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Angel
Underneath
original air-date: 04-14-04
In the
last few episodes Angel had begun to sound like a broken record:
"It was mistake to join Wolfram & Hart, it was a
mistake to join Wolfram & Hart, it was a mistake to join
Wolfram & Hart, and so on." Finally in this episode
he decides to do something about it.
Well,
sort of. Since his fangs are somewhat tied by the Connor contract,
Angel opts instead to learn more about the Senior Partners.
He sets this goal after his staff meeting only draws fellow
vamps Spike and Harmony. Gunn lingers in the hospital, Wes
is being-sitting Illyria, and Lorne is AWOL (alcohol while
on leave).
So Hope
and Crosby...er...Spike and Angel head off to Lindsey's symbol
laden bachelor pad where that "bendy little rat snake"
Eve is holed up (apparently Spike sides with the majority
of fans). They threaten to spill the beans on her whereabouts
if she doesn't dish on the Senior Partners. But the unexpected
fading of the protective symbols renders the extortion unnecessary
as Eve begs for protection from whoever or whatever the Senior
Partners have sent after her.
Turns outs
it's a well-dressed guy in a suit who's slightly reminiscent
of the original Bounty Hunter on The
X-Files. But whereas that alien favored an ice pick,
this guy is more hands on (or is that "hands through"
?).
Meanwhile
Wes is enjoying a whiskey induced dream about Fred. Likely
the audience is not; there is a decided lack of chemistry
between Wes and Fred. However, the exchanges between Wes and
Illyria are more satisfying. Wes is always entertaining when
dark. And while Illyria would claim to be emotionless, her
circumstances (new place, new body) render her susceptible
to feelings that Ms. Acker subtly and skillfully leaks out.
At some point soon, however, the writers need to give the
audience more than the grieving Wes and the "fish out
of water." Even later on in this episode, a rooftop scene
threatens to generate a "who cares" response from
viewers.
Under
Angel's special protection (cough...plot device...), Eve suggests
Lindsey is really the person who has some answers. Like Angel,
the audience might like some answers, too. Mainly how, when,
and where did Eve and Lindsey even meet? Match.com? Speed
dating? A Wolfram & Hart bowling mixer? Except that Eve
didn't seem to be around when Lindsey worked for the firm.
Or even if she was, Eve clearly wasn't part of his life then.
Unfortunately, short cuts and plot gaps may be yet another
price fans pay for the series cancellation.
Unfortunately
the Senior Partners have squirreled away Lindsey in a special
holding dimension. Despite a disturbing resemblance to many
SoCal tract home developments, Gunn assures Angel that it's
not the same as Hell. In fact, Lindsey even has a cute wife
and an adoring son. Of course, he also seems to have something
nasty in the basement; his facial expression is telling when
his wife commands him to go down for a spare oven light bulb
(being a SoCal based holding dimension, they no doubt bought
a case of 200 at CostCo...).
Angel,
Spike, and Gunn devise a breakout that involves a Camaro that's
first cousin to KITT (if we are to believe Spike!) and unexpected
gunplay more akin to a Tarantino movie. Between this episode
and the cult classic movie After Hours, ice cream trucks
are going to get a bad name.
As even
the slightly savvy viewer might expect, Angel gets Lindsey
out. But there's a steep price to be paid for the Fang Gang.
And for Eve, who at the end also has to give up something
big to the man in the suit.
The payoff
for the viewer is disappointing: Lindsey doesn't reveal much
about the Senior Partners though his Palmolive Madge delivery
is mildly entertaining. In the end it's really just another
reminder to Angel that "it was a mistake to join Wolfram
& Hart."
Despite
the lack of revelations, the episode is still solid. There
is some decent dialogue, nice visuals, and a real bad-ass
monster that delivers some of the best fighting seen in some
time. Plus the new character Hamiliton a.k.a. the guy
in the suit, was very interesting.
Maybe
next week Angel can really do something about that fact that
"it was a mistake to join Wolfram & Hart." The
preview shows that Connor (with mindwipe) returns. So Angel
should have an opportunity to change his fate. After all,
heroes aren't supposed to accept the rules, are they?
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