Groosalugg is back, and Cordelia is smitten. However, she is unwilling to go the whole way in their relationship for fear of losing her visions. Meanwhile, Angel is having trouble dealing with this new champion, and Gunn and Fred's relationship is in danger of interfering with their work.

There's an awful lot of plots running through this, and when one is closed off it seems another one quickly rises to take its place. It's as if the plot is taking secondary place to the characters, which is fair enough to some degree, but there's way too much of Angel getting upset because he's losing Cordelia and Wesley likewise because of Fred. There becomes a point at which the whole trauma becomes decidedly overstated, and it comes about halfway through. It also means that the creature Cordelia sees and later the tree-monster that Gunn and Fred discover aren't very well treated, there mainly to be beaten about a bit and not really dwelt on.

Now, I'm all for a spot of romance for the characters, but I think that prising the entire cast into couples is probably the wrong way forward. Cordelia and Angel could really make an interesting couple, but Gunn and Fred? I just don't see the attraction of watching theirs. There's not really a huge degree of chemistry between them and it's only really made better by Wesley's involvement in this love triangle.

Groo is a reasonable addition; he's good-looking, he's a fighter, he provides a love interest for Cordelia, but frankly he's not any more interesting than he was last season in Pylea. Strip away the fighting abilities and he just becomes a himbo, and that's hardly a suitable candidate for Cordelia's affections. There may be some comedy in his lack of worldly-wiseness, but that's a comedy well that looks pretty well tapped out on the evidence of this story. Maybe he will become more important, but without a personality he's not going to be too interesting to have around.

The tree creature is well-realized if a little silly, and the way Angel beats it is rather clever, if over too fast. There are some poignant scenes and lines scattered throughout, mainly for Angel and Wes, but the end product really isn't greater than the sum of its parts, which is a shame.

***

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