Angel: Time Bomb

”She still thinks she’s the god-king of the universe.”

“So, she’s like a TV star.”

“No, nothing that bad.”

In a way this episode is a way to get from A to B- Illyria is clearly too powerful to have around so her powers have to be sharply reduced for the final few episodes so the upcoming apocalypse can have some sense of threat. But not before she uses said powers to rescue Gunn, of course. He made it quite clear last episode he’d repented and there’s no narrative need to keep him in that rather unpleasant basement when he has far more interesting things to be doing as a key member of the cast.

We also start getting comments- especially in the rather interesting conversation between Gunn and Lorne- about how Wesley is coming across as increasingly unhinged and obsessive, something portrayed superbly by Alexis Denisof. Lorne, meanwhile, seems to be departing from his entertainment brief to revert to his old role as Greek Chorus-cum-comic relief. And Spike, despite the jokes at his expense, is increasingly being accepted as one of the gang. Oh, and Mercedes McNab finally makes the titles.

There’s an interesting early scene where Marcus castigates the gang for blowing so much money on Gunn’s rescue and obliterating their previously huge profits- “It’s business, boys, not a Batcave”- which makes an interesting contrast with Angel’s later decision, to Gunn’s horror, to allow a baby to be given to a bunch of demons for eventual sacrifice. We’re left to wonder whether Angel is indeed starting to be corrupted, and what this has to do with the apparently ongoing apocalypse.

Of course, the bulk of the episode focuses on Illyria speechifying at Wesley and various others as her human frame struggles to hold her power, and only after a load of very weird timey-wimey stuff does Wesley cure her. As Angel hints towards the end she may now be ready for the team, if she can dial back the conquering urge a bit.

Again, superb stuff. The timey-wimey stuff is a bit bizarre, though.