Angel: War Zone

"There's a whole world in LA that no one ever sees."

So we get to meet Gunn, at last. Feels almost as though the gang's all here and this show is emerging from its experimental early phase towards what it will become. It's odd seeing Gunn as the heroic leader of a street gang, a parallel to Angel in many ways. It's also odd that his own sister addresses him by his surname, but I can overlook that. This is perfect as an introduction (and I'm sure it was obvious to all viewers that this was the introduction of an eventual regular) - the character of Gunn is strong, with enough hinterland to establish him, and J. August Richards is a superb actor. Ok, I suppose that it's obvious from the beginning, to anyone who's remotely TV literate, that Alonna is going to die, but I think that's intentional.

Of course, there's a clear theme of poverty, social class, and the invisibility of the urban poor (even the local vampires are almost as obnoxious for their snobbery as for their evil ways), and an obvious contrast with a billionaire nerd who plays D&D. Incidentally, I play D&D and, contrary to much annoying media stereotyping, I possess a modicum of social skills and have never been in a demon brothel. Just wanted to make that clear.

Oddly enough, the structure of this episode's plot reminded me a lot of The A-Team, especially with the more than usually obvious use of LA settings. A fugitive gang fighting evildoers with makeshift weapons in abandoned warehouses- that's close enough. It's also nice that the potentially annoying trope of other good guys not believing in Angel's good intentions doesn't last for long enough to truly irritate.

Gunn is essentially given something akin to a superhero origin story here, with the agony of his sister's turning into a vampire, taunting him and having to be dusted by him being a sort of equivalent of Bruce Wayne's parents getting shot, if you ignore the inconvenient fact that he seems to have already been doing his stuff for some time. I like his parting with Angel: one of mutual respect, with Angel refusing to act all fatherly or patronising.

As far as the regulars are concerned, Cordelia and Wesley are turning out to be a fantastic double act, and almost seem like brother and sister. And it's beginning to look as though Angel will never, ever learn how to use mobile phones.

We're getting very close to the end of the season now, so it's interesting that we get an episode full of set-up for the future. How is the season going to end? Is there going to be a big, Buffy-style season finale, or will Angel do things differently? Two episodes to go…

Angel: The Bachelor Party

"Maybe Doyle does have hidden depths. I mean, really, really hidden. But depths."

Wow. Who'd have thunk it? Doyle has a past, and a first name to boot. And he used to be all responsible and stuff- a teacher, of all things. An entire backstory is hinted at- marriage to Harry at nineteen, only for his demon side to manifest itself at twenty-one, wrecking both his marriage and his successful lifestyle. Just a few lines, scattered throughout the episode, give Doyle a hinterland, and depth. The most shocking thing, somehow, is that he was once a charity volunteer.

It seems that Cordelia is beginning to see him differently, too. The episode quite pointedly contrasts Doyle with the rich and rather wet Pierce, Cordelia's usual type. But Pierce is incredibly dull, and not only is he a big scaredy cat when attacked by a vampire- to be fair, most of us would be- but he just leaves Cordelia to fend for herself, which isn't very gentlemanly. Enter Doyle, suddenly revealed as a knight in not-so-shiny armour. Their whole relationship seems to have turned a bit of a corner, although she doesn't quite find out about his demon side. Still, this is going to play out over the rest of the season, right? (Ooh, you can just smell the dramatic irony in that last sentence!).

Richard (played by Whedon favourite Carlos Jacott) is a great character, and I love the fact that his demon family are genuinely nice, in a very suburban sort of way. The casual reveal of the fact that they mean to have Richard eat Doyle's brains(!) is well funny, as is pretty much everything about it. Still, aside from that one minor fault, I think this is the episode where is becomes very firmly established that demons are not necessarily evil. We have a bit of fun with this idea; I love the fact that Angel gets accused of being racist!

There are a couple of minor criticisms, perhaps. It's a bit of a coincidence that Doyle happens to be around to rescue Cordelia. And I can't see a stag night having both a stripper and charades- one or the other, perhaps, but not both. I'm not American, and I could be wrong, but by the evidence of this episode there isn't really much difference between an American bachelor party and a British stag night, except that a bachelor party seems to take place at home, rather than in a pub or club. The hen night (I don't know what they're called in America) seems rather sober and polite, though, pornographic Pictionary or not!

The criticisms are very minor, though. This episode is very good indeed, and the show certainly seems to be on an upswing. The late Glenn Quinn, in particular, is superb here.

Angel takes a back seat in this episode, more so than in any other episode so far, but I suspect that will soon change. Doyle's vision makes it very clear that it's crossover time…