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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