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Angel - Season Five Episode Guide - Season Five Guide
Conviction
Angel fights evil with evil.
Written by: Joss Whedon
Directed by: Joss Whedon
Settling in as the new bosses of Wolfram and Hart's L.A. branch, team Angel immediately find themselves on the wrong side of the law. They must work to prevent a criminal from being jailed - or risk the city's destruction from a deadly biological.
New faces and old friends help, including technical genius Knox, liaison with the Senior Partners Eve, and Angel's new secretary, working girl vampire Harmony.
The mission accomplished thanks to Gunn's brain being augmented with lawyer knowledge, Angel receives a package containing the amulet he recently gave Buffy to help save Sunnydale from the First. The team watch, astonished, as the mysterious object calls forth Spike from beyond the grave.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
Don't touch the hair: Angel gets a new, non-spiky haircut for this season. David Boreanaz had grown his locks for a role in the latest Crow movie, and the stylists decided to work with it to create a more slicked-back look.
Perfect Harmony: With Cordelia's character having matured so much that Joss Whedon had allegedly run out of stories to tell about her (Ed- Hmmm...), Charisma Carpenter is now absent from the cast. In her place comes Mercedes McNab as delightfully ditzy Harmony. With Charisma gone, Mercedes becomes the longest serving of the Buffy/Angel characters, having debuted in Buffy's unscreened pilot episode.
The Spike Show: Blondie Bear is back, due to network insistence rather than any master plan dreamed up by Joss. The amulet used to bring him back first appeared in the season four finale, Home, in which Lilah informed Angel that it was important to the events in Sunnydale over on Buffy. In the Buffy series finale, Chosen, Spike donned the amulet, causing him to radiate a kind of solar energy which wiped out the Turok-Han ubervamps before destroying him too. Marvel at how he steals every scene and effectively takes over the show from now on.
Review:
How cool is it to be the boss? Gourmet blood, your own private helicopter to thwart baddies with, and foxy assistants. But enough about Joss Whedon.
Even if Angel wasn't really broken enought to warrant fixing, this is certainly a joyous revamp for Team Angel. With Whedon in charge of both script and camera for his first season premiere in five years, it's a lavish mix of arty camerwork, hilarious dialogue and cool wirework stunts.
The only real disappointment is Cordelia's contractual coma, even if the blow is somewhat softened by Mercedes McNab's cunning impersonation of the earlier, ditzier Cordy. Bring Charisma back soon, please.
Just Rewards
Spike aint got no body.
Written by: David Fury and Ben Edlund
Directed by: James A. Contner
Although Spike is now deader than undead, his spirit lives on. He can't touch anything and seems somehow tied to Angel and unable to leave Los Angeles. He's also slipping in and out of existence, getting one step closer to hell each time he vanishes.
Meanwhile, Angel attempts to deal with a necromancer, Hainsley, who procures bodies from Wolfram and Hart in order to transplant demon souls into them.
Hainsley makes Spike an offer - betray Angel in exchange for a new body. Spike double-crosses the necromancer, allowing Angel to decapitate him.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
Ticked off: Former Firefly writer Ben Edlund reportedly incorporated the spoon death scene as an homage to his comic creation The Tick. Star of his own short-lived comedy show, The Tick's battle cry was "Spoon!"
Cor blimey: James Marsters' Spike accent has strangely metamorphosised since the end of Buffy, almost as if he's temporarily forgotten how to do it after all that singing with his band, Ghost of the Robot over the summer.
Eurotrip: It's revealed that Buffy is currently in Europe; probably a good move considering her house is currently at the bottom of a very big hole. It's not known if she took anyone with her, but it may be no coincidence that Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn) is about to star in a film called Eurotrip.
Review:
Well, it could have gone so, so wrong - shoehorning Spike into his rival's show - but early signs are all good. Blondie's unexpected resurrection has already paid off with some bravura sniping, and a thrilling double-bluff double-cross that had me fooled, at least. All that, and one of TV's very few deaths by spoon.
The Spike/Angel relationship fizzes very nicely – quite a change from the soulful mopery of season four, and the "monster of the week" style is working well so far. One question though – is Spike's duster now a ghost coat?
Unleashed
There's rare meat on the menu.
Written by: Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft
Directed by: Marita Grabiak
There's werewolf on the menu at an exclusive club that cooks up exotic monster meals. A club member working undercover at Wolfram and Hart attempts to deliver them Nina, a recently created lycanthrope who Angel is attempting to keep out of the cooking pot.
After Nina's capture, and subsequent daring rescue, Nina turns the traitor into a werewolf himself, making him the new special of the day.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
Doctor, Doctor: John Billingsley, who plays Doctor Royce, is best known as Doctor Phlox in Star Trek: Enterprise. He also cameos as a hapless technician in Stargate SG1 from time to time.
Big gay possums: The werewolves in Unleashed were a step up from the ones previously seen in the Buffyverse. Monster-maker Robert Hall had an interesting brief for the creature:
"They were saying Oz looked like a gay possum... We were going back and forth with [executive producer] Jeff Bell, because he was real specific about it. The script wanted a big, bad wolf that didn't look like a gay possum. I think it literally said, 'Don't make it look like a gay possum.'"
Little green men: Angel is told that leprechauns don't exist, backing up Giles' belief in the Buffy episode Faith, Hope and Trick. Seemingly nobody told author Nancy Holder, who features the little Irish mischief makers in her Buffy novel Blood and Fog. Oops!
Review:
Unleashed is a reasonably tasty feast but, like a Chinese takeaway, ultimately leaves you feeling a little empty. It's great that the writers are revisiting the werewolf mythology that once formed such an integral part of Buffy, though.
The creature design is particularly impressive - for once we have a werewolf that you'd genuinely want to run screaming from, rather than just tickle behind the ears.
Good to see Enterprise's John Billingsley (who also features in Stargate SG1) playing the bad egg at Wolfram and Hart. He's a fine actor, clearly enjoying the fact that he has a decent script to work with.
Hell Bound
Spike's losing his grip on reality.
Written by: Steven S. DeKnight
Directed by: Steven S. DeKnight
Spike finds himself disappearing more frequently. He's terrified that he will lose his hold on reality completely and become trapped in Hell.
It's revealed that Pavayne - a warlock surgeon known as the Reaper, who likes to use his magic to torture rogue spirits - is tormenting Spike. As the ghost vampire struggles to survive, he discovers that with some effort, he can influence the real world.
Fred tries desperately to find a way to stabilise Spike's condition, and creates a device to make Spike corporeal once more. However, it's Pavayne that becomes corporeal thanks to Spike's sacrifice, and the Reaper is trapped in mortal form, to be held captive for ever more at Wolfram and Hart.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
In the buff: The US screening of the episode was preceded by a warning, promising: "partial nudity". Sadly, you don't get to see any more of Spike than you might in your typical Austin Powers movie, and even though Fred takes a shower, Amy Acker's dignity is preserved behind some very steamed-up glass.
Prophecy boy: Spike becomes aware of the Shanshu Prophecy - that claims a vampire with a soul will be a key player in an upcoming Apocalypse - and thinks that it could apply equally well to himself, as well as Angel. The Prophecy has been around since the end of Season One, and is a key reason why Wolfram and Hart have resisted killing off Angel - in case he's destined to be working for the bad guys during this Apocalypse.
Oh, Mandy: Spike pokes fun at Angel's love of Barry Manilow. Angel had previously sung the Manilow standard Mandy at Caritas in season two's Judgement, and reworked the lyrics in tribute to season four's big bad, Justine, which he sang with Connor in Magic Bullet.
