2x01 - Judgement

Neither Buffy nor the Angel series has ever really produced a stellar season premiere. And to be honest? It’s kind of confusing why...

Judgement is yet another example of an Angel season premiere that just can’t seem to gain a better overall judgment than most other episodes over the course of the year... And yet, I will still admit that Judgement was a huge step up for the Angel series.

While the first season of the show was dreadfully plagued with overzealous episodes that simply took themselves far too damn seriously, no matter how stupid their root material may be... The great thing about Judgement, was that it really set the tone and pace for the rest of the season, in a way that was both dark and light-hearted enough to truly define the edge of the show in all its later seasons...

I mean, if this was a season one episode, I’m sure I would’ve just shook my head at Judgement. I mean, for Christ’s sakes, Angel fought in a medieval joust in the middle of downtown Los Angeles... but Judgement really shined through in the end, simply from the fact that it thankfully didn’t take itself too damn seriously... The introduction of Lorne as The Host was one of best moves the writers have ever done. His character, of being able to see auras when someone bares their soul through song, has got to be one of the most innovative and creative ideas in the history of the Buffyverse. Caritas itself was perhaps the absolute most enjoyable atmosphere Joss Whedon has ever produced. And just the sheer, painful comedy of it all, of having to bare witness to Angel’s absolute worst moment in the history of karaoke? I mean, gosh darn it... Judgement may not have been the true highlight of the season. But I’ll be damned if I didn’t admit, that I enjoyed the episode that brought to life Angel’s sad and scary obsession with Barry Manilow...

Though there were a ton of annoying spots in this episode... I never cared for Kamal, the Prio demon with soul. And Merl ended up being just an annoying addition for the rest of the season... The Tribunal was just over the top (although the joust was surprisingly enjoyable, if only because the music during that scene was spectacular). The pregnant woman really didn’t help things much besides her lovely little Costco speech. And all the guilt Angel felt about killing an innocent champion of a demon wasn’t exactly the highlight of the season either...

But none of this really mattered to me, because for the first time in the history of the show, the Angel writers finally found that perfect mix of both angst and comedy that was sorely lacking from the first season... Cordy got to finally prove her acting chops, and even moments as meaningless as her sneezes helped bring real levity to the show... Gunn joined the cast and didn’t do much, as usual. But he did show some chemistry with Wes already, making fun of seeing him "in bed".... Wesley himself didn’t add on much comic relief. But he proved to be the stable element in the show, caring about the pregnant girl in a manner that really felt real... And Angel? He was simply the best this episode. The Barry Manilow "Mandy" thing was simply ridiculously funny. The big board (later to return in Buffy season 7) always brings back good memories. And his visit to Faith, where his love for Barry Manilow was once again admitted?... I never really thought Angel had much chemistry with Buffy. But he certainly had a connection with Faith. And it was nice that the writers brought that connection back, if only for one episode... If anything, the path of redemption in this episode really contrasted well with his path to darkness throughout the rest of the season...

When passing judgment on Judgement, I can’t really say it was the best of moments in the show. And I can’t really say it was the best of season premieres either... But still, I can’t help but give real judos of kudos of cooties to the writers, for finally nailing the Angel formula down pat. Judgement was perhaps the turning point of the entire series... perhaps not in character arcs, but definitely in terms of the writing niche the show became famous for in years to come...

And besides, Darla was reintroduced, looking as hot as hell in whatever precious blue thing she was wearing. But that’s besides the point... even if her succulent points were the entire point of the season to me...

2x02 - Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?

Are You Now has always been quite the paradox of a time paradox for me... I mean, I thought I’d like the episode. I normally am a sucker for flashback episodes, especially ones from Angel. And really, as a history buff, I’ve always been big on McCarthyism. And that’s what this episode explored – the paranoia, racism, and constant naming and maming of good people in the 1950s. Like a good witchhunt actually, with a nice homage to The Crucible, with Angel being hung at the end...

But the paradox is, I just didn’t enjoy this episode. Sure, I found the whole setting behind it interesting. And the sight of all the costumes and old skool cars made the episode feel almost epic at times... But no matter how interesting the episode got, one thing never changed: I never cared about any of the characters... No matter what happened in the episode, I just ended up plain bored.

Because once again, the Angel writers did their worst and pretty much wrote up an episode that took itself too damn seriously for its own good... While the prospect of an invisible paranoia demon was a nice homage to murder mystery films of the past, the actual demon itself (tentacles and all) was just plain ridiculous in nature. And everything that happened in the 50s, from the talk about being fired for "tainted" blood, to all the constant and annoying scenes of hotel members pointing communist fingers at one another? None of these scenes seemed to have any impact on me whatsoever. They all took themselves too damn seriously. And the only thing I did care about in the end was just how cute Judy was in that dress of hers...

The only thing that saved this episode was the comic relief at times... Cordelia had some of her best lines (as she normally does in episodes without visions), complaining that Angel gave them no point to their whole Hyperion Hotel goose chase. Gunn didn’t do much besides fire a crossbow, but at least his friendly rivalry with Wes really started up this episode... Wesley himself provided the only great moment of the entire episode. I simply can’t stop laughing at the part where he was fingered as being "especially paranoid". I’m not sure if this one line alone was meant to foreshadow all the times he betrayed Angel in the future. But even if the writers didn’t see that far ahead? The line’s still ridiculously funny, if only because of Wesley’s paranoia throughout the season about his own paranoia... And Angel? Well, he didn’t really add much to this episode. He did have chemistry with Judy though, and the final scene where he laid her to rest (quite literally) was perhaps the only touching scene in the entire episode... I personally thought David Boreanaz handled being hanged very well. And the look on Judy’s face when she "killed him" would’ve been heartbreaking, if I cared for her character that is...

Are You Now was definitely not the highlight of the season. Even with all the graceful work put into the costumes, music and sets, this episode somehow still ended up being perhaps the most boring episode of the entire season... But it did introduce the Hyperion Hotel (which I never liked as much as the office from the first season, but still...). And it did essentially bring to light the entire theme of the second season of Angel...

Angel, even with a soul, was capable of incredible darkness. But as the end with Judy points out, he’s also capable of some serious, selfless good... So the real question is, is he now? Or has he ever been?... whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean...

2x03 - First Impressions

At first impression, First Impressions is definitely not one of the most impressive episodes of the season. I mean, on one hand, you had a demonic Deevak who completely looked like an idiot during the final fight. And on the other hand, I’ve never really been a big fan of Charles Gunn episodes either. I’ve never really liked episodes that primarily deal with the "hood", and it’s not like Charles Gunn was ever really known as one of the deepest characters on the show anyhew.

First Impressions will probably never make a great, lasting impression on me. But the episode definitely holds up on repeat watchings, for one reason and one reason alone: because it simply does not take itself too seriously... I can always find the good in an episode as long as there’s some real comic relief to the darker parts of the episode... In this case, sure Gunn’s Rambo-type nature got the best of me. But thankfully, Cordelia (wearing the cutest garments I think she ever wore in season 2) provided exactly the kind of character contrast to make an episode about a simple car-jacking, seem like an episode worth watching for a second impression.

Gunn’s only good moments came whenever he was mocking Cordelia. Making fun of her little mace spray and girlie axe is always on a guy’s to do list. I just didn’t like how this episode tested the romantic chemistry between Cordy and Charles quite a bit though... although thankfully the writers never went anywhere with it, I still can’t really accept that smile the two shared at the end of this episode... Cordy mostly played the comic relief of the duo, which led to some really ideal scenes (the "working girl" talk at the party never fails to crack me up). And her actions were admirable this episode, refusing to leave Gunn’s side, even after she boinked the wrong demon on the head... I just didn’t like the episode when things started to get serious for her. It was great that her character saved the life of Veronica, but it sadly led to a change in the mood of the episode that simply did not flow... Wesley got to make Angel look like a fool with the best motorcycle helmet of all time. And I actually thought it was quite "realistic", how Wesley’s door knocking turned into a hammer hitting montage in Angel’s dream. But Wes didn’t amount to much besides all that...

Angel didn’t do much this episode either, except that he definitely showed some real chemistry with Darla... Now, Julie Benz isn’t the best actress in the world (and I doubt she would’ve pulled off a good Buffy, considering her voice just doesn’t fit the part). But damn, does this girl ever show some nice skin in this episode! And damn, does she ever have chemistry with David Boreanaz... Julie Benz really does look like she cares for Angel in all their scenes together. And I’d be sure as hell lying if I didn’t say she turned me on, being naked on top at the end (why can’t girls with perfect hair and skin and breasts, ever do that to me in my dreams?... or do they?... I wish...)... Angel himself managed well in the dream sequences, showing real chemistry with Julie Benz and all. I must admit though, I did get tired of his whole "I’m tired" thing during the few episodes that Darla was playing with his dreams. But at least it all led to some interesting action later on in the season...

Overall, I still don’t have a great impression of First Impressions... The simple tale of a car hijacking gone wrong does make the episode feel light-hearted (despite the darker undertones... no pun intended, if that was a pun...). The comedy alone in this episode was worth a couple of watches, even if the moral at the end just make me roll my eyes after hitting my head with an ugly stick...

I’ve never liked Gunn-centric episodes. But out of the lot of them, I’d wager First Impressions was one of the better ones... from first impressions of them all, at least...

2x04 - Untouched

I really didn’t think I’d like this episode, the first time I read the plot outline. I mean, telekinesis? Hasn’t that already been done to death in almost every single sci-fi show, and every single comic book to boot? We all know that psychic abilities usually stem from childhood traumas. And it’s not like the plot of this episode wasn’t predictable or anything, with Bethany gaining control of her powers by the end of the episode. Thanks to an angel, at least...

But what really made this episode special in my eyes was the fact that Untouched was the first (and one of the only) episodes where I was actually touched between the chemistry between Angel and Cordelia. While Angel pretty much ignored Cordy for Darla (although Darla wasn’t nearly as seductive this episode as she was in the last), Cordelia showed romantic concern for her employer for perhaps the first time in the history of the show... She was actually cute when she stuck out her tongue. And she even seemed to like it a bit when she was trying to get a bandage over his all-too muscular chest. And just the way she would keep staring at the vibes that Bethany was giving off?... Untouched was really one of Charisma Carpenter’s best episodes of the season. Because she somehow pulled off trying to look concerned over the lives Bethany was taking, when deep down inside, Cordy really only cared about Bethany making a pass at Angel... The first time I watched this episode, I personally thought Cordy’s whole speech to Bethany in the park felt completely forced and out of place. But once you factor in the jealousy factor?... then maybe there could’ve been some hope for the Cordy and Angel romance afterall, if Joss Whedon wasn’t addicted to pain that is...

The rest of the cast all found a perfect melange of seriousness and comic chemistry in Untouched... Gunn finally got to join the team officially, and I loved his non-shellac reaction to getting some worker’s compensation. And Wesley? While getting blown half way across a room after mentioning Bethany’s father was not the brightest thing he could’ve done, I still enjoyed his chemistry with the rest of the cast this episode. His repeated description of telekinesis was a nice little, humourous reminder that we the audience have seen a thousand telekinesis episodes in the history of the sci-fi universe... Angel himself got to care about Bethany in a way that actually felt real (since David Boreanaz only does seem to do his best acting when saving the damsel in distress). He cared for her almost like a father, and thus the awkwardness he showed when Bethany was coming onto him, definitely seemed to heighten the mood of the episode...

