ANGEL
Season 3

Available on DVD

If anyone doubted ANGEL’s pedigree for wit and cleverness then the scene where Angel pops up in a demon dimension to be faced with a brutal looking demon warrior who then turns out to be a blue collar worker called Skip and more interested in discussing commuting should put them right. It’s so unexpected and so very funny and easily the highlight of the episode.

The rest of the episode, though, is full of the show’s trademark darkness. From the wounds that afflict Cordelia’s body through her reluctance to say anything because if she loses the visions she’s no longer ‘special’ or useful up to Angel’s intimidation of Lilah. There are times when you might forget the David Boreanaz is playing a vampire, but when he threatens her life there is no mistaking the real menace that he poses, both in his performance and Stephanie Romanov’s reactions.

The pregnant Darla’s coming home and just why were Wolfram and Hart willing to go so far to free one man? These are plot arcs that we just can’t wait to see revealed.

That Old Gang of Mine

Something is killing demons down on Gunn’s old stomping grounds. Whilst looking for clues, he discovers that his old gang have taken to killing demons for the sport, not discriminating between the dangerous and the benign, and their next target is Lorne’s demon karaoke bar.

Divided loyalties are the topic for this episode and, though it centres on Gunn for a change, it’s a little too preachy. Cordelia’s encounter with the three sisters who enchant the club to prevent demon violence is extremely funny and Amy Ackerman is really settling in as Fred, the agoraphobic whose every foray into the wider world seems destined to end in disaster.

Carpe Noctem

This is a fun episode. Body-swapping isn't exactly new in the ideas department and has been used in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER before, but it fits well with the story and making the other body an old man on the edge of death is a neat twist. It also plays on the ANGEL habit of working real life urban issues (in this case the treatment of the elderly as well as the singles scene) into an entertaining storyline.

David Boreanaz gets to play a whole new Angel, all leering and lust, not a brood in sight, and gets a surprising scene from Lilah of Wolfram and Hart. His flirting with all the girls is fun, but it is his awkward discussion with Wesley about what he believes to be their homosexual relationship that is the highlight. Amy Acker also comes to the fore as the hyper Fred, who hits both the heights of joy and the depths of tears at Angel's hands. She is proving to be an interesting addition to the team dynamic.

Fredless

Fred's parents show up to collect her, but she is not willing to go with them. Angel has to find out why this is and also deal with a swarm of giant insect demons into the bargain.

This is Amy Ackerman's episode, her proper induction into the Angel Investigations team proper. She gets a marvellous scene where she breaks down and explains to her parents why she can't be with them as it makes all that she has suffered in the alternative realm of Pylea real and not something she can deny. It's a fine performance with which to enter into the team of regulars.

The parents are wonderful characters, taking the whole demon thing in their stride after initial misgivings, and causing the rest of the team to reflect on the lack of parental interest in their lives. The insect demons, however, prove to be the episode's downfall. They look great, but clearly don't move very well causing some directorial jiggery pokery to be done (slow motion kind of thing) that is all too obvious.

Billy

There is a rash of women being killed across the city by men who had previously no hint of chauvinist tendencies. The source is a man called Billy, a man that Angel released from prison in order to save Cordelia. Both of them set out to stop him, but can Fred save herself from an infected Wesley?

This is a direct sequel to That Vision Thing, but it really owes a great debt to THE SHINING. The sequence of Wesley stalking Fred through the halls of an abandoned hotel couldn't be any closer to the film had they starred Jack Nicholson. The man is carrying an axe for heaven's sake. It's a steal, yes, but it doesn't matter because it's only a side plot. The main story is about female empowerment and abuse. Charisma Carpenter gets to be more than light relief and damsel in distress, whilst the subject gives the story more edge and more to consider than some of the other, more fantastical storylines.

Offspring

Darla returns to LA and shows up at the hotel to announce that she is pregnant with Angel's child, something that everyone agrees is impossible. She finds an unexpected ally in Cordelia who is deeply affected by Angel's sleeping with his old love, but can a leopard really change its spots?

