Somnabulist

Somnabulist
Written by Tim Minear
Directed by Winrich Kolbe

Original Airdate: January 18, 2000

Plot: Angel is haunted by dreams of stalking and killing victims... dreams which mimic a series of murders taking place in L.A.

Review

Warning: If reading SPOILERS for the current episode of Angel will give you nighmares, I suggest you turn back now. There are major SPOILERS for "Somanbulist" just ahead...

In short: Interesting in parts.

I realize that one of the points of spinning off Angel into his own show is to garner a new audience for the brilliance that Joss brings to television. And one of the fine lines you walk with a spin-off is the balance between bringing new viewers to the party while not boring those of us who have been there for a while.

And, for the most part, Angel has managed to strike a good balance in doing that.

At least, until this week.

I wanted to like Somnabulist, I really, really did. When I read the summary paragraph for it in TV Guide, my mouth watered at the possibilities. But somewhere along the way, the episode fell far short of the expectations I had .

Mainly because for most of the episode, I had the feeling of "been there, done that."

The killer this week (whose name eludes me at the moment) was nothing more than a pale imitation of Spike and Dru. If you've watched Buffy, you know that as Angelus, Angel did some really mean, ugly, all around nasty things before he got his soul restored. Seeing how brutal Spike is and how just all around messed up Dru is are two good examples. So, my idea is that if you're going to have a link to Angel's past, it'd better darn well tell us something new and different about our favorite vampire. And, for the most part, it didn't really.

The idea that Angel liked to mock his victims by carving a cross on their left cheek was interesting but totally unsupported by anything we've seen or heard until now. We've seen some flashbacks to this period of Angel's life (most notably in the Becoming and Amends) and we've seen what Angel was like. Also, even if we hadn't seem this in flashbacks, surely at some point Giles would have mentioned it in the research he did on Angel. If it's readily accessible for Kate to find, then Giles should have been able to find it or know about it. (A point that is proven by the fact that Wesley had detailed knowledge about it). Also, you'd think that Angel would have used this tactic to unnerve Buffy when he was tranformed to Angelus during the latter stages of season two.

Instead of a script that could have been truely wonderful, we got an effort by Tim Minear that read more like a greatest hits of Angel's best moments on Buffy.

Yes, he was evil. Yes, he's a vampire. Yes, the woman who is attracted to him doesn't know this to start with and is initially shocked and horrified by it.

Been there, done that.

Indeed, while there were parts of the Kate plotline I enjoyed, overall it felt like a repeat of Buffy's season one episode, "Angel." You had a woman finding out Angel isn't all that he seems and getting upset about it. Indeed, Minear parrotted the original "Angel" script down to having Angel get burned by a cross. Admittedly, this time it was on his hand and not his chest as happened when Buffy and Angel kissed for the first time. However, whereas that sequence had a dramatic impact on the show, this one didn't. It was almost as if Minear needed some more visual proof and wanted to play with the cool Angel is smoking effect.

Also, looking at the episode, I felt that Minear had not only lifted large portions of themes we'd seen on Buffy, but also themes on another show he worked for--Lois and Clark. For those of you who weren't fans or didn't watch, Minear was invovled in the two seasons' in which Lois found out Clark was Superman. And watching here, I got the same vibe. Kate finds out that Angel has a secret identity and reacts with the same amount of horror that Lois did in her discovery of Clark's identity. But while it worked on Lois and Clark becasue of a long-standing relationship that evolved over time, it felt forced here. Yes, I can see why Kate is upset at finding out Angel's a vamp and at the things he's done are truly horrible. But, it didn't feel as righteous an anger as Lois had when she found out Clark had lied to her for a little over two years. Part of it may be that while we've had hints of it, there's not been any real sort of explanation of just what the nature of the Kate/Angel relationship is.

But, while I didn't like how the conflict began, I will admit that I liked the fact that it wasn't easily resolved. In fact, it hasn't been really. I'm glad to see that Kate didn't just up and quickly forgive Angel just because he'd saved her from the demon. In fact, seeing Kate kill the demon by stabbing him through Angel was nicely done. Also, her lack of compassion to Angel's being in obvious pain worked nicely as well. I just hope that the "Kate-is-angry" thing doesn't get too carried away in future episodes.

With all that said, there were moments in the episode I did like.

Despite his rather weak comparisons to Spike, there were times when the killer of the week worked rather well. He worked well in the scene at the office where he pumps Cordelia for information. I loved Cordy's way of combating him by raising the blinds. That worked for me.

And while the storyline wasn't at times stellar, the direction by Winrich Kolbe was. He got some good angles and made some nice choices--esp. the sequence in the police station where the vamp moved faster. Also, the flashbacks worked well as did Angel's dream sequences. I hope that we see more entries from Kolbe now that DS9 has left the airwaves.

Well, I guess that about wraps it up except for a few small things...

--Well, Wesley's in the credits....sigh...I guess that means I have to come out of denial and admit Doyle is really gone.

--Speaking of Wesley, did you get the sense that certain scenes were rewritten for Wesley instead of Doyle. The only major contribution Wesley brought was his file on Angel. Otherwise it was pretty much a no-show for him.

--Cordelia, on the other hand, got all the best lines. From her practicing her speech on the chair to the vein throbbing on her head at the end, Cordy was on last night. I liked it.

--I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the last scene between Angel and Cordy. It struck the right balance for the episode and I liked it. It almost made the ride to it worthwhile.

Well, that about wraps it up. Overall, Somnabulist had the most potential of any epiosde of Angel to date but fell the farthest short. In other words, a disappointment.

My rating: 4.5 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Cordy's expecting....

"And you're pumping me for information, aren't you?"

--Cordelia.