Loyalty

Loyalty
Written by Mere Smith
Directed by James A. Contner

Original Airdate: February 25, 2002

Plot:Wesley continues to translate the prophecy concerning Conner--and becomes more and more concerned about what he finds for Connor's future. Meanwhile, a woman hires the gang to investigate a vampire nest and Gunn and Fred encounter a few stumbling blocks in their budding romance.

Review

Warning: Consider this a sign, if you want to avoid SPOILERS for the latest episode of Angel, "Loyalty." If you've not yet seen it and don't want to know any of what happens, turn back now...

In short: A big-step forward.

For the first time in what seems like an eternity, we actually have new episodes of both Buffy and Angel to discuss in the same week. For me, that's nothing but good news. (Of course, I'm not going to get too used to the idea, since it appears this will be the last week for a long time that this will occur).

Also filed under the category of good news is that I've come away from watching an episode of Angel without feeling the overwhelming urge to yell at my television and throw things at the screen in frustration over what's developing. Just when Angel had reached a low point (and let's face it--"Couplet" was a really huge low point), in comes Mere Smith and helps put the whole thing back on track with an episode that finally begins to deal with the plot threads that had been left dangling ever since late November.

Can I get a "Hallelujah" anyone?

This is not to say that "Loyalty" was perfect. It was far from it. But it was still strong enough in what makes Angel such a great show and a real pleasure to watch that it made me almost forget the bad taste I've had in the last three to five new offerings.

Unfortunately, it's hard to really say how it all played out since I get the strong feeling this is the set-up for the pay-off that's coming next week. We didn't get the words "To Be Continued" flashing across the screen, but we might as well have. Which, as I've stated before, it's hard to really review a two-part storyline because, well, we don't know how it all comes out.

But I will say this--Loyalty left me anxious to see how this all begins to play out next week. (And to be honest, I don't think it's going to be a neat and pat resolution next week. I have a feeling we've now got the thread that we'll follow for the rest of season three.)

After far too many weeks of a narrow focus on Angel and Cordelia and their budding romance, I was extremely glad to see the supporting cast of Angel come back in a significant way.

For one thing, I was glad to see the plotline with the demon who brought Holtz forward in time come back in a significant way. Seeing it progress was nice--especially his frustration at Holtz for appearing to do next to nothing. (His comment when he first appeared to Holtz about almost growing bored with waiting for him to deliver justice to Angel was superb and almost seemed a bit "in-joke." Almost as if the writers knew that we, the audience, have been waiting for this to come back and are wondering if it ever would.) Seeing him to go Lillah for help in taking care of Angel was a good move--especially since it bring Lillah back into the plotline in a significant way. (Again, a cast member who'd been off-stage for far too long.)

And while I liked the idea of Lillah and the demon joining forces, I was still equally frustrated by the fact that we got close to finding out just why the demon hates Angel so much and wants vengeance upon him. The whole "I've got my reasons but I choose not to reveal then, but I'll talk about the fact that I've got reasons" is getting a bit frustrating for me. I'd even take a small hint as to just why he hates Angel so much. To quote Dr Evil from the Austin Powers movies, "Throw me a freakin' bone here."

I also enjoyed getting to see that Holtz's army is growing and how it's growing. I realize that a lot of the focus is on the Holtz and Justine relationship, but it was nice to see that after hearing a few weeks ago that Holtz is raising an army to come against Angel, that we see results of this actually occurring. Again, I've said before that I was frustrated that we didn't get to see any of Holtz's behind the scenes maneuverings, but I am glad that we saw the results.

Also, seeing how Holtz is taking time to study his enemy is interesting. Again, it doesn't come close to really validly justifying why he let Angel go back at the end of November. But it's nice to see that Holtz is taking time to really study Angel and the crew of Angel Investigations and get to know his enemy before he begins his attack. In some ways, it reminded me of Spike back in season two--stalking Buffy and trying to learn her strengths and weaknesses before he went up against her in a major way. And it's fairly obvious that Holtz intends to take on Angel in a big way, but it seems as though he wants more. He doesn't just want the pleasure of killing Angel. Instead, he wants to see the vampire with the soul suffer--as he's suffered. Holtz's idea of justice is an interesting one (indeed, the discussion of Angel's slaughter of his family was one of the most chilling in the show) and I've got to wonder if Holtz will ever be satisfied in inflicting his form of justice upon Angel. Again, as I've said before, I love a villain who doesn't think of himself as the bad guy--and I never get the feeling that Holtz feels he's a bad guy. Angel even acknowledged that in the conventional sense, he's the bad guy and Holtz is the good guy. It's interesting how the show has turned this around and made us pull against Holtz because he wants to kill the guy who is the hero of our show.

