Untouchable
Written by Meredyth Smith
Directed by Joss Whedon
Original Airdate: October 17, 2000
Plot: Cordelia recieves a vision of a young woman named Bethany who has amazing telekinetic powers--powers that Angel hopes to help her control but that Wolfram and Hart want to use for their own evil purposes. Meanwhile, Darla continues to invade Angel's dreams...
Review
Warning: If reading SPOILER for the latest episode of Angel will cause you
to lose control and unleash you psychic powers in a destructive way, please
turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for "Untouchable."
In short: Solid.
Late last year, after the dust had settled from "Restless" and "To
Shanshu in L.A." I remember reading on one of the posting boards that Joss
Whedon had a desire to direct an episode of one of his shows that he hadn't
written. At the time, I found that statement interesting and wondered in
the back of my mind if and when it would happen.
Well, I guess there's one good thing about being the boss--you can make
your own dreams come true. And Joss did so this week, with his directing
effort on the latest episode of Angel, "Untouchable."
And it certainly was an interesting and stylish effort. I've got to
admit that after watching this episode that Joss does have a real eye for
directing. He made so much of the show come alive last night. I realize
that many times when he writes and directs his own script it may be because
he sees how scenes should play out in his head as he's writing and he wants
to translate that on-screen (and he's been hugely successful at it to
boot!). So, for him to take on the challenge of bringing another person's
words to screen is commendable. Of course, I am certain that at some point
being the executive producer of the show, Joss had some input into the
script and that probably helped a great deal.
But, I will be the first to praise the direction as being extremely well
done.
But, of course, good direction without a good script isn't worth much.
And I've got to admit that Joss had some really good, interesting material
to work with here.
I will admit that it's been a long time since I've seen or read the
Stephen King story, "Carrie" but from what I remember of it, a lot of what
happened here reminded me of it. Namely, you had a young girl with psychic
powers that could get out of control at extreme emotional moments. And that
was certainly the case with Bethany. The obvious difference between Bethany
and Carrie is that Bethany was sexually abused by her father and I believe
Carrie's rage came from her mother's sheltering her from the world and her
sexuality (or attempting to do so by convincing Carrie that anything that
related to her sexuality was inherently bad). And, of course, there is the
slam-bang finale in both in which the female characters use their powers to
take out some measure of vengeance on those who have tormented them so.
There was a lot that I liked about the episode.
Most of what I liked came out of the character of Bethany. First of all,
the actress who played her did a superb job. The character was one that
walked a line between vulnerability and being a character whose actions both
horrified you and made you feel sympathy for her. Certainly that was most
evident in the scene in which she offered her self to Angel sexually. At
one point, I felt sympathy for Bethany because the only way she felt she
could relate to men was to be a sexual object for their desire and then to
withdraw herself while they enjoyed her body, but in the same instance, I
felt revulsion at the level of abuse that occurred to make her that way and
how callous she was about the whole situation. Indeed, her retort to Angel
about it not being "making love" and that he must be from "the 18th Century"
really struck home and was like a slap of cold water in the scene. That
scene really nailed the conflicts that were inside the character of Bethany.
But there was far more to it than that.
Throughout the episode Bethany went from hot to cold. She showed the
signs of a deep trauma and depression. It was certainly evident in her mood
swings--which was effectively shown in her scene with Cordelia. During the
first few moments, there was a sense of contentment and happiness with their
shopping and drinking the coffee. It then quickly changed when Cordelia
confronted her about not sleeping with Angel. Seeing Bethany change from
contentment to panic to rage to back to contentment worked so well. Also,
seeing her go from a frightened woman to a bit more self-assured person and
someone one is comfortable with her power was nicely done. I cannot say
enough about this performance which at times was understated and elegant but
at others was the exact emotional pitch it needed to be.
I've got to also give a big thumbs up to Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia.
After a rather lackluster showing last week, she gave a superb performance
as Cordelia here. Her defensiveness about Angel and insuring that Bethany
didn't use Angel for sex was nicely done. I've said it before, but I have
really enjoyed the growing friendship and brother/sister relationship that
the two have developed. I can only hope that this continues to develop as
the series goes along. Because when you get work like Charisma gave us here,
it's superb and very, very welcome.
