Angel S1-13: The Short Review

'She'

Written by David Greenwalt and Marti Noxon

Directed by David Greenwalt

Someone, somewhere, seems to have decided that if what's great about Buffy is that it uses the supernatural as a metaphor for teenage angst, then Angel should do the same for adults and society at large. We saw it in 'Hero', and we see it again here. Unfortunately, they haven't worked out how to balance the stories in such situations, yet; in both cases the metaphors are heavy-handed and overplayed.

In many ways, this feels like Angel's take on a Star Trek plot, in the same way that 'I Fall To Pieces' was Angel's take on an X-files plot. Apart from the obvious facial similarities, the societal structure of the Oden Tal and the nature of Jheira's mission feel to me like devices that would not be out of place in a (bad) episode of TNG. Sadly, they feel terribly out of place here, and I think this is in no small way due to Jheira as portrayed by Bai Ling.

It's probably true to say that putting anybody else in this role would have been an improvement. Ling's Jheira is wooden and lifeless, and given that the effect she and her companions are supposed to have on the men around them is central to the plot, there is a criminal lack of chemistry between her and Angel. My abiding memories of their scenes together are not of intense dialogue crackling with tension, but are of lots of heavy breathing.

The female circumcision metaphor is blindingly obvious as soon as someone points it out to you, and very poorly done. Apart from anything else, the decision to make the unharmed women so overpoweringly dangerous - both physically and sexually - is dubious because it opens the way for a worrying interpretation of the episode in which the men of Oden Tal are justified in trying to protect their society from total meltdown. I'm certain that this is not the intention, but it highlights the fact that the writers need to be extremely careful when tackling issues such as these.

Wesley is still playing the part of the bumbling fool here, more so when he's under the influence of the Oden Tal women. However, it is getting clearer that he's not just naturally a klutz, but that his behaviour is more the result of a fundamental lack of confidence in himself combined with an intense desire to earn the favour of those around.

There were some good points to the episode, but sadly they were all incidental to the main plot. The dancing, of course, is incomparable; it is extremely funny, and it's good that the writers have the confidence to send up Angel's stoicism. Dennis the ghost is always a welcome sight, and seeing him bond with Angel was enjoyable. Angel's improvised lecture in the museum was also entertaining; it even managed to give me a sudden craving for flashbacks. There is a lot of past there that we don't know about, and I'm always glad when we get to see more of it.

Overall, however, this episode was about as bad as Angel gets. You know a story is in trouble when there's a five-minute segment of Angel attempting to drive and use a mobile phone simultaneously that serves no purpose other than to fill time. It's certainly something of a come-down to suddenly switch from watching series two - even bad series two - to this, and it's an experience I'm glad I'm not going to have to repeat.