Angel S3: A Half-Way Short Review

Now that we're half-way through the season (the real half-way, not the crazy American ten-episode half-way...), it would seem to be a good time to sit back and assess how things are going, and what the prospects for the future are. I'm not going to go through the pros and cons of each episode, or the specifics of each character.s development to date; instead, I'm going to try to get a feel for the broad sweep of the season. Overall, I would say the state of play is better than it was at this point in S1, but worse than it was in S2. S3 has had its high points, but arguably only one true classic - 'Lullaby' - and it hasn't really captured the drive and feeling of intensity that made the first eleven episodes of S2 such memorable television.

Instead, I would argue, it has been about consolidation; about showing us Angel Investigations functioning as a team - which, let's be honest, is something we haven't really seen since the end of S1. In some ways, I've enjoyed this immensely; I get a nice warm glow from scenes like the end of 'Dad', for instance because, dammit, I like these characters! The downside, unfortunately, is that in the absence of any real character conflict the drama has all been imposed from without, and as a result has sometimes felt more than a little unfulfilling.

The Bad

Indeed, it has sometimes felt as though character conflict has been swept aside for the sake of maintaining that feeling of unity. 'Offspring' is probably the worst offender here - it didn't cover Wesley or Lorne's recoveries, it didn't cover Wesley and Gunn's reactions to Darla's appearance, and it didn't even do that good a job of covering Cordelia's reaction to Darla. Of course she would forgive Angel, but for her to do it all in the course of one episode felt a little too neat. Similarly, Gunn's non-development in the wake of 'That Old Gang Of Mine', whilst explainable, is a disappointment. It's not all been bad, of course; of the regulars, Cordelia and Fred come off really quite well, whilst Lilah has become a far more interesting character and (despite the quibble above) Lorne has been excellently handled. But in general, there has been a slightly baffling lapse of character continuity.

The other reason for the comparative lack of drive this year, I think, has been the structure of the season. The first eleven episodes divide, roughly speaking, into two blocks: The establishing episodes ('Heartthrob' through 'Billy') and the pregnancy episodes ('Offspring' through 'Dad'). In the early part of the season, each character was given a spotlight episode; in the pregnancy episodes, AI worked together to face a challenge. This is a nice idea in theory, and stands in direct contrast to last season's interspersed arc/character episode pattern, but for my money it has not been as successful. Whilst it has meant that we don.t have the complaints about underuse of the supporting cast that we had last year, it has resulted in the aforementioned pacing issues. Most of the early episodes hold up well on a rewatch, but first time around there was a definite sense of just wanting them to get on with it, and get the arc started. Four episodes of pregnancy antics have also resulted in an uncomfortably long period since Wesley, Fred and Gunn were actually developed in any way; the characters may have had some nice scenes but they have essentially been standing still. I remain hopeful, however, that the next part of the season will see the various character threads that are currently hanging drawn together, rather than dealt with in series, since this would follow the pattern established last season.

I also think there have been problems with the tone. Last year, we got fifteen episodes of more-or-less steadily increasing darkness followed by seven of increasing lightness. This year, there seems to have been an attempt to find some middle ground, but too often this seems to have meant awkward shifts in the tone between episode - the change between 'Lullaby' and 'Dad', for instance, is just too dramatic to really be comfortable. The writers seem reluctant to give us the sustained intensity that characterised the early Darla arc; for example, 'Billy', the darkest episode of the season, is bounded on one side by the Angel-lite of 'Fredless' and on the other by the disappointing 'Offspring'. I'm not sure whether this is a deliberate attempt to please all segments of the audience (because trust me, there are people out there who think 'Carpe Noctem' is one of the best episodes of the season to date), but it sure looks like it; and I worry that in the process, the writers are risking not pleasing anybody.

The Good (and the potentially good)

On the upside, the emphasis on laying groundwork means that there are numerous interesting possibilities for future plots, although it has to be said that not all of them are welcome. Perhaps the most troubling is the looming prospect of an Angel/Cordelia relationship (and, judging by 'Birthday', a Gunn/Fred relationship isn't out of the question; if Wesley still has a crush on Fred, things could become complicated). I've said before that I'm going to reserve judgement on these developments until they actually happen, and I stand by that; unfortunately, scenes such as the clumsy Angel/Cordelia antics in 'Offspring' do not inspire confidence. On the other hand, 'Billy' went out of its way to illustrate why office romances for Our Heroes are a bad idea, and I can't quite believe that that message would just be forgotten.