Angel's child is clearly going to be the plot arc of this season, otherwise there is no way to explain this episode. Very little actually happens, but everyone treats a pregnant lady nicely and says that having the baby is impossible. That's it, at least until right at the end.

There are also flashbacks to a time when Darla and Angel destroyed another family, but the point to that is somewhat lost.

Quickening

Holtz, the vampire killer whose family that Angel and Darla slaughtered in the past emerges from a statue with a determination to wreak on Angel revenge for his loved ones and the fact that Darla is pregnant means that he can destroy a family, just as his own was destroyed. The infernal legal firm of Wolfram and Hart also learn that Angel is to be a father and decide that the offspring, no matter what it might be, should be theirs.

This episode is very much like the previous one in which not a lot actually happens, but the plot arc of the Angel baby story inches forward. The flashbacks from Offspring are now explained as the vampire hunter is brought from the past to the present with the promise of going all out after Angel's new 'family', but it is hard to escape from the feeling that all of this could have been comfortably contained in one episode rather than the last two.

Lullaby

The time for the baby's birth arrives, but Darla is incapable of letting the baby go. Whilst the gang fight off the hordes of demons who want to take the baby, Angel has to find a way to escape from the vampire hunter Holtz, who has come through two hundred years for his revenge.

The birth of a baby can never have been as eventful as this one. Not only is there Angel's inventive escape from Holtz and his goons there's the alley fight between the rest of the team and the demons, both of which up the action quota. There is Holtz coming to learn some new facts about Angel that will change everything to provide some serious character drama, but nothing compared to the real horror of what Darla and Angel did to Holtz that would bring him through the ages to get his revenge. There is the usual witty banter running through all of this and some of the lines are very, very funny.

None of this, however, prepares the audience for the action that Darla must take to ensure the birth of the baby. It's drastic, but makes sense in a very destructive way and is the kind of writing that makes this show very special indeed.

Dad

Angel's son is born, but it seems that every supernatural being in the area is out to get him. AS Angel comes to terms with the simple problems of being a father (nappies, crying, not being able to go out into the sun to the playground) he also has to think about ways of keeping his son away from all those that would take him away.

This is a big step down from Lullaby for the majority of its running length. Angel is besotted with his new son and...well that's pretty much that. There's Holtz starting to recruit his new army and Lilah's eventful visit to Wolfram and Hart's records section to distract, but it is mainly a man looking at his son. If you're not big on babies then you probably won't get a lot out of this.

Until the end, that is, when Angel decides the best way to protect his son is to make a run for it, but soon finds that all the competing demon gangs are on his tail. It's a nice twist that manages to pull back the episode from the brink of dullness.

Birthday

The latest vision leaves Cordelia's body lifeless on the hotel floor and her spirit watching helplessly as the rest of the gang try to figure out what happened to her. A demon comes to her and offers her a choice. She can either keep the life she has and die or take a different life in which she never met Angel in Los Angeles and instead went on to become a huge star.

Welcome back Skip, the most likeable demon the show has ever come up (first appearing in That Vision Thing). His presence lifts this episode up higher than it would otherwise have been, which is already pretty high. The first half deals with the immediate aftermath of the vision and Cordelia trying to come to terms with not having her body anymore, but it isn't until Skip comes along and offers her a new life that it really takes off. Unfortunately, by then the story is half over and there isn't much time to see more of her life as a star before she bumps into old friends and realises what the true cost of her new life is. This makes the decision that she has to make less dramatic and pretty clear cut from the outset.

The episode lies solely on the shoulders of Charisma Carpenter and she is up to the job with an ease that the rest of the cast struggle to keep up with. David Boreanaz, though, gets a real moment when it is revealed to Cordelia what the visions have done to him.

The script is sharp and witty and gives the players something to work with that makes this one of the highlights of the season to date.

Provider

Thinking forward to his newly-born son's future, Angel sets about making Angel Investigations a profitable business. This divides the team and leaves Fred vulnerable to a group of demons who want her head, literally.

