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The
second half of series two begins with the star teetering on
the edge of a deep chasm of despair which could lead to him
losing his soul again. Meanwhile, at the other side of town
the sacked members of Angel Investigations are getting back
on their feet and continuing to do the good work that he Angel
seems to have forgotten about.
Angel's
second series continues to build on the foundations built
up so well in season one. The odd thing seems to be that the
first few episodes in this box set resolve all those riveting
story arcs that had been set up in season one. The Darla story
seems as resolved as it can be after Reprise, when
Angel sinks to his lowest point, after banishing his friends
and his infatuation is brought to an end after he sleeps with
Darla and finds he still has his soul. Bridges are burnt and
a particularly miffed Darla fades into the background whilst
Angel returns to try to make amends with his friends. This
is particularly clever, as most sci-fi series would have had
every one back to normal by teh next episode (where is the
continuity these days?), but Angel tackles what has happened
more realistically. His wounded friends are not willing to
let Angel get away scot free, and much of the series shows
Angel trying to win back their affections and accepting the
consequences of his earlier selfish actions.
Charisma
Carpenter has come into her own throughout this series and
her character has evolved from high school bitch to a real
woman who has feelings. Increasingly unable to deal with her
pain from the visions she inherited from Doyle, and dealing
with the loss of her best friend Angel. Her maturity and hurt
is shown, but her alter ego still has classic moments of return,
for example when Angel hilariously tries to win back her affections
by buying her expensive clothes - and it works!
Although
there are many dark areas covered in this season, Angel
still has many comic moments, and the further inclusion of
The Host, brings a lot more opportunities for humour from
his karaoke bar. Gripping to the end, a truly unexpected twist
takes place at the end of Angel with the group being
whisked through a portal to another dimension where humans
are slaves. This is the home of The Host, and shenanigans
ensue as Cordelia's visions clearly state to the priests that
she is the princess they have been waiting for, but the others
believe she is in mortal danger and are trying to save her.
Angel has a reflection and can walk in the sun, and you cant
help but chuckle as his personality changes into that of an
excited kid with a new toy.
Overall,
the second half of series two is a great pleasure to watch.
There is a selection of episodes in here that will cheer you
up however bad your day gets, you can sing along to 'We are
the champions' with the drunken posse of Cordelia, Wesley
and Gunn, or even do the dance of joy with The Host's 'strange'
relatives. Its the funniest thing I've seen on a sci-fi show
this year.
Keri
Allan
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