Bethany was surprisingly entertaining and endearing in Untouched. I mean, I never thought a whore could be so good looking, once she donned Cordy’s clothes I mean... I personally thought the actress did a great job in all her scenes, hiding the fact that a lot of the telekinesis moments (the scarf and the suitcase, for example) were pretty poorly done on TV... I actually think the entire cast of the show was spectacular in Untouched. Lilah herself looked smokin’ hot in pajamas (although I’ve always had a fetish for PJs...). And Holland Manners just has that perfect kind of evilness to him that makes me wish he would’ve become the big bad of the series...

Alas, Untouched is not an untouchable episode in terms of quality. It lacked any real kind of action, featuring absolutely the slowest damn chase scene in the history of car chase scenes (what were they going at? 5 kph?...)... Angel was pretty one dimensional, Darla wasn’t as attractive as she was before, and both Wesley and Gunn didn’t really have much to do... But just the little touches in the episode, like Bethany’s reaction when she thought she had impaled an angel, helped make a predictable episode about telekinesis into one that really was worth watching a second time through... Although the moral of the story sort of rolled my eyes at the end (with the time bomb scene not exactly being the pinnacle of entertainment), I still gotta admit... that Untouchable really turned out to be one of the best episodes of the season...

... it touched me by the fact, that it really surprised me in the end...

2x05 - Dear Boy

If you had asked me right after Angel season two’s initial run, I would have pronounced Dear Boy as the best episode of the year, no contest... I mean, why wouldn’t I? I fell in love with this episode! Quite literally, or quite lustfully I might add... I still remember writing on my MSN website later that night, at just how much I simply adored Darla’s seduction of Angel at the end of this episode. I even compared it to my obsession, considering I was more than hoping that a certain blonde thing would start groping me in a convent that night... As it stands, Dear Boy is probably the only episode in the history of the Buffyverse that has ever given me a rise. Sarah Michelle Gellar is still one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen, and Amy Acker is still the absolute most adorable creature I’ve ever witnessed... but Julie Benz in Dear Boy? No-one, and I mean no-one in the history of television has ever turned me on the way she did in Dear Boy...

... it’s just that... it’s only natural that I’d be disappointed the second time I watched the episode...

Dear Boy is still a good episode. But it’s main fatal attraction proved to be fatal to itself, I suppose... Darla is still good this episode. Julie Benz is just absolutely wicked in her role of wicked... But while the heat and passion between her and Angel is still there, it just doesn’t turn me on anymore. And because of that missing X-factor alone, this episode just can’t be my favourite episode of the year anymore. So many of her lines now felt cheap and cheesy, like her jealousy over Buffy, or the entire talk about true happiness... I loved Darla in Dear Boy. But besides the Convent scene, she really didn’t do nearly as much as I remembered... I was surprised to find that none of the flashback scenes were powerful this episode, at least compared to the first season’s remembrances. Dru was just annoying as a crazy human, and I don’t feel the writers delved deep enough into her past (although that’s what Buffy season 2 sort of already did)... And sure, Darla still looked absolutely amazing in that slinky tank top she was slipping out of by the end of the episode. But like I said, some of her lines just didn’t click with me in the end... The way she would smile at being bitten, the way she would claim even God didn’t want Angel back, I used to think were the best lines in the world. And now they just feel... I don’t know... like a cheap used prostitute...

... which we later find out Darla was... but that’s besides the point...

I still love Dear Boy. But perhaps I just don’t love it enough anymore, thanks to the rest of the cast not really having much to do?... Cordelia got her hair smelled by Angel, and she got to wear a lovely yellow outfit that just screamed out whore. But besides that? She didn’t even get to pull off any funny lines about staking Angelus, the way she did in Somnam-or-whatever in first season. And Gunn? While it was nice he finally got to Christen his new battle axe, he didn’t do much himself except utter useless lines about loyalty... Wesley was pretty much just there as well. At least he got to mock Cordy for wimping out on telling the boss off, but did he do anything else? I just found it weird that he wouldn’t recognize Darla himself, even after seeing her in the restaurant... And the smaller members of the cast didn’t contribute much either. Kate was annoying as ever, even though her hair was finally done right for once. But it was just completely mind boggling that she would still condemn Angel, even after realizing the truth about what happened at the house. Her character truly was wasted after her father complex came into effect... And Lindsay? Well, at least he had that one moment with Darla feeling his hand. But besides that? The second season didn’t make him feel threatening, nor did I feel any chemistry between him and Darla. It would’ve been better if somewhere down the road, he had a love triangle with Cordelia. But that’s a story for another day...

The secondary cast was pretty much wasted in Dear Boy, and that will always prevent this episode from getting a true gold star from me... But the real triste, between Darla and Angel ,was still striking and strong enough to make Dear Boy one of the best episodes of the season... I could’ve done without the "actor" at Darla’s fake home. And I don’t know why, but the crazy joke about the clowns and the giant hotdog fell through for me as well... Angel himself was a bit too one-dimensional this episode. Except for perhaps his absolutely awful "Wang Chung" or whatever rendition in Caritas, Angel didn’t really have any decent scenes apart from Darla. Although all things considered, I was surprised that I actually bought into his whole crazy vampire with a soul sort of thing...

But no matter the problems with Dear Boy, and no matter the loss of bonafide, boning nostalgia... there’s absolutely no denying the chemistry between Julie Benz and David Boreanaz. And there’s absolutely no denying that Darla looks absolutely irresistible bathed in sunlight, with her top all silking down and her hair all dangling about like flocks of sweet candy...

... she really does look divine when she’s glowing...

... well... the first time I watched Dear Boy, at least...

2x06 - Guise Will Be Guise

It seems every single season in the Buffyverse has a requisite "Zeppo" kind of episode. And while a lot of fans out there on the net can’t seem to like these little sidekick sideshows, I personally always get a real kick out of them...

Guise Will Be Guise not only has one of the most clever titles I have ever noticed on a television show before, but it really is a darn good episode. The plotline was simple enough, with Wesley pretending to be Angel (and naturally, sitcom hilarity ensues). Nothing really major happens in the episode, but thanks to strong comic performance by all members of the cast, I really thought everyone would’ve loved Guise Will Be Guise... as long as guys will be guys, at least...

Gunn had the least to do, but at least he got psyched out by the fake Swami about a pocket full of dust in the sunlight... Cordelia got to be jealous of Wesley, all pissed off that not only did he get some after just one night of being Angel, but he got to be the "bodyguard to the stars" as well. Poor gal just can’t catch a break with the rich and famous... Angel himself gave perhaps his absolute funniest performance of the season. David Boreanaz was absolutely perfect whenever he was with the fake Swami. And to be honest? I actually loved the Swami in this episode. Myself being a wannabe psychology, how could I not love the psychoanalysis of a vampire who drives a gas-hogging convertible in the city of sunshine?... I loved all the little comments about Angel and his inner demon. And I personally thought the Swami was more than just insightful. He really did swam, although I still don’t know what that means... And if there was any problem with Angel this episode, it was that he was too funny for his own good. The eunuch jokes were great, but felt out of place compared to how broody he was the episode before...

... but just the look on his face, when the Swami was telling him to find a small blonde, love her and break her heart?... well, just the solemn look of "been there, done that" on his brow, was more than enough to make up for Angel’s sudden 180 degree mood twist in the episode...

But the episode definitely belonged to Wesley the Zeppo in the end. And personally? While General Pryce did have his moments later on in the season, I really have to admit that Guise Will Be Guise was probably his best episode of the season... Now, the return of his clutzyness was more annoying than it was humourous. Sure, I laughed at him slipping on papers last year, but that’s just not in his nature anymore, and it was jarring to see it come back for no reason... But for the most part, Wesley was truly the man in this episode. I loved every single moment he was pretending to be Angel, from forgetting that he had to be invited in, to shrieking like old skool Wesley at the sight of a mirror... His chemistry with being in Virginia Bryce wasn’t the best, but can you really blame him? Sure, the girl was cute with her bed poses. But something was definitely wrong with her head. And she really didn’t have much of a personality... but even I have to admit the two made a decent couple, all cumulating in probably the funniest love dialogue I’ve heard in years...

Guise Will Be Guise wasn’t an episode that would win an Emmy from me. And obviously not from the Academy either (considering they don’t give away Emmies, but I digress...). And it definitely wasn’t a perfect episode, with Magnus Bryce being a boring villain, the final battle being lacking, and transition scenes between Angel’s and Wesley’s intermingled talk not working nearly as well as I thought it would...

But guys will be guys. And zeppos will be zeppos... And regardless of whether this episode was a big moment for the Angel series or not, it still stands to me as one of the funniest of all the second season episodes out there.

I personally feel Guise Will Be Guise was definitely underrated... I mean, it’s only logical than an episode about a Zeppo would be a Zeppo in itself...

2x07 - Darla

The second season as a whole was probably the most solid season of Angel of all time (although I am partial to the standalone episodes in season five as well). But there’s one damn problem nagging me about the second season still... Because it me, or does no single episode truly stand out from the pack?

Darla is definitely one of the best episodes of the entire season. But it just seems to lack some punch, you know?... Maybe it was because Darla didn’t have an accent in all the flashbacks. Or maybe it was because the music just wasn’t epic enough this episode, I don’t know... All I know is, this episode just wasn’t nearly as strong as Fool for Love was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Darla was still a great episode, but not nearly as great as I was expecting it to be...

Maybe the main problems with this episode were all the Wolfram and Hart scenes. I mean, perhaps because of the cold and emotionless setting of Wolfram and Hart, Darla didn’t really make an impression on me... Holland Manners was as Mr. Rogers sinister as ever, but Lindsay was just a mess this episode. He was simply too soft – hell, he even got played for a fool by a security guard shooting blanks... I know his character was always meant to be morally confused, and really only had a weakness for power. But honestly? He just wasn’t a very good character in the series because of this. He wasn’t a good microcosm of Angel’s struggle. And it certainly didn’t help things that a) his wooden hand looked awful, and b) he had no real chemistry with Darla, even when kissing Julie Benz in her all her sweetheart splendor...

Darla also suffered from a lack of Cordelia, Wesley, and Charles Gunn... Was Gunn even in this episode? In Dear Boy, at least he got to look all surprised after learning about Angel’s curse. But what did he do this episode?... Wesley tried to be the stable force in the show again, desperately trying to pull Angel away from his obsession. And the moment where he stumbled on all the portraits of Darla on the floor was priceless... But overall, Wesley didn’t amount to much either. Only Cordy seemed to have anything to say this episode, if only because she was showing real concern for Angel. She also pleasantly seemed jealous of Darla when she was weeping on the couch, and it was just swell that she was willing to hang up on her on the phone... But besides that? Cordy was basic comic relief like always. I liked her Darla.com remark, and at least she got to use her acting chops for the side of good for once... but she just didn’t provide enough of comic relief to make Darla feel like a complete episode as a whole...

