Angel S1-16: The Short Review

'The Ring'

Written by Howard Gordon

Directed by Nick Mark

Let's get one thing straight from the start - this is filler, pure and simple. If earlier episodes were 'Angel's take on 'Buffy', or 'The X-files', then this time around we get 'Angel' doing 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', with no (or very few) events having any lasting impact on series continuity. This was 'Angel' by the numbers, trying on a new format for size.

As a result, I really didn't expect to have much to write about here. It comes as something of a surprise, then, to have several things that I want to say. The first, I think, is the morality issue. If this was 'Angel' borrowing from TNG, then they mislaid the morality somewhere en route. It was very obviously another attempted 'issue' episode; indeed, there seems to be an unwritten rule somewhere that every fantasy-oriented TV series will, at some point, attempt to do a slavery episode. As such, it wasn't very good; the treatment of the subject, at best, was superficial. Having said that, on first viewing the ending did made me laugh very hard indeed. Even third time around it elicited a broad grin - it must be the demonic laughter that did it - and so the episode gains some points on that front, for acknowledging its own stupidity. It is a shame, though, that more advantage was not taken of this fact; I think the concept of illegal demon fight clubs has the potential to be the core of a somewhat better episode than we see here.

Secondly, Wesley is becoming steadily more tolerable. It's increasingly clear that he doesn't lack skill, he just lacks confidence, and that a lot - although, I suspect, not all - of his clumsiness arises from that fact. It is becoming equally apparent that he has a lot of respect for Angel, and wants very much to gain his approval. Here, then, was an episode that gave Wesley a chance to shine, albeit in a muted fashion. It was down to Wesley to be proactive and track down his abducted boss, and he managed it. It was also nice to see him gaining a certain measure of acceptance from Cordelia; the banter between them, although sometimes badly written, had a certain ring of sincerity about it.

Thirdly, this episode sees the return of Wolfram and Hart, in the guise of yet another lawyer (we have yet to see the same one twice), Lilah Morgan. The main interest, for me, in this aspect of the episode is trying to work Lilah's reasons for buying Angel's contract. Was she simply operating on her own - a fight fan determined to preserve her guilty pleasure? Or was she carrying out the instructions of her superiors? We know Wolfram and Hart are aware of Angel, and the threat he poses, although we have yet to see them take any action on that front. Lilah tells Angel that 'there's not one reason why we can't work together'; double negatives aside, do Wolfram and Hart want Angel on their side, then, rather than merely taking him out? If so, why - and what makes them think they can achieve it?

Overall, then - yes, it was dumb. Yes, it was obvious. But it was also slick and well-produced; worlds away from some of the earlier filler efforts in the series (no vampires wandering around in sunlight here), and I think that as long as you can check your brain at the door, it's possible - and I think we are intended - to enjoy this one as a piece of mindless fun.