Slouching Toward Bethlehem

Slouching Toward Bethlem
Written by Jeffrey Bell
Directed by Skip Schoolnik

Original Airdate: October 27, 2002

Plot:Cordelia returns but her memory is gone. The Angel Investigations gang tries to ease her back into their life by hiding certain facts from her--a plan which backfires on them big time. Angel has Lorne read Cordy's fate but the vision of her future terrifies the singing demon. Meanwhile, Wolfram and Hart learn of Cordy's return and her brush with the higher powers and set a plan in motion to capture her--a plan that involved Lillah manipulating her relationship with Wesley.

Review

Warning: If you're suffering from amnesia and can't recall if you've seen the latest episode of Angel "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" I strongly suggest you turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead...

In short: Some improvement over last week.

I guess it was almost too much to hope for. After both Buffy and Firefly stepped up to the plate with huge, home-run type episodes, I went into this week's Angel hoping the series would snap out of the doldrums it's been in of late. It's not that it's been really bad, mind you, but it's just not been the same compelling vision (no pun intended) of a series that originally hooked me. Again, I want to chalk a lot of this up to the behind the scenes turmoil that went on following the departure of David Greenwalt, Tim Minear's focusing on Firefly (and with good results as this week's episode proved) and the new producer leaving after only four to five episodes.

And while this week's Angel was a bit of a step in the right direction, the same problems that have been weighing down this season are still apparent. Namely, there just isn't one plot line that is really capturing my interest and making me say--boy, I sure am looking forward to tuning in and seeing how the develops. If anything, all the plots this year have been pretty much of the sputtering start and stop variety--one minute they're interesting, the next minute they just don't quite achieve the interest or the drama we saw last year.

As most of you know, the plot line I've been the least thrilled with this year was Connor's. Honestly, I felt like last year, we rushed through a lot of things at the end--after Angel had worked very hard to set up things for a fall. And this year, the plotline with Conner has left me very cold--I just can't care much for his plight. Part of it may be that he did try to kill Angel and, thus, it's hard to work up much sympathy for him.

That said, I will admit that his plotline here was, for the first time this season, actually interesting enough to hold my attention. Seeing Connor's increasing frustration at trying to make a difference but failing to do so. The early scene with Connor rescuing the people in the car and then not getting the heroes welcome he yearned for was interesting. With Holtz gone and Angel not showing any love for him, Connor is seeking out approval. And so when he is able to use his powers to save Cordy and then to be her knight in white armor, that situation worked out fairly well. I think we're seeing that Connor has learned a code from Holtz of helping the helpless and righting wrongs--but he just doesn't always make the best choices when it comes to doing this. If this is how we're going to play this out, then I think that could potentially be interesting to see develop over the long run. But again, the writing staff is going to have to work extremely hard to get me to buy into this for a long-term storyline.

I think part of this is that I just don't really buy Vincent Kartheiser in this role. He did fairly well last year, but this season I really feel like we're seeing a lot of his limitations. He doesn't do the sulking and brooding very well. Part of this is that he's playing off the master of sulking and brooding that we see in David Borenaz. But there are times in the stories that I just don't connect to Kartheiser and I feel as though he's not able to come up to the level of the material and the usually stellar acting we get from such people as Alexis Denisof and Charisma Carpenter.

The other plotline that intrigued me was the continuing storyline of Wes and Lillah. It's interesting to see that Lillah is able to manipulate Wes's good intentions in order to get what she wants. It makes you wonder if this has been her intention all along or if there's something more to it. She's literally sleeping with the enemy and apparently she gets some gratification out of it. I'm not sure if part of it might be like that old episode of Seinfeld, where the woman is attracted to George and goes out with him because it's a forbidden relationship in the eyes of some people. If that's Lillah's attraction, I can see that. But we certainly got to see her evil side again here, which I like. And her making Wes sign the dollar for the bet about who would use the r-word first and then leaving it behind was a nice touch. It makes me wonder if Wes has been screwed over in more ways than one--to the point that Lillah has manipulated things so that he can't go back to Angel and company. Indeed, there are seeds of doubt sewn there--we hear Fred and Gunn comment as such, feeling that Wes has somehow set them up once again.

Which that part of the plotline is starting to bug me no end. Wes is the one who stood by as each of the main characters went down their dark road--he held things together for Angel while Angel went dark guy in season two. Now when Wes is facing a similar trial in his life, they are quick to dismiss him. Boy, that Wes sure is evil and doesn't care and has his own agenda and must be using us. I just don't buy it from Gunn and Fred. We are talking about a woman in Fred, who was the object of Wes's affection last year and Gunn who knows that Wes gave up his chance at happiness with Fred so that Gunn could be happy. In most cases, Wes has been nothing but a friend to them all, but yet his first mistake is perceived as unforgivable or given an insecure, at best, apology from Angel. Sorry, but the guy deserves better.

I will say this--it does give Alexis Denisof a chance to act his socks off (no pun intended) and to do some really good stuff with Wes.

Of course, the interesting thing about the whole Cordy returns plot wasn't the gang's attempts to lie to her and make her not see the truth (in fact, I found those rather lame...more on that later) but that she her fate is now linked to impending doom that is apparently coming. Which I can only say--bring on some impending doom...we've been in a holding pattern really since April of last year for something to happen. So the sooner it comes the better. Also, I really liked the sense of symmetry to the trap that Lillah sets--since it's basically the same trap Angelus used on Buffy way back in "The Becoming." I find it interesting that Angel can be just as blinded as Buffy is, even when it's the same trap he's used.

As for the rest of the story, it didn't really create or sustain much interest for me--and it should have. Cordy's being back is a huge deal and while it was sort of fun to see the gang try to side-step what they do and who they are, it just went on too long. I am not sure if you could have sped the plot up any and had it seem more realistic, but it seemed like the storyline was trying too hard at points to be funny and dramatic at the same time. It felt like we had a few good ideas that were stretched across a long period of time and that just didn't really feel right to me.

Also, Fred and Gunn just grated on my nerves. I don't know why but this year their relationship has felt forced. It had a good feel to it last year, but this season, it hasn't clicked of late. I am not sure if this is because we need an episode to focus on them and give some depth to them or what but I found myself rolling my eyes at several points throughout the episode when they were on screen.

I still say the cast has become a bit unwieldy and someone needs to leave the show or be killed off. But Joss has shown he can balance large casts--Firefly is a great example of this. I just hope the Joss penned episode coming up puts the season back on an even keel.

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

--The reaction to Lorne as Cordy was singing was priceless. "Does he look a bit more green than usual?"

--The scene with Cordy and the yearbook signatures was a real delight.

--Will Lillah come back to Wes or is that over?

--So, I understand why Wolfram and Hart got Angel and company out of the way. But why did Lillah observe them so? Was she making sure that everyone was there so they could get the info out of Lorne or was it more than that? Is she showing interest in Conner and his abilities?

--Poor Lorne..the guy is always getting beat up and tied to a chair. Did anyone else think it reminded them of Alias a bit?

--Speaking of which, Cordy's reaction to her various hair styles was a good little jab at Alias. And all of the various hair styles we've seen over the years...

So, that's about it for now. Overall, the episode was stronger than last week's but it wasn't really up to the standards that Mutant Enemy set earlier this week. Overall, I have to say I was pretty disappointed with this one. But there are some glimmers of hope for the future....

My rating: 6.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Fred is invited to speak at a physics convention and things go awry....