The entire episode belonged to Angel and Darla, and for the most part, that was definitely what worked... the problem was, perhaps because of her lack of an accent, Darla really wasn’t powerful enough in her flashback scenes... When dying as a whore from Syphilis (1609? Wow, she’s hot for such an old gal...), it was nice to see The Master vampire make a return. But the entire scene just had no suspense for some odd reason, perhaps because we already knew the outcome? I’m not sure, but having Darla looking like death didn’t help matters much at all... Probably the best flashback scene was when the newborn Angel in 1760 confronted The Master with Darla by his side. Although his horrible Irish accent make listening a chore, Angelus really did make a nice mockery of the ugly vampire. And I thought the scene was both thrilling and funny (with the Master vampire feeling all hurt and betrayed at the end), the exact kind of combination that defined Angel’s great writing in later seasons. The music and costumes weren’t nearly as effective as they were in past flashbacks though, but the grin on Angelus’ face when enticing Darla with a view was worth the price of admission alone...

I was strangely enough disappointed in the Boxer Rebellion scenes. I suppose it’s just because nothing could ever match Spike’s fight against the 1900 Chinese slayer in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but still... I was surprised, nonetheless... While it was nice to see it from a different point of view, the look on Darla’s face when she realized Angelus was hiding missionaries from her I mean... and while the Pulp Fiction-style revelation of Dru’s smelling of fear in the alleyway was a nice touch, in my opinion at least, the thing is... as great as all the Chinese scenes were, the music and the cinematography just couldn’t match what was shown on Buffy an hour earlier... And the scene with the baby, when Angelus is forced to decide whether to stick with Darla or not? It just didn’t seem to mingle well with the scenes with the modern day Angel, for some sort of reason...

And perhaps that’s why the episode wasn’t as perfect as I was hoping in the end? As great as all the flashbacks were, they just didn’t mix well with the scenes from the present... not nearly as well as Fool for Love managed to do...

I thought it was a brilliant stroke for the writers to make 1898 Angelus go back to Darla, even with a soul. And I simply loved Druscilla’s performance in this episode, being all cute, subdued and evilly passive when tearing apart that Gypsy camp... And honestly, how can I not love an episode with Spike? Sure, he was underutilized in Darla (did that sound right?...). All he did was idiotically eat a bunch of gypsies he wasn’t supposed to, then repeated his scenes from Fool for Love. But dammit, he’s Spike! How can I possibly not love an episode with Spike in it?...

The episode was entirely about Angel and Darla though, and that’s where the episode was the strongest... Sure, the present and past scenes didn’t mix as well as I hoped. But individually? Every single moment with the two characters on screen was simply sizzling with chemistry... Julie Benz looked absolutely irresistible in that little gray sweater of hers. I can’t get enough of that one moment alone where she’s touching her breasts, feeling for her soul with her fingers hidden in her sleeves (I have a fetish for blondes and sleeves, for some odd reason...)... Her hair was perfectly alluring as always, and David Boreanaz always seems to have chemistry with small, blonde girls. And the two really showed real passion for each other, both in the present and the past... Darla said it best that they were soulmates. And I really think they were in this episode and The Trial (the other contender for best episode of the season), because Angel doesn’t just look like he wants to save Darla’s soul. It really honestly looks like he loves her soul as well... He saved her from the Wolfram and Hart men with more of a real passion in his eyes than he ever had for Buffy. And up until the moment where she pleaded with him to bite her, he really did understand everything she was going through. He saw inside of her soul, the way Spike sees inside of Buffy’s. And the acting and all the chemistry between David Boreanaz and Julie Benz was simply out of this world...

So it’s settled then. Spike is Buffy’s soulmate. Wesley is Willow’s. Winifred is mine. And Darla with a soul is Angel’s... But what about Dru then? Eh, she can have Gunn then... don’t ask me why... nobody likes Gunn...

I know I’ve been quite harsh on Darla (the episode, not the character), but truth be told, I really do love this episode... Was it a disappointment? Naturally, it would be, considering it aired right after the amazing Fool For Love...

But Darla definitely had enough brilliant scenes to really make it a contender for best episode of Angel’s second season... From all the little touches, like the mirrors smashed in Darla’s apartment, to the deep and meaningful discussions about what it means to be a vampire with a soul... hell, even from just how damn, irresistibly sweet Darla looked in that precious sweater of hers... Julie Benz and David Boreanaz sure as hell put on a hell of a show this episode.

... and besides, it had Spike... Since when could I ever hate an episode that has Spike?... poor drooling, sired, English bloody poet of a bugger...

2x08 - The Shroud of Rahmon

There’s still a big confusion going on in my head, about what to name the best episode of the second season of Angel... But surely, there’s no doubt when it comes to absolutely the worst episode of the entire season.... I’ve never liked Gunn episodes. I’ve never liked heist episodes. And I’ve definitely never liked episodes that simply take themselves too damn seriously... So take one and one and one together, and what do you get? The Shroud of Rahmon, the worst episode of the season...

I’m not even going to bother talking much about this episode, because what is there to say?... Every character had their moment, but every character’s moment absolutely sucked... Cordy was the only light in this episode, with her Native American clepto thing. But what the fuck did she do to her hair? Was Charisma Carpenter going for an Addams Family look or something? Though at least we got cringe worthy scenes of Angel and Wesley actually pretending like she had decent hair... Wesley himself just acted like an idiot in the museum, and not the kind of idiot that’s entertaining. I knew right off the bat, from his visit to the police office at the start, that this episode was going to be bad. But I never knew just how bad it would be... Because I never thought it’d be a Gunn episode. But like always, Gunn episodes just turn out completely annoying in the end. At least Angel got to mock his obsession with his sister, even though Charles rarely even seems to think of her on the show... But what other moment did Gunn get? He got to get his ass kicked by Angel a dozen times over, and he got to seem as annoyed with himself as I was with the episode. All the Shroud of Rahmon was about, was a cliche evil heist episode with a bunch of guys heaving a big ugly box. The only good thing that came from this episode was the nostalgic mention of it in season four, but I digress...

Angel’s only redeeming moments came from his Jay-Don impressions, with the shades and all. Sure, he sounded funny with the New York Rat Pack accent, but once the shroud started affecting him? The episode just went downhill from there... And this is really sad to say, but this was probably Kate Lockley’s best episode of the season. Sure enough, once again she went into a hostile situation without backup. And once again, she got herself almost killed, this time by a bite from Angel... But at least she didn’t whine about it at the end. At least she didn’t twist around the facts in a completely "I’m supposed to be a bad guy, but all I am is confused and annoying" kind of way... I was hoping at the time that The Shroud of Rahmon would’ve helped Kate become a better character sometime down the season. But except for a couple of lines in Epiphany, she left the show pretty much as useless as she came in...

The Shroud of Rahmon was simply a bad episode. And I think the writers already knew that, otherwise they wouldn’t have sandwiched it between the two best episodes of the season... The only single scene I really did enjoy was perhaps Wesley’s and Cordy’s realization about Angel’s reawakened Bloodlust. I’m not sure if that ever really went anywhere in the season, but at least it somewhat fit into the darkness with a soul arc to come... at least that’s something...

2x09 - The Trial

The Trial really surprised me the second time I watched it... I mean, the first time, it seemed like just another cliche episode with a medieval like trial. A man walks into a bar, gets his ass kicked in the bar, and as long as he doesn’t submit, he gets what he wants, right? That’s all the episode seemed to be to me, the first time I watched it...

But The Trial was so much more than that. I just didn’t see it in the first place... I just didn’t see how much both Darla and Angel care about each other this episode... I don’t know whether Angel loves Darla the way I feel he does this episode, but he certainly does care for her, in ways I think he never could care for Buffy. And Darla finally got to feel it. Like Cordy’s vision, she could sense and feel everything Angel was feeling for her during the Trials. And the tears in her eyes were actually touching when she thought he was going to sacrifice himself for her... Sometimes it bugs me that she could become so good after just a few months with a soul. But then I remembered why... It’s because they have each other. And while I’ll never feel for the Angel and Darla dynamic like I do for Buffy and Spike, I still must admit that The Trial feels like such a powerful episode... because David Boreanaz and Julie Benz really have such a powerful connection throughout The Trial...

The rest of the cast all had their moments, with the only comic relief in the episode coming at the start... I loved how obsessed Cordy and Wes have become about Angel’s brooding obsession. And the ironic contrast with the fact that he was just ironing down in the basement was simply classic... And then Gunn came along with the truth, that the obsession was never gone. And then poor, poor Wesley, rejected over the tea, because Angel was afraid he’d nag... That was basically all that the supporting cast did this episode though, and maybe that’s one of the reasons why I didn’t really enjoy The Trial the first time I watched it? Lorne wasn’t bad either, feeling all down about firing the backstabbing Ramone, while being as vague about auras as always... But even with Lorne in the mix, The Trial just didn’t feel like a team episode... because it wasn’t...

It was all about Angel and Darla, and man can that girl sing... I was never really into Julie Benz this episode, considering her dress and awful lipstick just didn’t work with her blessed hair. But if that was really her voice in Caritas? Then yeah, she did end up turning me on this episode, along with every other guy in the room... Angel and Darla shared a love for each other in The Trial, and I thought the actual trials brought it out perfectly. Angel’s battle against the demon that could piece itself back together was a bit cheesy from the special effects, but even I still cringe at the sight of the test of crosses and holy water. The poor bastard was burned from head to toe, but it never slowed him down once, and Darla felt everything in the end... And sure, the outcome of the final test of death was predictable, but the tears in Darla’s eyes made it seem all the more real. I just wish that the non-shellac butler (one of my personal favourite characters of the season) actually cured Darla at the end. It would’ve made the ending that much more tragic, to see the two of them smiling in each other’s arms, only to then watch... well...

The first half of The Trial suffered from a slow start... The scenes in Wolfram and Hart were jarring and mood scarring at best, and the vampire from 1992 just wasn’t as amusing as I thought he would be. He lacked character, except for the whole bit of not having a clue that Darla was coming onto him... But the second half of the episode was perhaps the absolute strongest and most likable thirty minutes that the show produced all season long. If only because of amazing acting by both Julie Benz and David Boreanaz, and if only because of the shocking ending twist, I really did feel sad for the characters in The Trial... Darla finally accepting Angel not as Angelus, but as Angel with a soul, was just amazing to see and remarkable to feel. And if only thanks to the music and the helicopter lights outside, the return of Druscilla was made into a moment that I would never forget for seasons to come... even if I did forget everything from the rest of the episode...

Was The Trial the best episode of the entire season? It’s hard to tell, especially considering no character really got to shine except for Angel and the woman he still loves... But while the absolute star episode of the second season still eludes me to this very day, I still must admit that The Trial definitely paid its dues, with its own trials and tribulations... With Angel being more human than ever, with Darla being at her absolute sweetest, and with the first ever mention of Holtz to boot...

Kudos.

2x10 - Reunion

As strange as this is to say, especially considering Angel hadn’t even reached the halfway point of its second season, I must admit that Reunion was perhaps one of the last decent episodes that Angel had all season long... Reprise and Epiphany both had their moments, but for the most part? Reunion was one of the last episodes that I particularly cared for in the second season. It was perhaps the last episode that I fondly remembered...

