My Review of Life On Mars 2x04: "Episode 12"

Written by Ashley Pharaoh
Directed by Richard Clark

Heather: “Maybe he can’t even hear me. You don’t need to hear my voice to know I’m always there. You’re my favourite nephew Sam and it breaks my heart to see you like this.”

Halfway through the second season, the writers have decided to take another look into Sam’s family. Last season we got see his parents at different occasions and now it’s time for Sam to start thinking about his Aunt Heather.

Aunts are usually brilliant and as a kid you can definitely get away with more with them than your parents. Heather’s clearly a significant person for Sam but oddly enough she’s peripheral to what’s really going on here.

With Sam being in a brooding mood, it’s not a great time for a killer to be on the loose. The death of a young woman had Gene remembering the deviant Terrence Finn who notably left a signature piece with his victims. When the same piece turns up on this body, Gene wonders if he caught the wrong fellow all those years ago.

For some reason (perhaps Sam’s influence?), Gene seems a little less brutal in his efforts to try and sort this case out. When Sam keeps sniffing the corpse, Gene even indulges Sam’s notions of trying to find a lead on the victim’s killer.

It also helps for Sam that a young girl named Denise happens to come flying out of a car in his direction. That’s enough to illicit any level of suspicion but when she darts off and is also wearing some distinct perfume, Sam realises that there’s a decent connection.

Just like his Aunt Heather, Denise is a Beavoir girl. These ladies just seem to be a 70’s version of Avon and given that the earlier body worked for the same company, Sam gets Denise in to get some answers. Denise naturally doesn’t want to help out until she realises that the dead woman was her best friend.

If the world of cosmetics doesn’t generate much appeal then the world of swinger parties just might. Denise’s friend Sandra was one of the toga waitresses of the place and the man who chucked Denise out of his car seemed to be rather possessive of Sandra. This also give Sam a chance to use policing methods he’s more accustomed to.

Of course Gene isn’t best pleased that Sam wants to bug Roger’s place of business but at least it gets results when they overhear Roger and his wife Carol discussing a troublesome woman. Still this is one of those episodes where Gene’s complaining about modern policing is both minimal and rather funny.

It’s also funny that it takes Gene quite a while to deduce the severity of Roger’s actions but Sam at least manages to get a plan into action as soon as him and Gene deal with a tense interview with Edith. With Denise now a missing person, it’s good to see a more sensitive side to Gene as well. In fact it might be one of the rare episodes where Sam and Gene seem to agree more than usual.

Sam’s plan however is just more surveillance but it works no less. Both him and Annie pose as a new couple and immediately manage to gain the trust of Roger and Carol within seconds. Then again, Annie is just a little too good at the old undercover routine that it’s Sam you end up worrying more for.

She’s flirtatious and friendly and is able to handle sleazy Roger with ease while maintaining a cordial stance with Carol. Sam on the other hand comes across as more frosty that it’s amazing that Roger didn’t smell a rat. Still his attempts to protect Annie are sweet even though she blatantly can take care of herself.

Also it’s because of her that some progress in the case is made. She decides to get herself and Sam invited to a swingers party. Sam even attempts to back out at one point and Annie has to put him in his place. Liz White is a good actress but this episode really saw her shine the most.

It was her we had to thank when things were looking bad for herself and Sam. Gene’s method of gate crashing the party with Sookie nearly blew their cover. However I did love Gene’s interruption – he was actually worried for Sam and Annie and was also on his witty best as well. That being said Annie was the quick thinker in this episode.

Sam made a good effort to pry on Carol’s insecurities about swinger parties to get some information but Carol seemed too determined not to help. Annie however whipped Roger into a literal frenzy and began to get some answers. I bet she had a lot of fun with that more than Roger.

Of course the ending was a bit mellow by comparison. It turned out that Carol was planning to do in Denise but once again, we can thank Annie for the day being saved. To think this episode had started with her getting bested by a petty thug and ended with her preventing another death.

Maybe it’s not that amazing but it shows just good of a copper Annie is and also highlights that she’s more than a love interest/unwilling confidant for Sam too. Even Sam was impressed with her quick thinking this week but with four episodes left, how much longer are they going to tease out this love arc?

Speaking of love, you got to feel for Chris. Okay so he is quite thick and while he should grow a backbone and tell Ray where to get off, I did like that in the end he was able to tell Sam what he really felt about his date. As for Ray, given his approach to women, I’m surprised the guy has ever actually gotten laid.

The Heather plot of the episode then caps things off intriguingly. Real life Heather in 1973 might not be a fan of her nephew but at least the fantasy one hates seeing Sam in pain. Katherine Kelly might be better known as Corrie’s loud mouth Becky but she did a good job here despite not having very much to do.

Also in “Episode 12”

I just realised we had three fairly big Corrie actresses in this episode with Katherine Kelly as Heather, Georgia Taylor as Denise and Eva Pope as Carol.

Chris: “Woman in her twenties found dead.”
Gene: “I didn’t think she was sunbathing.”

The only Hyde mention in this episode was from Annie. Sam did lay it on a bit too thick about how much he was appreciated in his old station.

Sam: “You’ve got lovely hands.”
Denise: “Are you sure you’re a copper?”

Ray (re surveillance):“You’re right boss. It works like a treat.”
Sam: “People are sick.”

Another thing that was laid thick in this episode was Sam’s luck with women. Gwen and Carol seemed attracted to him, Phyllis was civil with him and even Chris asked him for advice about women.

Gene (to Sam, re surveillance): “I don’t like it. Gene Hunt smashes doors down. He does not pick girly locks.”

Annie: “Can I be really forward?”
Roger: “Oh I love forward women.”
Carol: “Roger, behave.”

Sam and Annie pretended to be Tony and Cherie Blair, with Sam also being a virgin and looking for a soul mate and Annie nearly losing her dog.

Sam (re Sookie): “She’s a prostitute?”
Sookie: “I am here you know.”
Gene: “You didn’t think I was going to fetch my wife, did you?”

Carol: “Nothing more stupid than a man who thinks he knows everything.”
Gene (to Sam): “I think she means you.”

Standout music: “Coz I Luv You” by Slade and “Aladdin Sane” by David Bowie.

Wow, this is definitely one of the best episodes of the show. This was pretty dark if not exactly mystery advancing but it boasted some of the most entertaining moments in the series as well as some brilliant moments for Annie.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Life On Mars 2x03: "Episode 11"

Written by Julie Rutterford
Directed by Richard Clark

Gene: “How do you think I spend my time here, Tyler?”
Sam: “Building a death star?”
Gene: “You what?”
Sam: “Nothing.”

If there are some things that have been predictable about Life On Mars, it’s that Sam and Gene will spend a good dose of each episode arguing like spoiled brats and that one of them will be proven right. Failing that you might get the occasional episode where they are both right to a degree.

This episode opens up with a bomb scare and sees the two of them at loggerheads from the get go. Gene’s convinced that it’s the IRA but Sam isn’t. Worse still is that Sam’s goading of Ray winds up seeing the sexist copper nearly blown to smithereens before the opening credits.

Eleven episodes into the series, it was about time that something would happen to Ray that would illicit some sympathy for him. Dean Andrews is a good actor but Ray’s been a mostly repugnant character and while Sam does indulge in the Martyr act a little too much, I always end up siding with him when him and Ray go head to head.

I even still side with him in this episode. While it was reckless of Sam to dare Ray to go near the car that blew up, it’s not like Sam knowingly tried to harm him. Even at the police station, Sam’s actions see him largely out of favour with his colleague. Annie even rejects his attempts to donate some cash to Ray’s kitty.

Gene also goes overboard into reminding Sam just how reckless his actions were. However for all the grilling he gives Sam, it’s still the two of them who visit Frank Miller’s yard when trying to see if any of the Irish workers were responsible for the explosion. The fact that dynamite has also been stolen from Miller is more than coincidental as well.

Sam is more or less adamant that the IRA isn’t responsible for the planned attacks. It’s less to do with sympathy and more to do with his own knowledge that no-one else in 1973 possesses. However given that Annie continues to dismiss Sam’s insider knowledge nearly every episode, wouldn’t it be better if he just kept it to himself?

Gene meanwhile is convinced that Patrick O’Brien is the bomber and has more than a good time in trying to prove this. Given that Patrick wasn’t at work the day after the dynamite was taken and seems to be politically active, Gene totally believes that it has to be him. Sam as per usual thinks differently.

However to stick with the tried and tested format, Gene spends his time beating the crap out of Patrick in order to get a confession and even though you could guess that Patrick is innocent, he does himself little favours by being hostile with Gene.

At one point the vitriol both men have for each other descends into even more extreme violence. Gene might not appreciate it, but Sam did him a favour by getting away from Patrick. Gene did come close to actually beating the man to death and that definitely would’ve been a wasted kill.