Being a parent changes your outlook on life, but life cannot be just about your children. That's hardly a deep observation, but given the ANGEL treatment it is an entertaining, if hardly memorable, outing. All of the usual fringe benefits of snappy dialogue delivered by actors who are fully in tune with their characters are present and correct, but we are used to getting a bit better than this from the show. Still, average ANGEL is still more entertaining than many shows at their best.

Waiting In the Wings

Angel treats the gang to a trip to the ballet. Whilst there, he realises that the dancers are the exact same ones that he saw performing the same ballet a hundred years earlier. Going to investigate, he and Cordelia are caught up in the love affair between a ballerina and ballet owner that is being constantly replayed throughout time.

Angel and Cordelia's feelings for each othte are tested in true ANGEL fashion by being heightened through the medium of the amorous spirits that they encounter. Thus, they have all that they have been dreaming of handed to them, but in such a way as they are forced to fight against it. Add to this the burgeoning affection between Fred and Gunn and this is a touching story that allows the show to display its softer side.

Of course, in ANGEL 'softer' comes with killer clowns whose makeup is ripped bleeding from the face of the Joker and is sexy in a way that the show rarely even attempts.

Oh, and that lead dancer really is Summer Glau from FIREFLY and TERMINATOR:THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES.

Couplet

The Groosalugg has returned to Cordelia's life and Angel is torn up with jealousy, not least when Cordelia asks him to help find a way for the pair of them to have sex safely. Wesley also has to come to terms with the object of his affection having other ideas.

This episode deals exclusively with the internal life of the characters and, as a result, has little to offer anyone but the regular viewer. There is a tree monster that attacks Gunn and Fred, but this is all about Angel's jealousy, which is handled with witty lightness and some cracking dialogue. As ever.

Loyalty

Wesley struggles with the prophecy that tells of Angel killing his new son, Connor. His search for the truth about the prophecy takes him to some strange places. Holtz's demon master, however, finds that Holtz is moving too slowly in taking his revenge on Angel and so enlists the aid of Wolfram and Hart.

Step forward Alexis Denisof who gets a really meaty script with which to take centre stage. The others characters are a bit sidelined (Cordelia even being absent on a lover's holiday with the Groosalugg) as the focus falls squarely on Wesley and his dilemma. Denisof comes up with a fine performance and it is a credit to him and the writers of the show that they have taken a character who was first introduced as comic relief and turned him into such a compelling, rounded and driven personality.

There are two standout scenes where Wesley firstly confronts an animated statue of a hamburger (no, really and it's brilliantly funny) and secondly where he confronts Holtz in a conversation that is both frank and brutal, especially on the subject of the weight of a child's coffin.

There is a very real sense that ANGEL is going to go to some very dark places in the near future.

Sleep Tight

Angel starts acting strangely in the wake of the earthquake, fire and blood that were the prophecy's signs that he was about to kill his son. He learns that Lilah has been spiking his pig's blood with that of his son, making him 'smell like food', but not before Wesley acts in desperation, stealing the baby away to a safety that does not come when he himself is betrayed.

Wow, in most shows this would be the season finale and it would be a finale that would have us frothing at the mouth for the show's return. All of the major plotlines of the season converge into a tense standoff that certainly takes a road less expected, leaving a major hero defeated and a major character dangling on the cusp of death.

Sleep Tight is a rollercoaster ride of an epsiode that takes all of the careful set up throughout the season to date and knits it into an action-packed hour where events are still driven as much by the nature of the characters as by plot machinations. Wesley's actions, including his error, are drawn from his character and are totally inkeeping with what we know of him.

Since this isn't the season finale, one thing that we can be sure of is that there isn't going to be a lot of joy for the show's protagonists in the near future.

Forgiving

Now that his son is gone, Angel's mind turns to revenge. In order to kill the demon responsible for the loss of Connor, he kidnaps the CEO of Wolfram and Hart and forces Lilah to carry out a ritual to make him corporeal again. Gunn and Fred search for Wesley and for a reason behind what he did before Angel can catch up with him.