And it wasn’t even that great of an episode. But at least it still had the team as a cohesive whole... While firing the entire Scooby squad may have led to some rather comical episodes later on, I have to say that having the team separated into two separate entities was one of the worst decisions the show had ever made... Reunion was their last reunion for quite a while, to say the least. And at least every character got a decent sendoff... Everyone agreed with Gunn’s confusion over the whole granddaughter siring her grandmother thingy (which Dru foresaw in Darla). Wesley got to be real concerned as always, realizing that the powers that be (as evil as they later turn out to be) were trying to prevent Angel from taking the path of darkness that lied ahead. And Cordelia didn’t do much, but at least she got to threaten Angel with a big huge dildo of a stake... And Kate Lockley? The first two times I watched this episode, I didn’t even remember that she was in it... Although it showed class (and irony) that she would choose to help Angel after he bit into her neck, I can’t say I cared for her character in this episode at all. Poor Elizabeth Rohm had almost nothing to do this season, although half of that was her fault, hanging up her badge and moving onto Law and Order and everything...

Angel himself wasn’t the greatest in Reunion... He was more of a dark man on a mission than he was his caring, sensible, teddy bear self (like in the episodes of the season I did enjoy)... He was on a warpath. And while I did enjoy his eyes rolling while saving a man from suicide, I can’t say I enjoyed the rest of the episode... He no longer had any chemistry with Julie Benz. Hell, I don’t think they would ever recapture their dynamic until the third season... Darla may have been a sweet human with a soul, but she just sucked as a vampire, pardon the pun. Not only did she ruin her voluptuous hair, not only does her face look just downright embarrassing all scrunched up, but she can’t fight either! She was embarrassing this episode, trying to be threatening. I mean, now I remember why she was killed off so soon on Buffy... And Druscilla wasn’t much better either. While some of her lines were decent, most of them were just more annoying than they were cleverly insane... I definitely could’ve done without the store killing spree, as the two girls had absolutely the worst tastes in clothes and workers to kill. And their battle earlier against Angel wasn’t much better either, considering Julie Benz just doesn’t have much combat experience. And Druscilla completely could not fight (although I do always laugh when she seems to kick Angel in the you know where...)... Dru may have perfect harmony with Spike, but she just has no real chemistry with Julie Benz at all. At least I enjoyed some of their nasty lesbianism out in the streets, with Darla showing some signs that Angel affected her soul. But besides that?... well...

The ending of the episode was epic. It was one of the few moments of Angel that sticks with you for years, even if Dru was annoying me with her bomb shelter talk... I can easily forgive Angel for letting the massacre happen, but I can never forgive the writers for letting Holland Manners die... I mean, WTF were the writers thinking? Lilah was hot, but never anything special (except for when she was with Wes). And Lindsay was annoying me with his flip flop morals... Holland was always the absolute best of the bunch. Everyone absolutely adored his father-like, Evil-Three’s-Company kind of vibe. I just couldn’t get enough of how damn business polite he was whenever Darla was in the room... So why the hell would he be the one to be fired from his life? He was one of the best, if not the very best villain the Angelverse writers ever brought forth. And he never was replaced... he never could be replaced... Which is why I can never forgive Angel for what he did this episode...

He sort of ruined the show... Wolfram and Hart was never really threatening again, if they ever were in the first place...

Now, the writing in this episode was definitely above average. Thinking back to Holland’s speech to Angel, compared with what the vampire with a soul spat back in his face while locking down the cellar doors? The plot, the music, and the Angel cinematography were all top notch in Reunion... The only problem was, the characters were no longer bearable... Darla was just superficially evil except for those few moments of weakness. And hell, she didn’t even look cute anymore... Angel himself didn’t seem like he cared anymore. Sure, he was troubled, but a show needs a character we can care about... And we couldn’t care about the rest of the team either. They just haven’t had enough lines throughout the season to flesh out any character but Cordelia. And eventually even I felt bad that she was getting the short stick of things, all things considered, even if her god-awful Addams Family hair deserved it...

The only character I did care about, was Evil Mr. Rogers Holland Manners. And he was killed off the goddam show...

If there was any reunion, any reprise that was needed over the years, it was with him... but alas, the show (and definitely the season) was never quite the same again...

2x11 - Redefinition

God, this episode sucks...

... well, that’s an exaggeration. The episode did have it’s moments, but... I’ve never liked over-voices in a television series. And I especially hate crappy episodes with not enough comic relief to an over-pretentious revenge plotline... And I’ve never liked the super-serious Angel, not even once in my lifetime I think... I loved when the second season redefined the character as a multi-faceted being, who could make me care and make me laugh in the same damn hour. So why the hell did they have to redefine him back?...

Angel absolutely sucked this episode. There’s no doot aboot it...

How damn cheesy can his lines possibly be? Sure, his fight scene with the vampires in the sewers was one of the best of the season. But the dialogue that came with it? His goddam monotonous, over-zealous rants about not being ready to kill the woman he cares so much for? I mean, c’mon! Didn’t we get enough Angel angst back on Buffy?... I’m all for the broody moody thing, but not when it creates a new Hamlet in the style of a procrastinating, whiny loser. Sure, I found the flame, char broiling at the end of the episode rather memorable (if only because it annoyed me how Darla and Dru didn’t burst into ash within seconds like normal vampires). But besides that one moment of cigar smoking (and the badassness of taking out an entire army of demons), was there any reason to care for Angel in Redefinition?... Why the hell did the writers make him regress to season 3 Buffy boredom, I will never know... All I do know, was that the second season never really recovered from the crap that happened in this episode.

Because Darla was no better herself... Except for maybe that one moment where she showed true concern for Angel, wishing that he was by her side (like a heartbeat). And maybe there was that one time too, where she made me snicker (and Lilah too), playing with Lindsay’s feelings for her... But except for those few and far between times, Darla was just a one dimensional villain in Redefinition, the kind that she sadly defined herself as in Buffy season 1... Julie Benz just doesn’t work well as a killer vampire, even if she was perfect as a vampire seductress. I’m just thankful that Dru was around, because at least she made up for Darla’s lack of anything, by being much better than she was in Reunion... What was great about Druscilla’s lines this episode, was that nearly everything she said was a vague prediction of the future. She could’ve got along well with Lorne, you know... From annoying Darla with her fondness of Angel (and talk of fire), to her pretty ten soldiers down to nine line, Druscilla fascinated me with words that actually had deep meanings, even if we didn’t know it at the time. And she was funny this episode too, in the kind of natural Juliet Landau way she was back in Buffy season 2. And besides, you gotta give props to a girl that tells Lilah to shut-up... Why Holland couldn’t have been the one to survive the massacre, I’ll never know...

But still, while Druscilla did have a decent final episode on the Angel series, the only real redeeming feature of Redefinition was the redefinition of the lives of the side crew... Poor Cordy felt so disappointed in Angel. I loved her blaming of Wesley for Angel’s obsession though. I thought she really had some good lines in Caritas (not to mention the best performance on stage as well...)... Gunn finally felt like a real character for once (and felt like a real cast member from this point on in the show). Although still, it definitely felt weird that he seemed so damn lost without Angel (considering he hadn’t been part of the team for very long so far... he always seemed like he was still tight with his own crew). But at least it led to some nice blame games around the Caritas table. And he did a pretty good number on the demon at the end as well, even if Gunn was being annoying with the Angel references... And Wesley started his path to becoming the true paranoid leader of the group this episode. He was once again the most stable of the gang, even after how lost he felt when talking to Virginia Bryce. The poor Brit keeps taking the punishment though, half from Angel and half from demons who keep picking on him for some odd reason... It’s like Kick the Spike Vol. 2 or something...

But the brief moments of comic relief were lost on the fact that they contrasted too much (and couldn’t make up for) all those god-awful scenes with Angel goddam talking to himself... I mean, sure I talk to myself like a lunatic all the time. But that doesn’t mean I want to see it from a whiny, broody, obsessed bastard on television...

... yeah... I have my own Y2kk Updates for that I’m afraid...

... still... Redefinition was a nice sendoff for Druscilla, a pretty good definition of the future of Wolfram and Hart (although Lindsay and Lilah as partners weren’t nowhere on the show), and a pretty good redefinition of the supporting cast of the show (since from this point on, they became far more integral to the plots of each episode). It just sucked that Redefinition also redefined the series...

... from an enjoyable team effort... to just being Angel at his Buffy season three worst...

... and dammit, Darla wasn’t even hot, except for the fire... how they managed that, I will simply never know...

2z12 - Blood Money

Well, it was nice to see Anne back at least... We all knew it would eventually happen, that the Buffy clone leftover in LA would eventually show up on Angel. And she was a good character, a very pretty one at that... She looked pretty damn fine in that charity ball dress at the end, I can tell you that...

But besides perhaps Buffy season three nostalgia, there really isn’t much to tell about Blood Money. It just wasn’t a good episode at all, and really would’ve stunk if the secondary characters didn’t put on a class comic relief act...

... oh wait, I forgot... their comedy just fell flat on their faces as well. Because for some odd reason, everything the gang did just felt predictable and dorky in the end... Gunn and Wesley had their bonding moments over Risk and a two headed dragon. But their lines were painfully cheesy in the end, talking about how "we" did it and crap like that to roll the eyes. And although Cordy at least fixed up her hair (thank God), did she do anything to remotely help this episode? Besides being pissed off at the old "lobster" gag about her Angel business cards, I don’t think she contributed anything to this episode either... I know all the low budget fire effects and the cheap dialogue were all sort of done on purpose, perhaps to highlight the dark and over-serious crap that Angel was going through at the same time. But it just didn’t work this time in my opinion... I may love cheesiness, but not anything this damn full of holes at least...

Angel had a few subplots, with his old skool rivalry with Boone perhaps being the best one... Nothing really amounted up to his embarrassment of Wolfram and Hart though. We as the audience were supposed to be mortified that Angel would screw over Anne like that in the end, but did I care? I cared less than Angel about the whole damn thing, I think... The stakes in this episode just felt too small. Stealing 2 million from charity just felt weak compared to what Wolfram and Hart are normally all about... Nathan Reed was the most boring Wolfram and Hart employee ever. And poor Anne, stuck in the middle?... She put on a good performance, all reserved yet wise and all. And I personally found some of her inner conflicts done well, like those few brief moments of hesitation when literally taking blood money... But overall, she didn’t add anything to this episode, nostalgic effect included. And Angel, being his one-dimensional and broody self, didn’t really help things out one bit either...

The only real pluses to this episode were the return of Holland Manners (in the most ridiculous of cheesy videos), and perhaps the rivalry between Lilah and Lindsay finally starting to show some progress. But the good moments in this episode were simply too far and between... and if it wasn’t for the excellent Boone and Angel fight scenes, not to mention the face twist near the end? Then this episode would be just as low as Shroud of Rahmon on my list...

... and damn, that’s low... like taking blood money low... pretty damn sad, for a girl with a name as pretty as Anne...

... I seem to have a fetish for the name "Anne"... and "Amy"... and glasses... and girlie pajamas... and oh, how I miss Winifred... but I digress...

2x13 - Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary may not be the worst episode in the second season of Angel, but it definitely is the most annoying to me... I mean, sure I could take all the technobabble in the fifth season of the show. Why wouldn’t I, when the beautiful creature Fred was the one spouting out complete and utter nonsense?...

