Angel: Sacrifice

"Anyone else feel like the last feisty wife in Stepford?"

Last episode showed us life under Jasmine. This episode develops it a bit- Jasmine has now got the Governor to surrender all of California to her, and indeed the Archbishop of Los Angeles to devote his cathedral to worship of her. But essentially this episode, now that the status quo of Jasmine, is about progressing the plot as Angel and the gang escape, regroup, and start to figure out how they can end all this.

Except Connor. He's had Cordy's blood, he can see what Jasmine really is, presumably with maggots and all. But he doesn't care; for once he can belong to something, And, my God, the boy is so unbelievably annoying at this point, not questioning Jasmine even when she moves Cordy somewhere else. Incidentally, once again Charisma Carpenter is called upon to do no more than act unconscious.

We begin with the gang heroically escaping to, er, the sewers, where they get to hide from Jasmine for a bit. And, perhaps, conveniently, Wes thereby discovers an insect-like demon thing that provides a clue, insisting that "we loved her first" and letting slip that Jasmine's weakness is her true name. If you think about it too hard this is somewhat too convenient, but it's handled with just enough sleight of hand.

So, when the National Guard inevitably comes for them- led by Connor with, creepily, Jasmine's voice- its time for a double cliffhanger as Angel jumps through a portal to the dimension of the incredibly powerful and fanatical mantis things, while the rest of them face a fight against hopeless odds. Ah, Angel. You do like to be so gloriously random come the end of the season, don't you?