Reaper or Reaver?: Pavane actor Simon Templeman is no stranger to vampires - he plays demi-god vampire Kain in Crystal Dynamics' cult Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver series of videogames.
Review:
Angel goes all horrorshow this week, with some unusually gruesome scenes of chop-chop fingers and spiked eye. Never fear, though, as the many hot shirtless Spike (and threadless Fred) scenes do much to take the chill off.
Oddly, despite being a vampire show and all, horror is generally not Angel's forte. It's all the more pleasing then, that it comes off so well here. Pavayne packs quite a gory punch, his sepulchral tones and sicko spectral surgery adding greatly to the fear-factor here. The medium scene could hold its own amongst many a more classic head-exploding scene. And if you're after concepts that have you waking up screaming and shivering in the middle of the night, then Pavayne's eternal prison should do you rightly, guv.
It's also nice seeing Spike portrayed as something more than just the wise guy. He may be full of bluster and bravado - "Vampire ghost here! Bloody well invented scared of the dark!" - but we know there's much more to him than that. Here James Marsters gets the chance to show Spike's more reflective side, giving our William's character a lot more substance. Puns all intended.
Life of the Party
Sleepless nights cause trouble for Lorne.
Written by: Ben Edlund
Directed by: Bill L. Norton
The Wolfram and Hart Halloween party is looming on the horizon, and it's up to Lorne to make sure the key date in the firm's demonic schmoozing calendar goes with a bang. Unfortunately, he's taken drastic measures to stay awake during the run-up, enhancing his empathic powers in unexpected ways.
After difficult negotiations, Angel persuades powerful demon lord Sebassis to attend the gathering, and all seems well. Gradually, though, odd things start to happen: Wesley and Fred get drunk on half a pint, Gunn starts marking his territory be relieving himself all round the building, and Angel and Eve strive for a moment of true happiness on the couch.
Once Lorne, who has undergone a sleep deprivation operation, is discovered to be the cause, he is treated until things return to normal - but not before his Hulk-like alter-ego has battled Angel on the dance floor.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
Jolly green giant: Andy Hallett actually met the original TV Incredible Hulk once. "I love Lou Ferrigno," he told E!Online. "He and I were at a bar about a year ago, and I was bitching about the makeup... We were talking about how many times we've been painted green. The only two green guys and we're in a bar. What are the chances?"
Halloween: Although Buffy traditionally featured a Halloween-themed story every other season, Life of the Party is Angel's first.
Soggy snacks: According to the TV Tome website, the reason Gunn urinates around the office is an in-joke, purportedly related to an incident the previous year when Buffy staff writer Rebecca Rand Kirshner did something similar in the pretzel keg in Co-executive producer David Fury's office. It's probably apocryphal, but made us laugh.
Review:
As someone who shuffles nervously on the edge of the dancefloor, I've always admired Lorne's perky party persona. I'm delighted, too, that it's exploited to the full in this glorious Andy Hallett showcase episode.
The humour is joyous, if a little gross (put it away Gunn, please!), although there are some genuinely disturbing moments, such as Lorne's creepy conversation with his mirror image.
Sleep tight, kiddiewinks, otherwise your dark side might turn out to be a party pooper.
The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco
Angel wrestles with a demonic problem.
Written by: Jeffrey Bell
Directed by: Jeffrey Bell
Wolfram and Hart's postman, the oddly-named Number Cinco, reveals an unexpected past. The former Mexican wrestler, who still wears his mask to work, was once a superhero.
Many years ago, he and his four brothers vanquished an Aztec demon, Tezcatcatl, although Number Five was the only survivor. But somehow the demon has resurrected itself, and is killing heroes by ripping out their hearts.
A spell reunites the brothers for one last battle, in which Angel kills the demon.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
Fight club: The episode was originally titled Night of the Luchadors. The English translation of 'Luchadore' is 'fighter'.
They're just acting!: The inspiration for the episode is partly El Santo, an actual masked wrestler who played himself in several action films. Think of him as Hulk Hogan, south of the border style.
Bad Manners: In the flashback to Numero Cinco being offered a job at Wolfram and Hart, the business card of the lawyer shows that he's none other than Holland Manners, head of the Los Angeles branch until an unfortunate lock-in drinking session with Dru and Darla cost him his life.
Review:
Maybe it's because Mexican wrestling is something I've got about as much familiarity with as snail biology, but to me this was season five's first miss. Quirky and uplifting it may have been, in a saccharine sort of way, but The Cautionary Tale didn't hang together for me.
I know I was meant to care about Number Five, but the stagey superhero trappings of his glory days just made me slightly embarrassed. They came over more like a cut-price Dick Tracey, complete with dodgy acting, than the Marvel-style effect the producers were probably going for.
This was monster-of-the-week Angel, more suited to season one than the sophisticated beast the series has become since then. Here we got see monster, understand monster's weakpoint, kill monster, and that just isn't good enough when we know this show is capable of so much more.
Lineage
Cyborgs threaten Wesley... and his dad.
Written by: Drew Goddard
Directed by: Jefferson Kibbee
Roger Wyndam-Pryce, Wesley's fault-finding father, visits the ex-Watcher to recruit him for the newly reformed Council of Watchers, decimated by the First and its army of Bringers.
Team Angel is more interested in the remains of a cyborg captured during a sting operation, but this turns out to be no more than a Trojan Horse in a plan to infiltrate the law firm with robot assassins.
This is in itself a ruse to allow Roger to steal an artefact that will control Angel from the Wolfram and Hart vaults.
Faced with a threat to Fred's life, Wesley is forced to kill his father - only to find that he too is a robot.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
Father figure: Although Wesley's dad has been mentioned before, this marks the first appearance of Roger Wyndam-Pryce. He's played by Roy Dotrice, father of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em actress Michelle Dotrice, and possibly best known to fantasy fans for playing Father in Beauty and the Beast. The episode also marks another debut, that of former Buffy writer Drew Goddard.
Cybersex: Spike notes that "having sex with robots isn't as unusual as people may think." This is a reference to season five of Buffy, where Spike ordered a replica of the Slayer - affectionately referred to as the Buffybot - do things for him that the real one wouldn't. And we don't mean cooking his dinner and the ironing…
The Smugglers: Why did Roger need to smuggle a gun in via the first cyborg but, despite being a dirty great robot himself, manage to pass himself off as human, despite all of Wolfram and Harts's physical and mystical detection devices?
Review:
You could cut the air with a mystical sword in this tale of Wesley and Roger's awkward father/son relationship. Hats off to Angel's casting director for choosing Dotrice as Price Senior.
Great cyborgs too, said by some to be based on Doctor Who's souless Cybermen. I doubt if Drew Goddard is a card-carrying Whovian, but they certainly looked cooler that Star Trek's Borg and could probably hold their own in a Kylie video.
Sadly, Lineage pulls its final punch. In a show as daring as Angel I'd prefer, if not expect, a genuine death in a situation like this.
Destiny
Is it Angel or Spike destined for greatness?
Written by: Steven S. DeKnight
Directed by: Skip Schoolnik
Spike gets a special delivery - his body back! Opening a mysterious package sent to Wolfram and Hart, the ghostly vampire suddenly becomes corporeal again.
However, Eve claims that the existence of two souled vampires is causing 'chaos' that's suddenly making the Wolfram and Hart staff to act violently. The only a quest to find the Cup of Perpetual Torment will establish who is destined to fulfil the Shanshu prophecy.
Soike and Angel race to Death Valley to acquire the cup, battling each other until Spike ultimately wins. Drinking from the cup, he discovers it's merely spring water. Both he and Angel have been misdirected by Sirk, an ex-watcher working at Wolfram and Hart.
