First Impressions
Written by
Directed by
Original Airdate: October 10, 2000
Plot: Gunn calls in Angel to help him out fighting a demon that put two of his freinds in the hospital. Meanwhile, Darla invades Angel's dreams.
Review
Warning: If you want to draw your own "First Impressions" of the latest
episode of Angel, please turn back now. Major SPOILERS are just ahead....
In short: Worked in parts.
I've really got to stop watching the WB's ads for Angel. Last week, the
ads gave away the fact that there was a demon behind the plot in the hotel
(which was a twist I would have enjoyed not knowing going into the show) and
this week, the ads overplayed a subplot as the main plot of the entire show.
Not that there's anything wrong with that as it left me completely open to
be nicely surprised by the character emphasis on Gunn and his life.
And I guess on one level, I can understand why the WB would prefer to
emphasis the plotline that really focused on the "star" of the show--and
also with the fact that it had some flashes of flesh which is always a good
way to draw in viewers. But I feel that the advertising campaign for this
one as a whole did a great disservice to what was an enjoyable enough outing
of Angel.
I have to admit that after two weeks of Gunn serving only in a back-up
role to Angel and the rest of the gang, that it was nice to see an episode
the fully dealt with him. It's interesting to get a peek into Gunn's world
and find out what life is like for him as a character. We already knew that
Gunn was pretty upset by the fact that he had to slay his sister the first
time we met him last year in "War Zone." And to see that anger at life and
the need to have absolute control was superbly done here. Seeing Gunn
attempt to manage every aspect of not only his life but those around him was
a nice touch. It makes sense that after the death of his sister when she
was out of his sight and got turned into a vampire, that he would
overcompensate the way he did. I liked the strong attempts that were made
by Gunn to be the master of his own world--from the confrontations with the
various people he knew over the issue of who had Angel's car and how he
could get the information about it to his controlling the actions of the
member's of his groups. (One scene that stands out is outside the party
when he chastises a member of his group for not being as responsible as Gunn
would like him to be.) Also, seeing Gunn want a bit of revenge on the demon
that hurt two of his friends was nicely done.
It was interesting that all of this came to a head when Ilana was
injured, thus causing Gunn to lash out. The scenes in the hospital as asked
if she'd be alright and then punched the wall in frustration at not being
able to do more were nicely done. Also, for the injured person to be an
"innocent female" was nice because it had echo's to the tragedy that befell
Gunn's sister. And all of that worked well and gave us a lot of insight
into his character. Insight which I think we sorely needed.
But the part I liked most about the plotline was the way in which is was
revealed that Gunn didn't need saving on just one night, but that it was a
long-term goal. There is some major potential here for growth in Gunn as we
see him work through the anger and find his role as a member of Angel's
group for fighting the evil in the world has major potential.
Also, his give and take with Cordelia and her role in helping Gunn get
to that point has some potential. Namely in some character growth and
something for Cordelia to do besides be the girl who has visions. If
anything, I've got to admit that I've been disappointed this year at the
lack of any type of character development for Cordelia. And this
frustration stretches back a bit to last year as well. Please give the girl
something to do!
And while I liked where the storyline took the characters, at times the
way it got there wasn't as interesting as I'd hoped. I am not sure I buy
the Cordelia and Gunn banter. I've heard rumors of the two possibly being
linked romantically. I'd not said anything about it either way, since there
hadn't been enough interaction between the two do make any judgments. But
after seeing them interact this week, I don't think the two have enough
romantic tension for it to work. Much of their scenes together seemed
forced. Both actors tried to put some extra sparks into the dialogue and the
situation, but it never gelled.
Also, I have to admit that parts of Gunn's world seemed a bit too
clichéd for me. I never bought that he was really part of it and I'm not
sure why. And that hurt the creditability of parts of the episode.
As for the rest of the storyline, it seems as if the producers are going
to make us wait for some payoff.
Certainly it's interesting to see Darla invade Angel's dreams in a role
of a comforter. It was also interesting to see that role grow and develop
over the course of the episode. At first, it was just emotional, but it grew
and grew into a more physical side until the final scene. (Which brings up
a whole wealth of questions that I'll get into here in a minute). I like
the idea of Darla playing a game of cat and mouse with Angel. It's
certainly having the effect of weakening him and his resolve to fight. I
believe Wesley mentioned this in pointing out how taking out a simple
vampire seemed to be beyond Angel at one point due to his distracted and
tired nature. I can only guess that this scene will come to be a bit more
important as the weeks go on and we find out what Darla is up to.
As for Darla, Julie Benz did a nice job. She walked the line between
good and evil in the dreams so well.
As for the final sequence, it brought up one questions. Assuming Angel's
new room is in the hotel, does Darla have to be invited to enter his room?
Or does she have an invitation from before Angel killed her? That is
something that will be interesting to see if it's mentioned again.
And the other question is that if Angel and Darla do engage in sexual
activity, could this lead to the return of Angelus? If so, is that Darla's
plan? If not, what is?
Also, I wondered if Darla's being with Angel and their both not being
clothed means that she is sleeping with Angel and he's unaware of it. As in
she is using her power to enter his dreams and keep him subdued there while
she engages in sexual activity with his body while he sleeps. (OK, maybe
I've got too much free time on my hands to think about these things!).
Also, it makes you wonder if Darla has been there physically before since
Angel was sleeping commando when Wesley woke him up early in the episode.
It brings up a lot of questions. And hopefully we'll get some answers in
the upcoming weeks.
Well, that's about it for now. All in all, it was an interesting
episodes that gave us much needed character depth for Gunn and raised some
questions about Darla and her plans for Angel. I'm intrigued to see where
this goes.
My rating: 7.0 (out of 10.0)
Next up: A woman could destroy all of L.A. unless Angel stops her.....and
Darla continues to invade his dreams (and maybe more).
Review Copyright 2000 by Michael T. Hickerson. All Rights Reserved.
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