Angel: Double or Nothing

"He is fortunate to have such a woman looking after his weapon."

Breathe. It’s all been rather heavy lately, with Angel losing his baby to a hell dimension, presumably forever, and trying to kill Wesley. So let’s have an episode of healing. Cordy and Groo being back helps- well, mainly Cordy, who gently decides things while being lovely, although the hapless Groosalugg supplies the above quote.

So we get a Gunn episode to get away from all the tragedy. Yes, there’s tension and conflict; Gunn sold his soul seven years ago and it’s time for a demonic wide boy to collect, and he even tries to protect Fred by (unconvincingly) breaking up with her. But in the end it’s all a bit of fun, serving to show what a lovely couple they are, and cheer Angel up a bit. It’s all about slow healing.

I note there’s a bit of awkwardness about Gunn as a character, mind you. Narrative means we have to distance him from his old gang in favour of his new one, but this means we take away his hinterland and start to define him only in terms of his present, arguably necessary but not good for the depth of the character. I wonder if we will see much, or any, of his past again?

A fairly quiet episode, then. But a necessary one.