Eve reveals to Angel that the Senior Partners have stabilised the chaos, before heading home and into bed with a bizarrely tattooed figure, who bears a striking resemblance to ex-lawyer Lyndsey McDonald.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
Just married: Wesley is absent for the first since he joined Angel midway through season one. Despite the claim that this was to recover from the events of Lineage, it was really to allow Alexis Denisof to marry his former Buffy co-star, Alyson Hannigan.
Nice Tatts: Christian Kane returns to Angel, sporting some impressive tattoos. They're not Christian's own, but are fakes - reportedly of mystical symbols that are likely to become significant in future episodes. Eliza Dushku sported a fake tattoo to play Faith, whilst Charisma Carpenter, Alyson Hannigan and Sarah Michelle Gellar all have one or more real ones.
Dru's back: Also back on Angel is Juliet Landau as Drusilla. It's her first episode on the show since season two. Dru appears in flashbacks to Spike's early days although, unusually, Darla doesn't appear with her. "It's always fun to visit London 1880," Landau told the Zap2it media website. "I have some different wardrobe that's really gorgeous. I'm always excited to go back and work, and this is a particularly fun episode, because I'm back with the boys."
Review:
It's the big Spike/Angel showdown, after a big build-up, and it's truly awesome. Getting this one right was vital, and Mutant Enemy don't disappoint. Astounding wirework, sumptous flashbacks and oodles of style make this one top monster smackdown.
The treats are ladled on all over this week. There's the gallows humour of psychotic photocopier man - hey, what office worker hasn't felt like that from time to time? There's super sardonic Sirk, with his effortless sarcasm, and there's Spike-babes getting his moves on. What more could we ask for? A big hoorah for this episode!
Harm's Way
A bad day at the office for Harmony.
Written by: Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain
Directed by: Vern Gillum
Harmony's having the day from hell at work - no one will talk to her, and Angel's just gone ballistic after finding a camel in the lobby. He won't even listen to her explanation that it's the catering for the next day's demon peace conference.
So, she does what any girl would do, drowns her sorrows in a few cocktails and a little girlie talk with Fred after work. When Fred encourages her to chat up a guy at the bar, it seems her luck has changed. Until she wakes up next to his blood-drained corpse, with no memory of the night before.
To make things worse, he's the one man vital to the success of the demon peace talks, and both sides are baying for vengeance. Knowing her number's up if Angel finds out, Harmony tries to cover her tracks, with little success until the real criminal appears - envious former colleage, and fellow vampire, Tamika.
Harmony gets the upper hand after a close fight, and dusts Tamika on the boardroom table - much to the satisfaction of the demon clans. Even Angel has to grudgingly conceed she's done a good job.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
Horny: Eagle-eyed viewers may notice the unicorns on Harmony's desk. Buffy fans may recall the working vamp's penchant for unicorn ornaments, as seen in the season five episode Real Me and others.
Name that tune: The perky ditty that's playing as Harmony prepares herself for work is Hey Sailor by The Detroit Cobras, from the album Life, Love And Leaving. The Cobras apparently have a reputation in America for being a truly great covers band, performing a cool mix of Motown, soul and 50's rock & roll.
The morning after: Tamika tells Harmony the reason she can't remember a thing about her night because her drink was spiked with a "roofie" - the slang name for the drug Rohypnol. Sometimes known as the date rape drug, Rohypnol causes sleepiness and memory loss, and is tasteless so can't be detected in a spiked drink. For advice on keeping safe whilst out drinking, see the Radio OneLife site.
Cult credits: Danielle Nicolet, here playing Tamika, has previously appeared on cult shows Stargate SG-1 and Third Rock from the Sun.
Review:
After the apocalyptic angst and family dram of recent episodes, it's good to get back to a little comedy - especially if it centres around the delightfully airheaded Harmony. Mercedes McNab is a real scene-stealer this season, filling the awkward hole left by Charisma Carpenter with aplomb. No wonder she had her Angel contact extended from six to 17 episodes.
That said, Harm's Way is rather one-note - perhaps introducing a little peril would have helped to produce a more satifying episode. It's hard to care about Harmony's predicament if nobody is taking things seriously at all. Loved the Wolfram and Hart corporate video, though. I'm not saying I'd want to work there, but it's tempting...
Soul Purpose
Angel is trapped in dreams.
Written by: Brent Fletcher
Directed by: David Boreanaz
Angel is worn out, wearied by the moral compromises forced upon him by Wolfram and Hart, and takes to his bed. Meanwhile, Lindsey, calling himself Doyle, tells Spike he has a message for him from the Powers That Be.
As Spike starts to help the helpless, Angel lies in the grip of fever dreams. In them, his friends appear one by one to tell him that he is irrelevant, and should just give up and die. They also point out that he has something on his shirt, a something that turns out to be a hideous sucking parasite.
Angel wakes for long enough to destroy the parasite, but Eve appears and places another one on him. Fortunately, help comes from an unexpected direction - Spike, who turns up and destroys the creature, on the instructions of "Doyle".
Conscious once again, Angel accuses Eve of planting the parasite. As usual she denies everything, but Angel isn't convinced.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Man of many talents: This is the first episode to be directed by David Boreanaz himself, something he obviously enjoyed. Talking about the experience to the SciFi Wire website, he said, "I've always been fascinated with the camera and the movement and communicating with other actors. Directing is really about telling someone to put applesauce on the table. ... And some people know how to do it, and some people don't."
Sounds familiar: Lindsey claims to Spike that his name is Doyle. He's obviously got Angel's first visionary partner, Allan Frances Doyle, in mind. Half-human and half-demon, the original Doyle was Angel's connection to the powers that be, but he sacrificed himself to save a clan of demons back in the season one episode Hero.
Something in the water: Fred's discovery of a numberplate, and her comment, "Came up the Gulf Stream, huh?" are straight out of the 1975 blockbuster Jaws.
Heard but not seen: When Spike is shown getting jiggy with Buffy, the lines heard are from the season three episode The Prom. Needless to say, Sarah Michelle Gellar herself doesn't actually reprise her role as Buffy in this scene - that's taken care of with some pillows and imagination.
LA Vice: Spike refers to Wesley as Crockett and Tubbs - the pastel-suited cop duo at the heart of 80's show Miami Vice.
The smell of deception: Matchabelli, for those who didn't get Harmony's goofy reference, is the name of a range of women's perfumes. And actually, some of them do come in a can.
Review
It's David Boreanaz's first time behind the camera on Angel, and the boy done good. If you didn't know this episode was directed by a first-timer, you'd never guess. It's assured and tight, with Boreanaz particularly turning in a great performance. Obviously he's good at telling himself where to go.
Soul Purpose gives you an intriguing glimpse into Angel's mind - who's have thought the big guy had quite so many insecurities? I loved the dream sequences, especially Fred's surreal operation and Spike receiving his just rewards. I also giggled away at Spike helping the helpless - then slagging them off for wearing stupid shoes.
The only thing that didn't quite work for me was Eve's easy misdirection of Angel's friends away from him. For people who neither like nor trust her, they seemed awfully happy to nip off and do her bidding.
Damage
A disturbed Slayer makes sure Spike keeps his hands off her.
Written by: Steven S DeKnight and Drew Goddard
Directed by: Jefferson Kibbe
Angel and the gang are alerted after Dana, a severely disturbed girl, makes a violent escape from a high-security mental institution. Fearing that she may be possessed, they investigate - as does Spike, still on his hero kick.