With more threats being made and Ray out of hospital, the tension does amp up. Sam does his best to be civilised and him and Ray even work together when chasing down a potential suspect. Unfortunately for them the would be suspect is unarmed and Ray inadvertently kills the man.

Usually if Ray does something like this, I would be less sympathetic to the character’s plight but it was different. Both Ray and Sam got separated and Sam wasn’t audible enough for Ray to follow his instructions. Gene also doesn’t make the situation any better either by constantly blaming Sam.

The intriguing part of the episode is having Sam go to a priest and confess all his professional angst. The reason why this is so good because it’s Patrick who he ends up disclosing information to. I think there’s a good chance that Sam was bluffing when he said he knew it was Patrick all along.

On the plus side by snooping around Miller’s yard again he was able to figure that it was Miller who’s been setting up all the bombs. Doubly funny that Annie went from dismissing Sam’s crackpot theories into actually helping Sam figure out where Miller was going to strike next on his list.

The last couple of minutes of the episode are fairly middle of the road though. Ray being held hostage by Miller and his fears of being killed are interesting. Sam did try to warn Gene that Ray was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and this scene proved that Sam was right with that.

However both Sam and Annie using the family card to get Miller to surrender was a bit maudlin. Okay it did work and there was good acting but it did feel a little too easy after the big set up. Then again it does go to further that not all bombers are evil to the core and there’s even a great scene where Patrick lays into Gene about his family woes.

Elsewhere Sam’s still getting cryptic phone calls about his progress. For now he seems to be doing well but is still nowhere near waking up. On top of that he also has to deal with that creepy Test Card Girl. Her first appearance this season and her joy for driving Sam around the bend still doesn’t seem to be sated.

Also in “Episode 11”

Speaking of the Test Card Girl, it looks like there’s a different actress playing the role this season.

Chris (re bomb): “I make it nearly 10.”
Ray: “I make it nearly 11.”
Annie: “I make it 11.03.”

Sam made some offhand comments about Lorraine Kelly and even Dana when Gene went on the Anti-Irish rant.

Gene: “Take your own advice – wake up and smell the cocoa. Let’s search this shithole and nail these Paddy bastards.”
Sam: “It’s coffee.”

Phyllis: “What if I need to go to the ladies, Guv?”
Gene: “Cross your legs.”

Annie got upset at the end of the episode when she thought Sam called her chunky. He was referring to the brand of Kit Kat bars of course.

Sam (re Patrick): “You’re condemning a man for Christ’s sake.”
Gene: “Because I know he’s guilty.”

Sam (re Ray): “Guv. He shouldn’t be here, he’s got PTSD.”
Gene: “The man’s a bloody hero and you’re accusing him of having the clap.”
Sam: “Post traumatic stress disorder. I’ve seen it before. He needs counselling, he needs to talk to someone.”
Gene: “He’s a policeman, not a fairy.”

Sam also mentioned the use of CCTV to Gene and then backtracked by mentioning Hyde. We still don’t know what Sam is supposed to be doing for them.

Sam: “I’m not walking away. I need time to think.”
Gene: “You haven’t got the time to piss about thinking.”

Patrick (to Sam): “If it’s any consolation my instincts about you were never wrong. I knew you were a complete Nutjob when I saw you but at least you might be a Nutjob on my side for once.”

We learned that Patrick’s grandfather came from Connemara. Gene also made some comments about an Indian family moving into the same area.

Annie (re women leaders): “Maybe we'd be better off if a woman did run the country. She couldn't make a worse job of it than the fellas have done.”
Sam: “I have a feeling you might regret saying that one day.”

Standout music: “The Big Spell” by Audience and “When The City Sleeps” by Barclay James Harvest”.

For an episode themed on the IRA, it’s refreshing to discover that it isn’t entirely filled with stereotypes beyond Gene’s less than receptive attitude towards the Irish. It’s not the best episode the show has produced but it’s solid no less.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Review of Life On Mars 2x02: "Episode 10"

Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by S.J. Clarkson

Sam: “I’ve seen it a dozen times. Look, half of CID will be alcoholics by the time Maggie Thatcher becomes Prime Minister.”
Woolf: “If Margaret Thatcher ever becomes Prime Minister, I’ll have been doing something a lot stronger than whisky.”

Corruption within the police is something that every cop shows, some a lot better than other. It only makes sense that the already corrupt policing of 1973 would go one further by shattering some of the beliefs in characters like Sam and Gene about their profession.

Harry Woolf was introduced in the last episode as Gene’s mentor. He’s one of the very few people that someone like Gene would aspire to as a cop and also one of the very few people that Gene would happily break bones in defending as well. So because of that, there must be something very dirty about this Harry. Okay terrible pun but you get the point.

The episode opened with Sam, Chris and Ray collecting Dickie Fingers and before we even got to the opening credits, a few armed men made sure that the three of them were minus a criminal. We could suggest bad luck or a combination of Chris’ crappy driving skills but conspiracy is the more likely option.

Sam himself even thinks that there was nothing coincidental with Dickie’s abduction and soon enough, he’s unsuccessfully trying to get various contacts to squeal on where the petty crook is being stashed. Only Gene is able to come up with some better solutions.

The first is hauling in Arnold Malone, one of the biggest nemeses of Harry but it’s a good call. Aside from the cat and mouse antics between Harry and Malone, the latter does give Sam and Gene heads up on a particular robbery. Sam’s naturally suspicious of Malone’s sudden co-operation and to be honest, how could anyone not be?

Predictably enough the robbery goes off and Gene has everyone prepared in advance. There’s a really fun moment however where he curses himself when both Annie and Phyllis are openly hostile with the robbers in question but it’s not much of a shock to learn that one of the robbers happens to be Dickie as well.

Like many of the petty crooks on this show, while Dickie is probably not the worst human in existence, he’s still downright unlikeable and when he demands alone time with Sam, a part of me assumed he wanted to use Sam’s more empathetic nature for his own benefit.

That feeling only intensified when he told Sam that it was Harry responsible for springing him out of jail and for the series of robberies. I like that Sam didn’t instantly believe Dickie because I actually wanted Dickie to be lying. I like Harry as a character so I didn’t want him to be corrupt.

More importantly is that Sam didn’t keep this to himself. He talked about it with Annie and even she tried to get him to consider that Dickie could be lying. Sam not believing that Dickie was felt typical for him but at least he told Gene about what the petty crook had told him.

Gene’s response was delightful. Okay so it’s looking at this point that Dickie is telling the truth but I still didn’t mind Gene using his own methods to test that theory. Then Sam had to challenge Harry about the accusations made against him. The fact that Harry seemingly supported the idea of Sam taking these accusations into account was a clever move.

It should’ve been enough to make Sam doubt himself and when it didn’t work, Harry sort of used Gene to put Sam in line. Even locking Sam in the boot of a car wasn’t enough of a deterrent for him. Once again Sam knew he was right about Harry and Gene also didn’t want to believe him.

It was when Gene and Sam confronted Malone that the truth really began to sink in. Rarely do we get any scenes where true sympathy can be conveyed for Gene, despite the series succeeding in making him more than a brute. However seeing a part of Gene’s belief system shattered is quite devastating to watch.

Harry was probably one of the few people genuinely left in his profession that wasn’t tarred with some form of scandal or compromise. Annie herself even gave Sam a rundown of the man’s strengths and legacies. Of course it also meant that Sam was right, which makes you wonder is Gene going to just trust Sam on something?

The confrontation between the three of them is beautifully written. Harry’s motivations for trying to frame Malone are plausible. Every day we see less than savoury characters more financially solvent than those who struggle to make ends meat so the desire to get one less scumbag off the street regardless of means is believable.

Another thorny issue in this episode comes in the arrival of black police officer Glen Fletcher. Not much tends to make me uncomfortable but watching morons like Ray making racist remarks is up there. Worse still was witnessing Glen making similarly disparaging comments about himself. I don’t think I’ve ever been more disgusted by anything else than I was with that scene.

Sam spent a good time during this episode trying to get Glen to stand up for himself. I can understand why Glen would prefer to stay in the background and while he did say and do things in this episode that frustrated me as a viewer, I’m glad that Sam’s words did actually make a difference towards the end of the episode.

As for the Hyde material, it seems that Sam is at Gene’ precinct in an undercover capacity. Except that Sam isn’t aware of this and is equally confused when told by Hyde not to call them again. I do like this angle to Sam’s ongoing saga and hopefully there will be a satisfying payoff to everything here.

Also in “Episode 10”

As much Ray’s racist remarks disgusted, I didn’t mind him and Chris teasing Dickie about sheep. Sam even privately laughed about it.

Chris: “I can’t do five years. I’m not that strong.”
Sam: “Chris, you don’t even have a life.”

I think this might have been the first episode in the series without Nelson. I did miss him seeing as him and Sam get great scenes together.

Dillis: “Ain’t talking in front of your pansy.”
Gene (to Sam): “I think she means you.”

Woolf (re Sam): “He knows his onions this lad.”
Gene: “Oh he’s a right little smartarse.”

