"Where are you going?"
"No, I'm not going. Just a… dramatic gesture."
If you're from Northern Europe, as I am, there's something oddly unthinkable about spending Christmas in a hot climate. But this, the Christmas episode, forces me to face the fact that in Sunnydale, Southern California, Yuletide is to happen in temperatures of seventy degrees (or about twenty degrees in real money). Fake snow is sprayed on trees, Joyce insists on both a fire and air conditioning(!), and Xander is able to sleep outdoors. Also, it's interesting to learn that, instead of heading down the pub, it's traditional in America to have a big posh dinner on Christmas Eve.
All this is fascinating, but it's a relief to get a flashback to a proper, wintry, Victorian Christmas in early Victorian Dublin, and a scene right out of A Christmas Carol. But this is one of Angel's flashbacks, something we haven't seen for a while, and generally a clue that this is an Angel episode. The later flashback scene in which Angelus metaphorically rapes a maid who, if caught would, in a case of double cruelty, be thrown on to the streets with her child if she was caught. It's not just sexual abuse but class abuse too, and makes me think of The Crimson Petal and the White, a recent-ish read of mine, which deals a lot with this sort of thing.
Still, away from such tangents and, in fact, away from Angel, there are some nice little character moments here. Xander quietly admits that he hasn't been a very good friend to Buffy over the Angel thing. Joyce and Buffy include Faith in their Christmas. And, well, Oz turns out to be such a mature and wonderful person. He still loves Willow ("It's like I lost an arm. Or, worse, a torso.") and they get back together, although there's awkwardness. He also gently declines Willow's offer of sex during her rather hilariously over-the-top romantic preparations, which not only involve Barry White but also a bottle of fizzy pop, in a bucket, on ice. Classy.
He doesn't want her to just give herself to him; it has to be meaningful, and mutual. There's a theme of not having sex, and of making amends, that echoes the main plot with Buffy and Angel. Essentially we have Angel being tempted by the First Evil (pretty much the Devil- the temptation thing is a bit of a giveaway) to shag Buffy again, turn evil, and be free of the guilt. He resists, but can't bear the thought that one day he might be weak and give in to this temptation that will never go away. So he attempts suicide, but is thwarted by a miraculous snowfall. And a miracle is an interesting choice, especially in an episode written and directed by atheist Joss Whedon.
Those are the bare bones, but there's a lot more to it than that, not least the heartbreaking argument between Buffy and Angel near the end. It's about Angel showing deep, deep remorse so that the audience can begin to like him again, something which is deeply necessary, and it's important that it's Giles who stands for the doubting viewers but comes to accept Angel, though not without reservations. Even more important, perhaps, is the welcome return of Robia LaMorte. This episode really, really, had to happen. Also, we get to hear Joyce saying "So, Angel's on top again?" which is, like, the best thing in all television ever.
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