Angel - Season 2 impressions (episode 9)

[thalia_seawood]

The Trial

For a summary click here.


- The friendship between Angel, Cordelia and Wesley has started to fracture. The theme that Wesley and Cordy don't know how to get through to Angel has been repeated several times over the last episodes. Especially Cordelia is openly upset by his obsession with Darla. I believe it's hard for both of them to cope with any reminders of Angel's past.
When Angel makes his first appearance in this episode, he's cheerful enough. Apparently, he hasn't been brooding in the basement, but doing the laundry. :-) It turns out, however, that Darla is still very much on his mind and that he asked Gunn for help.

Cordy to Angel: "You lied to us!"
Angel looking at some pictures: "I did. I know."
Wesley: "Why?"
Angel: "I figured you'd nag.

- Holland: "You are not our prisoner, Darla. - You are, however our *moral* responsibility."

Yes, Holland is the most selfless man ever and moral is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of him. [insert extremely heavy irony]

- The two flashback scenes in this episode, show us that Darla will go very far to secure her survival. We know she's very fond of Angelus, but she's still willing to leave him behind to save her own life.

The flashbacks also introduce the vampire hunter Holtz. Angelus believes that he isn't a "mere mortal". I've read Holtz's name before so I'm sure we'll hear of him again.

Angelus: "At least in Romania they really know how to treat a creature of the night."
Ahhh, I love irony. :-)

- Darla is really desperate to chat up a vampire who's not only inattractive, but also not the most intelligent person that walks the earth. Actually, I think chances are high that he would have killed Darla by accident. While I don't approve of Darla's plan, I'm still impressed how decisively she puts her plans into actions.

- Darla to Angel: "You know, just because we had a thing for 150 years, don't presume you know me!"
This remark is rather funny for a humble mortal such as I. After spending 150 years with someone, I think you do know a lot about that person. :-)

- After Angel has stopped Darla from seeking someone who turns her into a vampire, she agrees to come with him to the Hyperion hotel. The reaction of Cordelia and Wesley says it all: They can't stand her. - I can sympathize with their reaction. After all, it appears to be Darla's fault that their friendship with Angel is falling apart. Still my advice would be to go along with Angel. Darla is obviously very important to him and going against the person he loves will only push him further away.

- In the meantime, Lindsey is moping over Darla's fate. He's obviously attracted to both Angel and Darla.

- Angel: "Do you love her, Lindsey? (Lindsey looks down) Is that what this is? Heh - look at you. A few short months with her and you go all schoolboy. I was with her for *150* years."
Lindsey: "But you never loved her."
Angel after a short beat: "I wasn't capable of it and neither are you."
Lindsey: "Maybe not. - But I'd save her if I could. And you can. And you won't. (Gets up) So you got s choice pal: waste the last two months of her life searching for a cure that doesn't exist, watch her wither away and die - or you can use the only real power you got. You can make this disease go away today if you wanted to."
Angel: "By killing her again."
Lindsey: "By giving her life! Eternal life."

Interesting dialogue between Angel and Lindsey.
Angel claims to have been incapable of loving someone as Angelus. I think he's lying to himself. It could be, of course, that Angelus himself wanted to be as powerful and invulnerable as possible and therefore told himself that love wasn't an emotion he was capable of. If he doesn't love anyone, noone can hurt him.
We've definitely seen though that vampires can love - and that it plays no role if they have a soul or not. I believe that Spike does love Buffy (even though he shows it in very odd ways :-)); he definitely loved Drusilla and seems to have cared for him. And there's no doubt that Darla loved Angelus or she would have killed him when he got a soul. If she hadn't loved him, she also wouldn't have tried to have the curse undone or allowed him to return to her.

Lindsey on the other hand shows that he doesn't understand Angel's moral concerns. Not exactly a big surprise...

- Darla has a very nice voice. :-)

- The three challenges:
This line made me laugh: "Your trials will consist of three separate challenges. I'll need your shirt and shoes." Yeah, it was time again for some shirtless Angel. And during the second challenge, Shirtless!Angel quickly turns into our favorite Shirtless&Tortured!Angel. Time for the merry drinking game. :-)

The nice thing about the three challenges is that Angel is willing to give his life so Darla has a chance living a fulfilled life as a human. And Darla finally sees that Angel really loves her deeply.

Still, Angel successfully proving himself doesn't change anything when it turns out Darla cannot be given life again a second time via magic means. IMO, apologizing to Angel isn't quite enough, they should at least given him free tickets to the cinema or flowers for Darla or stereo system. Sheesh. He risked his life and Darla's life and all he's is a lame apology...