When Angel's research reveals the frightening fact that Dana is actually a slayer driven mad by being tortured as a child, they ask Rupert Giles for help. He sends Andrew, now with the Watchers' Council, who explains how Buffy created slayers from all the world's Potentials - one of whom was Dana. Spike goes after her, trailed by Andrew.
Angel and the gang manage to locate Dana in a grimy basement. There they also discover Spike - chained up and with his hands severed.
Wesley and Angel tranquilise Dana, and both she and Spike are rushed out into ambulances. Dana's removal, though, is blocked by Andrew. As a slayer, he explains, she is the responsibility of the Watchers' Council, who no longer trust Angel. When dozens of slayers back him up, Angel has no choice but to let him take her.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Play the game: After the shenanigans of last episode, Lorne dubs Eve "Parasite Eve" - after the 1998 survival horror videogame perhaps?
Here's Harmony: Harmony, rather un-politically correctly, tells Angel a girl has gone "all Cuckoo's Nest" when describing Dana's escape from the asylum. She's referring, of course, to the 1975 Oscar-winning film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, starring Jack Nicholson as an inmate at a mental hospital presided over by the malevolent Nurse Ratchet.
Boxer tricks: Spike's comment to Dana when she starts speaking Chinese to him is exactly the same thing he told the Chinese slayer he killed back in 1900, as seen in the episode Fool For Love. Dana also taps into the memory of Nikki Wood, the other slayer Spike killed, in 1970s New York.
Andrew, we still love you!: Still the geekiest of them all, Andrew makes nerdy references to The Lord of the Rings (comparing Spike's return to that of Gandalf, and his abs to Aragorn actor Viggo Mortensen's), The X Men and Star Trek (telling Angel, "Check the view screen, Uhura").
Meanwhile, over on Buffy: Andrew's explanation of how Buffy had Willow create slayers out of all the Potentials refers to the last ever Buffy episode, Chosen. He also brings us up-to-date on what's been going on since then - Buffy and Dawn are in Europe, and Giles is heading up a new Watchers' Council.
Review
Angel's back in bloodthirsty mode this week - is it just me, or has this season featured a higher-than-normal gore quotient? Spike's mutilation in this episode was one of the darkest moments I can remember from this series - and the damaged Slayer was a chilling creation, with her bone saw and horrendous past.
Despite the very disturbing themes, there was still plenty of humour in this episode, and it's to the production team's credit that the two never jarred. It would have been horribly easy for jokes set next to discussion of child abduction and torture to come over as highly tasteless; instead their lightening of the tone cast the horror of these events into even starker relief.
It was wonderful to see Andrew again, even with the floppiest hair this side of Hugh Grant. Oh, I've missed his nerdy references and inappropriate touching. Please, please give him his own spin-off show - Andrew: Watcher Extraordinaire.
You're Welcome
Cordelia's back, and she's brought an attitude.
Written by: David Fury
Directed by: David Fury
Disgusted after a Wolfram and Hart client massacres some nuns, Angel announces his intention to quit. As he's arguing about it with the gang, the phone rings. It's Cordelia - she's awake!
Cordy is less than impressed by Angel's new role. She tells him that he's made a deal with the devil and she's had a vision showing that he's in trouble. Working with Wesley, she identifies some strange tattoos she saw in the vision as runes which hide the bearer from all surveilance.
Meanwhile, Eve and Lindsey, disturbed by Cordy's return, are working out their next move. Lindsey, protected by his mystical tattoos, breaks into Wolfram and Hart, and sets a "code seven" in operation.
Angel learns that Lindsey has tripped a fail-safe designed to get rid of him, and heads down to a confrontation. With Cordelia's help the fail-safe is turned off, and Lindsey is sucked off into a portal, presumably to face the Senior Partners' wrath.
The excitement over, Angel and Cordy grab a few moments together. When the phone rings, Cordy tells Angel to get it - and he recieves the news that she died earlier that day. Turning around, he finds she has vanished.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Happy centenary: This was the 100th episode of Angel.
Hallo, goodbye: Charisma Carpenter briefly reprises her role as Cordelia to mark Angel's 100th episode. The actress had been absent from the show since the end of season four, partly because of her pregnancy, and partly becaude Joss Whedon felt Cordy's story arc had been played out.
"It came about pretty much the same way the decision to stop the Buffy run came about," he told the About.com website. "In seven years, we'd sort of run through our course of [the] character and didn't want to start just doing hollow riffs on what we'd done." Some have speculated that a reduced budget for season five and the introduction of James Marsters to the cast may have also been factors.
Both Joss and Charisma felt that it was important to give Cordelia the chance to have some proper closure in the series.
Slave to the machine: The emaciated blue demon that's being removed by a lawyer is Archduke Sebassis' slave, last seen in Life of the Party. Apparently he's been living off photocopier toner ever since then. Maybe that's why the copier had run out in the episode Destiny leading to a homicidal incident.
Going for a Kong: The videogame Spike is playing is Donkey Kong - a real classic that introduced Mario to the world.
Gotta hand it to you: Lindsey reveals to Spike that he too has lost a hand, though he doesn't explain that it was Angel who cut it off, back in season one episode To Shanshu in L.A.
Gone before: Cordy watches the video she made with Doyle to advertise Angel Investigations. It was first seen in the episode Hero, the same episode that saw Doyle's death.
Fashionista: Cordy quickly identifies Eve's shoes as being Manolo Blahniks - a top designer make that's the favourite of models and actresses, including Linda Evangelista and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Review
Having watched You're Welcome, I'm now puzzled how I've managed to enjoy quite so many episodes of the show that lack its true star. It's a testament to the rest of the cast that they've diverted us from Charisma Carpenter's absence so skillfully until now.
It also means that Charisma's return for this celebratory tale lifts David Fury's script and direction from merely great to something close to awesome. Queen C dominates the episode as as only yummy mummy Charisma can.
It's therefore doubly sad that this is only a one-off treat for Cordy fans. With hindsight, it's blindingly obvious from the first scene that a twist is coming, but it's so well handled that itstill came as a shock to me.
My only gripe would be the unfulfilled promise of Lindsey unleashing unspeakable horror from the bowels of Wolfram and Hart. I know the team are on a very tight budget this season, but a CGI tentacle or two would have been the icing on the cake.
Why We Fight
Angel helps America in the fight against the Nazi menace.
Written by: Drew Goddard and Steven S. DeKnight
Directed by: Terrence O'Hara
A strange young man breaks into Wolfram and Hart, and takes the gang hostage. Then he sits down for a chat with Angel.
Flashback to 1943, and Angel's been forced by the US Navy to help them out with a problem. They've captured a prototype German submarine, but it's full of vampires.
Beneath the waves, Angel protects the sub's crew from the monsters on board - one of whom turns out to be Spike. Working with a young officer called Lawson, they get the craft going, but are attacked.
As Lawson works on the damage, he's attacked by a Nazi officer and mortally wounded. With no other crewman able to repair the sub, Angel is forced to turn him into a vampire. The sub and crew are saved, but Lawson is damned.
Sixty years later, he returns to face Angel - and meets his death at the hands of his sire.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Fight the good fight: The title of this episode is a reference to a series of World War II US propaganda films.
Taking the initiative: The black-clad military men who capture Angel back in 1943 are part of a new "Demon Research Initiative". Hmm... could that be the same Initiative that caused so much trouble back in season four of Buffy?
Flying the Flag: Steve Rogers, aka spandex-suited superhero Captain America, gets a mention. A hyper-patriotic hero who literally wore the flag in the fight against Nazism, Captain America was created in 1941 by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.