... sigh... Fred...

But Happy Anniversary never fails to get under my skin and irritate me to hell... I mean, the episode revolves around the ability to defeat quantum entanglement, without offering any damn solutions on how to except for goddam particle "velocity"? I mean, WTF?... And unless the time bubble was self sustaining or some crap like that, how the hell could the demons possibly expect it to keep expanding AFTER it envelops the time machine, when all electricity would stand still?... Hell, probably the biggest gripe of the entire episode, was that if the demons themselves were so damn smart at science, why the hell didn’t they just build a good time machine of their own?...

No, wait... I know what I really, really, ridiculously can’t stand about this episode...

It’s just that... I want to be Gene, goddammit!

Why the hell should he complain about his life?! I’ve always goddam wished that I had a life as good as his... He’s Nobel Prize caliber! And he has a friggin’ girlfriend who’s willing to give him a sympathy bone!... I mean, if anyone should be complaining, it’s me goddammit! I have no girlfriend. I’ve never had a girlfriend. I’m a dateless, goddam nerd of a virgin, without the ability to stop time, goddammit... I’m the one with pain! Why the hell should Gene get all the glory? Why should he be the one with an army of demons worshipping him?...

... and, well... umm...

With that said, I gotta say that Happy Anniversary is a decent episode, but definitely not the greatest... It was probably the only episode where Angel Investigations without Angel was actually entertaining... The party at the end in the new HQ was fantastic, if only because poor Angel was actually feeling bad for the group as Cordy was dancing the night away... The actual Clue rip-off with the rich family murder mystery and all was also decent enough, although I wish Wesley’s way to finding out the truth was to actually just keep blaming people until someone got up and ran... And each of the characters had fun lines this episode. Cordy got to light candles. Gunn got to annoy car owners with flyers. And Wesley got to wallow in self-pity behind the desk left over in the new office with a funky smell... And Happy Anniversary even was the only episode where Virginia Bryce was actually tolerable. I thought her lines were funny as hell, not hiding how desperate her boyfriend and buddies were, being "so sad" and begging for a case. I swear she could’ve become a real friend of Cordelia’s, if only she actually stayed on the show and all...

The episode was all about Angel identifying with a broken hearted human though. And while that didn’t annoy me nearly as much as I thought it would, I’ve still got to say that Angel really wasn’t the greatest tour de France de force on television this episode... However, his whole speech about why he felt justified in firing his friends and setting his old girlfriend on fire did have some meaning. I gotta give him props, for giving us a little perspective, that maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised that a building full of lawyers is capable of making a man a little insane... It made Angel’s situation feel a little more real. The only problem was, that feeling didn’t exactly last over the next few shows... He ended off the episode feeling sorry for what he did to his friends. But what the hell happened after that? In the next few episodes, he was just as callous towards them as he ever was before...

And Happy Anniversary was perhaps the first ever episode where Lorne didn’t really help things much. It really brought to life the prospect that simply too much of a good thing, even a green thing, is never really great... I mean, sure it’s more than just wrong to hate The Host. If someone can actually and honestly loathe the green horned singer, then I guess that person must hate puppy dogs, birthday cakes, and cute as hell girls as well... But if Happy Anniversary proved anything, it’s that Lorne is only tolerable in short bursts. He simply had too much to say this episode, acting more like a pesky psychology than the vague psychic he’s supposed to be. And except for maybe his curt apology about sending Angel off on death missions before, he didn’t really have much to say that I cared for... although if there was any real good writing on his character’s behalf, it was his ending speech about music. We do wait for the changes in notes, otherwise it is just noise...

... which is why Angel in the second half of the season was nothing else but noise... Did his notes ever change? It really got to point where I simply did not care for his character anymore...

I did care about that goddam sniveling hack of a Gene though... He had a goddam girlfriend! A goddam hot girlfriend! And he had a goddam science grant! Goddammit, he even had a prototype lab that conspicuously looked identical to the Wolfram and Hart one Fred had three years down the road... I loved the idea that this "criminal mastermind" was simply a poor, sick lover out of his mind. I loved the idea that an idea so innocent could turn out so deadly... but I will never, ever forgive the damn bastard for one damn thing...

... he got "All By Myself" stuck in my fucking head...

... it just won’t go away... and to that I say...

... a happy, happy, happy, happy, happy anniversary... and a goddam web of quantum entanglement to you too...

... sigh... Fred...

... all by my fucking self...

2x14 - The Thin Dead Line

Most Gunn episodes in the history of the show have treaded thin lines, in terms of quality I mean... Technically, they’re not bad episodes. I just have never liked the fact that the "hood" and crib atmospheres contrast so damn badly with the episodes that really defined Buffy and Angel in the past.

The Thin Dead Line isn’t technically the worst episode out there, but it’s definitely not on my top list either... I didn’t remember much from the second season of Angel the first time I watched it, except for a) Darla being hot as hell, b) the Pylean arc being the stupidest thing since cheesed bread, and c) zombie police officers attacking a runaway shelter in perhaps the lamest battle scene ever... So in that case, at least I can say The Thin Dead Line was one of the most memorable episodes of the season...

It just wasn’t very good, for the obvious reason that it simply took itself too damn seriously. All the characters annoyed me this episode... Wesley took a bullet shot from an undead cop. And while I was vaguely amused by how close he got with Gunn afterwards (especially considering I’m still used to shotgun Wes being at Gunn’s throat in seasons 3 and 4), I really couldn’t care less about any of the scenes where Wesley’s life hung in the balance... Gunn himself had some nice chemistry with the always pleasant Anne. The Thin Dead Line was the first episode where he really showed remorse for leaving his homies out to hang, which was never a plotline I particularly cared for either... And Cordy? Except for that one moment where she screamed out at the girl who was wearing her clothing, I really couldn’t stand her character much either. I’ve never liked the whole "St. Cordy" bit, of her being so handy not only with visions but the medical crap as well. And she didn’t really have any chemistry with Anne either, although at least I thought she was a bit cute when handling that girl with a third eye... if that sounds good, at least...

The Thin Dead Line was once again a Kate and Angel episode, with Kate being as useless as always... I can’t help but laugh whenever she’s crying at her father’s grave. I really wish he had been turned into a zombie, if only so that she could’ve finally faced her goddam daddy obsession... I was surprised that she didn’t even do anything against the police chief at the end. What about catching him on tape or some sort of crap like that? Kate was just useless, and it didn’t help matters much when she beat the audience over the head with an ugly stick, about the whole annoying moral of the story... While yes, it’s true that hard nosed, undead cops could help the worst in gangsta type neighborhoods, I don’t really think Kate had much of a point when a) the zombies killed innocent ambulance drivers, and b) were ready to clean house on a goddam homeless shelter for Christ’s sakes...

Angel was strange this episode though... He was broody as always, but he wasn’t pissed off. And he didn’t seem so obsessed. Maybe he actually starts to feel better with Kate around, I don’t know... All I know, is that perhaps besides his fight with the first zombie cop, he really had nothing to offer this episode either. I’ve never liked how ridiculously quick he recovers from gun shot wounds (compared to stab wounds), and his fight against Louie Anderson the cop definitely didn’t work wonders either... He did have some chemistry with Kate as always, but considering how lame her character had gotten over the years? At least she trusted him somewhat, which would’ve been a start if she hadn’t booted herself off the show two episodes down the road...

The Thin Dead Line was mainly a story for the side characters though. It brought Gunn and Wesley together in a way I never thought worked. And the ending scene, with poor hurt Cordy preying on Angel, just when it seemed he was about the apologize? Maybe that was the only damn moment that was actually meaningful this episode...

The Thin Dead Line definitely ain’t a good episode, no matter how clever its title may be... But at least it was a memorable one. As memorable as a zombie cop episode can be...

2x15 - Reprise

I’m drawing a Martin Grosse Point Blank here...

I mean, I did enjoy this episode. Reprise definitely had its moment, including the best evil elevator music I have ever head in my life... But was it a good episode? I don’t know... It took itself far too seriously, and far too depressingly to ever be tolerable with a DVD rewatch. And there’s still a hell of a lot of other little things bugging me about it...

I’ve already stated that Wolfram and Hart was no longer threatening after Holland bit the dust... Thankfully, the late Mr. Manners returned this episode with the elevator to hell job, although unfortunately for one episode and one episode alone. And once again, he was threatening and all, giving a huge speech about how there’s evil in each and every single person. And that Angel can’t ever hope to win the war... But the thing was, Holland’s speech was preachy and teen angsty as hell. While some messages in the history of the Buffyverse have been insightful (Earshot comes to mind), this episode just managed to roll my eyes with just how damn university-common-sense it’s whole damn moral was in the end... It took almost the entire standard nihilistic meaning to heart. And while of course, Nihilism does have it’s merits, it’s just downright embarrassing to have to watch it unfold in goddam awful montages on television...

And WTF was with the Senior Partner?... Sure, it was nice to see a return of the Van Helsing Jr. from Are You Now, but his death was completely meaningless... And did Angel really kill a Senior Partner this episode, or did he just send it back to the Home Office? I really hope for the latter, because if a big bad Senior Partner can be killed that damn easily, then no wonder I never thought Wolfram and Hart was threatening in later seasons... Hell, I didn’t even remember that Angel killed off a Kleynach Senior Partner this episode. For the past few years, I must’ve blocked it out of memory until I rewitnessed just how stupid the whole scene was on DVD... Now I understand why Illyria later called the Senior Partners the "weak ones" in season five. And is it me, or does the Angelverse seem to have a Star Wars obsession with grabbing the neck sort of thing?...

Reprise was still a good episode, if only because the characters were all written well... Cordelia definitely looked pained to see Angel still around. I mean, I know that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned (or scored?) or whatever, but really, she was far too cruel to Angel this episode... Wesley stood up to his former boss, much to the pain of his gun shot wound. And his breakup with Virginia, even if I never cared for her character, did resonant with me, if only because of the timing... But I thought Wesley’s best moment was actually letting the mother go at the start of the episode, even after curing her daughter of the third eye. It showed integrity, and a will to do the greater good more than killing two headed dragons ever seemed to do... And Gunn? Well, he wasn’t around at all. He just left, to continue on his whole subplotline of abandoning his crew back home. But I can’t say I missed him...

Probably Reprise’s only decent feature was that it featured every single character prominently... Kate Lockley went under fire from a Senior Partner review of her own. And although it was completely dumb that she didn’t even try to say anything to her defence, I did feel sort of sorry for her this scene... But the whole suicide thing? Okay, enough is enough. Her character simply became so damn flat and whiny over the course of the second season that it simply wasn’t funny anymore... And as for the other blonde, Darla? Well, like I already stated, I have quite the fetish for hot girls with perfect hair in PJs. And damn, did Darla look smashing in that white, tantalizing, oh so comfortable ensemble of hers... Her plan to get access to the Senior Partners didn’t interest me at all though. She was evil this episode, but the sort of evil that didn’t feel nasty, you know?... She wasn’t even seductive when having sex with Angel. She was just sort of there, and not in an evil way... Julie Benz played her character neither sweet nor vampire. I’m not sure if I liked it, but at least we got a decent fight scene at Wolfram and Hart out of it...