- Darla: "Angel, I've seen it now - everything you're going through, everything you've gone through. - I felt it. I felt how you care. The way no one's ever cared before - not for me. (Gives him a tiny smile) - That's all I need from you."
Angel: "That's not enough."
Darla: "It is."
Angel: "How could the powers allow you to be brought back and dangle a second chance and take it away like this?"
Darla: "Maybe this is my second chance."
Angel: "To die?"
Darla: "Yes. To die - the way I was supposed to die in the first place."
They look at each other for a moment before Darla turns away drawing a shaky breath. Angel gets up and, still limping slightly, goes to sit next to her.
Angel: "I'm not gonna leave you (Darla looks at him trying not to cry) every moment you have left - I'm gonna be by your side. - You're never gonna be alone again."
He drapes his, still burned looking, right hand around her shoulder and pulls her close as she begins to cry.

I *love* this scene! It's really touching without being sappy. Too bad Angel and Darla are interrupted by Lindsey and his team. I *really* can't stand Lindsey. He pretends to wants the best for Darla, but if that were really true he would ask her what she wants.

- Drusilla's entrance gave me the shivers. Really, really creepy and powerful.
When she was turned into a vampire, both Angel and Darla were present. In this scene, things are turned around: Drusilla is no longer the victim, she's the one who has power over life and death. And Angel who hurt her so much in the past is forced to watch while Darla is transformed into a vampire right before his eyes. I think this is Drusilla's ultimate revenge - even though Dru might not see it that way. Like Angel she wants to get her family back together...

And now on to part 10.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Cordelia and Wesley: It's understandable that they see Darla as a walking talking reminder of everything in Angel that they don't want to be reminded of. Plus she did already cause trouble for him. However, when Cordy said that four hundred years old mass murderers don't deserve a second chance, you have to wonder how she equates that with A.I.s stated mission of helping the hopeless, and of course Angel himself being the king of second chances (given to him). Angel isn't wrong wanting to save Darla, he just is wrong focusing on this to the exclusion of everything else and shutting his friends out, but it's a mutual thing - they don't give him the impression they would accept the part of him that is bound to Darla, either.

Flashbacks: yep, they serve the two-fold purpose of reminding us of Darla the ruthless survivor - which makes it clear that when she finally declines Angel's offer to sire her at the end of the episode, it's something unprecedent in her - and introducing Daniel Holtz. Who doesn't show up this season but will in season 3 and has a major, major impact on the rest of the show.

Darla chatting up the dim vampire: what you said, plus it's a scene full of dark humour. "That kinda sounds like commitment to me," cracks me up each time.

I *love* this scene! It's really touching without being sappy.

It's the first time they're together in mind and feeling since he got his soul, and it's such a major step for her. Makes me misty-eyed each time.

Too bad Angel and Darla are interrupted by Lindsey and his team. I *really* can't stand Lindsey. He pretends to wants the best for Darla, but if that were really true he would ask her what she wants.

I keep arguing with one particular Lindsey fan about this, who claims that he is only motivated by concern for Darla, wanting to save her. However, the next episode tells us Lindsey has been in contact with Drusilla for weeks (his landlady mentions the odd English girl showing up often during that time in his apartment). We didn't see him bring her to Darla on any previous occasion, when Darla was desperate for someone to sire her. They come in as soon as Darla has said, out loud, that she does not want to become a vampire anymore. Coupled with Holland's comments in Darla about things going according to plan when she starts to break up and with his attitude in Reunion, I think it's clear that W&H wanted Angel to save Darla's soul ("what he can do, what he must - save her" as Holland says in Darla) - which sort of happens in this episode - and then snatch that away. I also think Darla's motel room was bugged. So they waited until she had come around, and then struck.

Besides, Lindsey pulling Angel's head up and making him watch, and his gloating expression? He wasn't thinking anything but "payback time" at this point.

Drusilla: yes. It's the reverse of the Dear Boy flashback. Fantastic scene.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

they don't give him the impression they would accept the part of him that is bound to Darla, either.

Yes, absolutely. They want Angel to go back to normal and don't really dare to learn more about his past. I have to admit that it might be difficult to work with someone who has killed hundreds of people and really enjoyed it. I'd probably wouldn't want to think about that too much and tell myself that with his soul intact he's nothing like that any more.

Darla chatting up the dim vampire: what you said, plus it's a scene full of dark humour. "That kinda sounds like commitment to me," cracks me up each time.

This is another highlight:
Darla: "Well, isn't it true that some vampires choose a mortal, someone they can sire, someone who, too, can walk those lonely nights, hunting with them, feeding with them, (puts her hand on his) joining with them?"
Vampire looks down at her hands covering his then gives a laugh.
Vampire: "No! That'd just be weird."
Darla: "Weird? - It's mythic!"

