Angel S3-16: The Short Review

'Sleep Tight'

Written by David Greenwalt

Directed by Terrence O'Hara

"Thing about a game face, Lilah - you wear it long enough, it stops being something you can put on and take off" - Angel

I suppose if you have to give David Greenwalt important episodes to write, giving him episodes like 'Sleep Tight' is the way to go - episodes where the character development takes second place to a rollercoaster plot. I don't mean this in an entirely derogatory way; it just seems to me that Greenwalt's strength is in making me say 'wow', and not in making me feel 'ow'. 'Sleep Tight' certainly had the 'wow' factor in abundance; but the problem is, it comes in isolated moments. Wesley's attack on Lorne. Justine's slashing of Wesley's throat. The final, tense four-way confrontation. As in almost every other Greenwalt episode, however, the atmosphere isn't sustained. The episode survives because it's cashing in on all the plots that have been so painstakingly developed over the past few episodes. It's a classic because of the momentous events taking place, and the anticipation for the future they bring. It does not have the stylish writing to make it a classic in the league of 'Lullaby' or 'Loyalty'.

This may be a personal taste issue; I've always preferred the character-heavy instalments of Angel - give me 'Sanctuary' over 'Five by Five', 'Reprise' over 'Reunion', and now 'Loyalty' over 'Sleep Tight', any day of the week. But I really do think this episode deserved to be greater than it was. That final scene should have had the emotional impact of the end of 'Lullaby', but instead it somehow felt flat - and that worries me; because we seems to be heading for an intense, emotional season finale (in contrast to the season one and two finales, which were mostly action-based), and I'm not at all convinced that Greenwalt can pull it off.

If I lay my prejudices to rest, however, I have to admit that as a way to end sweeps, 'Sleep Tight' scores on almost all counts. Although the first act was perhaps a little slow, everything from Wes' return to the Hyperion onwards is near-perfect; when events did kick in they moved forward fast; I barely had a chance to pause for breath until the episode was over. And what events! Once again, we seem to have a major shift in the status quo. First up, I hope Wesley survives; not just because I like the character, but because I think watching him deal with the fallout from his actions has more potential than watching the others deal with grief over his death. And I think Justine was conflicted enough to make sure that wound wasn.t deep enough to be instantly lethal. Either way, though, it's presumably going to shake things up at AI again; I can't see Wesley being comfortable as leader, even if the rest of them were to be (which given his betrayal of their trust, is by no means a given) - so does that mean Angel will be back in charge? There aren't any other obvious candidates, but I somehow doubt that Angel's judgement will be entirely sound in the near future.

Because, we also have that other pesky cliffhanger to deal with. Holtz and Connor are gone - at least for now; despite Sahjan's apparent satisfaction with the way things have worked out, I can't believe that either of them are gone for good. Still, the baby era is almost certainly over; if Connor isn't all grown up when they return, then I for one will be very surprised. Other than that, however, I genuinely don't know where all of this is going right now, which can only be a good thing. About the one thing that does seem clear is that whatever Angel did to make Sahjan so angry about hasn't happened yet, which would seem to set up the possibility of some genuine tragedy in the future. And presumably Sahjan can visit Connor and Holtz in their new home; I wonder if he'll be solid there?

For me, the standout scene was probably Wesley's attempt to take Connor, from his shocking attack on Lorne to Angel's understated goodbye to Connor. And whilst there were a few bum notes in the episode - Holtz' comment about the Styrofoam cup felt somehow 'off', and the demon rock band just didn't work for me - they were easily balanced by the good touches, like Lorne's rat-pack bedtime story, and the fact that AI quickly worked out what was wrong with Angel. There was even some metaphor (Angel as the recovering alcoholic father), and the semblance of a theme; the faces people present to the world - Lilah, Wesley, Holtz, the Wraithers, Angel - and the danger of wearing them too long, or not being able to keep them up. The Wraithers (and Angel) are demons who can only pass as human for so long. Lilah never wears anything else. Wesley couldn't keep up his face; in this episode, the cracks of recent weeks became gaping holes. And Holtz showed a different face to the one he commonly presented - at the end, he truly did seem to have Connor's well-being at heart.

'Sleep Tight' has important implications for every character and every ongoing story this season. It was exciting, and had what was, for the most part, a tightly constructed and internally consistent plot. But, as I said at the start, at times I do think it was let down by the lack of atmosphere; at times, it was in danger of losing sight of the characters and focusing on the events. As a result, it's always going to struggle to make my top ten. Nevertheless, I can't deny that it's going to be a long, long wait for the next episode...