The Prodigal

The Prodigal
Written by Tim Minear
Directed by

Original Airdate: February 22, 2000

Plot: As Angel investigates a demon drug-ring, he discovers that Kate's father may be involved....

Review

Warning: If my revealing major plot points about the latest episode of Angel will cause a rift between us, I beg you to turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for "The Prodigal."

In short: Solid.

As a fan of Angel, this week's episode was a pivotal one for me. After last week's mid-season high with a strong, effective, and at times chilling episode, my confidence in the show had been restored a bit. So, it was really up to "The Prodigal" to restore my faith in the show--namely that it could be conistently good on a week-to-week basis, as it had been earlier this year.

So, "The Prodigal" had huge expectations from me.

And, for the most part, it met them.

Certainly an episode that features flashbacks to Angel's past can't be too bad, right?

Well, I suppose they can.

For the most parts, the flashbacks were enjoyable enough and certainly attempted to provide us with some insight into Angel's character based on his relationship with his father. But whereas these flybacks worked to give us background and complete the storyline rather successfully in the Becoming, they didn't seem to do that here. They seemed only to provide some parallel structure for the plotline with Kate. I found Darla's comments at the end to Angel interesting enough to be sure, but it wasn't enough to really redeem the plotline as being worthy of inclusion here. If we're going to see hints of Angel's past, following in the example of such Buffy episodes as the Becoming and Amends, it has to be worth the ride and give us some new perspective on the plotline. Flashbacks for the sake of everyone getting to dress up in period clothes and just to give Darla some screen time aren't really worth it in my mind.

It is good, though, that the flashbacks at least attempted to stay in canon. My biggest fear was that since this episode wasn't penned by Joss, that major mistakes might be made--esp. in the sequences in which Angel and Darla first meet. And his conversion to a vampire. It's nice to see that they stayed within the continuity that we already know for Angel and didn't try to venture too far outside it.

As for the rest of the episode, it was hit-or-miss for me.

I really liked the fact that we've got some moving forward of the conflict that has arisen between Angel and Kate. Seeing Kate being not able or ready to move past the fact that Angel is a vampire was nicely done. Also, her reluctance to step inside the world of demons was nicely realized and certainly interestingly done. Certainly the progression she made over the course of the episode made sense. I liked the fact that as the episode went along, Kate gradually came to see that Angel's being a vampire isn't the only thing that defines him. That he is a good person who is a good private detective and helps people.

It will be interesting to see just how this might progress as the season and the series goes along. Should it lead to a romantic entaglement--well, the jury is still out on that one for me. At first, my reaction is that it's not a necessary plot development and it might bog down the show. But, my second reaction is that if it's done well it could be a good thing and I've got to admit that Elizabeth Rohm has grown on me and I honestly look forward to seeing her on the show as Kate.

Also, it was nice to see some continuity with Kate's father and their relationship. (Of course, both episodes with her father were written by Tim Minear). To see that even now, Kate is trying to win her father's approval and her desparate attempts in the beginning to justify why he might be there--because he heard her name on the scanner--was nicely done. Also, her reaction that he might be dealing with the underworld, namely the demon underworld certainly seemed to have some resonance.

And I am glad that Minear took some chances with the episode. When the vampires killed Kate's father, I feared that we might get a retread of the original "Angel" episode on Buffy--namely with Darla attacking Joyce and Angel being made to look responsible. Kate's grief certainly showed through and Elizabeth Rohm did well with the scene, but it was interesting to a different reaction. I wonder if this will be a set-back to the friendship that two are developing--if Kate will somehow later blame Angel for her father's death. Also, Angel's desparation at wanting to save Kate's father but not being able to worked pretty well and created some of the most intense moments in the episode.

However, while there was a lot to like, there were some things in the episode that I didn't like.

What the plotline with Kate's father achieved was nicely done, but I'm not sure if it was worth the ride to get there. I guess I found it hard to believe that he bought into the smuggling scheme for the demons so quickly and easily. I realize he was duped, but surely having been a cop for all these years, his instincts might have been a bit better.

Next up, while Cordy and Wesley seemed to be non-players. Yes, Wesley had the part of dissecting the demon to lead Angel to the clues about the drug smuggling, but otherwise they weren't vital. In fact, I can barely remember any good one-liners from Cordy, which is usually never the case. I understand that at times the show has to focus on one character over the other or others. But it shouldnt' be at the expense of the other characters.

Well, that's about it for now.

Overall, this episode did a lot of thing right, but it also did some minor things not so right. My faith in Angel is coming back, bit by bit. And with the rumors I've heard about the upcoming episodes, I think the show may be back on track. But, time will tell....

My rating: 7.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Angel goes into the arena....