Review of Episode 1, Season 3 "HEARTTHROB" What's New Angel is now in 'letterbox' format. Although this is something I tend not to like, unless you're privilege to a 60" television, it works well with the series. I've stated before that the show looks great on the large screen and this format offers that effect without losing a sense of intimacy we enjoy having with these characters. The opening credits have gotten a revamping, including the addition of Amy Acker as a regular. Most enjoyable is the final shot with all five of our main characters walking towards the camera ala Buffy. And Wesley is sporting a new hairstyle. The Setup In the teaser we establish our main characters current situations. Fred is hibernating in the hotel, trading in one cave for another according to Cordelia. We discover she is considered an Angel groupie, leading to future storylines. Wesley is still in charge and handling it better, Cordy misses Pylea and Gunn is chillin'. Angel, we discover is away at a Monastery dealing with his grief. He returns quickly in the first act and his sense of humor is established just as quickly. This is indeed the Angel we left at the end of last season with no fear of 'brooding boy' returning. He has dealt with his sorrow and accepted Buffy's death. It's also nice to see that the producers mention Buffy's demise right away and address it usiseveral occasions. Amy continues with a nice performance as Fred and watching her continued progress back towards a functioning human being will be interesting. I only had one question; doesn't she have any family? Friends that would want to know she's alive and welcome her back? We're reminded that Cordy's visions are getting worse with the inclusion that Dennis is still taking care of her personal needs. And to our joyous comedic pleasure, the return of Merl, the lizard demon snitch-master! The Theme du Jour The running theme behind this episode is Emotions, true, hard and biting, and I don't mean in that feral brow and fangy sort of way. Okay, maybe I do, since this is really all about Angel. Cordelia reads Angel all too well and knows something is still wrong. The Cordy/Angel dynamic continues, she cares and she's smart to the ways of Angel's emotions regarding his former love of his live. "You weren't there when it happened. You couldn't help her fight - save her - die for her." And that's the crux of it all. Elizabeth [Kate Norby] asks of her victim in the car about the love for the girl in the backseat, "Do anything for her? Die for her?" During the fight at Hyperion with James [Ron Melendez], he tells Angel, "You never loved anyone!" Then on the subway train he taunts Angel as he protects Cordy, "I can kill the woman you love." Angel replies, "The woman I love is dead." He has accepted the Slayers' death but James points out after loosing his soul mate via the hands of Angel that if he truly loved her he wouldn't be there fighting him. "I wouldn't be able to go on living," Angel admits. But he is, and there's the thorn he has to deal with. The final testament is when James tells Angel, "I lived, you just existed!" There is absolutely great dialogue throughout this entire scene. David Greenwalt is stealing pages from the Marti Noxon Book of Pain here! Conclusively, Cordy and Angel talk again in the final scene and he admits his fear. "I'm okay, that's the problem. Loosing Buffy didn't kill me." He feels like he's betraying her because he's still alive. But Cordy is correct in her rebuke, Angel is honoring Buffy's memory by continuing the good fight. This is even foreshadowed by Buffy's herself at her own death when she tells Dawn that dying is easy, continuing to live is the hard part. But Angel has been here before. He gave up his mortal life with Buffy to continue on his destined path in I Will Remember You, and he knows more than anyone that through the pain he will find redemption. Flashbacks Wonderful if not the best of the series so far. The set is amazing and the use of crane shots are a nice touch giving it that dramatic and epic feel. Again we run with the emotion of love as the theme as James accuses Angel, "You know not poetry nor love Angelus." And Darla [Julie Benz] is back! We're set up with the character of Holtz [Keith Szarabajka] in this first episode as well. Referencing him from last season's Dear Boy when he hunted Darla and Angelus through France. I think the viewers get a cheap mislead where Darla is concerned. As we see, Previously on Angel . . . Darla and Angel slept together last season. Viewers are further reminded when James questions Angel if is he the same man that screwed Darla? "Where did you hear - oh, back in the day." (a humorous aside) Then we see in the shocking tag that Darla is in Nicaragua searching for a Shaman, "Life's full of surprises!" But is it Angel's baby? Can a vampire with a soul reproduce with another vampire? Angel once assured Buffy that he 'shot blanks' or is it Lindsey's baby, from when Darla was human? Things that make ya go hmmmm. Cinematography et al Greenwalt does a fantastic job with his directional skills in this episode. First, the viewers get to see more of the Hyperion Hotel interior, which lends itself to nice camera work. Running shots with the Stedi-cam in the tunnels is exceptional as we follow Cordy and Angel beneath LA. And once again we're on location! Buffy may be at UPN with all the money, but Angel is proving they can kick it with the Slayer. The only disappointment would be the fight scene with the vampires at the car. There is a deluge of bad editing here. Bodies that should be dusted are still writhing on the ground. Shots are repeated from different angles as when Gunn tosses Wes his stake. This is a rarity for Angel and I was rather surprised. Yet there are some great happenings on the Monastery set. Not only is the set itself impressive but the fight sequence stands out and is only accentuated future by the use of vampire effects; Angel's reverse leap up to the balcony. Later we see him leaping down among the buildings of LA and then diving out of windows and onto moving cars! The award has to go to James' leap onto the moving subway train! Rob Kral continues to set the tone with his musical score. Creating a nice mix between the modern day and period pieces as well as an edge to the various transitions. Overall, a great start to the third season! I was expecting perhaps a little too much but was not disappointed. If the season continues on this appointed course, Angel may just rival Buffy in the ratings again this year. Fun Note: Since David Greenwalt penned this premiere episode it falls to reason that he was having some fun with his two main characters of the plot, James and Elizabeth. David's personal assistant is in fact, Elizabeth James! To see the amount of devotion this talented woman enthuses, just read our Film Fest Part II feature in the Behind the Scenes section. I give it Review by CoA Council member, Swoop

CoA Stakes Rating Guide = Disappointing, stake it, bury it! = Not too bad, Lacking a few graves. = Typical Dark Avenger saves the day Saga. = Better still, Quality Headstones. = Outstanding! Reward it with mortality!