So two people in this episode actually thought that Sam was gay. Aside from one gangster, we haven’t exactly been awash with gay characters.

Annie: “Thanks for being so sympathetic sir. Just hope you don’t end up in my firing line.”
Gene (to Sam): “Did she just threaten to shoot me?”

Glen: “Why should I fight all the battles?”
Sam: “Because if you don’t, who will?”

We learned in this episode that it was Glen who was Sam’s mentor in the future. Without Sam’s intervention, I wonder what motivated Glen into becoming more proactive.

Gene: “Talk me out of it. Tell me it’s untrue.”
Woolf: “I can’t. I made you too good.”

Woolf: “How many villains have I put away? Does that not earn me something?”
Gene: “No.”

Sam saw an ad about Glen’s death in 2006 presumably.

Woolf: “Don’t remember me like this.”
Gene: “I’ll call you an ambulance, Guv.”

Standout music: “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John stood out the most for me.

Another in a series of thematic episodes for the successful and one that continues to get better on repeated watching. Chris Chibnall packs in a great character driven script with brilliant performances from all concerned.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

My Review of Life On Mars 2x01: "Episode 9"

Written by Matthew Graham
Directed by S.J. Clarkson

Tony (to Sam): “It’s over. You’re no longer the hero. You’re powerless. Look at you. You couldn’t save Eve and no-one can save you.”

Season Two of any show is make or break time and with the first episode in, it safely looks like this series wasn’t a flash in the pan. This is a good thing seeing as this episode threw something to confound our expectations on the nature of Sam being in 1973.

The episode opened on a really creepy note with someone back in 2006 trying to kill him. Not that it takes much to freak Sam out but this did genuinely come across as menacing and once again, it was Annie who Sam ended up spilling the beans to about his nightmare.

Of course Sam’s nightmares had to take a backseat with Gene when a bus full of dead people had the journalists in a frenzy. We’ve seen Gene and journalists interact so it’s no surprise that there is still some hostility there. However while Sam might not approve of Gene’s attitude towards the press, he does gain an upper hand.

All through Season One, Sam has been banging on at large about things being done by the book. Meeting up with Gene’s former DC (and now Supt) Harry Woolf meant that Sam was able to see Gene be on his best behaviour. Sam didn’t hold back in his pride of seeing fellow officers doing things professionally either.

That being said, everytime Sam gets a moment to be smug, there’s at least another few that knock him down. When Annie discovers a chip linked to George’s corpse, a certain trip into the Wild card club stirs some pretty bad memories for Sam when the proprietor Tony Crane makes his presence.

Marc Warren is one of those actors who’s virtually been in every show and as a guest villain; Tony is one of the best ones we’ve had. It’s established that in 2006, an older version of Tony is mentally torturing a comatose Sam and in 1973, Sam is determined to stop Tony before he can grow into a criminal mastermind.

It’s funny that for all of Sam’s preaching about doing things by the books that this episode would be able to use that concept against him. Even Gene seems to take a little satisfaction in denying Sam the pleasure to stitch Tony up. Then again as right as Sam is about Tony, he can be a bit annoying about it too.

The constant use of jumping into the future at different moment to emphasise Tony’s terror on Sam is good. Dramatically it works well in Sam’s motivations but isn’t it about time he stopped confiding in Annie about his future insight? I know its part of the writer’s attempts to forge them together but Annie is getting pretty sick of Sam going on about being a time traveller.

Sam seems to be getting on everyone’s wick in this episode. Both Gene and Ray aren’t best pleased with him trying to make things complicated and even when he’s able to get Tony arrested for lying about a chip, he still fails to convince everyone that the man is an evil monster.

Even Tony’s long suffering girlfriend (and abused/murdered wife in 2006) Eve doesn’t want to help Sam out. I suppose I can understand why she thinks he might be a madman. That being said, it’s not like she’s entirely unaware of what Tony’s really like and even when Sam does get his way, Eve still slaps him across the chops for sticking his nose.

As for the cat and mouse between Sam and Tony, definitely the best part of the episode. John Simm and Marc Warren work brilliantly in their many scenes together and although this Tony isn’t as menacing as his future version, he’s still an incredibly effective baddie to have.

That being said, Sam is beginning to seriously play with fire. It’s bad enough that he keeps insisting to Annie that he’s from the future but telling Tony all about it seemed insane. Maybe Sam was hoping that Tony would slip up with this information but there are so many other ways that it could’ve gone.

For instance Tony’s henchmen nearly had Sam and Gene killed. The silly last request for a smoke managed to save Sam and Gene from the henchmen. Annie’s skills with the stinger managed to stop Tony from running Sam down. As per usual that girl is excellent in a crisis and given that Sam was having serious headaches throughout the episode he should be grateful for both Gene and Annie in this episode.

The best scene however was in the police station. Tony came out and told everyone that Sam thought of them as figments and himself as a time traveller. If Annie had backed up Tony, then Sam would’ve been deeply screwed. Instead she said nothing as Sam made out that Tony was imagining it all.

Sam might not have gotten Tony sent down for murder but shoving into a psych ward for the rest of his days ended up changing history. Perhaps Eve fared better off too even if she didn’t appreciate Sam’s interference. Sam needs to tread more carefully though as his own mental state will be looked at.

Also the thing that turned this episode on its head was that Sam seems to be in 1973 for a reason and Hyde are responsible for it. It’s a satisfying throw in and hopefully we’ll get a brilliant answer to it. Either way it does look like that Sam could be getting closer to going home but whether or not he’ll want to when the time comes is the other thing.

As for the other characters, while Ray wasn’t unbearable in this episode I don’t blame Sam for objecting to him getting a promotion. Having Annie taking over Ray’s position as DC is a nice move. I also loved the way Annie was able to combat Ray. She might look sweet but she’s clever and that’s more interesting than her cuteness or affections toward Sam.

Also in “Episode 9”

No Test Card Girl in this episode. Maybe she’s not needed anymore or will just recur from time to time.

Woolf (re Gene): “You’ve got the best here.”
Sam: “I weep with happiness every morning.”

This episode actually showed us Sam back in 2006 in a nightmare sequence. Given that the second season was the last, the end is definitely nigh.

Tony: “Are you feeling okay?”
Sam: “Don’t you touch me.”

Sam: “Up all night.”
Chris: “Oh aye, what was her name?”
Sam: “Migraine.”

It’s nice to see that Chris is still a little clueless as to when Sam is being sarcastic. Ray still hates his guts as well.

Annie: “If it’s so awful then why are you still here?”
Sam: “Believe me I wake up every morning and ask myself that same question.”

Tony (to Sam): “Your life is in my hands and your luck is running out.”

Yasmin Bannerman who played Eve was Jabe in Doctor Who’s “The End Of The World” and Kathy in Torchwood’s “They Keep Killing Suzie”.

Tony: “Come on Tyler, beg for your life.”
Sam: “No.”
Tony (re Eve): “Like she did.”

Gene: “Go on, walk out. Give me a reason to knock the crap out of you.”
Sam: “I’ve wasted enough time already.”

That guy Russell Askey was going on about the world not being real. Does he actually feel the same as Sam? Probably not as he did seem genuinely insane.

Tony: “I’m not a killer.”
Sam: “Oh come off it, Tony. You were a born monster. You just don’t know it yet.”

Tony: “Go on Sam, get it off your chest. You know you want to.”
Gene: “Get what off your chest Sam?”

Standout music: “Spooky” by Dusty Springfield, “Star Man” by David Bowie and of course, “Bring Me Sunshine” by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.

Tony: “No doctor will sign that.”
Gene: “They always do what I tell them.”

Chronology: None is specified since the first season finale and this episode. I don’t think it’s too long though.

As openers go, this was a good one. Life On Mars is definitely not a flash in the pan in terms of series. The show is adding more elements to Sam’s ongoing mystery and continues to flesh him out as a character. This is also a brilliant start to what looks to be a good final season for the series.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Angel - Season 5 Review

US Airdate on the WB: October 1^st 2003 – May 19^th 2004.

The axe has finally fallen on the brilliant series as Season Five sees the gang taking over Wolfram And Hart with disastrous results. Then add the additions of Eve, Harmony, Spike, a few returns, a couple of deaths and a final episode that’s hugely debateable and see what you get.

In Control Or Being Controlled – You Decide: Season Five of Angel was never intended to be the last season and right from the very first episode of this tricky season, any viewer could tell that storylines were being seeped for a sixth season. So why did it end?

It can’t be because of ratings because Angel was generating more ratings in its fifth season than before and Joss Whedon and his staff writers certainly weren’t running out of ideas.

In fact the more you think about it; the less just cause there was for the series to end. Whedon foolishly gave in to the WB’s demand of adding Spike to the series and the show adopted a dramatically less arc driven season and there are a string of impressive episodes so for the series to end so prematurely is disappointing to say the least.