Dead Ringers: Nostroyev and The Prince of Lies seem to have been created for this episode, though The Prince looks an awful lot like Nosferatu, the terrifying vampire in FW Murnau's famous 1922 film of the same name. The name itself is more usually associated with the Devil.
First timer: Camden Toy, here seen playing The Prince of Lies, appears on Angel for the first time. Over on Buffy he's played a Gentleman in Hush and a Gnarl demon in Same Time, Same Place. A sucker for latex, obviously.
Review
As a bit of a fan of old war films, I was looking forward to this episode, but found it a real disappointment. The acting was hammy, the scenes set in Wolfram and Hart completely pointless, and the treatment of Nazism ill-judged.
Maybe it's rather easier for an American than a European audience to stomach a sympathetic character wearing a swastika armband - to me, though, Spike's sarcastic "Heil Hitler" was a pretty uncomfortable moment.
That would have been forgivable if the plotting had been a bit tighter, but instead we got holes like Lawson's unexplained sixty-year wait for revenge, and clichés like evil Nazis with round glasses. The worst of it is that there was a solid story around Angel's unwilling siring of Lawson for the greater good, but it was wasted in this silly mess.
Smile Time
A TV company make Angel their puppet.
Written by: Joss Whedon and Ben Edlund
Directed by: Ben Edlund
Fred is investigating a strange plague striking children in Los Angeles - one that leaves them comatose with a rictus-like grins on their face. Angel's happy to help - if only as a distraction from the revelation that werewolf Nina has feelings for him.
Lorne suspects that Smile Time, a puppet show on TV, may be behind the illness. When Angel breaks into their offices, though, he gets more than he bargained for - he's transformed into a puppet. Back at Wolfram and Hart his condition comes in for some comment, to say the least.
Gunn and Lorne go to visit Gregor Framkin, the man who runs Smile Time, but get nowhere. Once they leave, it becomes clear that the Smile Time puppets are really demons. They're controlling Framkin, and sucking the life-force from children through the TV screen.
Meanwhile, Gunn returns to the surgeon who gave him his lawyer implant - it's failing and he has to recover his skills. Back at Wolfram and Hart, Fred and Wesley work out just what Smile Time is doing - and realise that all of Los Angeles' children are in danger.
The gang head off to the Smile Time studio - and in a puppet to puppet confrontation, Angel takes down the leader of the demon gang.
Crisis over, Angel and Nina head out for a little breakfast, while Fred and Wesley finally make a romantic connection.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
The real Cookie Monster: Smile Time is obviously based on long-running children's TV show Sesame Street, beloved of small kids and lazy students everywhere. First aired in 1969, Sesame Street uses puppets, songs, animations and games to teach children their letters and numbers. The best known of their many puppet characters include Bert and Ernie, Kermit the Frog, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and a possible acquaintance of Angel, Count von Count.
Moonlight romance: Nina, the pretty werewolf we met in the episode Unleashed, is back. Looks like the rumours that she might bring a little romance into Angel's life were correct.
Hallo again: Gregor Framkin is played by Angel writer, producer and director David Fury - his fourth cameo in the Buffyverse. Previously he played a goat-sacrificing worshipper in Angel episode Reprise and as the Mustard Man in Buffy episodes Once More, With Feeling and Selfless.
Mental meltdown: The creepy doctor Gunn visits refers to Flowers for Algernon syndrome, after Daniel Keyes novel of the same name. It tells the story of a retarded man whose intelligence is raised to genius level by an experimental treatment, previously tested only on Algernon, a mouse. Eventually it fails, and he returns to his old intelligence, but aware that he has lost something.
The book was filmed as Charly in 1968, starring Cliff Robertson.
A real boy: Lorne yells "Is there a Gepetto in the house?" when trying to find treatment for the injured puppet Angel. Gepetto was the creator of Pinnochio in the well known fairy tale.
Cancelled!: This was the first episode of Angel to be aired after the shock news that The WB network would not be renewing the series after the end of season five.
Review
Tim Minear wasn't joking when he told us to expect groundbreaking television from Smile Time - it's surely one of Angel's most inspired and laugh-out-loud episodes.
Star of the episode in undoubtedly the wonderful puppet Angel. Made from felt and with a removable nose, the knee-high hero leapt into battle with the promise to "take down some puppets," whilst wielding a sword in a shot that spoofed the show's title sequence. He even managed to pull a hot werewolf.
How such an innovative show can be cancelled after producing something like Smile Time is baffling. We demand they bring it back next year. And make toys of all the puppets too.
A Hole In The World
The gang fight to save Fred.
Written by: Joss Whedon
Directed by: Joss Whedon
Fred is infected with a parasitic entity by a strange sarcophagus mysteriously delivered to her lab. The prognosis isn't good as neither the illness or the disease appear anywhere in Wolfram and Hart's records. Angel and the gang set off to try to save her.
Investigating Lindsey's apartment, they discover a scared and distraught Eve. After threats, she tells them to research the Old Ones.
With that vital clue, Wesley discovers that Fred is being attacked by a demon called Illyria - which is using her as a way to be born into the world. The only way to stop it is to draw it back into the Deeper Well - a demon prison. Spike and Angel head off to the Cotswolds, where the Deeper Well's portal is.
Once there, they meet Drogyn, the keeper. He explains that only by dooming hundreds of thousands to an agonising death can they draw Illyria out of Fred. Spike and Angel must make the decision whether or not to do so by themselves.
Back in LA, Knox accidentally reveals to Gunn that he was behind Fred's infection - earning a bludgeoning. Meanwhile, Wesley reads to the desperately ill Fred at her home - until she finally dies in his arms.
Moments later, she rises again - as Illyria.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia Hi Mom!: We meet Fred's parents again at the beginning of this episode, for the first time since season three episode Fredless. You'd have think they'd have popped in to visit their daughter a bit more often.
Gillbert and Gunn: Wesley surprises Gunn singing a spot of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 operetta The Mikado. The song he's belting out is Three Little Maids From School Are We.
Ringmaster: Lorne compares himself to boxer Jake LaMotta after punching Eve. A former middleweight champion, LaMotta was the direct inspiration for the film Raging Bull, in which he was played by Robert DeNiro.
Princess Fred: The story that Wesley reads out to Fred is much-loved children's story A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It's the story of how little Sarah Crewe is mistreated at boarding school after falling on hard times, but is eventually rescued from poverty.
Ancient relics: The demon which possesses Fred is called Illyria. Whether it's coincidence or not remains to be seen, but it's also the name of an ancient tribe which lived where modern-day Albania is, from about 1000BC.
Review
Like Willow and Tara before them, Fred and Wesley have recently (and conveniently) found true happiness – only to have it cruelly snatched away. It's a standard Whedon ploy, but seems over-sentimentalised and ill-judged this time. Much as I love Amy Acker and the character of Fred - apart from her appalling taste in miniskirts – she honestly couldn't die fast enough for me here.
Far better was Angel and Spike's trip to Englandshire - full of rolling hills, mad knights and bottomless pits – and Gunn realising the true cost of his memory upgrade.
I know some people rate this as the greatest Angel story ever, but compared to such classics as The Body, I found it oddly patchy for a Whedon scripted/directed story.
Shells
Loss and loneliness, both human and demon.
Written by: Stephen S. DeKnight
Directed by: Stephen S. DeKnight
Fred is dead, in her place the demon Illyria. Despite Wesley's attempts to kill her, the creature appears to be indestructible.
Meanwhile, Gunn tortures her traitorous servant Knox, whilst wracked with guilt at his unintentional involvement in the whole affair.
Returning from England, Angel is determined that death need not be the end for Fred. But when Illyria turns up at Wolfram and Hart, Team Angel are unable to stop her. She and Knox escape thanks to her time-distorting mystical powers.
