Angel S2-16: The Short Review

'Epiphany'

Written by Tim Minear

Directed by Thomas J Wright

"It's called a moment of clarity, my lamb - and you've just had one! Sort of appalling, ain't it? To see just exactly where you've gotten yourself?" - The Host

It's a well-known fact that this episode was deliberately written 'light' to provide an antidote to 'The Body'. Unfortunately, I don't think it's a move that's paid off. It's not that this is a bad episode - far from it; it's just that it feels a little forced in places.

To begin at the beginning, I felt that the epiphany itself was extremely well played. This could so easily have been a terrible, tacky, status-restoring plot device; instead, it's been used as a springboard to dramatically change the direction of the show once again. The concept of 'perfect despair' is wonderful, and all at once that one scene with Darla manages to make sense of the entire arc - so much so, in fact, that I have a sudden urge to re-watch all the earlier episodes right now. The bleakness of the previous few weeks is thrown into sharp relief; and it's always satisfying to look back on a journey and see how each step was relevant and necessary. Add to that the delicious irony of an 'epiphany' that convinces Angel that there's no grand plan, no big win, and it had me hooked.

It has also turned out to be an extremely brave step. Angel's quest has been changed in mid-stream; instead of working for redemption, he's now helping people simply because it's the right thing to do. This would be astonishing in an of itself; the fact that it manages, in one moment, to upstage and dwarf everything that's happened since 'To Shanshu In LA' is nothing short of breathtaking.

There were also a lot of strong scenes scattered throughout the episode. I've already mentioned how much I like the initial scene with Darla; other highlights for me included Wesley's speech about Cordelia ('But you don't. You don't know her at all'), and Angel's fight with Lindsay, if only for sounding so sincere about apologising whilst delivering such a beating.

However, there are several 'buts' coming, and they're all quite big ones. First up, the episode just doesn't hang together all that well; there were an annoying number of plot inconsistencies. For example, Angel hands over the car to Gunn saying that if he doesn't stop the demons there, they'll cut them off when they get to the house, and yet they just vanish into the ether when Lindsay and his truck appear. There's also the fact that the Skilosh aren't a terribly inspiring demon race, or a particularly threatening one. The third eye thing is nicely freaky, but other than that they're, well, a bit dull. However, the main problem for me is the 'let's go' ending. In my opinion, the A-team really should be taking longer to accept Angel back into the group. They should want to know more about what he was doing and what sparked the epiphany before they trust him again. I appreciate that the writers wanted an upbeat ending, but it felt slightly rushed; a downbeat ending would have been more in keeping with events in the episode, and more dramatically powerful, I think. Having said that, Angel catching Cordelia was a nice touch, since I have a feeling that after every other vision she's had in Angel's absence, she's ended up on the floor.

In the end, though, this is a good episode, and on second viewing the sharp snap in tone between 'reprise' and 'epiphany' works very well indeed. Interestingly, in many respects this episode felt to me as if it would work as a series finale; it seems to be the end of the arc, six episodes before the end of the series. Yes, Darla and Drusilla are still out there, but they're not an immediate threat anymore; the same with Wolfram and Hart - indeed, there is an argument to be made that with Angel's new worldview, Wolfram and Hart aren't an 'enemy' at all any more, they're just an opponent. So the big question has to be, as it was last week - what happens next?