Angel S2-21: The Short Review

'Through The Looking Glass'

Written and Directed by Tim Minear

Tim Minear, it seems, likes killing people. Doyle was the first to go, swiftly followed by Trevor Lochley; then Holland Manners, Denver, and now, apparently, the Host. And I have to say, that as far as I'm concerned, this is a good thing. I've enjoyed the Host very much over the past season, but I think it's better to kill him now than to have him overstay his welcome.

This is what Pylea should have been like last week. 'Through The Looking-Glass', succeeds where 'Over The Rainbow' failed, creating a hugely enjoyable romp through a fairytale landscape of demons, brave warriors, and princesses. Even more so than last week, parts of the episode look absolutely stunning - the scene where Fred lured demon-Angel away from Wesley and Gunn, in particular, had a haunting, unsettling beauty about it that I very much liked. The music, once again, is also perfectly suited to the episode - I want a soundtrack CD!

Part of the reason it succeeds is that this week, Pylea starts to live up to its billing - we're starting to get a sense of the morals that govern it. In Pylea, you are either one thing or another; either a cow or a princess, never both. Either a hero or a monster, never both. Everybody has a defined place, and everyone knows that place. You do not move between categories, except where ordained by a higher authority. Thus could the Trombli priests raise Cordelia from cow to princess; thus could Landoc reclassify Angel as a hero. When Angel was reluctant to swing the Crebbil, the Host's family reacted with confusion - they could not conceive of a hero unwilling to take the life of a mere cow. Indeed, even the voice of a higher authority may not be enough for a native Pylean; the Groosalugg cannot bring himself to believe that he can be both a champion and a cow at the same time, despite the decree of the Trombli.

And this social compartmentalisation is also evident in the metaphysics of the dimension. Here, either the monster or the human is in control of Angel, not both. This logic behind this is somewhat unclear - why didn't Angel burst into flames when he was all-demon? Why didn't he notice a lack of vampiric strength and senses when he was all-human? - But in the context of the story, it doesn't matter. The writers are using a particular fantastical metaphysics to ask one question of each member of the A-team - are they where they belong? Are they in the right category? This week concentrated very much on the predicaments of Cordelia and Angel; I fully expect Gunn and Wesley to be given more consideration next week.

We also got to see more of the enigmatic Fred this week. So far, I like Fred, I have to say; her delivery on 'well, that's nice for her', amongst other lines, was wonderful. She seems to be something of an innocent - a quality that I think the current members of the A-team, including Gunn, have lost. Having said that, I think she has to bring something else to the mix to be worthy of a spot as a regular, and I'm not entirely certain what that might be. I worry that the addition of another regular will break up the sense of intimacy there is between the four leads at the moment - that they won't be able to do justice to five interesting characters all at once. Give me a small main cast with a large number or semi-regulars, any day; there's even a part of me that thinks that Gunn, as wonderful as he is, should never have become a full regular.

'Through The Looking Glass' was Pylea living up to its potential, looking at the events of the past season from a new perspective. It's a fairytale - and the best thing about that, of course, is that it's a real fairytale; it's not afraid to deal with darkness. Roll on the finale - I'm excited about 'Angel' again.