That's the one thing I've liked about Angel and Buffy most--it plays with the viewers' expectations. And it got back to that in a huge way this week.

Like the plotline with Wes. Wes's obsession with protecting Connor was superbly done, yet again. I'm probably going to sound like a broken record here, but the real scene stealer here, once again, was Alexis Denisof. He brought such a silent desparation to Wesley this week--as he's done in the past few weeks. Seeing Wes go with Angel and Connor everywhere they went was nicely done. Wes's refusal to leave Angel alone with Connor was nicely done, as was his obsessive quest to find a loophole in the prophecy to save Angel from the prophecy.

Wes's scenes all worked so well, but two really stuck out in my mind.

The first was the scene with the giant hamburger statue. Just the notion that an ancient power would choose to talk through a giant hamburger with a smiling face was superb. It was one of those things that Angel does so well--taking everyday things and using them in a new way. It was at one moment, humorous, but on another level, it was a lot more. Seeing the absurdly happy and smiling face delivering the prophecy of doom and gloom and making Wes face up to the fact that he knows what he has to do. Again, Denisof really came through here in a scene that was probably a lot of him playing to what was a character that was probably CGIed in later.

The next sequence was seeing Wes see through the bluff of Holtz's bait and then his going to Holtz. Seeing the conversation between Wes and Holtz, where Holtz implies that Wes knows what he has to do was superb. I have a strong feeling that Wes is serving a bit of the role of the Annoying One from Buffy's first season. He will be forced to deliver Connor to Holtz to protect Connor. And I have a feeling that making Angel suffer by taking his son, is exactly the kind of justice Holtz would feel the vampire deserves. Again, I like this plotline because it follows out of the character of who Wesley is. He's a man who needs to do the right thing and he knows what it is. But there will be huge consequences to doing the right thing--possibly including the loss of his friend. Seeing Wes struggle with that over the course of the episode was superbly done and his going to Holtz made absolute sense. It also showed how desperate Wes has become to find a loophole so everything can end well and happily for everyone. Unfortunately, this does not appear possible and I think things have been set in motion now.

And the moment at the end with Angel's off-hand remark of having something to eat was a great and chilling way to leave things. It also makes you wonder--was Angel jokingly referring to Connor or Wes?

It's something to think about.

As for the Fred and Gunn plotline, it was hit and miss. The chemistry that had been between these two the last couple of weeks wasn't there. It just never clicked. Their scenes together of being romantic and mushy rang hollowly. I think part of it is that Wes and Fred's scene together was so much more emotionally charged that these paled by comparison. Also, the lines just felt wrong. Gunn's anger at feeling that Wes was interfering with their relationship seemed misplaced. And the scene over breakfast also rang a bit more hollow than usual. I wonder if we're seeing a bit of the idea that Gunn and Fred are attracted to each other, but there may not be enough there to sustain the relationship long-term. Or it's more of an idea that the writers wanted them together, but aren't sure yet what the next step is. I'm holding out hope that it'll continue to develop in a good way, but for now, the shine that was there in past weeks wasn't evident this week.

So, I guess that's about it for now, except a few small things...

--Thank heavens we had no Groom this week. I couldn't take anymore of that.

--They seemed to make a huge deal about Angel drinking blood this week. It seemed very obvious. Could this be setting things up.

--So, here's my question. Did Wolfram and Hart have a mother in every pediatric clinic in L.A. on the off-chance Angel would come in so they could steal Connor's blood? That was a huge stretch, but one that I think is setting up some things.

--I loved Lillah's lack of reaction to the demon guy appearing. Also, the hints to her family life are intriguing. I wonder if we'll hear any more about this at any point.

So, I guess that's about it for now. After the past few weeks, this week's Angel was a huge step in the right direction. I'm not ready to say my faith is restored, but the show took a big step toward restoring it. And I will it admit, it left me hungry for more and looking forward to next week....

My rating: 8.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: A betrayal...