The season opened with “Conviction”, an episode where right off the bat you could see that the gang working for Wolfram And Hart was destined for disaster, especially when Gunn is getting scumbags like Corbin out of jail, Harmony is a temp, Spike is unfortunately raised from the dead and a bland little liaison by the name of Eve is just plain annoying. Okay so I would take her over Linwood and Gavin any day of the week but unlike Lilah Morgan, Eve is a charisma free zone whose cat and mouse antics with Angel are not so well handled. And you think the gang in Torchwood are shite at their jobs!

Spike’s addition to the series in my book is definitely one of the worst elements to the series. Nothing against the character or even James Marsters but when you look at it realistically, what does Spike really add to the season? Is there any episode where his interactions or input don’t come across as contrived? More importantly if the WB were so desperate for a Buffy verse character to add some spice to the series, why not Faith? There are actual storylines that could’ve been explored with her, she works a hell of a lot better with the regulars than Spike does, her and Gunn would’ve made an interesting pairing and seeing as this season lacks interesting females, she would’ve been a Godsend. Also it would’ve kept Eliza Dushku away from Tru Calling and she’d have less pressure here than if she were given a Faith spin-off.

Having the bleach blond and on occasion why isn’t he gagged Spike back in the mix it means both Gunn and Lorne are surplus to requirements and the first few episodes deal with his resentment towards Angel (“Just Rewards”) and teaming up with Fred in a bid to become corporeal in werewolf tale “Unleashed” and the creepy “Hell Bound”. The season though is a lot lighter than Season Four and hilarity does rear its head in the cracking Lorne piece “Life Of The Party” but the dull “The Cautionary Tale Of Numero Cinco” reaps havoc by now having Spike as a candidate for the Shanshu prophecy.

“Lineage” gives the brilliant Alexis Denisof a powerful role to play when Wesley and his overbearing father come to a violent showdown but the impact is almost ruined when the episode’s twist is something that feels more at home on Alias than Angel.

As much as Spike grates my cheese in Season Five, the only episode in which he and Angel are actually given stuff of true substance is the rocking “Destiny”. Having more Intel on the twisted ménage a trios with these two and Drusilla in the day provides some of the most riveting flashbacks since Season Two and also the shock of dumbass Eve being in cahoots with Lindsey in an effort to bring Angel down is nicely played at the end.

The light hearted stuff is then back for “Harm’s Way”, the only instalment that bothers to make viewers try and care for Harmony. Granted Harmony isn’t quite as dreadful as you’d expect but like Spike and Eve, a lot of her scenes do ring hollow and overall these three have you missing Lilah, Cordy and Connor all the more.

Thankfully “Soul Purpose” with its Farscape hallucinatory sequences gets the series on track as Eve’s pretty obvious mind fucking seems to be unravelling while a neat exploration of a psychotic slayer and Spike’s past actions makes “Damage” hugely watchable, even if it does inflict us to the awful Andrew and has the stupid logic of the Scooby Gang turning their backs on Angel Investigations.

With the Angel gang not doing any real good at Wolfram And Hart and increasingly being undermined by the very law firm they’ve fought against in the previous four years, we really needed someone to call them out and it needed to be someone who actually had an idea of what they are talking about. Not a nerdy little freak whose loyalties could be easily swayed under certain circumstances or even a “shouldn’t he have stayed dead” vampire who really doesn’t need to be in LA but like a co-dependant puppy lingers on no less.

The person in question had to be Cordelia and with eleven episodes deprived of her, Charisma Carpenter’s one episode stint in the series 100^th episode “You’re Welcome” was the perfect opportunity to do this. Everything you loved about Cordelia was perfectly executed in easily the best episode of the season (a part of me wonders with a little tweaking that this could’ve been the series finale) – her humour, abilities to put people down at the drop of a hat, the way she scolded Angel on his choices regarding Wolfram And Hart, apologising to Wesley, taking on Lindsey (who got his own desserts) and that gorgeous, tear-jerking farewell kiss. Too bad she only appeared in one episode but at least she left Angel a more than potent parting gift.

Of course with an episode as spectacular as that, the next one was obviously going to be a disappointment and the predictable and somewhat bland “Why We Fight” disappointed in spades. I didn’t care about some guy Angel sired when he had a soul or the same guy threatening a bound and gagged Wesley, Fred and Gunn. I didn’t even care about the contrived manner in which Spike featured in the flashbacks or the way that once again, Lorne had bugger all to do. I wanted continuity on Cordelia, the gang being informed of her death, an actual funeral sequence and an exploration into both Angel and the gang’s grief over losing her. These are the things we should’ve gotten with this episode. The lame A-plot could’ve been a subplot, I think most viewers would’ve appreciated that one.

Luckily though the bitterness subsided enough for me to enjoy the hilarious but for me not the best episode of the season – “Smile Time”. Puppet Angel was fine, even funny but it was Wesley and Fred’s pairing at the end that was great.

Then came “A Hole In The World”, which was an exceptional tour de force and all, but was it really necessary to kill Fred off three weeks after Cordelia? I know Joss likes a death but there are things called limits and seeing as Season Five did lack interesting females, this latest demise while a great showcase for Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker was unjust.

Then again we should be lucky, at least Acker was still on the payroll even if she was now playing a fallen God named Illyria who has to come to the crappy realisation that she’s in a world where no-one is actually scared of her and her only faithful companion, the disturbed Knox is shot by a grief stricken Wesley in “Shells”.

Grief does funny things to Wesley such as making him shoot a random employee in the leg who wasn’t concerned about Fred’s condition, it also had him stab Gunn (who inadvertently signed the sarcophagus into Wolfram And Hart) and of course the killing of Knox.

However these are nothing compared to Wesley taking on Illyria as a pet project with varying degrees of results “Underneath”, “Origin” and “Time Bomb”. Through these episode as Illyria makes her own ham fisted way of adjusting to humanity, Gunn takes Lindsey’s place in a hellish suburban nightmare, Eve is replaced with much nastier and effective Hamilton (another Firefly alumni in Adam Baldwin), Connor reappears and so does everyone’s memories of last year while Illyria is at the receiving end of the ultimate emasculation and Gunn is brought back to the fold.

Sadly though as we get towards the end of the series, the series hits an all time low with the downright awful “The Girl In Question”, a lame assed tale (complete with embarrassing Darla/Drusilla flashbacks) where Spike and Angel head to Europe to save Buffy from The Immortal but are told from Andrew of all people to move on. Even if the series had gotten a sixth season this would still be a bad episode – you don’t even see Buffy or The Immortal and the comedy between the Rome hi jinks is too stupid for its own good. The only thing watchable about this is the cat and mouse antics with Wesley and Illyria and even that’s flawed.

The last two episodes have an arc set in place – Angel taking down both Wolfram And Hart and The Circle Of The Black Thorn and while “Power Play” is a little anti-climatic, I did enjoy learning about Angel inheriting Cordelia’s visions (why didn’t the writers bring her back for the last two?).

“Not Fade Away” is our big series ender and while I prefer Buffy’s more upbeat ending in “Chosen” a year prior, as last ever episodes go, this is good (although Six Feet Under’s “Everyone’s Waiting” is so much better).

Wesley’s death affected me, Connor and Angel teaming up to beat on Hamilton was nice as was Wolfram And Hart coming down (is Eve dead?), though things like Harmony being a traitor and Lorne coerced into murdering Lindsey was a little disappointing. Angel’s final line as he, Spike, Gunn and Illyria stood side by side to take on a hoard of baddies is also effective. This isn’t the most ideal way the series could’ve ended but unlike other series, we did get an ending that does provoke thoughts and feelings, if not entirely positive ones. Goodbye Angel, while Torchwood may be vying for your crown you were the original and you still are the best.

DVD EXTRAS: It’s the last season so the extras really had to go all out and you know what, they totally did. Disc1 has an amusing commentary for “Conviction” by Joss Whedon the “Hey Kids: It’s Smile Time” featurette to back itself up but Disc 2 was even better with both Steven S. DeKnight, David Fury, Skip Schoolnik and Juliet Landau offering their own thoughts on Angel and Spike’s chequered history in their commentary for “Destiny”. Similarly effective is the dream team of David Boreanaz, Christian Kane and Brent Fletcher for “Soul Purpose” on Disc 3. Disc 4 gives us commentaries on two of the best episodes with “You’re Welcome” (David Fury/Christian Kane/Sarah Thompson) and “A Hole In The World” (Joss Whedon/Alexis Denisof/Amy Acker) as well as pulling in Charisma Carpenter for the “Angel 100” feature while Disc 5 has Adam Baldwin, Sarah Fain, Elizabeth Craft and Skip Schoolnik for “Underneath” and a blinding feature on stunts for the episode “Shells”. Disc 6 rounds things off nicely as Jeffrey Bell talks fondly of “Not Fade Away”, while other features include the usual set of bloopers, an informative overview of the fifth season, a nice run down of Angel’s best episode (though one or two choices are mystifying) and Recurring Villainy is great for fans of Darla, Drusilla, Lilah and Lindsey. With extras as comprehensive as this, no wonder the likes of Lost and Doctor Who go all out. There is a standard here of quality and quantity that only recently TV shows on DVD are beginning to strive for.

