Angel: To Shanshu in LA

"It's just a prophecy. It's not like it came from on high!"

Interesting parallel, isn't it? The fourth season of Buffy ends with an epilogue, while the first season of Angel ends with a prologue. All sorts of stuff for next season is being set up here. Obviously we have the resurrection of Darla by Wolfram and Hart, who are not clearly the Big Bad of the series, but Cordelia has learned empathy, the Oracles are dead, Gunn is looking more and more like a series regular, and…. Angel is apparently going to become human.

It's impressive how confidently this episode judges such a jumble of characters and tones. One moment Angel and co are having an hilariously awkward conversation with billionaire nerd David Nabbitt (although I have to wag a finger at the negative stereotyping of tabletop role-players here!), another moment Angel's home has been blown up and both Cordelia and Wesley are in hospital. There are some nice short scenes, too. I like the confrontation between Angel and Kate, where he finally lets her have a piece of his mind. Kate's aversion to demons because of her father was understandable up to a point, but there comes a point where we have to say that a line has been crossed and she's being racist. I'm not sure if the subtext is intended, but this made me think of people who live in poverty and vote for far right parties out of misdirected rage. Here's hoping Kate gets back over the line. Signs are not good, though; she's become a subject of mockery because of her obsession with the supernatural.

Lindsey, meanwhile, is now a junior partner with Wolfram and Hart, with a massive salary; he's chosen his side and taken his "thirty pieces of silver." His general competence is still somewhat questionable, mind; I'm not sure why sacrificing a hand is quite able to atone for that, but I suppose he does ensure that the spell to resurrect Darla is completed. Still, all he actually achieves is to clear up after his own mess. And the delightfully evil Lyla and Holland Manners are much cooler as baddies. Cooler still is this week's disposable baddie, Vocah, whose metal mask conceals a face halfway through the process of being eaten by maggots…!

Cordelia's realisation that there's so much pain in the world is sort of a return to a perennial theme dating back to when she first got her visions; it'll be interesting to see how long this newer, nicer Cordelia lasts. Wesley is once again shown to be conscientious, loyal, and rejuvenated with a real sense of purpose. He's grown so much since he first joined Angel.

But the main revelation concerns Angel. When it seems that the prophecy foretells his death, he's unbothered; he has no desires, no pleasures, no prospect of reward. Life for him is nothing but atonement. He's detached from the world, and has no stake in it, as we learn rather hilariously through a rather brilliant sequence of exposition through comedy. Indeed, there's something nicely meta in the suggestion that his problem is an inability to develop as a character.

But, once we learn that the prophecy ion fact foretells his one day, after many quests and trials, becoming human, suddenly there is hope for him. It seems, perhaps, that he has something to live for, and a real prospect of some rather interesting character development…