[spikendru.livejournal.com]

I keep arguing with one particular Lindsey fan about this, who claims that he is only motivated by concern for Darla, wanting to save her. However, the next episode tells us Lindsey has been in contact with Drusilla for weeks (his landlady mentions the odd English girl showing up often during that time in his apartment). We didn't see him bring her to Darla on any previous occasion, when Darla was desperate for someone to sire her. They come in as soon as Darla has said, out loud, that she does not want to become a vampire anymore. Coupled with Holland's comments in Darla about things going according to plan when she starts to break up and with his attitude in Reunion, I think it's clear that W&H wanted Angel to save Darla's soul ("what he can do, what he must - save her" as Holland says in Darla) - which sort of happens in this episode - and then snatch that away. I also think Darla's motel room was bugged. So they waited until she had come around, and then struck.

I've always thought that Lindsey has very conflicted feelings for Angel (sort of like Spike) in that a part of Lindsey really admires Angel and wants to be him, but another part wants only to get the better of Angel to show he, too, has what it takes - he matters - he can play with the big boys. And, of course, there's the previously mentioned UST. *g*

And Lindsey holding Angel's head up to force him to watch nicely mirrors Angel's choking Lindsey in the garage in Blind Date when Lindsey is trying to get Angel to understand that he was calling AI. It's a fitting sort of revenge/payback.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I think I would be a lot more interested in Lindsey's character if I didn't get the feeling the writers want me to like him and sympathize with him. (Initially I was intrigued by him.)

Spike gets written much more evenly: We see he his flaws, we see his strength, the bad things he does don't get excused, yet we also see he has the capacity for goodness.

Lindsey, on the other hand, gets more of an apologetic treatment and I just can't stand that.

I've been told so that he will be back and that I should find him more interesting then. We'll see. *g*

[spikendru.livejournal.com]

I think I would be a lot more interested in Lindsey's character if I didn't get the feeling the writers want me to like him and sympathize with him.

Now, that's interesting - I never got that impression when watching the original airings. It may be because you are watching them in a clump, rather than having to wait weeks, through hiatuses, summer breaks, etc. but I see Lindsey as a contrast to Angel, in much the same way that Spike and Faith are. Lindsey is the only W&H employee who ever seems to question the rightness of what he is doing - oh, sure he signed up with them (but I don't believe any of the attorneys had any idea of what they were really signing up for). He comes from a very poor background and is determined to succeed professionally, monetarily, and likes the power he wields. Yet, I think he still has remnants of a conscience, unlike the other employees. Lindsey also wants to be on the winning team, yet I think if Angel had been willing to mentor him, as he did for Faith, Lindsey could have become a productive member of A.I. eventually. He's attracted to Angel, he's jealous of Angel, he has very conflicted feelings, yet he seems to yearn for Angel's validation. He's human and has a soul (even if it's dirty from the work he does at W&H), but I would have loved to see if Lindsey would have changed if he'd been given just a crumb of validation and hope.

Oh, well, we'll never know now, and I find it fascinating that you see the writers giving him an apologetic treatment - will definitely have to re-watch, as I didn't pick up those vibes at all initially.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

It's mostly the episode Dead End that gave me this impression. Here Lindsey gets the total male Mary Sue treatment, i.e. *everyone* apart from Angel like Lindsey. Even if he tried to kill them in the past! And Angel who refuses to give Lindsey the time of the day is portrayed as a little childish along the lines of "He really should let go of his grudge. After all Lindsey isn't so bad."

When Lindsey first appeared I found him interesting. I don't mind characters that are evil, I love characters that are conflicted. I just don't like it when characters who do evil things, only get a slap on the back. "There, there, character. It's not really your fault. You were just influenced by the bad circumstances in your life."

There's never any question that what Faith did in the past was wrong. She doesn't get off easily, either. She actually serves time in prison.
Lindsey on the other hand regrets what he did a little and then drives off into the sunset.

To sum it up:
Lindsey is an interesting character, but the episode Dead End did him no favour.

[spikeylover.livejournal.com]

Drusilla's entrance gave me the shivers. Really, really creepy and powerful.
When she was turned into a vampire, both Angel and Darla were present. In this scene, things are turned around: Drusilla is no longer the victim, she's the one who has power over life and death. And Angel who hurt her so much in the past is forced to watch while Darla is transformed into a vampire right before his eyes. I think this is Drusilla's ultimate revenge - even though Dru might not see it that way. Like Angel she wants to get her family back together...

Yes, I saw that, too. In my vid HOUSE OF AURELIUS about the vampire family, (to the song Danny Boy, believe it or not) that was my final scene.. It just seemed right for Drusilla that everything came full circle.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Such a heartbreaking ep -- though I admit to being very sympathetic to Wesley and Cordelia here. I do wonder if Wes understands more about the Angel/Darla bond than he wants to admit; he just lets Cordy make more noise about it (that will be a recurring dynamic b/t Cordelia and Wesley --)

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Yes, with his watcher's background Wesley would understand more than Cordelia. He's also been established as the character who is the most astute when it comes to getting Angel's motivations.