The Grand Angel Rewatch: Season 2, Part 3
2.08 “The Shroud of Rahmon”
Written by Jim Kouf
I remembered almost nothing about this episode except that it had Tony Todd in it. Essentially, it's a museum heist with Angel and Gunn infiltrating a group out to swipe the eponymous shroud, which can foster madness in those in its proximity. I'd had a vague recollection that it wasn't so great, or that perhaps some reviewers hadn't liked it, but it turned out to be better than I'd anticipated. I like the way the story is framed retrospectively, how the scene in which Angel bites Kate is revealed, and how pale and wretched she looks at the end. The main plot, though, does have some holes. I'd like to know what went through Angel's mind as he bit Kate, for example. He wasn't wholly affected by the shroud's evil influence, otherwise he wouldn't have made the claim that he was doing it to save her life, but he clearly drank a fair amount, given her pallor afterwards. Also, when Wes and Cordelia arrive at the museum they don't act so much insane as drunk.
2.09 “The Trial”
Written by David Greenwalt (story) and Tim Minear and Doug Petrie (teleplay)
Wow, a Darla episode I actually really like! Darla finds out that she is still dying of the syphilis that originally threatened her life back in the 1600s. She tries to get herself bitten by a random vampire and is essentially genuinely terrified and sympathetic. Angel is determined to save her and undergoes some trials to save her life. He's even willing to exchange his so that she can have another chance at a human life. Alas, when he completes all of the tasks, he finds that because she has already been granted new life once, she's ineligible to have it granted again. Witnessing how much Angel truly cares about her brings her some peace, and just as she's accepting her inevitable death, Lindsey (who loves her and doesn't want her to die) arrives with Drusilla, who promptly bites her. It's a little implausible that even a tasered Angel could be held by a few humans, but it's the closest thing to a perfect episode so far this season.
Bonus continuity points: Reference to Ramone, the Caritas bartender who was responsible for referring Angel to a fake swami back in “Guise Will Be Guise.”
2.10 “Reunion”
Written by Tim Minear and Shawn Ryan
So, Darla is a vampire now. Angel tracks down the place where she is due to emerge with the intention of killing her before she rises, but he fails. Darla goes through periods of angst, but is suddenly okay with being a vampire after Drusilla is incoherently sad and they murder a few people before showing up (with a random perm in Darla's case) at a Wolfram & Hart party to chow down on some executives. Perhaps Angel thinks it's justice to allow Darla to consume the people who destroyed her, but he basically lets her have her massacre.
One niggling question I have about this episode is: why doesn't Angel call Willow and have the curse put on Darla? If he wants her to live and yet not be evil, is that not the best solution? He knows Willow could restore his own curse and she also gets the call to do so again in S4, so why not? I mean, obviously, that's not the direction the writers want the plot to go, but I would've at least liked to see the idea considered and rejected.
One thing I adore about this episode is that it doesn't end with the big epic moment of Angel locking the vamps and lawyers in together, like many series would. Instead, we get a great scene where he tries to explain his actions to his team. Cordelia accuses him of allowing Darla and Drusilla free rein until “after they've finished off all the people [he doesn't] like.”Angel doesn't like being questioned, and fires everyone. Awesome.
2.11 “Redefinition”
Written by Mere Smith
Angel must redefine his goals now-he's given up on his pledge to help the helpless and is instead focusing all of his energies on the Darla situation. Or so the fitness montage would have us believe. Meanwhile, the rest of his team must figure out what they're going to do. After they randomly meet up at Caritas-and sing an awesomely bad rendition of “We Are the Champions”-they decide to keep going, a fact Wesley interrupts Angel's dart-throwing practice to announce. It may be kind of cheesy, but I like how the darts are used to show that Wesley's words do get through and upset Angel some, but he quickly clamps down those emotions once again and remains fixated on his goal.
This episode is uniformly very good and moves the story along. The image of Darla and Drusilla after Angel's attempt to burn them is one of the scenes I remembered most vividly from my first viewing of this season.
So, yes, while I'm still looking forward to the conclusion of this arc, at least this batch of episodes was enjoyable.