Angel S1-18: The Short Review

'Five By Five'

Written by Jim Kouf

Directed by James A. Contner

Without meaning to get too carried away - what's past is prologue, people; the real fun starts here. Faith's appearance is just the boost the show needs to finally establish itself as separate from Buffy, with its own distinct style and its own agenda.

First up, I'll admit that when I complained about the prevalence of tell over show in flashbacks with respect to Angelus, I'd forgotten about these ones. Both his treatment of the gypsy girl and the look of sheer anguish on his face after he had been cursed - especially the latter - convinced me that Angelus was responsible for a great many terrible things. It's still a different class of evil to that shown in 'Eternity', but I can deal with that as being at least partly the result of having had to coexist with a soul for a century or so.

Secondly, I'll say that this episode isn't perfect. No episode is perfect. This episode has a slight problem with Dennis not dealing with Faith (although, and this may sound strange, I felt his actions were consistent with his personality; he's always struck me as a bit timid), and it's got the god-awful fight scene music at the end, amongst other things. So, it's not perfect - but boy, is it fun. The sheer pace of the episode is what grabs you; things are happening, all the way through, with so many major developments it's hard to know where to start.

Eliza Dushku is wonderful. Faith is a glorious character, even if she is psychotic - if there's anyone out there who doesn't like Faith, then there's probably no hope for you - and 'Angel' turns out to be the perfect vehicle for her. It allows us to see the depths of her self-hatred and despair in a way that, dare I say it, could never have been shown on 'Buffy'. The triumph of the episode is that Faith's breakdown at the end is both unexpected and entirely consistent with what has gone before - especially if you've seen the corresponding 'Buffy' episodes.

I do wonder how much the continuity matters to this episode; whether or not it can stand alone without knowing (or at least being aware of) the back story that goes with it. If you haven't seen the relevant chunks of seasons three and (perhaps more importantly) four of Buffy, is it still as believable? That would be, I imagine, the hallmark of a truly great episode; but since I don't know anybody that hasn't seen the relevant 'Buffy', I can't confirm or deny this suspicion.

The other major plot thread of the episode was, of course, Wolfram and Hart. I don't know whether the decision to hold back on bringing everyone's favourite law firm into the game was deliberate or forced by some other factors. I think it has, however, worked well; it's nice to recognise characters that have previously only appeared in single episodes - to me, it gives the season just a little bit cohesion that it wouldn't otherwise have had. Plus, there's the fact that Wolfram and Hart are a great opponent for Angel. Lindsey, Lilah and Lee make quite a team; the interaction between them is suitably antagonistic, entirely appropriate for three young, ambitious, evil lawyers. What's interesting is that - as, perhaps, with Lilah in 'The Ring' - they appear to be operating independently here, taking matters into their own hands to deal with Angel; this explains, perhaps, why their information on the shared past of Faith, Wesley and Angel is not as complete as it should be.

'Five By Five' was the all-action episode to grab people's attention - and grab it does; 'Angel' is here, at last, and here to stay. That final tableau in the rain is an image that will stay with me for a long time - and next week, we get the fallout.