The episode though, like all others, was completely about Angel in the end... Now, I loved the return of Holland Manners and the whole elevator music thing. But the demoralizing moral of the story was just grating at best. And Angel being in "perfect despair" later on just rolled the eyes even more... I mean, shouldn’t he at least be happy that he can have sex now, without going evil? And why the hell did he feel all that damn pain after doing it then? Even back when the second season was new, I remember 100% knowing that he wasn’t going to turn evil, simply from the way the final scene was portrayed. So what the hell was up with the pain?... As soon as he left that Mr. Holland’s Opus musical elevator, Angel was nothing more than an annoying creature of the night to watch. But his earlier scenes did make up for it, having fun with scapegoats and paying Cordy back for the backlash she showed him the episode before...

And you see? I’m quite confused here... On one hand, I did like Reprise. A lot happened to every character but Gunn, and every character had decent to swell moments... But on the other hand, every character was pretty damn whiny as well. Kate went suicidal, Angel went all nihilistic, Darla wore an ugly black dress, poor Lindsay and Lilah didn’t quite see eye to eye, and Cordy wasn’t even funny this episode...

I still like this episode... but I’m gonna need a reprise before I figure out if I loved it... It took itself far too seriously, and I’ll never forgive the whole Senior Partners debacle thingy...

I know it’s not one of my favourite episodes of the year, but still, it was definitely one of the last episodes I liked from the season... if that’s saying anything, at least...

2x16 - Epiphany

The first time I watched Epiphany, I really didn’t think it was an epiphany for the show... But now that Angel is over? And after watching the series finale, Not Fade Away? I don’t know... maybe it’s just the "I beat the bad guys" music in this episode. Or maybe it was simply because the morals of both Epiphany and Not Fade Away, of what it means to be a hero, still ring true to this day... I don’t know why exactly. But Epiphany suddenly dawned on me, like an epiphany of my own... I still hate the Kate speech at the end of the episode, along with the moral that the simplest acts of kindness are the greatest meaning in the world, but... still... an epiphany is an epiphany, if only because every single character had a revelation of their own...

Now, I don’t know who to blame more for Kate’s despise of a demise: the writers or the fans... The writers always wanted her to turn out to be a bad guy. And they stuck to their guns, turning her against Angel by the middle of the first season... But then WTF happened after that? Did Elizabeth Rohm’s decision to leave the show really make her character that damn miserable? Or was it the hatred of the fans, Riley style, that made her into the most whiny, useless, daddy-obsessed character of the second season?... I really don’t know who to blame. But I can say that at least she got some measure of closure this episode, finally believing in higher powers and all... I will always think that her suicide attempt was just plain dumb of her character. Sure, she was crying out for help, and maybe for a cuddle from Angel. But considering how important her character was at the start of the series, this kind of end for her was just completely a shameful embarrassment... I will still always hope that Kate Lockley comes back in some fashion or another, perhaps in a new series as the head of a supernatural detective agency. That’ll be a nice circle of closure in the end... But Elizabeth Rohm still hasn’t come back to the Buffyverse. And because of that, despite her one moment of an epiphany this episode, I will never forgive Epiphany (or the writers... or the fans...) for what it did to Kate...

Epiphany still stands as one of the best episodes of the season though, right up there with Dear Boy, Darla, and The Trial. And like I stated, perhaps the reason why I enjoyed this episode so much, was that it was probably the last episode of the entire season that really got the Angelverse formula right... Epiphany was a near perfect blend of seriousness and comic relief. Every character had both character growth and their fair share of hilarious moments...

This, ladies and gentlemen, was the true start of badass Wesley. Not only was this the first ever episode he took hold of his ever patented shotgun, but just from the way he was acting around Angel, you knew this was the real beginnings of his path to darkness... His paranoia finally got the best of him, and just look at the way he stares at Angel. It’s ridiculously funny, seeing Angel suck up to Wesley’s book reading ways... And poor Wesley, getting beaten over by road bumps and mud puddles, just couldn’t seem to give a damn about his former best friend... I loved it! I loved it all! Fully knowing where Wesley’s path would eventually take him, Epiphany was literally an epiphany for a character. Not only was the entire episode telling for his future, but his friendship with Gunn was hilariously haunting at best (third season, anyone?). And his contrast with poor begging Angel was perhaps the highlight of the entire episode...

Gunn didn’t have nearly as much to do, although his friendship with Wesley will always echo in the back of my head... sort of like a third eye... And Cordelia? Poor gal really does have feelings for Angel, doesn’t she? She never used to feel so bad about being betrayed, and yet she wouldn’t even look at Angel until he caught her while she was falling... I just loved the humour in this episode, from the useless vision she got in the house, to the fact that poor Cordy seems to have a sign on the back of her head, to impregnate her demon spawn or some crap like that... Cordy definitely had some of her best lines until... well, Disharmony at least... and she wasn’t alone in the comedy department... Lorne himself redeemed his overuse in Happy Anniversary. I don’t know how he instantly knew that Angel had slept with Darla, but the cab fare joke still has me howling on the floor... I loved The Host’s returning vagueness in this episode. He really does seem like a wise sage, if only wise sages were green with envy... His lines were written perfectly in Caritas this episode. And hell, Epiphany may have been Lorne’s last great episode of the second season, if not even the entire series as it stands...

Even the bad guys all got something to chew on this episode... The first time I watched this episode, I thought that it was a poor way to end off the Darla arc. But fully knowing what happens in season three? It brings a bit of perspective, to an episode a lot better than I thought it was... Poor Darla felt so damn bad about not giving Angel his happy, shining knight of a moment. Everything came rushing back to her, about Buffy being "new", about what it means to have a soul. And the look on her face when Angel wouldn’t even do it to her again? Absolutely priceless... And you know what else was priceless? The passionfruit, red skirt she wore back in Lindsay’s apartment when her undead heart was hurting like hell... I enjoyed Epiphany because for the first time since The Trial, the chemistry between Julie Benz and David Boreanaz was finally back. Their chemistry only shows when Darla shows true concern for Angel... and because it did show, I couldn’t help but feel bad for Darla, even after her "three times"...

I guess I also felt bad for Lindsay, in what was probably his only good episode showing in the entire second season. The first time I watched the second season, the only thing I ever remembered from the Lindsay saga, was getting his porcelain hand busted in by a sledgehammer. His fight scene against Angel was definitely one of the best of the season... Although it’ll always pain me to see Angel get up from three car hits with barely a bruise, I still gotta love all the punning during the Lindsay beat down... I never felt chemistry between Lindsay and Darla, but there was definitely a rivalry between him and Angel. And I really did it enjoy this episode, for the first time in history, if only because I still can’t believe a rich lawyer drives around in a ‘56 redneck truck...

Angel definitely had some good episodes after Epiphany (well, one more at least, with Disharmony being decent...), but Angel himself was never nearly as entertaining as he was this episode... Now, I will never understand why the hell he was in physical pain at the start when he never lost his soul. But I loved his chemistry with Darla, not loving her yet caring about her at the very same time... I loved how he was sucking up to Wesley, even though the former Watcher wouldn’t even listen to his whole Epiphany speech. And poor Angel, being ignored by Gunn, even after saving shotgun Wesley’s life back in the apartment... And the look on Angel’s face, from beaming smile to solemn depression, when Cordelia (the girl he "God, no" loves...) turns him down flat cold?... I may not have enjoyed Epiphany the first time I watched it. But on DVD, I really do appreciate David Boreanaz’s perfect blend of guilt, seriousness, and comedy... It was perhaps his best overall performance of the entire season, even if I did prefer Darla and The Trial more...

Like I said, Epiphany wasn’t a true Epiphany for the series. The show never really got better from this point on... But thankfully, Epiphany did mark the end of all the terrible episodes of Angel, where the writers just ignored the perfect blend of comedy and seriousness they found in the early episodes of the second season... This was perhaps the last episode where every character was interesting. This was before St. Cordy went into full effect, before Gunn went all anal while dating Fred, and before Wesley was too segregated from the group... Epiphany was perhaps the last stand, for all the characters half as they were in the first season, and half as they were in the second season.

In other words, Epiphany wasn’t an epiphany... but it was a halfway point... and it was enjoyable...

... especially now that Angel is over... this episode just won’t fade away...

2x17 - Disharmony

Harmony has never been one of my favourite vampires of all time, but I still gotta admit, I loved her dynamic with Spike over on Buffy... A lot of Buffyverse fans complained that Harmony broke the rules of the Whedonverse though. Because for some odd reason, she was the only person who seemed more good as a vampire than a human... And that’s sort of true. Harmony definitely had a weakness whenever it came to following people like a sheep, whether good or evil. But she also has that Wesley benefactor to her, with her being traitor-prone and all...

Disharmony wasn’t the best comedy episode of the season, but the first half of the show had definitely enough laughs to keep me busy... Angel was just ridiculously funny, giving Cordy space and leeway in ways that were completely foreign to his character before. I just loved the expression on his face when letting Harmony live, only to have Wesley point the crossbow at him instead... The whole shifty eye thing, when consoling Cordy that he’d never sleep with Darla, never fails to impress... Oh, and the look on Angel’s face at the end after buying Cordy all those clothes? Oh, the poor girl was so damn happy, that it was simply infectious through the television screen. Angel jumping up and down with her, with Wes all mopey and broody in the background, made the Cordy clothes scene one of her most memorable moments of the entire season... As for the other characters, Gunn didn’t do much, except crush on Harmony for a second. Lorne had the bit about the Harmony name, though nothing more... But Wesley really put in a strong performance this episode, consoling Angel while at the same time blaming him for his gunshot wound. And while in every other episode of the season, Wesley felt lost, he at least felt in command of things in this episode at least...

Disharmony was one of the rare Cordelia Chase episodes of the season though, and it really showed just how great of an actress Charisma Carpenter was in the role... In typical, drama queen fashion, I actually felt bad for Cordy when she was blaming Angel for giving away her clothes. And of course, Cordy was simply full of charisma when she was praising Angel for his gay man’s taste... Hell, Cordy even had chemistry with Willow (who I wished had more to do in the Angelverse than she did). Although thinking that Harmony was a "great big Lesbo" did get boring after a while, considering that the joke was taken too far, I just absolutely loved the reaction on Willow’s face when we knew something that Cordy really didn’t... and, well...

... in my opinion, Cordelia has never really worked well as vision girl. She’s always been great as the girl who loves shopping and expensive apartments though, and Harmony really brought this out of her... I thought Harmony was amazingly funny in the first half of the episode. She wasn’t even offended by Wesley pointing a crossbow at her, yet was terrified of staying behind with a ghost... It still bugs me that somehow coffee or blood on a keyboard could fry a computer, but Harmony ripping up a 1200 year old book for chewing gun definitely made up for the show’s computer illiteracy... And I really loved every single time Cordy and Harmony were on screen at the same time. All the talk about high school and thinking they would have cool jobs when grown up still has an effect on me, being at a crossbow of a crossroads myself. And I almost felt bad for Cordy at the end... She was latching onto Harmony in hopes of finding a new true friend, only to be truly betrayed for the second time in the season.

