Review of Episode 17, Season 3

"Forgiving"


Back with a vengeance! After suffering through a long hiatus, Angel returns ushering in the last quarter of the season. It was certainly well worth the wait. The burning question about Sahjhan's connection to Angel was finally revealed: Connor is destined to kill the demon and in order to save his own skin, Sahjhan fudged the prophecies, thus resulting in Wesley's duplicity and kidnapping of Connor.

This episode gave me what I've been itching to see for a long time, especially after the climax of last episode: Justine getting smacked around. All I can say is, "Go, Fred!" (And Gunn, too, who did the majority of the smack-down, not to mention Angel). She had that a long time in coming. It wasn't a big surprise that she'd help Angel in the end when looking at the big picture. What I thought was clever was how she helped him. I thought for sure after the battle with Sahjhan she left to save herself but returned and sucked him into the magical urn. Speaking of the battle with Sahjhan, what a battle that was! Angel vs. Sahjhan (with Gunn and Fred caught in the middle) in a bone-jarring, well-choreographed Matrix-inspired slugfest! The Associated Press printed a story this week stating the fight sequences in the Joss Whedon shows (among others) were like watching a Fred Astaire dance number, only with fisticuffs. That's an accurate assessment. My hat's off to Mike Massa, Angel stunt coordinator extraordinaire.

David Boreanaz did his usual terrific job of walking the fine line between Angel and Angelus, playing opposite ends of the spectrum once again as the tormented champion of good and the brutal villain. Especially when interrogating Linwood Murrow who finally got a surname this episode - it's nice to see that Bell has upheld the tradition of Wolfram & Hart employee's initials: L.M. Veteran actor John Rubinstein does an excellent job of bringing the new Div. Pres. of Special Projects to life by developing more layers of the character. It goes to show what a coward Linwood is at heart, considering Angel didn't even touch him and he was already singing like a canary. And in the white room (insert the classic Cream song here) in another Matrix-inspired scene, we got to see Wolfram & Hart's evil equivalent of an Oracle in the little girl. I certainly hope we see more of her in the future, as well as this mysterious room.

There were two things I didn't like about the episode. The first was no Cordy, and the second thing was there was no reason to show the mugger as Wesley hung on to life. If anything, Bell should've shown some Samaritan calling for help. But how about the final scene where Angel says he's not Angelus, making sure Wesley understands it's not his evil nature about to commit this heinous act as he proceeds to swear at Wesley uncontrollably (the spittle escaping his mouth made it more realistic) and smother him with his pillow. As Darla said in Reunion, 'He's not Angel . . . he's not Angelus either.' So who is he? I think he's returned to that unknown quality and everyone will find out sooner or later. One thing's a given: I can't wait to see how it ends. These have been some of the greatest episodes of everyone's favorite vampire with a soul.


I give it...


Written by CoA Staff member, Ned Flanders

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!


Fred: (on Wesley) Why?
Angel: I don't care about why. All I care about now is getting my son back. Then I'll deal with those responsible. They'll all pay. Including Wesley.

Linwood: (on Sahjhan) Not much of a handshake, what with being incorporeal and all.

Linwood: Big win for Holtz.
Lilah: If you call jumping into a cesspool hell dimension a win.
Linwood: Well, it's certainly not for us.

Fred: (on Cordelia) Don't you think she would want us to call? Shouldn't we tell her what happened? Maybe she could help.
Angel: No!
Fred: Angel.
Angel: She'll be back soon. And when she does, she'll have presents for Connor. (almost breaks down) And he's going to be here so she can give them to him. Okay?
Fred: (quietly, almost crying too) Okay.
Angel: I'm sorry.
Fred: No.
Angel: This isn't working. Forget about all this. I've got to go. (walks out)
Fred: Did he just say to forget about all this?
Gunn: Yeah, he did.
Fred: You don't suppose he's decided to skip right to the "dealing with those responsible part", do you?
Gunn: I think we need to find Wesley.

White Room Girl: Hello. Angel. Lilah. (to Lilah) Your fingernails are pretty. I love red. (to Angel) You have a taste for red too... and revenge. I know. It's so much more fun than forgiveness. So what's up?
Angel: A demon named Sahjhan has taken my son.
White Room Girl: (condescendingly) Aww, do you want your little baby back? (Lilah holds Angel back) Baby's gone. You want Sahjhan. Nowadays you can walk right through them, but in the past they were something else. They were all about torture and death. You can relate. Well, they caused a lot of trouble. Don't get me wrong. I like trouble. But I don't like chaos. So we changed them.
Angel: You mad them immaterial.
White Room Girl: Smart boy. Now they watch, and they can no longer touch.
Angel: How do you capture them?
White Room Girl: Well, there's your special urn. They're expensive and hard to come by, but quite effective. But you don't want his essence in a jar. You want something you can sink your teeth into. You know these things always come with a price. (viciously) Kill her. (Angel reaches to snap Lilah's neck) (girl giggles and smiles) That's good for now. (Lilah sighs with relief) I can see why they respect you. Now as to your demon made flesh. It's a big ritual, all here (holds out a paper which transports into Angel's hand) (smirking) Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Justine: Don't run off now. The fun's just starting.
Angel: I'm not your boyfriend. Find somebody else to smack you around.

Fred: (about Wesley) We just want to hear his side.
Justine: His side? His side's kind of funny. He sacrificed everything he believed in to save that kid.
Gunn: By helping Holtz take him to hell? I'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth.
Justine: Your friend's innocent.
Fred: Is he alive? Where is he? Will you just tell us?
Justine: (slowly and quietly) Heaven, hell. I slit his throat.
Gunn: (after a brief fight) Stay down.
Justine: Umm, no. (gets knocked down again) I trusted the wrong man.

Sahjhan: (hits Justine hard) I can't tell you how much I missed doing that. I also miss gravity, friction, and smashing things to pieces. (breaks a chair) Let's start with your skulls.

Fred: So what are you lying about?
Sahjhan: I don't like to brag, but read any good prophecies lately?
Gunn: You wrote the prophecies.
Sahjhan: More a rewrite.
Fred: The father will kill the son.
Sahjhan: Yeah. I flitted back and forth in time, changed the one that threatened med, polished some others. Flitted in a manly way, just so we're clear. You're not my enemy. You're in my home, and I'm going to kick your ass, but you were never really the point.
Angel: It was Connor.
Sahjhan: Boy, can't put one over on you, can I? Oh, wait. Already did. It's pretty freaky the first time you see your name in a true prophecy, all carved in blood on an official scroll. "The one sired by the vampire with a soul shall grow to manhood and kill Sahjhan." Me!

Sahjhan: (after Fred hits him with a torch) Do I look like I need more skin problems?

Lorne: (to Angel) Hey, I, uh, I cleaned the pentagram as best I could. The dired blood, well, that's started to be a look out there.

Angel: (to Wesley) You thought I was going to turn evil and kill my son. I didn't. It's important you know that. This isn't Angelus talking. It's me. Angel. You know that, right? (Wes smiles) Good. (goes into a murderous rage as he smothers Wesley with a pillow) Son of a bitch, you are going to pay for what you did. You took my son you son of a bitch! You bastard! You think I forgive you? Never! You're going to die, you hear me? You're going to pay! You took my son. You took my son! You took my son! Never. Never. Never! I'll kill you! You're dead! You're a dead man, Pryce! You're dead! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! You're a dead man! Dead! Dead!"



Quotes by Council member, Seeker and DBA