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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