so interested in carrying
out Holtz’ mission?

Overall, the episode serves up a lot. And because of that, some (perhaps many) fans will no doubt grumble at criticism.

Just maybe next time, though, a little less Claim Jumper and a little more Chez Panisse.

 

Chris Crotty