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2.16 Epiphany

Host: "I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say, if all you're going to do is switch back to brood mode, we'd rather have you evil. Then at least -- leather pants?"

The Angel I love is baaacckkk! We're finally past ambivalence, and certainly not soon enough for me.

It began so well with Angel and Darla doing a flip-side version of what he did with Buffy three years ago -- the thunderstorm, the waking-up-in-a-sweat, the eerie music, him falling to the ground in the rain, and even to Darla doing some of Buffy's lines ("Was I not good?") And how about this exchange? Talk about long time couples speaking in shorthand:

Darla: "But we..."
Angel: "Yeah."
Darla: "And you ..."
Angel: "I know."
Darla: "And I..."
Angel: "Three times."

And now Angel can have gratuitous sex and not lose his soul -- think of the possibilities! Kate, Anne, Lilah, Drusilla, Lindsey, Wesley, Gunn... okay, I'm getting carried away, but it does really opens things up for his character.

I loved the Lindsey/Darla scenes, although it's a shame that we didn't actually get to hear what Darla said to Lindsey about Angel that set off the whole truck and cowboy boots thing. Speaking of which, that was really fun too, in an over-the-top supernatural violence sort of way. Although I admit that the whole mallet thing made me cringe.

The writers also hit the right tone with Angel and his former staff: Angel humbling himself, Wesley acting cool and disinterested, Cordelia feeling hurt, and Gunn outright threatening to take Angel out if he screws them over again. These past few episodes have been great for second banana character development, and I'll include Kate and the Host in that statement.

Speaking of which, I'm glad Kate made it. It'll be interesting to see where they go with her. Plus I liked the part about her realizing that she had never invited Angel into her apartment.

Bits and pieces:

-- During the first car scene, Angel was dying to tell Wesley that he'd gotten laid, wasn't he? And Wes never gave him an opening.

-- The message pad scene made it clear that Gunn is still the only actual detective in their detective agency. Which could change if they recruit Kate.

-- The Host called Angel "Sparky" and "my lamb." :)

-- Loved Cordelia getting a vision of herself in trouble, but with only a flat few seconds of warning ("Well, that was helpful!"). And speaking of Cordelia, she lives in L.A. and doesn't have a car?

Quotes:

Host: "I'm not deaf, you know? Jeez, keep your pants on!" (Angel walks in) Well, I see we're a little late with that advice."

Angel: "I probably should have killed her."
Host: "Eh, kill her, give her cab fare, whatever. The point is, you've turned a corner. Well, yay you. Suzu's petals. It's about time. And between you and me, if it had taken you much longer to hit your bottom, I was gonna kick it."

Angel: "I'm still not sure I understand what happened."
Host: "What's to understand? You think you're the first guy who ever rolled over, saw what was lying next to him and went 'Guyeah'!"

Gunn: "Where's Cordy?"
Wesley: "We don't know. Not here."
Gunn: "You checked her pad?"
Angel: "I stopped by there earlier."
Gunn: "You enjoying your visit to 1973? I meant her message pad."
Angel: "Oh, right. That's a good idea. Oh, here, use this. You can make a rubbing of the impressions she left. See what the last thing was that she wrote."
Gunn: "Or we could just read the carbon."

Gunn: "So, you had an epiphany, did you?"
Angel: "Yeah."
Gunn: "So, what you just wake up and, bang?"
Angel: "Well, it was sort of the other way around."

Excellent episode. Four stakes,

Billie





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