Reprise

Reprise
Written by Tim Minear
Directed by James Whitmore, Jr.

Original Airdate: February 20, 2001

Plot: Wolfram and Hart prepare for their 75-year performance review and a visit by one of the senior partners, which is of great interest to Angel. The vampire decides to kill the partner and steal a ring that will allow him entry into hell to take on the forces at work behind Wolfram and Hart. But first, he needs a special glove to battle the demon. Only problem: Darla has the glove. Meanwhile, Kate faces an internal affairs investigation....

Review

Warning: This is a one-way ride direct to SPOILERS for the latest episode of Angel, "Reprise." If you've not seen it yet, I suggest you turn back now...

In short: Interesting.

Last week, Angel explored the emotion of guilt and how that can affect the characters we've come to know and love over the past several years. This week, Angel follows a similiar path--but instead of guilt, we explore the emotion of loneliness. I find this particularily interesting since just an hour earlier on Buffy we saw the result of the loneliness manifested in the robot girl, April.

But on Angel, the loneliness is far more profound. Part of it is because we have a larger emotional investment in the characters. I think another part of it is that for some of the characters, the loneliness is self-imposed--brought about by their own actions and the consequences of them.

The biggest example was Angel. Ever since he fired the staff of Angel Investigations, he's slowly spiralled out of control. This was shown admirably here as Angel turns from person to person trying to get some glimmer of information on how to defeat the demon that is coming to visit Wolfram and Hart. Last week, we saw Merl close the door to Angel. This week, Kate shuts him down and then the Host shuts down his efforts as well. Angel is forced to turn to an old ally from years ago in order to try and get information on how to defeat this demon. It's interesting to watch that Angel's pattern of using and abusing those around him finally begins to have some ramifications to it. It's also interesting to see that he's finally forced to storming into the office of his former employees and taking back a book (in probably the most tension filled scene of the episode).

It was an interesting journey. We see all that Angel has gone through this year in one episode. His obsession with Wolfram and Hart reaches new levels. Angel has always been a character who has that streak of obsession in him--whether it be tormenting Buffy as Angelus, his obsession with becoming human again earlier this year or his attempts to rescue Darla. Along the way, Angel has lost sight of the goal he strove for at the beginning of the year--preparing for the Apocolypse and getting his redemption to rejoin the human race. But along the way, he's lost his way.

And it was never more evident than in last night's episode.

The scene with Holland in the elevator was simply superb. Sam Anderson's small role in the episode was such a pivotal one. Because at long last, Angel is confronted with the fact that he cannot defeat Wolfram and Hart. They aren't really on a side in the final equation. They're just lining up the forces for the battle. And Angel is one of the important forces they feel they need to line up. What side they want or need him on is still a bit unclear. We've certainly had indications they want him on the side of the forces of darkness, but whether this is true or not is left to be seen. In every heroic quest, there must be some temptation that is so strong that it leads the hero down the path to destruction. Certainly if you watched Babylon Five, you know this happened many times--but especially in late season three to John Sheridan. He was given the choice--the one thing he wanted most of all and made the choice to go after it--whether it led to his destruction or not. And we saw Angel go through the same thing last night. He realizes the only thing that can destroy him is what he desires most--true happiness. Which is what made the final few moments so stunning to watch. Angel's abuse of Darla and then their passionate love making were certainly both erotic and creepy. Angel is giving into Darla in the hopes of becoming the evil he's tried for so long to fight.

On a lot of levels, I doubt it's going to work.

I say this mainly because of the evidence we've seen previously in the series. We saw in "Darla" that Darla cannot provide Angel with one moment of true happiness. And I've got to think that this time, Angel won't get it either. His mating with Darla wasn't motivated out of a desire to share something special with one he loved--to share his soul. Instead, it was motivated out of self-interest. I doubt that he experienced the true happiness he had when he made love to Buffy. And I strongly doubt he'll turn evil here. Angelus may crop up for a bit, but I doubt he'll be around long .

But Angel isn't the only one feeling a bit lonely.

While one of the strengths that has kept them together and sane the past weeks has been each other, we also see that that relationship and comitment to fighting the good fight are tearing apart the former employees of Angel Investigation's lives. We see that with Cordelia, admitting she has no friends outside of the group. (Well, I guess Dennis doesn't count...but don't tell him that!) We see Gunn going out alone, trying to reconnect with his old life (something I doubt will be successful after last week). And we see Wesley being dumped by Virginia because he makes the choice to do what he feels is right. Indeed, the scene with Wesley talking to Cordelia on the phone was both warming and heart-wrenching. It was warming because of the give and take of the friendship but also heart-wrenching becuase of Cordy's comment about Wesley spending more time with Viriginia. I have a feeling she will regret those words--given in kindness later. Sort of the whole foot in mouth thing that happens among friends.

We also see a great sense of loneliness coming on Kate. In a lot of ways, the events that have happened to Kate are what the events that Angel choose from himself. Kate had an obsession--defeating the monsters of L.A. She got so focused that she cut herself off from everything and ruined her friendships and her career. In the end, we see her try to get away from that life and in one final moment, reach out to the one person she blames for her destruction. On some levels, I would be sad to see Kate's character killed off the show. I like her and I like what Elizabeth Rohm brings to the show. But on another, I wonder if Kate's character arch has ended. I'd like to think that should Angel ever get back on track, Kate would be a useful member of the team, like Gunn has become this year. I guess we'll have to wait and see if her attempt is successful. Her call to Angel was also striking because you can almost see the conflict in Angel. Even earlier this year, he'd have gone to Kate to help her. To save her life. But now, he turns his back on her and goes up to Darla. It's a dark and chilling scene and it shows how far our favorite vampire has fallen in just the past couple of episodes.

Finally, in the lonely category, we have Lindsay. He obvious feels alone and is trying to fill the gap with Darla. We certainly see him trying to distance himself from his life at W&H. The problem is he knows how to play the game and play it well. It's interesting to see that he refers to himself as feeling dirty after work each day. This really keeps in the spirit of the character we saw last year in Blind Date. It makes you wonder if Lindsay might not have another crisis of conscience again soon. As for hooking up with Darla, I'd have to say that being alone may be better...

There was a great deal going on here. And a lot of it really worked. I was also happy to see that we had some continuation of the whole girl with the third eye subplot. I feared this would be one of those plots that was brought up and then forgotten. Of course, it's not really resolved. When we left it, Cordy appeared to be headed into some kind of danger. I've got admit that the suspense about how that might play out is intriuging me about next week's episode as well.

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

--I liked the continuity point of Lillah not parking in the garage.

--Interesting that Dru went to Lindsay for help with Darla. Or was that a cover invented by Lindsay?

--Wes's standing up and throwing his stitches...again that scene was the highpoint of the episode for me.

--I liked the reference back to AYNOHYEB from earlier this year. Tim Minear did a nice job of bringing out some good continuity points. Well, that's it for now. All in all, this was a keeper. Not quite the instant classic "Redefinition" was but it certainly opened the door for a strong finish next week.

My rating: 8.5 (out of 10.0)

Next up: The morning after....has Angel turned?