Elsewhere, Gunn tries to force the doctor who augmented his brain to help him resurrect Fred. He is overheard by Wesley, who stabs Gunn in anger.
Illyria attempts to open a gateway to her dimension and unleash her army. Through the portal, though, there is nothing but rubble and decay. Illyria’s world has long since died.
She returns, now aimless, to our dimension, where Wesley offers her help, in the hope that something of Fred remains within her.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Weird science: Harmony dubs Knox "Poindexter" - an American slang term for nerd, after a character in the Felix the Cat cartoons. With an IQ of 222, Poindexter tended to speak in scientific jargon.
Resurrection girl: Searching for a way to bring Fred back to life, Angel of course tries to call Willow. After all, she's one of the very few experts around - but unfortunately she's astral projecting in Tibet.
Revenge of the nerd: Harmony notices with a sneer that Knox has a Rick Springfield screensaver on his phone. It's not surprising - Springfield is a massively popular middle-of-the-road soft-rocker, who sports a Michael Boltonesque bouffant barnet.
Gone in a flash: Commenting on Illyria's speed, Gunn mentions the names Barry Allen and Jay Garrick, but gets no recognition from the rest of the gang. They're the real names of DC superheroes The Flash, versions I and II. Just before giving up, Gunn also mentions the name Wally - probably Wally West, aka The Flash III.
That's gotta hurt: Gunn describes himself as having "played a round of piñata" with Knox. Hollow containers filled with sweets and fruit, piñatas are common feature of Hispanic celebrations, where they're broken open by children wielding sticks.
Bye bye Fred: The music playing during the last scenes of Fred is A Place Called Home by Kim Richie.
Review
We're still in a tear-stained world of pain this week, but this episode makes much more out of the strong emotional content. Alexis Denisof plays the desolated Wesley brilliantly, and Amy Acker is much better as the inhuman, jerky Illyria than anyone would have expected.
Best of all, Shells brought back those subtle grey shades totally missing from the Fred love-fest of A Hole in the World. Illyria was given the chance to be more than just a nasty ogre, with her own pain upon realising that her world is dead and gone a fine counterpoint to the Angel gang's loss. Similarly, Gunn's realisation of his guilt was poignant without being overdone.
To round it all off, there was an excellent twist in the tale. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing more of Illyria.
Underneath
Hell is a house in the suburbs.
Written by: Sarah Fain & Elizabeth Craft
Directed by: Skip Schoolnik
As Wesley helps Illyria come to terms with this world, Angel and Spike pay a Eve a visit in their attempts to locate Lindsey. Their threats are interrupted by the arrival of Hamilton, a messenger from the Senior Partners, seemingly on a mission to kill Eve.
Making their escape, the gang return to Wolfram and Hart, where they learn Eve is an immortal being, existing only to serve her demon masters.
Gunn, recovering from the stab wounds Wesley inflicted upon him, directs Angel to Lindsey's prison - a Hell Dimension where he is forced to relive a morning of family bliss which always ends in horrific torture in the bowels of his basement.
Angel, Gunn and Wesley arrive, but their rescue plans are hampered by Lindsey's gun-toting 'family'. Forced to retreat to the basement, they face the creature that lives there before realising that the only way Lindsey can leave is for someone to take his place. Gunn volunteers as the others return to our reality, just in time to confront Hamilton.
Surprisingly, Hamilton merely wants Eve to sign over her responsibilities to him, leaving her mortal.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Something fishy: Illyria reveals that she once encountered a world populated with nothing but shrimp. This is a Buffy in-joke, referring to season four's Superstar. In it, Anya describes a world without shrimp as something that could exist in an alternate dimension.
Jayne's World: Marcus Hamilton, new liaison to The Senior Partners, is played by Adam Baldwin. Adam is the third refugee from Joss Whedon's cancelled Firefly series, where he played duplicitous lug Jayne. The other two were Gina Torres, who played Jasmine last season, and Nathan Fillion, who played Caleb on Buffy.
Wedding plans: Angel mentions "Trista and Ryan's big baby plans", referring to the ABC reality show Trista and Ryan's Wedding. The series follows the matrimonial mayhem of an American couple as they prepare to wed on a tropical island paradise.
Review
With all bets off now that the series is ending, Joss Whedon has launched into story arc overdrive. Forget easy-to-digest standalone tales, as plot threads involving Lindsey's plans to tackle the apocalypse of all apocalypses mix with Gunn's atonement and Wesley's interaction with the thing that killed his girlfriend.
It's all building to a rich and complex finale, showing all the signs that this could be Angel's finest season.
Lindsey's suburban hell is a delight too, with its cheesy gun-toting family and stunning basement monster. good to see Christian Kane back - I was worried that his recent trip to hell was strictly one way. Adam Baldwin has yet to create much of an impression - coming across as the Terminator as dressed by Paul Smith - but based on his Firefly work I'm sure he will impress in future episodes.
Origin
Should old acquaintance be forgot?
Written by: David Fury
Directed by: Terrence O'Hara
Wesley is visited by a couple worried about their son after a horrendous car accident left him without even a bruise. Angel refuses to help though - as their son is actually his son, Connor, living a new life due to his vampire father's deal with the Senior Partners.
When Connor and his parents are attacked, Angel is forced to come to the rescue, and investigate what's behind the threats to his son. It turns out that they were the work of powerful warlock Cyvus Vail - the same warlock who carried out the memory changing spell that gave Connor his new life.
Cyvus reveals that he is capable of destroying Connor's new memories, and his happiness with it. He makes a deal - he'll leave Connor alone if Connor kills someone for him - the demon Sahjahn.
Connor reluctantly agrees, but as he grapples desperately with Sahjahn, Wesley rushes in, having uncovered evidence of the memory changing spell. He confronts Angel, then trips the memory-restoring spell.
Angel approaches the victorious Connor carefully, but he appears unaffected. Wesley, however, must once again live with the memory of his own treachery.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Prodigal Son: Angel's son, Connor, is back! But instead of the moody, psychotic teenager we knew back in seasons three and four, now he's a nice, sweet lad. Of course, he doesn't remember that Angel's his father at all, thanks to the memory mojo worked on him and everyone else in the episode Home.
A wee dram: Wesley's been knocking back the Scotch - 12 year old Lagavulin, from one of Scotland's oldest distilleries, located on the isle of Islay.
Loving the vampire: Connor mentions Anne Rice, the author of numerous vampire novels including Interview With The Vampire and Queen Of The Damned. Angel does bear a marked resemblance to some of her brooding, guilt-ridden characters.
Blue beginnings: The title sequence now shows Amy Acker in the role of Illyria, rather than as Fred.
Return of the urn: Also blasting back from the past is demon Sahjhan, last seen being trapped in a Resikhian Urn in the season three episode Forgiving. After all the effort he put in to trying to kill him, he finally meets his fate at Connor's hands.
Yummy: Rather than fighting Sahjhan, Connor had been expecting a meal at Tony Roma's. It's a restaurant chain, apparently "famous for ribs".
Review Yet again this season, Angel goes for a walk down memory lane, to bring back a character we thought we'd seen the last of. And yet again, it works superbly.
Now, I know a lot of people never really got on with the character of Connor, but I was never one of them, so I was already very pleased to see him back. What I hadn't expected was how damn likable the well-adjusted Connor was.
He was such fun to watch that I definitely didn't want to see him leave. In fact, Kartheiser's performance made a lot of his earlier stint on the show seem like a wasted opportunity. Why couldn't we have had a bit more of this sweet, sparky and charismatic chappie back in season four?