EPISODE RATING FROM 1 TO 10:

5x01: Conviction = 9/10, 5x02: Just Rewards = 8/10,
5x03: Unleashed = 6/10, 5x04: Hell Bound = 9/10,
5x05: Life Of The Party = 8/10, 5x06: The Cautionary Tale Of Numero Cinco = 4/10,
5x07: Lineage = 9/10, 5x08: Destiny = 10/10,
5x09: Harm’s Way = 7/10, 5x10: Soul Purpose = 9/10,
5x11: Damage = 8/10, 5x12: You’re Welcome = 10/10,
5x13: Why We Fight = 5/10, 5x14: Smile Time = 8/10,
5x15: A Hole In The World = 10/10, 5x16: Shells = 9/10,
5x17: Underneath = 8/10, 5x18: Origin = 9/10,
5x19: Time Bomb = 7/10, 5x20: The Girl In Question = 3/10,
5x21: Power Play = 8/10, 5x22: Not Fade Away = 10/10.

Season Five is currently available on VHS and DVD.

Angel - Season 4 Review

US Airdate on the WB: October 6^th 2002 – May 7^th 2003

The Apocalypse hits LA and it has big intentions on staying put as our gang through further life changes. Cordelia sees herself as a paramour to both Angel and Connor as an entity named Jasmine takes control of her, Fred and Gunn head for Splitsville, Wesley and Lilah’s affair ends in death, Lorne is dragged back from Las Vegas and a slew of baddies reign supreme.

The Lights Are Out And They’re Not Alone – To a lot of people, Season Four might be the most jarring season of Angel and for some odd reason, it happens to be the best. This is strange because there is a fair amount of stuff I can pick fault with but even when I do, even I have come round to this season in particular after some repeated airings and watching it as a whole on DVD and to enjoy this particular season on Angel, I strongly urge watching it on DVD as opposed to the TV format.

As Season Three left off with an interesting cliff hanger, the first episode “Deep Down” manages to actually surpass it with some deliriously uncomfortable fantasy sequences that would be more suited to either Farscape or Six Feet Under but mainly three months later, it goes to show that Fred and Gunn are just about holding on, Connor is sullen personified, Justine is a pathetic mess (no wonder she was kept in a closet), Wesley is getting his rocks with Lilah, who does everyone a major favour and gets rid of Linwood while keeping the equally bland Gavin in line and oh yeah, Cordelia is in Higher Plane heaven and Angel at the bottom of the sea.

Angel’s rescue to me in a way more or less validates Wesley and should reaffirm the gang’s trust in him but for some reason not everyone wants him back and the spat between Angel and Connor sets the tone for this season – Angel will try to be a father while Connor will choose to believe everyone but his father. Once or twice you can understand it but Connor’s consistent gullibility will test the patience of a Saint at times.

With Angel back in the fold, both “Ground State” and “The House Always Wins” are key in pulling both Cordelia and Lorne back into the mix and while they’re not the strongest of episodes, moments like Fred going Pylean, Gunn’s near death experience and moderately okay mutant thief Gwen. Lorne’s return isn’t exactly excitement central but Cordelia’s is every bit as mysterious as it’s arbitrary and the convenient amnesia that bestows her in “Slouching Toward Bethlehem” has a certain amount of emotional resonance but once again Lorne gets the shit beaten out of him when he uncovers something about Miss Chase and a triangle between Angel, Cordy and the nihilistic Connor is yuck beyond words. After all Cordy played surrogate mom to this kid last season and seeing the two of them fornicate in “Apocalypse Nowish” isn’t a pretty sight by any means.

Better handled is the quadrangle between Wesley, Lilah, Gunn and Fred, mainly due to the leaps and bounds of Alexis Denisof, Stephanie Romanov, J. August Richards and Amy Acker. As plots go this is so riveting. It’s nice to see Gunn and Fred’s relationship actually be challenged, especially in the rather boring “Supersymmetry” when Fred contemplates murdering the man who sent her to Pylea and Gunn alleviates her conscience by carrying it off. Wesley and Lilah’s affair may not have lasted as oh say Buffy/Spike but it’s similar in tone and oddly somewhat more effective. I hate to admit it but some sympathy is drawn for Lilah as she feels more for the world weary former watcher than he does for and their break-up in “Habeas Corpses” has Lilah come out with the most perceptive comment and best way of describing Angel the series as a whole.

Of course personal dynamics aside, Season Four actually has an ongoing plot and it involves and as the “Tabula Rasa” influenced “Spin The Bottle” showed in its very last moments, The Beast is making his way to LA and he has every intention of blocking out the sun and there’s not a thing Angel and company can do about it. “Apocalypse Nowish” had The Beast rise from where Connor was born, Angel battered and the sky raining fire in one of the most breathtaking sequences of the show as “Habeas Corpses” had Wolfram And Hart slaughtered, Lilah made into a fugitive and Cordelia getting a hell of a dressing down from Angel.

The next three episodes proved pretty potent as “Long Day’s Journey” threw in the bomb about The Beast and Angelus being former allies as the sun was blocked out and the Ra Tet was destroyed while “Awakening” pulled the “it’s all but a dream” when Angel and Cordy bonked and the former became Angelus. Of course this didn’t actually happen but for an episode which is more in line of the bait and switch tactics of Alias, it works pretty damn well. It’s a shame then that “Soulless” is nothing more than long speeches, pissing contents between Wesley and Gunn over Fred, Angelus taunting the disillusioned crew and moderately okay flashbacks because Lord Of The Rings’ Sean Astin does a good directorial job no less.

But being into the second half of the season, “Calvary” provides some truly inspired shockers in its wake. First off all it’s beyond great to know that both Angelus and The Beast are pawns in this big apocalypse but it’s also quite eerie to realise our big bad is Cordelia of all people. Hasn’t Joss had enough of turning his good guys evil? Apparently not as a reported feud between him and Charisma Carpenter saw the latter’s real life pregnancy in the show written in a way that not only devolves Cordelia but does Connor little favours in the process as he gets sucked into her mind games and evil schemes.

With Lilah getting a particularly violent death and Angelus on the loose (along with Connor being a pain in the ass), “Salvage” saw the most welcomed character return as Faith busted herself out of the big house and once Eliza Dushku positively sparks with everyone she encounters, particularly when she faces Angelus and the two of them go all out to best the other in pretty gruesome “Release”. Angelus may be clever but it seems so is Faith and Wesley as “Orpheus” has both slayer and vampire sharing an inspired coma and not even Barry Manilow’s “Mandy” can put you off this. This is easily the best episode of the season, especially when a bright and bubbly Willow has her own magic fight with Cordy who ends the episode in spectacular fashion by revealing to all and sundry that she’s knocked up and this is after we get Angel back.

With only seven episodes left in the season, you do wonder how many more surprises we can be inflicted to and although neither Cordy or Connor benefit well towards the end both Charisma Carpenter and Vincent Kartheiser do give it their all so more a case of bad Joss when “Players” and “Inside Out” show the extremes both of them take in order for Goddess Jasmine to be born. Dark and disturbing the latte episode also sees the return of Darla and the arrival of Gina Torres.

Fresh from Firefly, Torres has a wonderful ethereal quality that makes you understand why so many people have no qualms in succumbing to Jasmine’s thrall. Physically Jasmine is a stunner and “Shiny Happy People” sees her as something genuinely compassion and it’s the first time all season that Angel and Connor agree on anything to be honest.

However you just know that something doesn’t add up with Jasmine. After all, why all the darkness and slaughter to be born and Fred being put against her friends when she becomes privy to Jasmine’s true intentions (devour humans more or less) in “The Magic Bullet” showcases more of Amy Acker’s talents.

One by one everyone except Connor begins to realise that Jasmine is bad news and with them all getting captured at the end of “Sacrifice” while Angel blurts out Jasmine’s true name in “Peace Out”, Connor’s ongoing struggle to find a good lie to believe is creepy. You feel bad for the lad but at this rate you can’t help but want to scream at him to side with his father.

The season delivers the best ending with the ambiguous “Home”, originally designed as a prelude to Season Five or a series finale if the WB didn’t renew the show (and they really fucked with the scheduling for this season). I loved Lilah’s return, could deal with the way both Cordelia and Connor were exited (that doesn’t mean they should’ve been) and the gang taking the reigns of Wolfram And Hart had potential. This season was so brilliant and exhausting to watch that an ending less action packed worked in its favour.

