The best thing about this rewatching project is finding out I that I now like things I used to dislike. Don’t get me wrong, Season 3 of “Angel” (2001-02, The WB) is still a tremendous slog at its low points, featuring the most ill-conceived, poorly executed main plot of any season of a Joss Whedon show, but it also features one masterpiece of an episode and several other high points that I appreciated more this time around.
First, there’s no escaping the bad stuff:
- Holtz (Keith Szarabajka) and Justine (Laurel Holloman) are horribly boring and every scene with their death-to-vampires clan drags things down. Holtz’s revenge scheme — to make Angel suffer by stealing Connor, raising him to hate Angel, then framing Angel for his death so Connor will continue the emotional torture — is all well and good, but revenge is exhausting on TV (I’m even getting a bit tired by “Revenge,” although that’s a pretty good show). Justine’s sister was killed by vampires, so now she wants to kill Angel, who had nothing to do with it; that’s just plain asinine. The actors are bland, but I can’t be too hard on them, because they had very little to work with.
- Every major plot development is based on an ancient prophecy, a fake ancient prophecy or a misunderstanding. Time-jumping Sahjahn (Jack Conley, who also played the werewolf hunter on “Buffy”) is a scenery chewer, but he’s ultimately just a chump to the plotline: A fake prophecy says Connor will kill him, therefore he wants to kill Connor. Wolfram & Hart were fine villains in the first two seasons and the law firm shouldn’t have been back-shelved here, especially since Gavin (Daniel Dae Kim, later to star in “Lost”) steps in effectively for Lindsey as Lilah’s workplace rival.
- I hate, hate, hate that Wesley takes the “Father will kill the son” prophecy problem into his own hands rather than consulting with Angel. I hate that Angel tries to kill Wesley. And I hate that Connor falls for Holtz’ and Justine’s framing of Angel and sinks his dad to the bottom of the ocean.
- The four-episode “Darla having a baby” arc at midseason should’ve been one episode.
“Angel” Season 3 (2001-02)
WB, 22 episodes
Creators: Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt
Stars: David Boreanaz, Charisma Carpenter, Alexis Denisof
But there is some good stuff:
- This is the first full season of Fred (Amy Acker), and she is utterly adorable. The idea of both Wesley and Gunn falling for her is completely believable, and it makes for a deliciously painful love triangle.
- The Angel-Cordelia almost-romance isn’t nearly as bad as I remembered it. When the episodes aired, I was such a Buffy-Angel ‘shipper that I hated all of their latter partners, but actually Angel-Cordy is played nicely and subtly. I also like Groo (Mark Lutz), Cordy’s love interest who stalls her realization that she likes Angel, a lot more than on the first viewing.
- Alexis Denisof is outstanding as the brooding, scruffy loner incarnation of Wesley who feels betrayed by Angel Investigations. His relationship with the evil lawyer Lilah — whom he is using, just as she is using him — is tremendously entertaining. “Don’t be thinking about me when I’m gone.” “I wasn’t thinking about you when you were here.” Nice!
- Despite introducing a baby, “Angel” doesn’t jump the shark (at least not for that reason). The episodes (11-14) where the little tyke is settled in at the Hyperion — rather than serving as a plot device — are fine, and the teenage Connor (Vincent Kartheiser) isn’t as annoying as I remember him being — yet (He’ll be a regular for all of Season 4).
Even with Season 3 being serialized, I’d recommend skipping Darla having the baby (episodes 7-10), Wesley acting on the false prophecy (15-17) and Connor being manipulated by Holtz (21-22). Read the synopses of those episodes rather than slogging through them. That still leaves you with 13 solid episodes:
1. “Waiting in the Wings” (13, Joss Whedon)
The first “Angel” episode written and directed by Whedon since the pilot is pretty much a perfect hour, and it gains heft due to the sad ballet and music permeating everything. The scene where ghostly lovers possess Angel and Cordy is the sexy answer to the similar situation in “I Only Have Eyes for You.” Summer Glau is on hand as the ballerina; she would go on to play River in “Firefly,” of course. And the episode ends with beautifully bittersweet scenes of Cordy choosing Groo and Fred choosing Gunn.
2. “Fredless” (5, Mere Smith)
The scene where the gang sits around and realizes Fred doesn’t fit in with them because she has loving, supportive parents is poignant. It’s an impressive trick to have a largely silent scene say so much about four characters. Plus, this is an entirely Fredful hour; of course it’s gonna be good.
3. “The Price” (19, David Fury)
More than any other episode to this point, “The Price” makes great use of the Hyperion Hotel, moving the action into closed-off wings. Also, putting in Fred in peril is a sure way to get any viewer to sit up and notice, and Acker — as a possessed Fred — shows range that foreshadows her turn as Illyria in Season 5.
4. “A New World” (20, Jeffrey Bell)
The first episode with teenage Connor is surprisingly good. Kartheiser does a nice job as the fish out of water; Connor’s from the most hellish of hell dimensions, but that’s nothing compared to the seedier side of L.A. as he makes a friend only to have her overdose on drugs within hours.
5. “Birthday” (11, Smith)
This strong Cordelia episode is highlighted by an “It’s a Wonderful Life”-style aside where Cordy sees what her life could be if she weren’t saddled with visions for helping the helpless. The snippet of the TV show “Cordy!” is funny; even though Smith has said she didn’t want it to come off as a parody of sitcoms, it does, and I think it plays fine that way.