On top of that, we got the fabulous Illyria/Spike double-act - and for those two or three viewers who didn't think Wesley enough of a multi-layered and complex character yet, the ex-Watcher gets some supersized food for thought. Superb.
Time Bomb
Time is not on Illyria's side.
Written by: Ben Edlund
Directed by: Vern Gillum
Gunn lies in the torture room of the Wolfram and Hart holding dimension, when suddenly Illyria bursts in and rescues him. Returning through a portal, she drops him at Angel's feet.
Angel argues with Wesley about the need to contain Illyria, and he grudgingly agrees to help kill her. Later, in his office, the mighty demoness suddenly shifts painfully back and forth in time, and sees Wesley apparently aiming a weapon at her.
Wesley, meanwhile, has discovered that Illyria's power is leaking, and she will soon explode. She can be stopped, though, with a mutari generator. The gang track her down to the training room, and ready the generator - so she kills them all.
Her moment of victory is snatched from her by another trip through time, during which she picks up an earlier version of Angel, who witnesses her explode. Pushed back in time, he's able to warn Illyria what will happen, and prevent the massacre of his friends.
Her fate clear if she does not, Illyria consents to having her powers stripped from her.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Oops upside my bulkhead: Gunn's statement that things have gone Poseidon on him is a reference to 70s disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure, in which a cruise liner completely capsizes, only a few passengers escaping under the leadership of Gene Hackman. In the sequel, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, some passengers are discovered still living in the sunken ship years later, surviving on fish and budgies. This time Michael Caine rescues them.
Getting the blues: The many blue-themed names Illyria is called during this episode include Shiva, after the azure-skinned Hindu god of destruction and rebirth, Our Lady of the Blue Bummer, a variation on the way the virgin Mary is normally addressed, and Blue Bird.
Spike also dubs her Babe the Blue Ox. A bizarre character of American folklore, Babe was said to be so large his footsteps made all of Minnesota's lakes. His owner was mythical enormous lumberjack Paul Bunyan, and his partner was the Great Yeller Cow. He's memorialised in several huge statues in the US.
Trouble and strife: Amanda, the pregnant woman, is played by none other than Jaime Bergman, also known as Mrs David Boreanaz.
Speaking to the Cult site, David Boreanaz said, "It [was] just an opportunity for a character [where] it would be great to have her come on to the show, and have our son look at that, and see the two of us actually play opposite one another for a brief moment. We had fun with it."
The bad reverend: Gunn compares demon cult the Fell Bretheren to Jim Jones, the infamous cult leader who forced 913 of his followers to commit suicide in 1978 by drinking Kool Aid laced with poison.
Review
I have to say, I'm liking Amy Acker as Illyria a lot more than I liked her as Fred. Arrogant beyond measure, unpredictable and strange, the character is fascinating to watch. Paired with Wesley's increasingly erratic behaviour, beautifully conveyed by Alexis Denisof (witness that little bit of business with listening to the watch - admirably cranked), and the show has a new, hard-edged tension.
Time travel is one of my favourite themes in sci fi, and the way this episode used it was great on two counts: 1) the groovy "vworping" sound that accompanied the time shifts, and 2) the heart-murmur inducing training room scene.
Of course, no one's ever going to believe that Joss would really kill all the characters only halfway through an episode, but just for a wee, teeny moment I thought maybe the WB's cancellation had annoyed him that bit too much. Top class.
The Girl In Question
An Italian job for Spike and Angel
Written by: Steven S. DeKnight and Drew Goddard
Directed by: David Greenwalt
Spike and Angel are arguing over which of them should visit Rome to pick up the remains of the Capo of the Goran demons when Angel gets a call saying that Buffy may be in danger from The Immortal, also in Rome. The two vampires immediately both insist on going.
In a flashback, we see an incident explaining their hatred of The Immortal - he once had the two of them tied up, so he could have his way with Dru and Darla.
Arriving at Buffy's apartment in Rome, they are greeted by Andrew, who tells them that Buffy's just left to meet The Immortal, and what's more, she's going out with him. Spike and Angel are sure it's because of a love spell.
The vampires pick up the Capo's remains - his head - then rush off to find Buffy. As they search for her in a bar, the head is stolen. Turning to the Rome branch of Wolfram and Hart, they're given a suitcase of Euros to ransom for the head, but no help against The Immortal.
Back in L.A., Fred's parents drop in. Just as Wesley is about to break the news of Fred's death to her, she arrives and welcomes them. It's Illyria, who is playing the part of Fred as she can't stand the scent of grief.
In Rome, Angel and Spike are handed a bomb rather than the head, then told to leave well alone by the Wolfram and Hart CEO there. Returning to the apartment, Andrew gives them similarly short shrift - Buffy fell in love with The Immortal by herself, and they should just move on.
They go back to LA - where the head has been delivered in their absence.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Nuns on the run: In the flashback to 1894, Spike notes that nuns are Angelus' thing. This is a reference to Drusilla's origins, as revealed in Buffy's second season. We learned then that Dru fled to a convent after Angelus had killed her family. The vampire eventually sired Dru on the day she took her holy vows.
Other continuity nods include Angel's reference to Buffy’s "cookie dough" speech in Chosen, talk of Angel's werewolf girlfriend Nina, Fred's parents - and a second raiding of the minibar in the Wolfram and Hart jet as first seen in Shells.
Bat Pack: Angel and Spike's nightclub battle is played out to the strains of Dean Martin's Take Me In Your Arms, from his appropriately titled Italian Love Songs album.
When in Rome: Ilona, the fabulous CEO of Wolfram and Hart's Rome office, is played by Carole Raphaelle Davis. Believe it or not, she's actually English. Throughout her varied career, Carole has been the lead singer for French rock band Les Variations and a Penthouse Pet. Her previous films include Mannequin and Piranha Part Two: The Spawning.
Review
The heart of The Girl in Question is, of course, the irresistible interplay between Boreanaz and Marsters. They’ve had some great moments earlier in the season, but this is perhaps their finest comic hour.
Meanwhile, back at the Wolfram and Hart ranch, it's heart-rending business as usual. Alexis Denisof gets plenty to scowl at as Ilyria goes all Stars in Their Eyes with an impressive Fred impersonation.
The limitations of having to recreate Rome at the Universal back lot only add to this show's charm, giving it the delightful air of a cheap and cheerful episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The car chase isn’t exactly The Italian Job either, but is equally endearing.
Finally, who would have thought Andrew would end up batting for the home team? Not what I was expecting at all. Is it only the girls who are allowed to be gay in the Buffyverse?
Power Play
Has Angel become power-crazed?
Written by: David Fury
Directed by: James A. Contner
Angel seemingly gate-crashes a ritual sacrifice - only to kill the victim himself. Flash back 19 hours to find Angel making holiday plans with girlfriend Nina, and getting into bed with corrupt government officials.
The rest of Team Angel are concerned - it seems the boss is ignoring the fate of the little people in a sudden thirst for power. When Spike and Illyria encounter old ally Drogyn during a demon hunt, they are horrified to learn that Angel had sent a team out to kill him.
As Angel becomes more ruthless and dimissive, Wesley calls upon Lindsey to identify an occult symbol sent to him anonymously. Lindsey recognises the symbol as the mark of the Circle of the Black Thorn - a kind of demonic version of the Masons, and the Senior Partners' true representatives on Earth.
The reasons behind the ritual sacrifice are revealed - it's an initiation ceremony to welcome Angel into the Circle. Old enemies Cyvus Vail and Sebassis are members too.
