Amends

Amends
Written and Directed by Joss Whedon

Original Airdate: December 15, 1998

Plot: As the holiday season approaches, Angel is haunted by ghosts from his days as a demon...

Review

Warning: If SPOILERS for the holiday-themed episode of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, "Amends" will bring out your inner-Grinch, please turn back now...

In short: Joss delivers a great holiday treat.

I love the Christmas season. (Well, all excpet the shopping that is!) I love the lights, the decorations, the carols, the cookies, the feeling of good cheer and warmth. But one part of the Christmas season I dread are the holiday-themed episodes that shows will do. It's a time of year when silly coincidences occur, miracles happen, and the holidays just make all of life seem perfect for that moment. This doesn't bug me as much for lighter shows such as just about any half-hour comedy (with the excpetion of Sports Night, which if you haven't watched yet, you need to!). But it does bug me on drama series that are bit more dark and cynical in nature. These episodes can be a bit disconcerting when looked at in the light of the entire series as a whole.

Which is why I was feeling a bit Grinch-like going into last night's episode.

I was worried that Buffy's usual dark tone would suffer immensely from a candy-coated holiday warmth and a false sense of having to have all of chracters have a Merry Christmas. In short, we'd get a feel-good episode that would serve no purpose.

Then I saw the words "Written and Directed by Joss Whedon" flash on screen and my fears were gone. My heart grew three sizes and I enjoyed what has to be the best episode of the third season so far.

Buffy's holiday themed episode hit all the right notes. Namley because it remained true to what Buffy is.

I liked the fact that Joss took a chance in an episode that ws going to be hyped the WB to step up and advance the storyline a bit. I realize that new viewers may have been a bit confused, but I honestly feel everything was explained enough to be accessible and that he threw in enough tidbits to keep us long time viewers happy. A delicate line to walk, and one that Joss does with accomplished ease.

Bascially, the show was one that happened to take place during the holiday season. Rather than seeing Buffy fight off some come of threat to Christmas as we know it, we see the usual events that shake and rock the Buffyverse unfold on screen. I liked that. We got to see a bit about the character in how they celebrated the holiday season, but we weren't hit over the head with it.

Indeed, if you've read or seen one of the million and one versions of a Christmas Carol, you can see where Joss got his isnpiration. Angel is forced to confront the ghosts of Chrimstas past and present in the form of a demon. Of course, there was no Christmas future ghost and I think that was a good choice. I like seeing the future as an open book even though we know that the future is setting up Angel for a depature to his own series in a few weeks.

But, back to my point.

After seeing a bit of just who Angel was when he became a vampire and how he go to Sunnydale, it was interesting to see a bit of his past before he was re-souled. To see just how manipulative and vicious he was. It was a nice counterpoint to his scenes with Giles when he asks the librarians help and is met with open hostility (in a scene that really should get Anthony Stewart Head and David Boreanaz am Emmy nod!). Agnel's being forced to confront his past to save his future was interesting. And also seeing him give into the despair the demon wanted him feel was interesting. His decision to cast himself to the sunlight was an interesting one and one that has been building all year.

And while we got a possible answer to why Angel returned, I don't think we yet have the definitive one. Something brought Angel back from the demon dimesnion. I feel as though Joss has given us just one more small piece of the puzzle to consider and play with while he gets ready to drop a bombshell on us later on down the road.

And I'm ready.

But what also made this episode a success was how it kept the elements of Buffy that are stronges while moving them forward. We got to see Buffy being tough but vulnerable, the Scooby gang work as a research team, and an evil force that comes to the Hellmouth. All of these harken back to the early days of what first attracted me to this show.

But also built upon here was the things that make Buffy so much fun to watch still--the dynamic nature of the character's relationships. Seeing Oz and Willow's reconcilation was nice and kept in the theme of forgiveness of the overall show. Seeing how far Willow was willing or ready to go to show Oz he was speical was a nice touch and really well realized. It was handled with a sensitity and grace that is needed when disucsing such an issue. And I only hope we'll see the same kind of honest, loving reaction when and if Oz and Willow do consumate their relationship in the future.

We also saw the continued fall-out of Xander and Cordy. Last week we got to see things a bit from Cordy's world so her absense here wasn't too glaring. I did miss her a bit, but it's only logical she wouldn't be too eager to hang with the Scooby gang just yet.

Also, after the events in Revelations, we saw a bit of reconcilaiton of Faith and Buffy. I don't think thinkgs will eve rbe the same between (at least I hope they won't be because honestly too much has happened for them to be best buds again any time soon!) but they did move forward. Seeing Faith be a bit vulnerable was nice and it begins to humanize her a bit more. And to be honest, she does need that. Smooth out her hard edges and I think you've got a richer, more complex charcter for the gang to play off.

About the only part that struck me as distraction was the fact that I guessed the secret layer of the demon when the guy mentioned the trees were dying. I guess having been watching the show too much because alarm bells sounded in my head.

I also found it interesting that it only snowed in Sunnydale. But then again, this is the Hellmouth, so you never know what's gonna happen. :-)

But in an overall outstanding story, these two minor things are not going to make the grade it down. It was just that good.

Well, that about wraps it up for now. Except for a few small things....

--For those of you who don't know, this is the one year anniversary of my doing these reviews. In that time, the response and kind words have been wonderful and I just wanted to thank all of you for allowing me to share my thoughts and views. And I welcome any responses you have at any time...

--I just sort of wondered what Faith got Buffy and her mom. Of course, this leads me to another question--just how does Faith afford her room? Does she have a job?

--I liked the referneces Willow made to having the Hannakah spirit. Those were nicely done.

--Poor ol' Xander. Everyone has someone at the end, except him. I hope things pick up for him soon.

Well, that's about it for now. All in all, a great episode. One I plan to re-watch Monday night when they re-peat it.

My rating: 10.0

Next up: Monday night--an encore. Tuesday, a repeat of Dead Man's Party.

"And I'd hoped we'd keep that little dirty secret between us."

--Xander.

P.S. I'd just like to take a chance to wish all of you a very blessed and merry holiday season.