Heartthrob

Heartthrob
Written and Directed by David Greenwalt

Original Airdate: September 24, 2001

Plot: Angel returns from a three-month retreat to help him resolve his feelings about Buffy's death. In a battle with a group of vampires, Angel stakes a blonde vampire who used to run with he and Darla, causing her boyfriend to swear vengeance against Angel.

Review Warning: If seeing SPOILERS for the third season premiere of Angel, "Heartthrob" will cause you to undergo a radical procedure and swear out vengeance upon me, I strongly suggest you turn back now. There are huge SPOILERS just ahead for Angel's third season premiere.

In short: A good start to the new season.

As most of you know, I wasn't overly thrilled by the last six or so episodes of Angel last year. I felt the entire Pylea concept, while interesting, was stretched too thin to fit over four episodes of screen-time. I also felt that Angel lost some momentum in the final six episodes as it pulled back from the overwhelming darkness the series had shown in the first half of season two. Not that I don't mind a light-hearted episode now and then, but I think one of the strengths that Angel had (like Buffy) was that it was able to balance the light and dark elements in a unique blend that never went too far to one side or the other.

So, needless to say, that while I was looking forward to the season premiere of the series, I also had some trepidation going on. Would Angel get back it's focus and become the series that I had come to love over the past two years?

I'm glad to report that, for now, Angel has come a long way.

As a season-opener, Heartthrob was a success. It did a lot of things really well. For one, it quickly caught us up on just what had been happening the last three months. I honestly found the most appealing and interesting scenes in the show to be those involving the entire gang as it were. Just as in last year's "Judgement" the best thing about this season premiere was the team-work shown before the opening credits. The scene with Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn coming back from a demon hunt and discussing the demons was superbly done and full of some great one-liners. I loved the sly in-comment about how could anyone get obsessed with demons and the like, only to have Wesley reveal that he's the king of obsessive demon details. (On a side note, I honestly wondered if this was some kind of sly in-joke about the Net fans who would be the ones to actually notice a detail like that in the show and then spend hours arguing about it and debating it. If it was, then I applaud it. And yes, I will admit I'm as guilty of that as the next Net fan.) Seeing the chemistry between the gang both with and without Angel was nicely done. Another good scene was Angel's return from the monestary and his parcelling out of gifts.

And while it was nice to see bits and pieces of various members of the gang--we got a nice scene for Gunn, Wesley and Fred (who screams out for an episode that really delves into her background), the real focus of this episode was the arcs put in place for Angel and Cordelia.

And while I'm the first to criticize the final six episodes of Angel last year, I will admit one of the more intriguing things to come out of it is just how much Cordelia suffers after the visions--and how it's becoming worse. It was nice to see that continued here. Charisma Carpenter really did a great job with the scenes that she was given with this. It wasn't just her crying out and writhing on the floor at the hotel. It was the scenes at home after the visions. I think we had an idea that things were bad--but this one really showed how bad it really is. Cordelia's refusal to have bright light because it pains her too much, having to take three pills in order to deal with the pain (and they were obviously prescription pills based on the bottle. And this opens up a whole new issue--just how do you explain to a doctor why you need prescription pain killers for visions. And what health plan would cover these types of things?!?) and then her attempts to sooth herself in the bathtub were all extremely well done. Listening to Cordelia talk in a small, quiet voice only served to reinforce how much pain and suffering she was having. But it was also interesting to see how she tried to cover up that pain she was in to Angel and the others.

I also liked the brother/sister dynamic between Angel and Cordelia. I loved seeing her still as brutally honest as she's always been, but it's tempered a bit. You can tell that she cares for Angel a great deal. Again, some of the scenes that really worked well in the show were those between Cordelia and Angel in the middle and last half of the show. Seeing Cordelia force Angel to face up to his feelings about Buffy's death and his inability to do anything about it was nicely done. And I certainly found it a bit more effective than Angel's being forced to consider the issue while fighting against James (more on that later).

And speaking of Angel, I liked the character arc we saw there. Seeing Angel having to deal with Buffy's death was intersting and nicely done. In a lot of ways, I found his journey a bit similiar to what Buffy went through at the start of their season three after she'd sent Angel to hell and then left Sunnydale.

Of course, with Angel, nothing is ever as simple as it appears. Certainly Angel goes back out to fight the good fight but sets his past racing toward him to once again hit him over the head with unintended consequences. I found this to be a bit like the character arc for John Crichton on this year's Farscape (at least to date). All year long, Crichton has tried to do the right thing and has done things about out good motivation. However, it backfires and there are always huge, unintended conseuqences. I think that's what a lot of this episode was about--the past affecting the present and future in ways most of us can never see coming. Certainly I can imagine that when Angel abandoned James and Darla to Holtz that he never thought it would one day lead to a James swearing vengeance upon him for killing his girlfriend.