DVD EXTRAS: Again more brilliance on this front. Starting with Disc 1, there’s a fairly interesting commentary on “The House Always Wins” with David Fury and Andy Hallett while Disc 2 has commentaries for “Spin The Bottle” (Joss Whedon/Alexis Denisof) and “Apocalypse Nowish” (Steven S. DeKnight/Vern Gillum) as well as a featurette regarding the apocalypse. Disc 3 has Buffy/Angel trailers for both shows on DVD while Disc 4 has a commentary for “Orpheus” director Terrence O’Hara and oddly Jeffrey Bell. Disc 5 is only commentary filled with ones for “Inside Out” (Steven S. DeKnight) and “The Magic Bullet” (Jeffrey Bell). Disc 6 finishes proceeding off with Tim Minear providing all on his last episode “Home” and there are featurettes regarding a Season 4 overview, a look at Wolfram And Hart, Monsters, and The Hyperion etc.

EPISODE RATING FROM 1 TO 10:

4x01: Deep Down = 9/10, 4x02: Ground State = 7/10,
4x03: The House Always Wins = 7/10, 4x04: Slouching Toward Bethlehem = 8/10,
4x05: Supersymmetry = 6/10, 4x06: Spin The Bottle = 8/10,
4x07: Apocalypse Nowish = 10/10, 4x08: Habeas Corpses = 8/10,
4x09: Long Day’s Journey = 7/10, 4x10: Awakening = 9/10,
4x11: Soulless = 7/10, 4x12: Calvary = 9/10,
4x13: Salvage = 9/10, 4x14: Release = 8/10,
4x15: Orpheus = 10/10, 4x16: Players = 7/10,
4x17: Inside Out = 8/10, 4x18: Shiny Happy People = 7/10,
4x19: The Magic Bullet = 8/10, 4x20: Sacrifice = 7/10,
4x21: Peace Out = 9/10, 4x22: Home = 10/10.

Season Four is currently available on VHS and DVD.

Angel - Season 3 Review

US Airdate on the WB: September 24^th 2001- May 20^th 2002

New faces, new enemies as Angel gains a son, Darla sacrifices herself, Cordy gets elevated, Gunn and new girl Fred get it on, former enemy Holtz succeeds in turning Connor against his father, Lorne finds his business blowing up and Lilah is still the best bitch in town! The love I have for this season knows no bounds.

You Know What They Say – Things come in three and when it comes to excellence, Angel’s third season is a near paragon of television perfection. With Season One largely being standalone and Season Two losing the plot midway, Season Three doesn’t boast either obstacle as the various arcs are set up from day one, with an array of interesting pay offs during the Buffy-less season (network wise as the series stayed put on the WB).

If I am being honest season premiere “Heartthrob” (not an allusion to David Boreanaz, I think) is easily the weakest premiere but there are many moments throughout the opening episode that warrant attention. The central plot, aside from being a connection to Angelus, Darla and new bad guy/tortured hunter Daniel Holtz with another vampire coupling and it’s grieving present day version as the male tries to avenge the female that Angel killed is less interesting when you look at new girl Fred writing gibberish on her hotel room walls, Angel admitting that while he felt incredible loss for Buffy, it ended up not killing him after all as some obvious feelings between him and the wonderful Cordelia (the season’s best character) began to surface.

Angel and Cordy – whether you’re a Buffy/Angel shipper or not, it seemed the idea of Angel having feelings for the former Sunnydale resident were inconceivable but to be honest, every season of Angel that has preceded and past this one, David Boreanaz’s chemistry with Charisma Carpenter has gotten better and better, so I’m probably in a minority of viewers who actually was intrigued over the idea of these two hooking up.

Angel certainly has deep feelings for Cordelia even if it isn’t true; he proves more than willing to let a loose cannon like Billy Blinn escape in “That Vision Thing” when Lilah hires help to inflict pain on our Vision Girl and the consequences for that deed gets explored in the somewhat topical episode “Billy” (misogyny bad – got that!).

Between these two stunning episodes the writers make an effort to finally get Gunn to choose between his gang and Team Angel in the disjointed “That Old Gang Of Mine”, some randy old coot body jacks our hero in “Carpe Noctem” while Amy Acker’s science girl Fred is finally given a reason to stay in LA and move past her Pylean experiences in the fairly good “Fredless”.

With the first six episodes hinting at arcs, ensuring Wolfram And Hart still are a pain in the behind and asserting dynamics within the team, “Offspring” delivers the big ones – a pregnant Darla carrying a human child and an 19^th Century Holtz in 2001 LA thanks to the meddling demon Sahjan. Both “Quickening”, “Lullaby” and “Dad” then deliver more shocks as the gang try to assess what kind of a threat a child born to two vampires will pose to the world as Wolfram and Hart are ready to dissect Darla and her unborn kid, while Holtz simply wants the vampire version to Bonnie and Clyde dusted. It seems Angel and Darla offed his family and turned his youngest child into a child into a vampire, forcing Holtz to kill her so making a deal to be frozen for over 100 years and now in the present day, Holtz is one pissed off bugger. As prophecies about the child are coming like locusts, Julie Benz gives a heart wrenching performance as a soulless Darla scared of hurting her own child, ultimately kills herself and with the baby born, it’s up to the gang to wipe out enemies and pick a name, which they do by choosing Connor (since being used on Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me), while a vindictive Holtz recruits embittered rogue hunter Justine (Tina from The L Word) as his new slayer. In other words a rather fucked up version to Giles and Buffy with these two nasty co-dependants determined to make Angel pay for past crimes. I understand the impulse and Holtz is a fascinating character but I still side with Team Angel. Is there something wrong with me?

Taking a break from the arc, the season hits another high with the insane ‘what if’ scenario of “Birthday” when her latest vision saw Cordy choosing between her friends or the lifestyle she originally clamoured when arriving in LA two and a half years ago while the somewhat fun “Provider” had the gang spread too thin in a ludicrous attempt of providing for Connor.

With all this, we needed an episode to explore the two love arcs of the season and the Whedon penned “Waiting In The Wings” does this in spades. On one side, Wesley gets his heartbroken as Fred decides to choose Gunn and on the other side the attraction between Angel and Cordy has two spanners in the works – one being the duo possessed by spirits on unrequited lovers and the other would be the return of the Groosalugg who Cordy decides to comshuck with after all. The episode also boasts some interesting ballet and an appearance from Firefly’s Summer Glau.

“Couplet” then lives up to its title and sees Cordy off on holiday with Groo as Angel contains his envy while Fred and Gunn get ensnared by trees and a prophecy regarding Angel and Connor ensures that the next three episodes are unmissable.

Yes, the biggest shock from the episodes “Loyalty”, “Sleep Tight” and “Forgiving” is Wesley doing the ultimate betrayal. Fearful that Angel will kill his son, Wesley hands the boy over to Holtz who thanks to Sahjan fecks off to Quor Toth as Lilah spikes Angel’s blood to get him to act aggressive towards him own flesh and blood and Wesley not only get his throat slit by Justine and a pillow in his face by a feral Angel. It’s a shame that Cordy is missing for these episodes as I would’ve loved her reactions to what Wesley did and to losing Connor whom she acted like a surrogate mum to as well. While Holtz’s actions are atrocious, it’s easy to see why he behaves and acts the way he does. In fact it’s almost hard to call him a full on villain so thankfully Stephanie Romanov is on fine form with Lilah in cahoots with Sahjan, bluntly explaining to Angel her need to survive in a world where sexist twats like Gavin and Linwood (two of the least effective characters in the whole season, you’ll miss Lindsey and Holland even more) constantly undermine and humiliate her and poor Wesley has to learn his misguided heroics were all for nothing as there was no real prophecy of Angel killing Connor – Sahjan made it up so in the future Connor wouldn’t kill him, although Justine did a decent thing by containing the bastard in an urn. These episodes put you through the ringer as much as they did with the characters on board.

Sadly though as much I like Gunn and don’t mind his relationship with Fred, they’re not exactly excitement central and “Double Or Nothing” is a dull episode in which the only highlight is Cordy’s return, despite that disgusting blond haircut, which mid Season Four got rid of.

The last four episodes are a mixed bag. Both “The Price” and “A New World” have significant moments such as the consequences for using a spell to get Connor, an extension of Cordelia’s half demon nature and of course, the returns of both an aged and haggard Holtz and a surly teenage version of Connor, an ultimate killing machine, played to absolute perfection by Vincent Kartheiser. You would think he and David Boreanaz were related and their onscreen father/son rapport is great.

The latter of the two episodes doesn’t really deal with as great given that not much really happens except for Connor beating on everyone within a two inch radius and seriously hating Angel’s guts (Holtz worked wonders on him then).

The last two are great though, especially after repeated runs. “Benediction” has Holtz kill any chance of Angel and Connor becoming close when faithful puppet Justine kills her mentor as part of his twisted scheme, Cordelia can calm the hysterical lad and Lilah preys on a vulnerable Wesley.

