Angel S1-19: The Short Review

'Sanctuary'

Written by Tim Minear and Joss Whedon

Directed by James Lange

Redemption. 'Angel' has dealt with this theme from the very beginning, but never with such focus or with such impressive execution; the performances in this episode are some of the strongest the show has seen to date, producing an episode that is one of the high points of the series.

Perhaps the best thing about 'Sanctuary' is that it takes the developments of 'Five By Five', and the consequences of those developments, to their logical conclusion: Faith goes to prison, and she won't be back any time soon. As with 'Five By Five', the triumph of the show is that it makes these developments believable. We understand Faith. We can't know what she's going through, but we can see the hell she's been through and believe that she wants to change.

If I had to pick a moment when Wesley becomes a fully accepted member of the team, this week would be it. Alexis Denisof shows us a side of Wesley we haven't seen before, by turns bitter, angry, guilty - and loyal. His decision to side with Angel when he's offered his old life back on a plate shows just how much the ex-watcher has grown since arriving in L.A., and how much he now respects Angel. 'More than three gun-toting maniacs'? Quite a lot more, I think.

The scenes at Wolfram and Hart touch on a vein of black humour that suits the show down to the ground; several wonderful quotes spring to mind ("Well, some pain would be good"), and like last week, the general sniping between the three lawyers works extremely well. Lindsey is emerging as the leader of the pack, however; he's the one who realises they're going about things the wrong way. Going to Kate is a very smart move; I get the impression that she's just been looking for an excuse to paint Angel as a bad guy. Her father's death has forced her to face questions she didn't want to face, and she's looking for someone to blame.

No review of 'Sanctuary', of course, would be complete without a few words about Buffy. My own opinion is that her appearance is appropriate, and entirely true to the character as portrayed in 'Buffy' S3 and S4. She gave Faith a chance, even when no one else would, and still Faith abused that chance. Buffy feels betrayed, and when she sees Angel sheltering Faith, that feeling of betrayal is extended to her ex-boyfriend. I can understand Buffy's reactions, therefore; but by no means do I agree with them. As Angel points out - this isn't about her, it's about saving someone's soul (and if you want a one-line summary of how 'Angel' is different from 'Buffy', that will do). Sparks fly whenever Buffy is on-screen, and the tension leads to one of the most memorable moments in the episode when Angel literally tells her to 'go home'. It's just a shame they had to dilute the power of the scene by sending Angel crawling to Sunnydale to apologise in 'The Yoko Factor'.

If this review seems a little more disjointed than usual, I'm not surprised; I'm having difficulty articulating what I like about this episode beyond 'all of it'. From the Watcher's Council goons - who somehow manage to be at least vaguely intimidating, despite their accents - to the helicopter set piece at the end, everything just gels. Everything works, and Faith's story is concluded (for now) in as satisfying a manner as you could hope for. To my mind, this remains one of the best-conceived and best-executed stories in the Angel canon.