All of that worked really, really well.

As did Angel's feelings of guilt over Buffy's death. And the resolve that we see at the end for Angel to move on beyond Buffy. Yes, a part of him will always love her--and she him. But I, for one, found it nice that he would actually try to move on and continue living--as a way to honor Buffy's memory. (And I also found it nice that the season premiere of Angel gave us NO hints as to how Buffy comes back....because I'm trying to go SPOILER free until next Tuesday and I must admit as we hit the home stretch it's getting more and more difficult). It will be interesting to see if and how Angel acknowledges that Buffy is back in a few episodes.

I also admit I'm intrigued by Holtz, though I have yet to see where this one is going. I can't pass judgment on it yet since we've only had two scenes with him in the show. I have a feeling we'll see more of him and I, for one, can't wait.

Another plotline I'm taking the wait-and-see attitude on is the Darla's expecting plotline. OK, I'll admit it...I NEVER saw that one coming. Not in a million years--though in looking at the clips they showed us not only in the WB lead-in but in the catch-up scenes, it shouldn't be that suprising. Certainly showing us the clips of Angel and Darla making love should have been a hint, but I admit I never saw it coming. And while I would say that my first reaction is--oh, it has to be Angel's, another part of me wonders if it could be someone else's--namely Lindsay's. Certainly that would be an interesting way to bring back the character. I don't know if this will happen or not, but it's an intriguing possiblity and is certainly one that I don't think a lot of us would seeing coming. (Well, at least we wouldn't have until I threw that out there and ruined it. ;-) )

As for the rest of the season premiere, I found it a bit hit or miss.

Honestly with as much as there was going on with Angel and Cordy's story arcs, the rest of it didn't interest me as much. I found the pacing of a lot of the plot involving James to be stilted. Things happened at an uneven pace. Also, it brought up some interesting questions. Presumably, James only had six hours to hunt down and kill Angel. But yet it seemed like he spent very little of that time in the actual fight to kill Angel. I wonder if it took him a bit longer to find Angel than he thought (not that Angel has ever made any secret of where he hangs out as it were). If so, then the plan to seems a bit flawed. If you know you've only got six hours, you'd think he's plan a bit better.

Also, I feel as though James came out of nowhere. It might have been a more intriguing plotline if there had been a bit more build-up to it.

The other thing that bugged me here was how we were supposed to see James as a bit of a reflection of Angel. I think this was just a bit too forced--especially in the subway battle in the final segment. It felt as though we were being hit over the head with a sledge hammer about the importance of this battle and what it meant to James and Angel as an emotional arc. Again, one of the things I've loved about Angel and Buffy since day one is that while they do have these great metaphors and things, they let the viewer put the pieces together instead of hitting us over the head with it.

And I think that I could have picked up on it here without them beating me over the head with it. But, otherwise, I have to admit that I am fairly impressed with Angel's third season debut and I'm honestly eager for more--for the first time since last Febraury with Angel.

So, I guess that about wraps it up except a few small things...

--I like the widescreen showing of Angel. For one, it helps the annoying WB logo not be as damned obvious (couple that with my WB feel an insane need to put their logo in the left bottom corner and you've got a full-screen of distratctions). I know it's the way TV is now, but I get irritated. I prefer the transparent logo, myself.

--I wonder where Fred got all those pens? Did they send them up with the tacos?

--The last scene with the gang going out to fight the demon was nicely done. Loved the way they walked up to the camera and that was used as the transiton device.

--Was it just me or during some the fight scenes did it seem like the action would freeze and then jump ahead quickly? It seemed as though they were trying to avoid showing punches and kicks connecting. Again, maybe it's more poor old brain playing tricks upon me. --In retrospect, should we be worried that Darla was smoking while carrying the baby? Also, how does the baby get oxygen to grow and develop since vampire's don't NEED oxygen?!? (OK, look back to my comments about being way too detailed oriented and obsessive...I think they definitely apply to me!)

So, all-in-all, Angel is back. And it's a good thing. A strong opener for what looks to be a strong season premiere's hoping the trend continues.

My rating: 8.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Angel tries to find a way to help Cordelia with her visions.

"And look at it how brings out my breasts! Come on, you know you were all thinking it."

--Coredlia.