Season finale “Tomorrow” isn’t my favourite season ender but it’s better than when I originally saw it and the culmination of Angel and Cordelia’s attraction to be interrupted with Connor and Justine sinking Angel to the bottom of the ocean and Cordelia ascending to a higher plane is interesting if arbitrary to say the least. There is also the low key exits for Lorne (savagely underused this season) and Groosalugg but only one of them never surfaces again as Wesley and Lilah become fuck buddies (Best! Toxic! Relationship! Ever!) and Fred and Gunn are left to hold the fort. When it comes to cliff-hangers, this may not be 24 but damn, this leaves you craving for Season Four like an addict.

DVD EXTRAS: A huge improvement on the first two seasons, which is great given the superiority of this season. Disc 1 is empty but two provides a neat commentary from Jeffrey Bell and Tim Minear for “Billy”. Both Minear and Mere Smith do the same then for “Lullaby” and there’s a deleted sequence from “Birthday” on Cordelia’s comedy Cordy) and a commentary from both those two again. The “Darla: Deliver Us From Evil” feature has Julie Benz, various cast and staff writers commenting on the vampire’s impact on the series while the Outtakes are pretty funny. These are all on Disc 3. Disc 4 provides similar material with Joss Whedon on both “Waiting In The Wings” and a deleted scene from the same episode (watch Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof bust a move). Disc 5 is devoid of other material but Disc 6 has a wonderful “Season 3 Overview”, a couple of Stills, screen tests for Amy Acker and Vincent Kartheiser as well as a “Page To Screen” feature. All in all, a nice array of stuff to keep you satisfied.

EPISODE RATING FROM 1 TO 10:

3x01: Heartthrob = 7/10, 3x02: That Vision Thing = 8/10,
3x03: That Old Gang Of Mine = 6/10, 3x04: Carpe Noctem = 8/10,
3x05: Fredless = 8/10, 3x06: Billy = 9/10,
3x07: Offspring = 9/10, 3x08: Quickening = 7/10,
3x09: Lullaby = 10/10, 3x10: Dad = 7/10,
3x11: Birthday = 10/10, 3x12: Provider = 7/10,
3x13: Waiting In The Wings = 9/10, 3x14: Couplet = 7/10,
3x15: Loyalty = 9/10, 3x16: Sleep Tight = 10/10,
3x17: Forgiving = 9/10, 3x18: Double Or Nothing = 6/10,
3x19: The Price = 7/10, 3x20: A New World = 7/10,
3x21: Benediction = 8/10, 3x22: Tomorrow = 8/10.

Season Three is available on both VHS and DVD.

Angel - Season 2 Review

US Airdate on the WB: September 26^th 2000 – May 22^nd 2001

Second helpings have never been so prepared as not only does the Angel Investigations crew expand with vigilante Gunn and fey demon Lorne but enemies swell in their numbers as Wolfram And Hart and Darla make it their business to tip Angel over the edge with deadly consequences for his friends.

Daddy’s Home – Passing the tricky stage of overcoming a first season and wooing viewers to hold on, Season Two is a real tester for not only the characters but viewers also had a lot of getting used to as well. As the Sunnydale experts tackled a Hell God during this point, Angel’s second year opened with the gang working in Cordelia’s apartment, cluttering up the place and making a balls of protecting a pregnant woman with a mythical child. Said woman would then be known to audiences as Vanessa Diaz on Six Feet Under in the same year as the season aired but debut episode “Judgement”, while not as intriguing Buffy driving Dracula out of Sunnydale but you have to like it for the brief appearance of Faith, Darla in co-hoots with Lindsey and Lilah and the introduction of Andy Hallett’s loveable if underused demon Lorne (although for the most of this season, we call him The Host).

The gang are more or less back too with Wesley still a goof with a tougher veneer and Cordelia as delightfully sarcastic and helpful as usual. In between getting office digs with the luxurious Hyperion Hotel in “Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been” and new recruit Gunn forming a bond with Cordy in the surprisingly good “First Impressions”, the biggest draw this season is Darla. Wolfram And Hart brought the lady back from the dead and it doesn’t take a genius to realise her purpose is to mess with Angel anyway.

At this point I should apologise for not noticing Julie Benz’s strengths as an actress because while repeated viewings of Buffy’s first season did address that problem of mine, this season really blew my mind on this woman’s abilities. Benz is anything but a newcomer to this genre as the likes of Roswell allude to but damn, the woman and Darla are captivating, you feel the urge to fast forward through other stuff to watch her in action.

Darla got staked by the only thing she’s ever loved and being resurrected as a human adds to the wonderful psychological warfare the former prostitute inflicts. When Angel isn’t sleeping more and dreaming of her, then Darla is making sure she’s spotted in public as classic instalments such as “Untouched” and “Dear Boy” show us and as Cordelia is quick to add, Angelus and Darla are the vampiric equivalent to Bonnie And Clyde.

Getting the relentlessly boring “Guise Will Be Guise” out of the way (although yay for Wesley finally getting some on-screen action), Darla’s arc is dramatically increased as her mental state takes a turn for the worst and her and Angelus’ most defining moments are unfolded in the unforgettable “Darla”, which even surpassed the quality of the Buffy crossover episode “Fool For Love”. Let’s face it, after watching these set of episodes, a part of you will ever wonder why you were ever so interested in Angel’s romance with Buffy. Angelus and Darla may have been dark and dastardly but the chemistry between David Boreanaz and Julie Benz is off the rector scale.

Sadly though there’s another clunky episode with “The Shroud Of Rahmon”, which while it shows the extent of embittered Kate’s mistrust of Angel and even Gunn’s, you simply won’t care because if it isn’t Angel and Darla, you just don’t want to know.

Of course the disappointment of said episode leads to three instalments of undeniable genius. Through “The Trial”, “Reunion” and “Redefinition”, the show’s writing taking a defining route as Angel’s attempts of doing good by finding a cure for a human Darla result in failure and Drusilla siring the notorious vampire once again. As team ups go, Darla and Drusilla are a force to be reckoned with and Wolfram And Hart pay the ultimate price when Angel allows his former girls to slaughter them good and proper. Bye Holland and watch out Lindsey/Lilah! However the resolute nihilism in Angel also results in all of his gang being fired and Darla and Drusilla getting roasted for their sins. He ain’t Angel, he ain’t Angelus but he’s damn scary and he’s certainly disillusioned.

Unfortunately this is where the season hits something of a dramatic slump as separate from his team, the gang are barely able to cope without him and Angel looks pretty close to breaking point. “Blood Money” is a monotonous episode with an update from Lily, now Anne from Buffy’s second and third seasons who’s now running a homeless shelter as Angel upstages a rivalling Lindsey and Lilah and the gang set up Angel Investigations without their “angel”.

Similarly uninteresting is time slowing “Happy Anniversary” even if it does have a dream team of Angel and Lorne as they stop a random loser from ending the world because his unhappy girlfriend plans to dump while “The Thin Dead Line” shows a bit more get up and go, thanks to the wonderful teams of Wesley/Gunn and Angel/Kate and the funny way of showing corrupt cops at work (something which co-writer Shawn Ryan explored further when he created The Shield for FX).

After these less engaging episodes, the season hits an ultimate high with a stunning two parter “Reprise” and “Epiphany”, two episodes that really ying/yang Angel’s zenith and nadir as Wolfram And Hart plan one of their Senior Partners arrivals, the gang are placed in danger of nasty demons with their spawn growing in the back of people’s head, a disturbing suicide attempt from Kate (following her very much alive exit from the series). The best bits however is the violent angry sex between Angel and Darla (big repercussions in Season Three for that one), Angel and Lindsey duking it out and the gang back together as a whole. It’s nice that the tension of Angel’s abandonment of the gang isn’t something the writers skim over as Cordelia is quick to mention Angel giving away her stuff and Wesley quick to assert the leadership position Angel has entrusted him with.

“Disharmony” saw the return of former Sunnydale irritant Harmony who goes to show that leopards really can’t change their spots (couldn’t we have gotten more of Willow in this episode? I’d like to have seen more of Cordy’s reaction to her former friend being a lesbian) while the horrible “Dead End” sees the exit of a disheartened Lindsey and the rise in power for Lilah, someone who hasn’t been shy this season showing her more ruthless streak, whether it’s goading psychic girls or entrapping Lindsey, either way Stephanie Romanov is more interesting in her second run and although Lindsey’s desire for Darla made me care for him more, Christian Kane deserved a far better parting episode that this wretched drek.

The final four episodes after that show so much meandering decision to form an arc and sadly it isn’t one involving Darla but when Lorne’s cousin Landok arrives in “Belonging” and Cordelia goes through a portal, we’re introduced to the not so humble world of Pylea. “Over The Rainbow” saw Cordy being enslaved while sheepish fellow captive Winifred “Fred” Burkle warned her of the dangers. Let’s just say that Lorne is justified in his personal hatred of his birthplace. Imagine being in a world where there’s no music, the people are real savages and humans are literal second class citizens. Okay you don’t have to jump dimension as that can kind of happen in real life but you get the gist. Angel, Lorne, Gunn and Wesley’s attempts to save Cordy are not without their problems or surprises.

