I've Got You Under My Skin

I've Got You Under My Skin
Written by
Directed by David Greenwalt

Original Airdate: February 15, 2000

Plot: Angel is called in to help with a family that has a family member possessed by a demon.

Review

Warning: If you want to exorcise SPOILERS from your life, please turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for the latest episode of Angel, "I've Got You Under My Skin."

In short: A remarkable improvement.

Over the past couple of weeks, Angel has been a mere shadow of its former self. It seemed as if the spectre of Doyle was hanging over the show and there were times that I honestly wondered if the series would ever step back into the light it had enjoyed so much during the first nine episodes.

And, finally, after five episodes, it's happened. "I've Got You Under My Skin" was exactly the kind of medicine Angel so desparately needed. Namely, it was an intelligently written, superbly acted, suspenseful and all-around entertaining episode that served to renew my faith in the show. (Please don't misunderstand me...I'm not saying the show is fixed, but I'm saying it's back on the right track. Time will tell if they can keep this up on a consistent basis).

And how did they do this?

Well, basically by delivering the elements that make Angel such an enjoyable hour of television. As I said before, that is strong scripting, a dark tone, a new take on an old legend and superb acting.

I've got to say that I really, really enjoyed the plotline of the demon inhabiting the young boy. There were so many red herrings thrown in that I was constantly kept guessing as to the true nature of the this plot. I loved how dark the father was made to be early on in the story so that you wondered if he was inhabited by the demon (which I never bought as it seemed a bit too obvious). I figured early on that it was the father who'd let the boy out to get killed by the car rather than the demon trying to get free of the evil kid. It certainly seemed that way at times.

Also, having the demon want to be exorcised from the child was nicely done. To see the human be the one who was "pure evil" in this scenario really worked well. And it was a nice touch and a good way to put a new twist on the old story.

I give major kudos to the writers for that little touch. It really put the episode over the top.

But, what really made the episode just so darn good was the characters. Yes, the characters.

What we saw here was night and day between what we saw in She. Whereas in She we got one-dimensional characters who were dull and tepid, here we got the strong, intelligent characters we've come to know and love. And after last week when I pretty much tore Wesley and Alexis Denisof apart, I've got to give some credit here. Wesley actually worked in this episode. Seeing his confidence shaken first by Angel calling him Doyle and then doubting his ability to perform the ritual to get rid of the demon was nicely done.

I also liked that we learned something about why Wesley might lack his self-confidence--namely issues with his father. His being locked under the stairs and being told he isn't good enough was nicely done (and an odd paralled with the Harry Potter books, which if you look at him, Alexis Denisof does look a bit like the picture of Harry Potter on all those books!) and I can only hope that we see the character continue to grow and develop as the weeks progress. For the first time in awhile, Wesley felt like he wasn't a Doyle-clone and that he really brought something to the table on the show. And that's a welcome change.

But Wesley wasn't the only one who got some good character moments.

Angel got a wealth of them as well. From the opening moments when he referred to Wesley as Doyle to his being forced to deal with the feeling that he failed his friend, it was all well done. Also, seeing Angel's attempts to connect with the family of the possessed child and still having an awkward time doing it was nicely done. I loved the sequence at dinner when you could tell it was obviously tense in the group setting but that Angel was able to break the ice with the kids over the brussel sprouts. David Borenaz really delivered a great performance here and one that was very enjoyable to watch.

Also, to see Angel having to deal with the issues of Doyle's death and his own personal demons was nicely done.

I loved seeing the reaction on his face when the demon used Doyle's voice to talk to him. And throwing the line back about fighting the good fight was a nice touch.

There was so much to like about this episode. Compared to last week, it was a complete breath of fresh air. I only hope they can continue to build on it in the coming weeks.

Well, that's about it for now, except a few small things...

--I love the way that Cordy has stepped in as a confidant and friend for Angel in the wake of Doyle's death. This friendship continues to grow and mature and has been one of the few bright spots of late. And it really shone last night.

--The direction worked really well. It was just dark enough and done so well as to be totally unnerving.

--The only complaint I can come up with was at times when the demon spoke through the boy, the dialogue got garbled. That bugged me, but not so much that I despised the episode.

Well, Angel has stepped up and delivered a good episode. I'm encouraged by the growth and hope it continues....

My rating: 9.0 (out of 10.0)