I loved the first half of Disharmony, if only because the look on Angel’s face when Cordy said they weren’t friends... if only because of the "affirmation" Willow cameo... But the second half of the episode was just too damn cheesy for me, with Harmony predictably stabbing Cordy in the back, and with an annoying motivational speaker vampire actually trying to be a threat...

Still, the overall episode had merits. Because Angel was right – atonement was a bitch, and her name was Cordy... Though this was the real start of the Cordy and Angel romance, I think. And even if I’ve never liked that pairing myself, especially after what happened with Connor, at least I could see it had some meaning in the second season...

2x18 - Dead End

Dead End was sort of a mixed blessing for the series... On the one hand, there was an evil hand. And that’s always cool... and on the other hand? This episode took itself too damn seriously for its own good, like so many other Angel episodes out there. And on the third hand (or the third eye in this case)? I’ll really always hate this episode, for truly beginning the St. Cordy Joan of Arc kind of arc...

... and I’ll never forget what my obsession said about this episode...

... she said to me... or, um, to someone else, actually... as I listened in...

... ahem...

... "Have you seen the episode where the lawyer gets an evil hand?"

...

... okay, fine... so maybe that wasn’t a secret proclamation for my love... so sue me...

... and actually, it showed that my obsession either a ) likes to hide the fact she’s really smart by asking questions in a really dumb way, or b) she actually is really dumb, but that’s besides the point...

The point is, I have no point. Her question went nowhere. I think she even regretted asking it... but I never forgot it. And now I remember why...

... because I never got to see this episode before... that was the mixed blessing... until now...

Dead End was the last time I ever heard my obsession talk about the Buffyverse, and I’m sure I can keep whining and whining about that for millennia to come... But Dead End just wasn’t the dead end to her Angel fascist fascination. It was also the true start of mine... too bad it was wasted on an episode that wasn’t exactly so great in the first place...

No character really had any moments... Gunn was just there, wondering why Cordy had gone all maniacal cleaning lady. And Wesley seemed a bit clueless at times, not knowing what to do as leader except boss Angel around... And Cordy? My God, I’ll never forgive this episode for just downright awful it made her character in later seasons... As a human, she couldn’t take the visions. But we later learn that she refuses to give them away as well... And sure, that was all high and noble for her character. But it was bad for television, goddammit! All she did in this episode was cry around, without any comic relief that she’s normally known for. And unfortunately, that would become the de facto standard for her character in the third season... the only thing she had going for her in Dead End was the smile she shared with Angel over the food he brought, but everything else was just a dead end... or at least, I wish it was...

It seems Lindsay gets a single episode each year to shine, and at least he got to shine in one real way this episode, on stage at least... I mean damn, does Christian Kane ever have some serious pipes. The Host has always been a great singer, but Lindsay just blew him away and everyone else with his voice... And the look in Cordy’s eyes when she heard him singing? I felt more chemistry between her and Lindsay than I ever felt with her and Angel, but... still, it’s just too bad Lindsay didn’t really amount to much the rest of the episode. Sure, I loved his rivalry with Angel, fighting over a parole officer lead. And every time he rubs "Charlie’s" head in the office at the end, it gets my eyes all misty and teared up from his precious evil hand... It’s just that, his character just didn’t feel right to me this episode. Sure, he lost Darla. And sure, he lost Angel in a sense too, as an enemy at least. But he’s been evil all year! All of a sudden, he didn’t feel like having power and being evil anymore? All from an evil hand? Huh?...

Angel felt whacked and out of place as well. I loved the "cops suck" sign he pasted on the back of ’56 Ford, but it just felt far too immature of him to do something like that... And that’s the thing. He acted so immaturely with Lindsay, that they felt more like brothers than they did enemies. I mean, WTF?... I know they had that whole Darla rivalry. And I know he was jealous of Lindsay’s singing and all... but honestly? WTF? They acted like college dorm-mates or something this episode. And it just felt weird, you know?... Even with Cordy all migraining and everything, Angel was looking slaphappy, honestly wishing Lindsay good luck with finding himself. And the even stranger part, was that Lindsay actually returned the mutual respect... I mean, since when the hell did they have mutual respect? As soon as Lindsay gets his hand back, he forgives the man who cut it off?... well, at least he came back in the fifth season, but that didn’t end off well either...

The episode was strong thanks to the playfulness of the Angel and Lindsay dynamic, but Dead End really hit me over the head with an ugly stick whenever it came to its more serious issues... I’ll never forgive the episode for St. Cordy. And the whole human stasis pod area wasn’t creepy or anything, but it somehow irritated me to the point of no return... At least Angel got to show some real concern for Cordy. But did it really have to be over some annoying "stab myself in the eye" thing that simply did not fit into Cordy’s character? And sure, I loved the "evil hand" speech Lindsay gave when giving up his promotion to the freaked out Lilah. But couldn’t his newfound nostalgia for his Oklahoma roots have been built over a few more episodes?...

Dead End sort of ruined the series, by removing Lindsay out of the equation (why did he leave the show anyhew?), and for changing Cordy in ways that just outright sucked... But hey, at least it had an evil hand. And at least I’ll never forget my obsession just mentioning this episode, for reasons I will never know...

... yes, I am that damn obsessed... no wonder I could relate to Angel this season...

2x19 - Belonging

Okay, who’s bright idea was it to have the goddam awful Pylean arc?...

I mean, by all accounts, I thought I would like the Angel crew going to a universe of black and white champions. I’ve always been a big fan of combining seriousness and comedy all in one single episode, but... The Pylean arc was just beyond stupid! Almost nothing in it made any sort of sense to me whatsoever. And that’s not a good thing! Not when episodes are just so stupid that they simply aren’t even funny... Normally, stupid is as stupid does, and I laugh at the circle of stupidity! But not this time... not this time... Do the writers have no damn sense of honour?...

... Numfar, do the dance of honor...

Now, I do realize the purpose of the whole Pylean arc. The writers thought it would be fun to make a world so completely different than the overdramatic, over-pretentious LA and Darla scene that the Angel series had never left before... But who’s bright idea was it to have Pylea as the goddam season finale arc? It may have been a decent change of pace for the show, but not for four whole episodes! WTF were the writers thinking?... The only decent thing that the mini-arc ever contributed to the show, was the introduction of everyone’s favourite Amy Acker. But they could’ve done that a thousand different ways, so once again I say, WHAT THE FUCK?...

... sigh... Amy Acker...

... well, I guess it’s obvious that I wasn’t a big fan of the whole Lorne thing in the final season two episodes. I love his character, but he’s only good in small doses... Sure, his character was alright in Belonging. We found out a lot about his character. Hell, we even found out his name... And the contrast between Lorne and his warrior Landok roots did make this episode somewhat entertaining (although I can’t say the same about his lifegiver in later episodes...)... The rest of the characters all didn’t have much to do in comparison though... Gunn got to go all annoyingly serious, with a death in his home, homie family. Wesley got to talk with his father, feeling afraid that he wouldn’t be a good leader. It was a good plot idea, but it went nowhere in the rest of the second season... And while of course I laughed at Cordelia’s "oh, crap" reaction to being sucked into Pylea, I didn’t care much for her the rest of the episode... It did seem weird that she would take so much crap from the commercial director without ever snapping back, but at least that scene defined her character better than any of her vision crap did leading to St. Cordy... Cordelia has become a girl of integrity. And having her slip out of her bikini top while Angel was staring on, was definitely a better way to go about it than having her all depressed and moody (like earlier episodes had going, and episodes to come...)...

Numfar, do the dance of joy...

There was only one decent thing to come out of the Cordy segments this episode. Angel finally got to feel real bad for her, showing care and jealousy in ways that were funny enough not to be annoying... Now, for the most part, I enjoyed Angel’s childish antics this episode. Just the look of wishful serenity on his face when envisioning the black and white world Lorne came from, was the kind of brilliant comedy that defined his character in later seasons... In Belonging, his comedy really seemed to belong. But I can't say it did in the later Pylean arc episodes though, when he started acting too damn stupid for his own good... but that’s a rant for another mini-review...

Belonging wasn’t a good episode at all. The fight scene with the Drokken was cinematographic but boring, Landok was only interesting when insulting Lorne for his cowardice, and I really could’ve done without the whole Gunn subplot in this episode... But the Cordy and Angel connection, while sharing no chemistry, did at least make this episode bearable in my eyes. And Angel acting twelve years old, all pissed off about getting the smackdown from both Cordy and the director, was definitely a nice turn for the show (although his immaturity did start getting out of hand in later seasons... Chosen, anyone?...).

Since it was still set in LA, and we got to learn a lot more about Lorne, Belonging still felt like it belonged with the rest of the Angel series... but I can’t say the same about the rest of the Pylean arc though...

Numfar, do the dance of shame...

2x20 - Over the Rainbow

I know, I know... I always talk about how episodes of Angel are overly pretentious and serious, all the way to the point where I’m being over-pretentious with the use of the word... I’m always the guy that wants proper comic relief, pacing, and stupidity in his episodes. I’m always the guy that prefers Guise Over Guise... But even I admit that too much of a good thing is definitely wrong. And just the name of "Over the Rainbow" says it all... Sure, the episode had its moments. But Over the Rainbow was just so damn stupid, that only stoner fucks and die hard Angel fanatics could ever love it...

Every character in the episode had some decent lines at least... Lorne wasn’t nearly as funny as he normally is, but the gift horse in the mouth routine was nothing but top notch. And unlike the rest of the characters, he didn’t act any more stupid than he normally does. Although all the constant fears about visiting his home didn’t exactly help his character out much... Gunn didn’t do much except ponder over magical handcuffs and pine about warrior Xena. But at least his character was a vast improvement over the last episode. At least he got over all his dark and broody depression over his crew back home, a plotline I’ve never particularly enjoyed in the first place... And then there was Wes. His Eureka moment did make me laugh, but actually screaming out "Eureka" was just too geeky even for my tastes. And sure I still snicker every time I see him waddle around with chains on his feet, but the overall stupidity of the episode does get to me at times... Sure it was a Back to the Future homage, but riding a car through a portal just boggles the mind. And while I got a laugh out of it the first time, the look on Alexis Denisof’s face when he screamed out, "I think we’re winning!", just felt so damn stupid when the poor bastard was ineptly tied up a second later... I love comedy. I love stupid comedy. But I just can’t love utter stupidity...

Stupid is as stupid does, and since comedy is comedy, I’ll admit that I did snicker at quite a few points in the episode... But some moments were just so damn dumb that even I couldn’t stomach them... Most of them belonged to Cordy. I mean, being chased by a demon dog? Having to shovel demon horse poop with an electric neckbrace nipping at her heels? And being tortured by the Covenant? And most stupid of all, being made a queen?... Sure, Charisma Carpenter made the most of this episode, with some patented Cordy moments (complaining about her heckling price, for example). But it just wasn’t enough compared to all the scenes that are just so damn stupid that it shakes my head...