Wesley: It's sad. The only way some people can find a purpose in life is by becoming obsessed with demons. By the way, Gunn -- technically that wasn't a Lur-ite, it was a Mur-ite, a subspecies of the Lur-ite. The male sports a small telltale fin just behind the third shoulder. Gunn: I'm so glad to know we're not the sad people obsessed with demons." Wesley: I realize we sacrifice a great deal of our social lives, but we have to. Work demands it. Gunn: True. I mean who's got time for love when you're out there, doin' it with the demons. (with regretful look) Didn't that come out sad and wrong. Gunn: Hmm, Angel and a bunch of monks in the middle of nowhere. There's a party. He should have got hammered and gone to Vegas like I told him. Wesley: He doesn't need a lap dance, he needs some peace and quiet to work through this. Villager: (lengthy fight between Angel and robed men) What happened? Angel: Demon monks. Shoulda gone to Vegas. Cordelia: (receiving a necklace from Angel) Oh my gosh, it's gorgeous! And look how it bring out my breasts! You know you were all thinkin' it. Wesley: (getting a dagger) Sixteenth century. Angel, Murshan dynasty? Thank you. I've always wanted one of these. I didn't think you - Oh I can't wait to kill something with it. Angel: (reading Fred’s walls) ‘listen, listen’ - What are you listening for? Fred: The click. When it all comes together and makes sense, there's like a click in your brain, and you understand things again. Angel: Well, what happens if you run out of wall space before you get the click? Fred: I don't know. Cordelia: (entering her bathroom, Phantom Dennis turns on a light) Oh, thank you Dennis. How did I ever live without a ghost? Darla: (on abandoning Angelus) Of course, when he finally did catch up with me in Vienna, I had to pay for my sins, again and again. Angelus: Can you even begin to fathom the things we did? (disgustedly) Of course not, you're in love. James: (French troops arrive) Let's give'm a rout, what do you say Angelus? Angelus: I'd say you're an idiot, but I'd just be repeatin' myself. Angel: Oh, you -- you want to talk about -- Cordelia: She was the love of your life, and she died. And you weren't there when it happened. You couldn't help her fight. You couldn't save her. (pause) You couldn't die with her. Fred: Angel? I thought I heard company. I came out of my room! (excited) Small steps, like you said. Angel:(pausing in his fight with James) Go back to your room and stay there! Fred: Ok then. James: Well, this is a new twist in an old snake. Is it possible you care about someone who isn't you? Angel: Don't worry about her. James: But if you've changed . . . if you're not the same man who screwed Darla and couldn't care less what happened to her . . . Angel: Where did you hear . . . Oh. You mean back in the day. Right. Angel: How's that feel invincible boy? Is this your idea of love, James? It's not real unless it kills you? James: Yeah. What's yours? It's fun as long as it doesn't cost me anything? You don't know what love is. You think you won, just because you're still alive? I lived. You just existed. Cordelia: Then what's the problem? Angel: That I'm okay. That losing Buffy didn't kill me. That I could deal with it. In all those years, no one ever mattered. Not like she did. Now she's gone. Forever. Cordelia: And you're still here. Angel: Yeah. It just feels like I'm betraying her somehow. Cordelia: No. If you were a loser, if you were a sick, obsessed vampire, then you'd go to a Snod Demon or whatever and get your heart cut out. But you're not! You're a living, breathing -- (smiles) well, living anyway -- good guy who's still fighting and trying to help people, and that's not betraying her, that's honoring her. Angel: You think? Cordelia: I'm Cordelia. I don't think. I know, ok? Angel: Ok. Quotes by Council member Seeker.