Back at Wolfram and Hart, Angel is confronted by the rest of the team and, watched from outside by Hamilton, appears to threaten Lorne's life. Casting a glamour to mask what's really happening inside his office, Angel reveals, however, that it's all been a ruse to infiltrate the Circle and destroy it from within. Angel asks his team if they will join him in the final battle - one that few are likely to survive. To a man, they agree to help.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
Something Blue: This week, Spike refers to Illyria as a Blue Meanie. He's probably refering to the villains in animated Beatles adventure Yellow Submarine. Either that or the cocktail, made up of Blue Curacao, Vodka and Sour mix.
Seeing Red : Izzy, the red-skinned, devil-like demon who plays raquetball with Angel, returns after first appearing in the show's 100th episode, You're Welcome. Seeing as he set up a raquetball game with Angel in that episode too, it would seem that they are regular patners.
Queen of Mean: Lorne comments that Angel is channelling Leona Helmsley.
The widow and heir of New York real estate tycoon Harry Helmsley, Leona was one of the richest women in the United States. In the early 1990s she was convicted of mail fraud and tax evasion. Dubbed "the Queen of Mean" by the media, Helmsley's apparent lack of contrition was summed up in a quote attributed to her by a former housekeeper: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."
Review
With Power Play, David Fury has the unenviable task of setting up not only the season, but the series finale - something he achieves with mixed results.
Fury employs the fashionable trick of starting an episode with a shocking 'ending', then taking us back in time to see how the characters arrived there. Angel has seemingly turned evil, and most of the episode does little to convince us otherwise. Fury's logic and motivation for our hero is so utterly believable and well-written, that it almost comes as a surprise when the vampire reveals that it's all been a scam.
That said, the episode may be clever, but it lacks some of the sparkle of recent scripts to make way for the info-dumping. Lindsey is thrown into the mix in a rather casual way too. That said, I'm absolutely dying to find out how it all ends, which is all that really matters.
Not Fade Away
It's finally the Apocalypse. At last.
Written by: Joss Whedon and Jeffrey Bell
Directed by: Jeffrey Bell
Angel having explained his plan to destroy the Circle of the Black Thorn, is backed by the gang, though they are aghast when he reveals that he has killed Drogyn. They go to Spike's basement, where they find an injured Illyria.
Meanwhile, Angel has been summoned to see the Circle, who force him to sign away the Shanshu prophecy. He seeks out Lindsey, and is able to persuade the ex-lawyer to help him against the Circle.
With the attack against the Circle set for that night, Angel tells the gang to take what may be their last day alive off. He calls in on Connor, Lorne takes the stage with a song, Gunn helps out at a homeless shelter, while Spike reads his poetry, to great acclaim, at a biker bar. Wesley, having nothing he wants to do, remains to tend Illyria.
The evening arrives, and each person sets off on an attack against the Circle. Illyria, Gunn and Spike have few problems, but Wesley is quickly bested by the sorcerer Cyvus Vail. As he lies dying, Illyria arrives, and becomes Fred for one last goodbye - then kills Vail with a punch. Lindsey, victorious against the Circle, is shot by Lorne, who has agreed to do this one last thing for Angel.
Back at Wolfram and Hart, Angel is prevented from leaving to kill Archduke Sebassis by Hamilton, who has been tipped off to the attack by Harmony. Almost defeated by Hamilton's inhuman strength, Angel is saved when Connor comes to his rescue.
The fight goes against them, though, until Hamilton's boast that ancient strength runs through his veins gives Angel a way to victory. Drinking the liaison's blood, Angel is infused with strength and kills Hamilton.
Escaping from the now-collapsing building, he rushes to meet up with his friends in a pre-arranged spot. There they are beset by a horde of demons and dragons, and rush into the fight once more.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia
We are family: Spike compares the Angel gang to the Manson family - a very unsavoury gang of hippie-style mass murderers led by the notorious Charles Manson, who were responsible for the death of Roman Polanski's wife Sharon Tate.
Poetic licence: Despite being mocked by London’s 19th Century social elite for his bloody awful poetry, Spike finds more success with it at a biker bar. There, he recites an ode to former infatuation Cecily, previously heard in part during the Buffy season five episode Fool for Love:
"My soul is wrapped in harsh repose,
Midnight descends in raven-colored clothes,
But soft... behold!
A sunlight beam
Butting a swath of glimmering gleam.
My heart expands,
'tis grown a bulge in it,
Inspired by your beauty...
Effulgent."
Brings a tear to your eye...
Chopper squad: Gunn dubs Illyria Blue Thunder, after the early 80s movie and TV show about a super-advanced helicopter. Blue Thunder lasted only 11 episodes, possibly finding that, with Airwolf as a competitor, the market for action series about helicopters just wasn't large enough.
Goodbye to humanity: It looks like we'll never find out how the Shanshu Prophecy, first mentioned in the Angel season one finale To Shanshu in L.A. works out then. But as it's not Angel anymore, does that mean Spike's the man?
We Help the Homeless: Anne from the homeless shelter makes her final appearance on Angel. She hasn't been seen since season two's The Thin Dead Line, but the character, played by Julia Lee, has featured on both Buffy and Angel many times previously. Anne's first appearance in the Buffyverse was as a wannabe vampire in the episode Lie To Me. She called herself Chanterelle then.
Funny business: Angel tells Connor he was at the first ever recording of the Carol Burnett show, a massively popular variety show which ran on CBS between 1967 and 1978. Comic actor Tim Conway was a regular on the show, for which he earned three Emmys. He's still in the business today, after a career spanning over fifty years.
Thanks for the Memory: After the episode screened in America, the WB network played a montage of scenes from the show's history as a 'Thank You' to all its loyal viewers. We think they may have preferred a message that simply said "Angel returns next season". Ratings for Not Fade Away actually beat those for the Buffy series finale by quite a margin, by the way.
Lost future: Most rumours that have emerged about Angel season six suggest that the gang would have continued fighting on in a post-Apocalyptic scenario. Sounds fantastic - but expensive.
Review
Rob
Team Angel certainly don't fade away in this tightly scripted and deeply satisfying conclusion to five years of top-notch TV.
Lindsey's death moved me, as did Spike's moments of poetic glory. And as for Harmony, I really didn't see that coming, which is how the finest drama should always be.
My only disappointment with Not Fade Away was Wesley's demise. Did the writers play out their series finale exactly as they had planned to end season five (as they claim), or was Wesley killed for effect? I somehow expect the latter, although I guess nobody’s ever really dead in the Buffyverse anyway.
It's only starting to hit home that this is the end. The pain of Buffy's conclusion was dulled by the knowledge that we would still get an hour of Joss Whedon's genius each week, but now that's gone too. It's unlikely that the critics' darling will struggle to secure a new gig once he completes work on the Firefly film, but, right now that seems a long way off. Come back soon Joss, and make sure you bring Boreanaz, Marsters et al with you.
Ann
So, it's all over then. But at least it went out in style - and came back to its origins to do it. This was a superb ending - not maudlin or wistful, or in fact fading away in any shape or form. Its tricky, twisty, dense plotting, multiple reversals, and almost unrivalled* grasp of character were actually physically satisfying to watch.
I may be attacked for saying it, but this was a far better finale than Buffy's. So, the fights were smaller and there were fewer explosions, but the writing was streets ahead, and the rewards to the fans for staying with the show were vastly bigger. Two moments especially spring to mind - Spike's valedictory poetry reading, and the moment during the fight with Hamilton where Angel realises that his vampirism is the key to victory - returning squarely to the roots of the character.
This was the gang going out in the style to which we viewers have become accustomed. In my mind, they'll always be fighting that dragon.
*Rivalled only by Farscape, that is.