In contrast, I'm finding the Holtz/Sahjan/Connor plot a whole heap of fun. The guest stars have, as a general rule, been extremely memorable this year - Skip; Fred's parents; Billy - but for me, Holtz and Sahjan have to be the pick of the bunch (Does anybody else want to see Skip, Sahjan and Lorne get their own spinoff? It could be a sitcom - three bachelor demons livin' it large). Jack Conley and Keith Szarabajka play off each other superbly, bringing to life two deeply intriguing characters. I like the fact that Angel's Angel's bad guys have a personal connection to Angel, rather than just having an evil plan. Of the two, Sahjan is currently the more simplistic; we know he wants to kill Angel (and Darla), but we don't yet know why, or how Connor figures into the whole scheme. With all his emphasis on how important timing is, however, I have to believe that Connor does have a role to play. Meanwhile, Holtz is looking likely to prove the best antagonist to appear on either Buffy or Angel since Mayor Richard Wilkins III, if not ever, because he's not a bad guy. Holtz has an understandable point of view - so what if Angel has a soul? He.s still responsible for thousands of deaths.

I really don't think I can emphasise enough how exciting I find the prospects for development here, although at the same time I don't want to go too overboard because that's mostly what they still are: Prospects. Holtz reflects aspects of Angel, Wesley and (perhaps most interestingly) Gunn. He's a sympathetic character, a soul in need of saving . but he's made one dubious choice that's put him in opposition to Our Heroes. He embodies the season themes of responsibility, family and work, duty and desire, and the balance you have to find between them. And as if all that weren.t enough, he has that fantastic voice...!

I also think that 'learning how to be a father' has a lot of potential. Well-handled, it could be an intelligent way of showing us another side to Angel's character. 'Dad' may have gone a bit overboard with the baby-related goofiness, but it also gave us the season's best Angel-Cordelia scene, and did a good job of capturing Angel's sense of anxiety about being a father. The enduring image I take from the numerous scenes of Angel trying to quiet Connor is not his annoying baby-talk, or even the sight of him morphing into vamp-face; it's his tired frustration when all his efforts fail ('Come on kid, you gotta give me something here'). In fact, the whole pregnancy arc has, I think, been the season's saving grace. 'Offspring was disappointing, but 'Quickening' is hugely entertaining; 'Lullaby' is a classic (the best episode since 'Reprise', for my money); and 'Dad' delivers a solid assist.

As a slight tangent, there seems to be an interesting "if at first you don't succeed" theme developing to the characterisation on Angel. I'm not the first to notice this - the credit goes to one of the posters on alt.tv.angel - but I think it deserves comment. At this point, every character has repeatedly faced similar dilemmas, and resolved them slightly better each time around until they finally 'get it right'. Wesley's done it for leadership - 'Guise Will Be Guise, 'Redefinition', 'Epiphany', 'Belonging', 'There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb'. Gunn's done it with his loyalties 'War Zone', 'First Impressions', 'Redefinition', 'The Thin Dead Line', 'Belonging', 'That Old Gang Of Mine'. Darla's done it with, uh, dying - 'Darla', 'The Trial', 'Lullaby'. And now Cordelia's finally done it with the visions - 'To Shanshu In LA', 'Disharmony', 'There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb', 'That Vision Thing', and 'Birthday'. As long as the variations on the theme are kept sufficiently varied - and I think they have been - I have to say, I like this; it seems to me to be reflective of real life. Issues don't just go away because you have successfully confronted them once, there's always another level to deal with.

On Balance...

...Season three is something of a mixed bag, then. None of the episodes have been disastrously bad, and most of them have been pretty good, but there has still been a slight lack of coherence, and the nagging feeling that actually, very little of lasting importance has happened. And, whilst it feels (to me, at least) as though the season has finally found it's groove, and that the payoff from the long, long setup we've been sitting through will be rewarding, there.s certainly the potential for it to all fall apart. All of which makes it sound as though I haven.t enjoyed the season so far, when I have; it's just that on close inspection, there are a frustrating number of lapses and loose ends. Still, I'm pretty much an incurable optimist; the pieces are all there, and with episodes by Joss Whedon and Tim Minear due in the near future, I have high hopes that things will only improve from here on out.