The Trial
Teleplay by Tim Minear & Douglas Petrie, Story by David Greenwalt
Directed by David Greenwalt

Original Airdate: November 28, 2000

Plot: Both Wolfram and Hart's and Angel's search for the missing Darla continues--with the lawyers finding her first. Wolfram and Hart reveal to Darla that she is dying of syphilis, left over from her days before she was vamped, leading her to seek another vampire to change her back. Instead, Angel finds another solution--an intense trial that could kill him but if successful will restore Darla.
Review

Warning: This is not a test. This review is full of SPOILERS for the latest episode of Angel, "The Trial." If you haven't seen it yet and want to see it unaware of major SPOILERS, please turn back now...

In short: Compelling--and the last five minutes are breathtaking.

Well, so far Angel is two-for-two in surprise guest-cameos in the final five minutes of episodes. Earlier this year, we got a nicely done, and well concealed cameo by Faith to end Judgment on a high note. And now we got a superbly done and brilliantly realized cameo by another long-standing member of the Buffy and Angel universe to punch up "The Trial." Both times, they were jaw dropping, but they were both jaw dropping for entirely different reasons.
I'm serious here--if you've not seen the episode, please stop reading now. This is just one of those moments that is best experienced without any prior knowledge.
First of all, let me discuss the chain of events that led up the surprise twist (which I must now stand up and say that I called a few weeks back, but I won't brag on myself too much). For the past couple of weeks now, Angel's brooding over his inability to save Darla has been dragging down the show a bit. Don't get me wrong--I've stated in the past that I like the fact that Angel is willing to do whatever it takes to save Darla from herself and the hell--both literally and figuratively--that he's gone through over the years. But at times, the obsession with Darla has threatened to overwhelm the show and has brought it to the narratives each week to a grinding halt. Last week, using the motivation of getting Angel out of his shell was a good idea, if not all that well executed. This week, getting to see Angel take some action was nicely done.
Indeed, I really liked the fact that the crew of Gunn, Wesley and Cordelia have been concerned about Angel. I also liked the fact that of the three Cordelia was the one willing to confront him about it. I also liked the way Angel continues to manipulate the trio by using Gunn for business he knows will upset Cordelia and Wesley. I wonder how long this playing the parties against each other can last before they all get upset and turn on Angel.
Of course, since Wolfram and Hart find her first, we are treated to the news that Darla is once again dying. Dying of the same disease that was killing her when we saw her vamped by the Master in "Darla." I liked the fact that the she hadn't escaped death by becoming a vampire but merely postponed it. Indeed, the plotline of Darla dying and turning to a vampire in order to be saved had overtones of one of my favorite Buffy episodes, "Lie to Me." Seeing Darla's increasing sense of desperation as she can't find anyone who is willing or able to turn her back into a vampire worked well. And to see her reaction to Angel's zealous attempts to save her by any means possible--without giving her eternal life was nicely done.
Indeed, I'd have to argue now that I think Angel does actually feel something akin to love for Darla. Yes, he denied in the scenes with Lindsay, but I think the emotion is something more than a sense of obligation to Darla and a want to save her because he knows that by saving her, he will be a step closer to his goal. I think that Angel did love Darla but that quickly eroded away as she revealed she didn't love him or understand his love. We saw that Darla couldn't give Angel a true moment of happiness a few weeks ago, but I argue that it could now be because Darla didn't love Angel. The reason that Angel had the true moment with Buffy was they both loved each other in a tender, romantic way. It was about the intentions behind their making love. Indeed, when we saw Angel and Darla come together, it was because he wanted to lose his soul again, not out of love. And indeed, based on the scenes in France, we saw that Darla was willing to toss Angel aside in times of crisis to save her own hide in the past, while we saw here that Angel is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her. I think that had the plotline continued the way it was developing until the final minutes that some kind of deeper bond might have been beginning to grow or be rekindled between Angel and Darla.
But I guess we'll never know now...
As for Lindsay's role in the plot, I found it interesting. I liked the scene between Lindsay and Angel at his apartment. I loved Angel's surprise at being invited in and then his anger at finding out that it hadn't been a lie that Darla was dying. Also his conversation with Lindsay about how he couldn't love Darla was nicely done. It was also interesting because I have a feeling that because Angel told Lindsay he couldn't save Darla and the he couldn't love her. It certainly seemed as if this conversation was what threw Lindsay over the edge and made him determined to save Darla by the only means he could.
Namely, the means that I threw out a couple of weeks ago--finding Spike or Dru to re-vamp Darla.
And man, were the final five minutes spectacular.
I figured at first that Wolfram and Hart had come to take Darla away again for some reason. Perhaps more torture or to trap Angel. Instead. we got a truly arresting, jaw-dropping moment. Druscilla. Juliet Landeau's calm entrance and her vamping of Darla was intense. I've got to give credit to the producers for keeping Juliet's presence a secret. I don't know how they got around the SAG rules and didn't have her name appear in the opening credits, but it made that one scene that much more powerful and intense. And I also wonder what the long-term consequences of this will be. Surely at this point, Darla is going to take out vengeance on Wolfram and Hart and Angel. I have a feeling this move is going to back-fire in a big way for everyone involved.
I've also got to give credit to David Borenaz in that scene. The look of pure horror and revulsion as he watched Darla being re-vamped was nicely done. The futility he felt was written across his entire face and in his body language.
So, that's about it for now. Except a few small things...
--It's been a few weeks since we went to the karaoke bar. And I was a bit concerned to see it back here. It's become too much of a crutch. Namely it seems as if the characters rely on it too much to get from point A to point B in the storytelling. And I'm not sure I like it that much.
--I liked the English butler as the person conducting the tests. A nice touch.
--Angel's rage at not being able to save Darla was nice. I have a feeling that the tests were as much a therapy for him as an attempt to help Darla. Hopefully we'll see his character move on in different directions from here.
--Gunn's limited role worked well.
Well, that's about it for now. All in all, a nice way to end the November sweeps. They have made the next two weeks seem just a bit longer....

My rating: 8.5 (out of 10.0)

Next up: A re-run of "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been"

Review Copyright 2000 by Michael T. Hickerson. All Rights Reserved.

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