As for Bethany, I liked the fact that while her abuse at the hands of
father is spelled out, it's done is a way that we weren't beat over the head
with it. The script assumed that we, the audience, could correctly fill in
the blanks and figure out what had happened to Bethany. And I've got to
admit also that the directing of the dream/flashback sequences was
superb--especially the way they abruptly cut in how the events unfolded.
Again, give credit to Joss for making that work so well.
I've also go to admit I loved the obvious parallels between what Bethany
wanted to do to Angel and what Darla is doing to him. Both sought to get
inside his mind and mess with him. And certainly is interesting that Darla
is getting closer and closer to Angel and interfering with his ability to be
a crime fighter. I noticed that Wesley is starting to take notice. I can
only hope that it's just a matter of time before Wesley confronts Angel
about the dreams and tries to make him see that there is something else
going on. Also, seeing Darla in Angel's room was chilling. I liked the fact
that we saw her after Angel was awake, proving that she wasn't dream walking
to him (to borrow terminology from "Roswell").
This episode certainly brought up some interesting issues in terms of
the long term plotlines.
One is that I don't know where I got this impression, but I thought that
Lilah was responsible for the plan to bring Darla back. If so, why is she
referred to as Lindsey's project? Unless, of course, I've missed a detail
or the idea to mess with Angel's mind is Lindsey's. (Personally, I'd
figured that Lindsey and Lilah were in on the plan together) Of course,
this could be Lindsay making a power move against Lilah and taking away her
one viable plan to take Angel down.
Secondly, what exactly was Lilah's long-term goal for cultivating a
friendship with Bethany? And how did that fit into Wolfram and Hart's
goals? I'm not sure if that is a question that will be answered in the
future, but it is interesting.
Finally, I've got to wonder if Angel has made a new, long-term ally in
Bethany. I'd read a bit about the producers wanting to expand the
supporting cast of Angel. Bethany would be a welcome addition. I'd love to
see her continue to progress as a character and the actress who played her
did a fine job. A return visit or two from Bethany would not be a bad thing,
at least from where I'm sitting.
Speaking of Wolfram and Hart, I found them interesting. I've always like
Sam Anderson. He did a great job on Picket Fence a while ago playing the
same type of character--someone you love to hate. It certainly is
interesting to see his thinly veiled threats to Lilah should her plans for
Bethany fail. Certainly I can imagine he's not going to be pleased that not
only did Lilah lose her but Lilah lost her to Angel. That is a dangling
plotthread that is just too good not to come into play in a future episode.
Well, needless to say, I really liked this episode. Yes, it looks like
this week Angel has finally broken the streak and will get a rating
different than a 7.0 in my final analysis. If the series continues with
solid outings like this one, I will be extremely happy.
So, I guess that about wraps it up, except for a few small things...
--I liked the limited role Wesley had in the episode. Seeing him
confront Bethany about her dad and then withdraw from the situation was
nicely done.
--Wesley's knowledge of telekinesis was hilarious.
--I am sure there will be some argument about whether or not Bethany
should have killed her father. I certainly feel that he deserved to die as
he was no better than any other form of demon Angel has ever battled. But I
think having Bethany not kill him was a nice touch for her character. And
certainly, I liked Angel and Cordelia's callous attitude toward him and his
being killed. That all worked.
--I loved the apparent force-field effect when Angel tried to enter the
apartment of one of Bethany's attackers.
--Gunn worked really well this week. I liked the argument on whether or
not to pay him. I also loved that he was pretty laid back about it after
everyone else was so worried that he might take the issue of payment the
wrong way.
--Julie Benz continues to do well as Darla. She could easily have been
overshadowed by the rest of the plot, but she made her scenes memorable.
--Boy, Angel does have a lot to atone for. I liked the fact that his
dream about Darla was related to Bethany's plight a bit. In both cases, a
monster took the innocence of another being--Angel from the gypsy girl and
Bethany's father from Bethany. I won't even get into who the bigger monster
is because it's likely to open up a flame war.
--Back to Angel's atonement. The scene by the fire shows he's got a
long way to go. He was pretty much a b*****d as a vampire. And I think it's
good that we're reminded of how far he's come but how far he has to go. Of
course, a lot of that dream could be Darla's influence as well.
Well, that's about it for now. All in all, a great episode.
Definitely a keeper.
My rating: 9.0 (out of 10.0)
Next up: Angel sees Darla out in the real world....looks interesting.
Review Copyright 2000 by Michael T. Hickerson. All Rights Reserved.
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