Angel and company are having a hard time dealing with the concept of taking charge of Wolfram & Hart, not helped by a man who insists that the firm wins his unwinnable court case or else he’ll destroy the city.

You’ve got to hand it to Joss Whedon. From the first five minutes of this episode you know he’s very much in charge and holding the reins tightly. The camerawork is gorgeous, especially his long panning shots through the W & H offices, and the writing is spot on. Most notably, this affects Angel, the character that, let’s face it, Whedon created, has written the most for, and knows best of all those present. David Boreanaz is clearly loving his work in the show, with some incredible fight scenes (although obviously the more ‘vampiric’ moves are his stunt double’s), perfect delivery on the comedic moments, from hitting the wrong phone button to seeing his collection of cars and learning he has a helicopter, and some really cool stuff at the end when the head of the marines who handle all the Wolfram & Hart ‘wetwork’ is, quite literally, fired. Not only that, but all Whedon’s favourite tricks are present: something sinister in a school, and the obligatory re-introductory ‘hero in an alley rescuing someone’ sequence at the start, which he keeps managing to do in new and silly ways every time.

That said, he does have the voices of the other characters down pat, from the calm, thoughtful Wes, the scatty Fred and the rough and ready Gunn to the over-enthusiastic Lorne. Of course, that’s not to mention the returning Harmony, who is without doubt the funniest person present with all the best lines, and the mysterious Eve, who’s both sexy and mysterious and will be interesting to learn more about. As a re-introduction (or introduction for some viewers), it’s a splendid start. Fred gets all the exposition out of the way within two minutes of the opening credits, and from then on it’s all go.

The main plotline, a bomb hidden within a child containing a virus, is a great one to kick off with, taking up just enough of the episode to allow time to get Angel and company on their feet and introduce the various departments while also putting together an impressively sinister plan. Throw in the marines and you’ve got a lot of ingredients for only 45 minutes, not to mention chucking in the return of Spike at the end.

Along the way, Gunn is given the chance to become more integral to the show by getting ‘lawyered up’, resulting in a particularly underhand bit of legal wrangling to save the day at the end. With Fred showing her credentials as a tough boss when the circumstances demand it, the only one who’s a little left out is Wes, but surely it’ll only be a matter of time.

Overall, it’s a very promising start. Lots of comedy, lots of drama, lots of neat effects (the opening is just gorgeous), and with Whedon overseeing everything without distraction, this should be a pretty tight year. It may be easier to forget Buffy’s absence than we might have thought.

****

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