TVSquad

(S01E22) Don't believe everything you're foretold. -- Angel

Finally! After 21episodes, the death of Doyle, the introduction of Wolfram & Hart, Cordelia's visions, Wesley's partnership with Angel Investigations, and the appearances of Spike, Faith and Buffy (twice), we come to end of season one of Angel. During this first season we watched Angel become the undead hero of Los Angeles. In that time he became the enemy of Wolfram & Hart, a partner with Charles Gunn and his rag-tag team of vamp hunters, and the object of hate by Detective Kate Lockley (whom Angel pretty much tells off this episode. Good for him!). So, in this 22nd episode you would think that Angel and his crew would rest on their laurels and take a well-needed break.

Nope. In fact, totally the opposite. As they say on television, after this episode nothing is the same. So, read on to find out why.

(S01E14) Wesley: You've heard of Lizzie Borden? she killed her parents with an ax.

Cordelia: I remember the children's rhyme. And how come they're all full of death and cradles falling and mice getting tails cut off? Anyway, the whole thing needs a ratings system, don't you think?

Getting a supernatural or science fiction based show on the air is a tricky concept. If the show isn't fresh week after week, if it begins to get into a rut, it has a pretty good chance of having a short run or losing its audience. Star Trek:The Next Generation is a good example of a show getting into a rut. Towards the end of the series run you could pretty much predict what was going to happen: Data would say something foolish, Deanna would sense nothing from the aliens, and it would all be solved through some technical mumbo jumbo.

This did not happen to Angel during the first season. Sure, most episodes dealt with one supernatural being or another, but it remained fresh throughout. The episode 'I've Got You Under My Skin' is no exception. In fact, this villain isn't even a supernatural being this time around.

It's a little boy.

(S01E13) Wesley: Angel, we need a plan.

Angel: Here's the plan: I go in, start hitting people hard in the face, see where it takes us.

This was an interesting episode. Not because of what is was about, but because of what it was not about. It wasn't about vampires, vampire slayers, vengeful spirits, or anything else related to the supernatural world that we live in. This episode was actually more science fiction in nature as warriors from another dimension continued their gender warfare through the streets of Los Angeles. How did they get here? Well, they came through an extra-dimensional portal, silly!

Inter-dimensional warriors? Gender warfare? Portals? Gosh, you'd think this was an episode of Stargate SG-1 or something. Well, it wasn't, but it was just as fun.

(S01E12) Angel: (sees Cordelia drinking blood) I don't think I've ever realized just how disgusting that was.

I have got to say that this episode of Angel creeped me out a bit. And, it wasn't for what was shown, but what wasn't. I'm talking in particular about the seven (perhaps more) demon spawn that were living in Cordelia's womb for a good portion of the episode. It was never shown what they looked like, but for some reason it just didn't make me feel right. And, that's what makes a good supernatural drama: theater of the mind.

That's fine, because the whole demon pregnancy was the only thing that kept this fairly flat episode afloat.