Angel was so damn stupid this episode that it almost hurts my head... It’s not that I didn’t admire his humour. I always can’t help but laugh at just how jovial he is every time he sees those branches lying about in the not-very-burning sunlight... It’s just that, it felt so weird for his character to take such a 180 turn, in a single episode no less. The first half of Over the Rainbow, he’s all 100% obsessed with getting Cordelia back, obviously showing for the third episode in a row how much he cared for her. Then came his god-awful Titanic speech... and then came along, driving a convertible into broad Pylean daylight? And prancing around the fields, poking back at Wesley’s face? WTF? It just didn’t seem to match... His character was funny alright. But he just felt so off and so odd compared to the normal Angel, that I really can’t help but find it bizarre that the Pylean arc would finish off the season... It works as mid-season side-story. It works as a vacation away from his usual self. But as a season finishing arc? Really, WTF?...

The only real redeeming aspect of Over the Rainbow was the introduction of Fred, the most adorable woman I think I’ve ever seen on television. No matter what Amy Acker said in later seasons, no matter how stupid or lame, I’d always fall in love with her voice. As long as she was wearing glasses at the time... But even without glasses, she was pretty damn sexy as hell in Over the Rainbow. I didn’t care much for her crazy talk though, and since she really didn’t do much until she met Angel in the next episode, I won’t talk about her for now... But still, I have to give props to this episode anyhew, for introducing me to the television girl of my dreams. Too bad the episode underutilized her... and too bad her Texan accent really, really, ridiculously sucked...

... I was honestly shocked when I found out Amy Acker actually does come from Dallas... it just sounded so damn fake, but that’s besides the point...

The point is, I’m not stoned. I’m never stoned. And I definitely was not stoned when I first watched Over the Rainbow... Sure, it had its funny moments. But seeing Lorne’s best friend beat Angel and co. to death with sticks? Seeing men fly in a convertible through a portal, in fear of becoming Siamese twins? Entering an alternate universe where people as cows are bartered for "pigs"?... I may appreciate all the hard work the show creators did, in creating an entirely new world with an entire populace full of vivid demons, but still...

... stupid is as stupid does, as stupid as that saying is... and this episode was just too damn stupid...

... it was just too damn far over the rainbow... I guess there’s no place like home, for my tastes at least...

2x21 - Through the Looking Glass

God, this episode was so damn stupid...

... and yet?... for the most part at least, I still enjoyed it...

... three guesses as to why...

I mean, it didn’t matter whether her head was on the chopping block, glowing with the sunlight, or hiding from the monstrous Angel in her cave... Amy Acker was simply so damn cute this episode, that I couldn’t even bare the fact that I can’t grab her through the television screen. Through the looking glass, indeed...

Numfar, do the dance of joy...

Overall though, this episode was even stupider than the last Pylean episode... Sure, Lorne got his head served on a silver platter. But besides that one redeemable shot, every single thing associated with him was just so damn idiotic that I almost couldn’t stand it... From music causing pain to his people, to the sight of his mother looking like a god-ugly father, Lorne’s storyline was just so damn dumb that it numbs the brain... At least some of the stupid comedy associated with his family worked. I just love the manly, stereotypical way Landok talks. And Numfar was perhaps the only damn brilliant thing the Pylean arc ever brought to life... well, except for Amy Acker at least...

Gunn didn’t do much this episode, but at least he had some funny lines. Mocking the dirtiness of Cordy’s coming date with the Groosalugg, and getting all pissed at Wesley and his bright ideas, definitely provided to be the only real comic relief in the entire episode... I already mostly forget what Wesley did this episode. But I will never forget that ever pivotal moment, where the Wolf, the Ram, and Hart finally came into play... I mean, sure we already knew from Holland that Wolfram and Hart was more powerful than Angel could’ve ever imagined. But seeing the truth of the multi-dimensional corporation, ever slowly revealed in a place I never thought Wolfram and Hart would be?... it gave some semblance of meaning to these god-awfully moronic episodes to end the season. Too bad the series never really went anywhere with it, at least...

Cordelia and the Groosalugg though, surprisingly brought forth a story that I liked, even without any action... It’s just ridiculously funny (and stupid) to listen to Groo’s tale of trying to end his life, only to end up a champion. And seeing Cordy just drooling all over him, even if it lead to Lorne’s potential demise? Finally, our Cordy was back, bare breasts and all... Just the look in Ms. Chase’s eyes as she was feeling the Groo’s chest and heartbeat, it all really made me wonder how the hell Cordy and Angel could never have any chemistry in all their years together. And then it hit me... the damn St. Cordy complex would ruin any damn chemistry she would ever have on the show, but I’ll save more of those rants for season three...

Angel was both too damn serious and too damn stupid in the same damn episode, and I suppose that was sort of the point... In Pylea, everything was black and white. So on one hand, we had ridiculously stupid scenes of Angel staring at his hair in the mirror, and of telling stories of evil lawyers to little children in the sunlight. And the next thing we know, he turns into one of the absolute stupidest vampire monsters I have ever seen in my life. I mean, I thought The Master looked bad. But if this was a vampire in its purest form? Then God, vampires definitely should never see the light of day... And yeah, I know. Being a fan of stupid comedy, I still laugh every time Angel just beams at the thrill of being appreciated as a champion. And it just amuses me how he ignores even Cordelia for his gelled up hair... But the whole, pure vampire monster thing was just so out of left field that it was even worse than any of the dark and broody crap we had to put up with over the season... I understand that this one episode alone was a nice microcosm of his inner struggle with his demon. But did it really have to be this damn stupid?...

... I guess so... Numfar, do the dance of shame...

The only real reason why I actually enjoyed Through the Looking Glass, as an enjoyable romp through Wonderland at least... was because Amy Acker not only screamed "kiss me" through my television screen, but had so much chemistry with David Boreanaz that it still shocks me to this day. Hell, she even made the cave music in this episode tolerable, if only because it sounded as sweet and shiny as her precious skin did... The ironic thing was, in the later seasons she was paired with both Gunn and Wesley, the two characters the poor gal had absolutely no chemistry with. And yet her loins just seemed to burn every single time she got close to either Angel and Spike, yet oddly those were the two characters she never once dated... And why exactly? Didn’t the writers see the Angel and Winifred connection in this episode?... The way she would look at him, the way she would touch him... the way her hair flocked over her face and graced her ever fair skin... just the way she murmured, "handsome man, saved me from the monsters"... the way she went all petite and guarded and nerdy when she learned of princess Cordy?... oh, I could just eat her up from the inside out... How the hell could Angel ever not think about Fred? Especially now that he knew he could actually have sex, you know...

... mmm... the things she’d say...

... Numfar, please do the dance of stupidity...

God, this episode was just so damn stupid... enjoyable, and oh so cute... but stupid...

2x22 - There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb

Now, the Angelverse has never really been known for its stellar season finales... To Shanshu was anti-climatic, Cordy ascending in season three was just plain annoying, Home in season four was well written but strangely out of place, and Not Fade Away just wasn’t the series finale I was hoping it would be...

But out of all season finales, There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb was the worst of them all. And I think the name alone says it all...

Hell, it was even the worst of the Pylean arc. At least the three episodes before it had comedy to go along with the sheer stupidity of Pylea. But what did this episode have? Serious, over-pretentious guerrilla warfare to go along with that same kind of stupidity?... At least we got the Dance of Shame out of it all. But really, there’s no episode as bad as There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb... season finale speaking, at least...

Gunn didn’t get to do much for about the twentieth episode in a row. I did enjoy his speech about reconstruction after slavery, if only because of his curtness. But I really could’ve done without his return to his guilt-trip ways, about leaving his folks back home to rot. And it was kind of strange, how he didn’t seem to have any problems with Angel, even after the demon in him almost ripped Gunn to shreds (you’d think it would bring back lingering pains from the betrayal or something, but no....)... Wesley was at his worst this episode. At least in the previous Pylean episodes, he got to act like an idiot with chains on, and figure stuff out about The Wolf, The Ram, and Hart... But what did he do in this episode? Fight with a wooden block on his head, and then act like a serious general in the middle of a slavery war?... Trying to be a Shakespearean actor, talking with a brow how he’s sending men to die, just doesn’t work in the world of Pylea. Not with man-whores of mothers, and Lorne still sticking around with his head in a basket...

Lorne was probably the only redeeming point of this episode... Even if his mother was one of the stupidest things to ever disgrace the Angelverse, I still enjoyed the look on poor Lorne’s face after being heaped on the lice pile. And the whole decapitation thing? Sure, Cordy swinging his head around in the dungeons got old (and dumb), but the shock factor alone of a talking head was better than I thought in the end... Cordelia herself was at her charming best once again. In the black and white world of Pylea, she really did seem like she had a thing for Groo... and when she admitted that she loved him, and not Angel? Well, I personally didn’t care much, although I’m sure the few Cordy and Angel ‘shippers out there did... My only real gripe this episode was when Cordelia went all St. Cordy, refusing to give up her visions to Groo, even though they were pretty much killing her. Sure, it was noble of her. But it goddam stupid as well... just like everything else in the Pylean arc...

Do I sound bitter about this season finale? I sure hope I do... Because I remember being so damn disappointed in this episode back when it first aired, even if I still thought it would’ve done well as a mid-season episode... the only morsel I wasn’t disappointed in was Winifred... because with that hair, and eyes, and precious baby cheeks, she was the whole world to me... and she still is to me. She is the sweetest, more adorable, and most irresistible damsel of a creature out there. And I wish I could talk about her acting skills here. I wish I cared more about Amy Acker’s skills at being the utter incarnation of Fred... but I’m sorry... all I seem to be able to care about, was just how damn cute she was every time she smiled at Angel... She is absolutely the most sacred at acting innocent, I kid you not...

And did that poor Angel sap ever once damn notice the cutest girl in Pylea smiling back at him?... Angel was at his worst this episode, both literally and figuratively at least... So what if he almost stayed stuck as a demon incarnate? Do I really care as a viewer?... Having a black and white world was a nice idea on paper, but Lorne was right. The Angelverse really does need that kind of gray area that often redefines Angel’s morality... And unfortunately for me at least, this episode was plagued with Angel’s migraine grating morality. Between good and evil, self control and not, we were forced into dealing with the serious nature of Angel rather than the slap-happy side we got in the rest of the arc... and it just didn’t work, dammit. Trying to feel sorry for Angel, for becoming a beast, in a world where armed soldiers can be beaten down by wood boards on a person’s head?... I’m not sure if the dark and broody Angel ever worked in all of season two, so why the hell would it work in Pylea?...

... well, at least he got to act like a 12 year old boy again, when Cordy dumped him for Groo...

... and at least he got to look completely owned, when Willow stepped in with the Buffy news...

... poor, little bastard... I laugh at thee...

Looking back, it’s almost even more sad to rewatch There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb than it was the first time... I can always thank the Pylean arc for Amy Acker. And at least the whole Angel and sunlight thing led to some good jokes at the start... but looking back, what I notice most is just how innocent Lorne used to be... His speech at the end, about coming back to Pylea just to figure out that he hates the damn place, actually kind of rang true to me. I’m the no-name nostalgic afterall, whatever the hell that means... He left Pylea in search of the gray area in life. And over the years, as he chose the side of good, he slowly entered into that muddled, fuddled, "that’s all, folks" gray area he so sought in this episode. And it’s kind of sad, how he definitely didn’t leave singing...

And thus ends the second season of Angel.

Here endeth the lesson...

Thank God the gang got the hell out of Pylea...

... Numfar, do the dance of joy...