Angel: Eternity

"It was a seminal show, cancelled by the idiot network."

Yes, I know, this is the first time Angelus comes back in Angel's own show, it's terrifying, it's our first variation on the Angel / Angelus theme as a happy pill brings a "synthetic" Angelus into being until the drug wears off, Wesley makes an interesting comment about not all sex necessarily bringing true happiness (very true), and it's really very exciting. But this episode is really about the depressing price of fame and a fairly savage indictment of the entire Hollywood value system.

After a bit of fun in the opening titles as Cordelia, in a performance of The Doll's House, puts in the most hilariously awful acting performance ever- paradoxically an acting tour de force from Charisma Carpenter- we launch into a savage indictment of the brutally shallow and utterly fake (like the assassin) nature of the "industry", as it probably isn't called by those in the know. The rather disgusting character of Oliver- mendacious, manipulative, cynical, self-serving- pretty much personifies the whole thing.

This episode does a rather good job in making us feel genuinely sorry for Rebecca Lowell, the "poor little rich girl" who lives in a bubble and has nothing real in her life whatsoever; no true friends, no true freedom, and the ever-present fear of losing the trappings of fame in this dog-eat-dog world. The point is made effectively by the sudden cut between Cordelia (delightfully shallow, as ever) saying that she would give anything for Rebecca's lifestyle and Rebecca being pressured into having plastic surgery. Apparently another minor celebrity had her first plastic surgery at twenty-four, which is obscene. Rebecca's still only in her 20s, yet she's already feeling that her youth is behind her. It's not hard to see why she craves the eternal youth of the vampire.

That doesn't excuse what she does, of course, which seems awfully close to using rohypnol to rape Angel. But it's car crash fascinating to see Angelus again, and especially to hear the crushing things he says to both Cordelia and Wesley, although both of them have both grown enormously as people in recent episodes. The ending is pretty much perfect.

So, good episode, then, for its oh-so-LA themes and also with a bit of mythology in the side. Plus we learn that Angel rates Frank Langella's Dracula. I really must see that film…

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…