The episode title is clearly ironic as forgiveness is something that is in very short supply here. Though not the demon-fuelled evil of Angelus, this enraged Angel is scary in his single-mindedness and what he wouldn't do to anyone who got in his way could be written on the back of a postage stamp in capital letters using a large crayon. David Boreanaz manages to pull off a delicate balancing act of keeping this Angel from slipping into Angelus when his actions are somewhat hard to tell apart. The final encounter with Wesley, however dramatic, doesn't quite ring true.

It is also interesting that once made corporeal again, the demon proves to be a match for Angel, even better perhaps, and it requires the intervention of someone else to save the day.

Double or Nothing

Seven years after he sold his soul to a demon, thinking that he would be dead long before the demon came calling, Gunn finds that his time is up and he has only 24 hours to put his affairs in order.

Considering what's been going on in recent episodes, this standalone story of a demon casino seems slightly out of place, though it is here clearly to show that life goes on and to come up with a threat that will jolt Angel out of the gloom that the loss of his son has cast over him.

The script is snappy and clever and a bit of lightness to counter the recent (and ongoing in Wesley's case) despair is welcome, but feels insubstantial and unsatisfying.

The Price

The hotel is overrun by translucent killer slug monsters, apparently as a result of the dark spell that Angel carried out in the lobby.

The use of dark magics always comes with a price and the consequences are always less than desirable. The slug things that drop into the world in the hotel are really impressive pieces of CGI monster making, possible the best that the show has managed and certainly better than the thing that drops from the same rift at the end of the episode. That, fortunately, is only on screen for a few seconds.

And it is the last few seconds of the episode that make it memorable, taking the story in a whole new, surprising direction. The plot is fairly straightforward otherwise and the resolution is a bit deus ex machina, but it comes with all the ANGEL side benefits of cracking dialogue (Cordelia's response to discovering a pool full of the slimy creatures in a disused part of the hotel? - 'we have a pool?'), perfect comic timing and continuing development of the relationships between the characters.

A New World

Angel’s son Connor has returned from the hell dimension as a kick-ass fighting teenager with a desire to kill his father. Angel tracks him down on the mean streets of LA to find that he is already at war with a local drug dealer.

There is a basic lack of continuity here regarding Connor's fighting skills. In the opening scene, he faces off against Angel, Gunn and the Groosalugg, experienced warriors all, and yet later has toruble with few street thugs.

Connor's coming back from the hell dimension already grown up is a masterstroke as it takes away the limitations of having a baby about all the time. The drug background returns the show to the contemporary concerns of modern urban life that informed the earlier seasons' storylines before they got sidelined byt he focus of Angel's twisted 'family' saga.

It's also nice that there is no easy resolution to the difficulties in the Angel/Connor relationship.

Benediction

Connor isn't the only thing that came back through the rift from the hell dimension. Holtz is also back, but growing old has changed him. Or has it?

Angel and Connor bonding over a bit of vampire killing is only a sideshow here. What really matters is Holtz's plan. He will have his revenge on Angel and the manner of how he is going to bring it about is utterly inspired.

Tomorrow

The Groosalugg acts on the realisation that Cordelia loves Angel and leaves. Lorne acts on the realisation that he is not safe around the demon-hating Connor and so leaves. Cordelia becomes a higher being and so leaves. Connor believes Holtz's set up and lures Angel into a trap that leaves him in a living hell.

Having done the whole action finale thing in Sleep Tight, ANGEL goes for a lower-key, more downbeat sort of finale that leaves the team shattered and scattered and Angel himself in the kind of cliffhanger scenario that only the delightfully twisted minds of the writers of this show could come up with.

Cordelia's ascension is a surprise, coming right out of the blue, but at least it brings back Skip, our own personal favourite demon. The departure of the Groosalugg is touchingly sad and Lorne's departure is definitely bittersweet. Even the sidelined Wesley is sinking deeper into his own depression.

Putting this particular Humpty Dumpty back together again isn't going to be easy, but it is nigh on impossible not to want to know how they are going to manage it. Roll on the next season.