6. “Billy” (6, Tim Minear and Bell)
Denisof and J. August Richards get to stretch their acting chops as Wes and Gunn are possessed by a power that makes them beat up women. It’s a clichéd theme on the surface, but the episode is essential viewing, especially for the way it puts a monkey wrench in the budding Wes-Fred romance.
7. “Carpe Noctem” (4, Scott Murphy)
Although not in the same league as the Buffy-Faith body-switch episode, this one is light fun as David Boreanaz gets to act like an old man who is thrilled to have a buff, ageless body. Insider humor arises from misunderstandings, especially when faux-Angel has sex with Lilah and assumes Wesley is gay, rather than just British.
8. “Heartthrob” (1, David Greenwalt)
Buffy’s death at the end of the previous season couldn’t be ignored by “Angel.” The vampire-of-the-week who would rather die than go on without his lover (staked by Angel) contrasts nicely with Angel, who realizes that despite the pain, he can go on without Buffy. Angel’s maturity is the revelation here.
9. “That Old Gang of Mine” (3, Minear)
Compared to the blind vengeance quest of Holtz’s minions, Gunn’s gang’s distrust of Angel comes across as downright rational, and this episode — although considered a misfire by Minear himself — is decent. The standoff in Caritas leads to good philosophical debates about the nature of evil, plus we see Fred come out of her shell and prove herself as a valuable member of the team.
10. “That Vision Thing” (2, Bell)
For whatever reason, I’ve appreciated Charisma Carpenter’s work a lot more this time around than when the show was on the air. So a Cordelia-centered episode like this one, where Wolfram & Hart hijacks her visions, works for me.
11. “Couplet” (14, Minear and Bell)
This hour is a decent exploration of a new pairing (Fred and Gunn, who wonder if their romance can survive their work environment) as well as an odd couple thrown together (Groo and Angel).
12. “Provider” (12, Murphy)
This is an oddly sluggish hour and also the most forgettable of Season 3; on my rewatching, I felt like I was seeing it for the first time. It’s not a deep episode (Angel learns that he shouldn’t worry about his baby to the detriment of everything else in his life), but sometimes those are refreshing.
13. “Double or Nothing” (18, David Goodman)
Gunn “breaking up” with Fred in an attempt to spare her feelings when his impending death arrives (he sold his soul to a demon a few years back in order to buy his truck) is a nonsensical cliché (see also Peter Parker “protecting” Mary Jane in the first “Spider-Man” film). Still, Gunn episodes are always decent and it’s fun to see Angel lose the card game then kick a bunch of demon butt anyway.
14-15. “Benediction” (21, Minear) and “Tomorrow” (22, Greenwalt)
The Wes-Lilah stuff is juicy, and Groo gets a noble exit when he tells Cordy to follow her feelings for Angel. But oh Connor, how could you be so stupid to judge Angel by what people say about him and not by he treats you?
16-18. “Loyalty” (15, Smith), “Sleep Tight” (16, Greenwalt) and “Forgiving” (17, Bell)
What we have here are three frustrating episodes built around a false prophecy, poor communication and misunderstandings. This is as far removed from smart character writing that the Buffyverse has ever gotten.
19-22. “Offspring” (7, Greenwalt), “Quickening” (8, Bell), “Lullaby” (9, Minear) and “Dad” (10, Goodman)
It’s not necessarily a bad idea to give Darla a baby growing inside of her. But these four episodes could’ve been whittled down to the rooftop conversation with Angel where Darla laments that she, lacking a soul, will forget how much she loves her son as soon as he’s born. Sahjahn is the one who can manipulate time, but the too soft-spoken Holtz is quite a trickster as well: When he’s on screen, time really drags. Put Justine with him and “Angel” earns an adjective I rarely use for it: Bad.
What were your favorite and least favorite episodes of Season 3? Any defenders of the season’s main arc out there?
Click here for an index of all of John’s “Buffy” and “Angel” reviews.
Comments
Ruthie: I just stumbled across your blog. I too, am rewatching Angel and after he hopelessly sinks to the bottom of the ocean, I had to google “who else hated season 3 of Angel.” I pretty much agree with your entire perspective. I continue to hate Holtz, Justine, the Wesley’s a bad guy plot. But I’ve lightened up a little on my hate for Conner, a little. I shipped Angel/Buffy too, therefore I loathed Riley on the first go around, but I always like the Angel/Cordelia idea. Probably because I like Cordy more than self righteous pain in the ass Buffy. But that’s neither her e nor there. Thanks for giving me a nice read. Cheers.# Posted By Ruthie | 1/14/14 4:22 PM
John Hansen: Thanks for reading and commenting. I remember being horrified when “Angel” Season 3 first aired, thinking “Wow, it’s possible for Joss to make a bad season of TV.” (I also had inklings of that during Season 4 of “Buffy,” although that wasn’t quite as extreme.) And it makes sense, since he only wrote one episode. It just goes to show that when the central premise of the season is misses the mark, and you’re insisting on a serial approach, the whole season can go into the gutter. Luckily, they’d bounce back a bit with Season 4, and then recover completely with the excellent Season 5.# Posted By John Hansen | 1/16/14 1:00 AM