Angel S2-13: The Short Review

'Happy Anniversary'

Teleplay by David Greenwalt

Written by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt

Directed by Bill Norton

Let's face it; from the moment they decided to introduce the Host as a recurring character, an Angel-Host team-up was always on the cards. And a damn fine idea it is, too - it's just a shame they decided to do it now.

'Happy Anniversary' is an odd episode. For most of its length, it feels like a romp, and there are a lot of genuinely funny moments. The plot feels remarkably contrivance-free, which is impressive given how badly things usually go wrong when Buffy or Angel attempts to deal with science (dodgy robots, anyone?). I'm not one to be overly tolerant of technobabble at the best of times, but somehow the writers managed to gloss over it in an entertaining, if not convincing, manner.

Herein lies the problem, however, because just when we're really enjoying ourselves, we get a segment reminding us that there is - believe it or not - an ongoing story. These segments jar with the rest of the plot, because they highlight what an inappropriate time it is for this story. The Host's chat with Angel in the convertible is at the same time the highlight and the lowlight of the episode. Last episode, we were given (or seemed to be given) the final answers about Wolfram and Hart's motivations. This episode, it's the turn of Angel's reasons to be given the once-over. And, the reasons we get are plausible - as long as you don't think about them too hard.

The thing is, it's not clear exactly what Angel's state of mind is. The end of 'Reunion' and the whole of 'Redefinition' seemed to convey that he'd made a choice: he'd gone from saviour to soldier. The Host says as much in this episode. For a man who's supposed to be hunting down the guilty, however, he ain't doing a lot of hunting. He seemed, more than anything else, to just be in a bad mood. Which is a shame, really; there's real potential in the idea of an avenging Angel who values the end no matter what the means. That seemed to be what we got in 'Redefinition'; now, two episodes later, we get an Angel who just seems apathetic - and even, at the end, regretful.

It's the speed that kills. For Angel to be showing second thoughts now, this quickly, seems rushed; it's as though they want to get this segment of the story out of the way as fast as possible, in order to move on to…whatever's next. Wolfram and Hart have, as the result of truly inspired planning, managed to force Angel over the edge, to cut himself off from everything. They've shown him the futility of the Good Fight, that he can't win, and in doing so have played on fears that he's voiced as far back as 'Blind Date'. That's not something you just get over, and yet as things stand our hero looks to be making his way back to the land of the living (metaphorically speaking) in the next three or four episodes. It's going to take some damn fine writing to convince me that the speed of that recovery is justified.

All of which seems perhaps a little over the top for what is, after all, only filler. There is much here to enjoy; anything the Host says, ever, for instance, or Wesley's Poirot-esque murder mystery scene posturing. There's some back-referencing and what, I suspect, is some foreshadowing. But I can't help feeling that now is the wrong time for this plot; that Angel should be acting, and not reacting. Maybe I'm not being too harsh; after all, Buffy is in what should be the filler period, too, and yet it is managing to pull rabbits out of the proverbial hat. The first half of Angel series two was some of the best television I've ever seen; I'd hate to see that work thrown away in the second half.