Surprise Number 1 being the upgrade of status Cordy gets in “Through The Looking Glass” as her visions give her the rights of regal stature. It’s not so great for everyone else as while Cordy got to meet the handsome and kind hearted Groosalugg, Lorne gets a gagging order from his people, misery from his family as well as his head chopped off for effect as Angel makes enemies by saving Fred’s life and Wesley and Gunn are intrigued by three books that spell Wolfram And Hart.

The season finale while not a brilliant way of ending the season has it’s moments of greatness. “There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb” not only shows the current teams as a fantastic unit while welcoming Fred into the mix but the end as Willow is forced to inform the gang of Buffy’s death is heartbreaking and Alyson Hannigan doesn’t even get dialogue in her brief scene.

A collection of some highs, a few stinkers, one or two genuine shockers and an ambivalent final episode, Season Two certainly kept your brain working and although not my favourite season, it still affirms my love for the show.

DVD EXTRAS: Disc 1 has a pretty informative commentary for “Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been” by the genius that is Tim Minear while Disc 2 has a script for “Darla”. Disc 3 delivers some real goods with interesting features like “Making Up The Monsters” and “Inside The Agency” as well as some set blueprints and stills. Disc 5 is another script one, this time for “Disharmony” while Disc 6 has a commentary on the so-so “Over The Rainbow” by director Fred Keller, a feature on “Stunts”, cast biographies, a trailer for Season One on DVD as well as a genuinely engaging “Season Two Overview”. More commentaries on better episodes that the two selected wouldn’t have gone amiss.

EPISODE RATING FROM 1 TO 10:

2x01: Judgement = 8/10, 2x02: Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been = 7/10,
2x03: First Impressions = 7/10, 2x04: Untouched = 9/10,
2x05: Dear Boy = 8/10, 2x06: Guise Will Be Guise = 6/10,
2x07: Darla = 10/10, 2x08: The Shroud Of Rahmon = 5/10,
2x09: The Trial = 9/10, 2x10: Reunion = 10/10,
2x11: Redefinition = 8/10, 2x12: Blood Money = 5/10,
2x13: Happy Anniversary = 6/10, 2x14: The Thin Dead Line = 6/10,
2x15: Reprise = 10/10, 2x16: Epiphany = 9/10,
2x17: Disharmony = 7/10, 2x18: Dead End = 4/10,
2x19: Belonging = 6/10, 2x20: Over The Rainbow = 6/10,
2x21: Through The Looking Glass = 8/10, 2x22: There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb =8/10.

Season Two is currently available on both VHS and DVD.

My Review of Doctor Who's: "Survival"

Written by Rona Munro
Directed by Alan Wareing

The Master: “Why, Doctor! What an unexpected pleasure.”

1989 saw a good few things happening. Well I was four years old and Michael Keaton made an amazing impression in Batman but on a serious note, after 26 seasons it was also the time that Doctor Who itself was coming to an end.

It’s often hard to muster a direct feeling to the show’s ending. On one hand, this series could’ve well gone into the 1990’s but given that most shows in the sci-fi and fantasy genre are lucky to run for a third of what Doctor Who ran for, was ending it really the worst thing ever?

On paper this might not smack of an epic series finale to end all finales but the more I’ve watched this serial, the most enjoyable it’s become and there is senses of closure in certain parts throughout the story as well as The Doctor and The Master have one of their better confrontations.

Ace and The Doctor come back to Perivale purely because the girl wants to catch up with her mates. Given that the previous two serials “Ghost Light” and “The Curse Of Fenric” went out of their way to flesh Ace out as a character, it makes perfect sense to bring trouble to her own location.

When it comes to Ace (and also going by the sleeve for this serial’s DVD release), she really does feel like a precursor to Rose Tyler. In this serial even more so than ever. While her return isn’t met with people assuming she was dead, there are a string of conflicting emotions that Ace goes through.

On one hand she actually doesn’t like Perivale. She finds it rather boring and given that I often feel the same way she does about my own home town, I can relate to her during those moments. That being said, the Perivale we see also has some trouble involving felines. Well The Doctor does seem to get into trouble with this lot.

A lot of Ace’s friends have gone missing in recent times and instead of giving her a straight answer, the rather annoying Sergeant Paterson spends his time lecturing the girl on not contacting her mum. Needless to say, this bothers Ace for a good time afterwards but The Doctor’s too distracted.

There might be many things The Doctor’s ever had to face but clearly boredom was never one of them. He realises that there is a black cat acting oddly and proceeds to try and track him down. During that he also manages to annoy Ace’s misanthropic friend Ange as well as some store owners.

To be fair The Doctor probably should’ve stuck with his Girl Friday. Ace manages to attract the cat and then a Cheetah person on horseback before being taken to the Cheetah planet itself. The Doctor also winds up there along with Paterson, whose penchant for sticking his nose in really grates.

In a serial with a decent enough array of guest characters, it’s only Paterson that truly annoys me. Ace meanwhile manages to find her friends Midge and Shreela as well as a newcomer called Derek. The four of them have conflicting ideas of how to deal with the Cheetah people though. Ace wants to fight them, the rest prefer to hide. Both sides raise good points for their arguments.

The Doctor meanwhile realises that The Master is also on the Cheetah planet. It’s actually nice for a change that the writers didn’t try to hide his return. We knew within the first ten minutes of the episode that he was here as he used the black cat to spy on The Doctor.

However because of Paterson generally being in the way, The Doctor has to save him from getting eaten before reuniting with Ace. The next course of action is for the newly assembled team to try and get to a safe place away from the Cheetahs. That goes awry as soon as everyone including Ace starts fighting them.

As for The Master, it seems his motives are a lot less grand here than you’d expect. He’s not after destruction for once – he simply wants to get out of there. Being trapped on the Cheetah planet means that he’s slowly becoming one of them and while his mind is strong to resist, he’s beginning to falter.

It’s interesting to see him and The Doctor have a fairly civilised conversation. With the planet on the brink of destruction and The Doctor unwilling to help him, The Master preys on Midge to get his back to Earth. Seeing Midge becoming affected wasn’t much of a surprise though.

Ace becoming affected on the other hand was. Hearing her describe to The Doctor her feelings of running forever when Karra wasn’t trying to seduce her with the thrills of a good kill made for some great moments. Sophie Aldred consistently gets to shine in this serial and Ace is also used to get the remaining people out of their.

The Master’s plan to use Midge as a means for killing The Doctor wasn’t his best. Still at Paterson met a grisly end and there was something genuinely nasty in the way The Master was able to easily kill both Midge and Karra in the final segment. It’s good to have solid reminders of how genuinely menacing The Master is as often you can forget what callousness he’s capable of.

However for me, the best scene is between him and The Doctor. The Master has never lacked in trying to kill The Doctor but predictably enough he’s always failed in doing it. When the two of them go at it on the Cheetah planet, it’s the first time in perhaps a long while that the stakes really feel high.

For all his loathing of The Doctor, it was The Master who lured him to Cheetah planet and to be fair, these two have always had a ‘can’t live with/without him’ dynamic. It’s pretty much left uncertain of whether or not The Master got out of Cheetah world but given that in “The Movie”, he’s arrested by Daleks the lookout for escape is good.

The final scene between The Doctor and Ace is also pretty poignant. She was convinced that the motorcycle debacle had him killed and there’s something great about the way the writers didn’t over egg their reunion. No instead The Doctor and Ace simply walked away and talked about further travels. It’s quite sweet actually.

Also in “Survival”

It’s interesting that the first episode of Doctor Who was a four parter and this one was a three parter. They did mix it up in the last few seasons.

The Doctor: “So what’s so terrible about Perivale?”
Ace: “Nothing ever happens here.”

I just spotted Emmerdale actress Adele Silva as Squeak. A lot of actors/writers from that show have worked in various mediums of Doctor Who.

The Doctor: “What happens when the lion comes out?”
Shopkeeper: “What lion?”
The Doctor: “Better get your running shoes on.”

Ace: “People don’t just vanish.”
Ange: “You did.”
Ace: “That was different.”

Originally if this show had gotten another season, Ace would’ve left halfway through it and we’d have gotten a cat burglar for a companion.

Ace: “Nothing’s invincible.”
Midge: “That’s right, Ace. You tell us. You sort them out.”

Ace (re The Master): “Do you know any nice people? Ordinary people. Not power crazed nutters trying to take over the galaxy.”
The Doctor: “I don’t think he’s trying to take over the galaxy.”

In a twisted way, you almost wonder if The Doctor wasn’t so resistant to helping The Master in distress, would it actually change The Master in some ways?

The Doctor: “Why did you bring me here?”
The Master: “I need your help.”

Ace: “I thought cats hated water.”
Karra: “I’m not a cat, I’m Karra. I’m your sister.”
Ace: “No I’m not. Why do you keep calling me that?”

Karra is played by Lisa Bowerman who will go on to play novel and audio companion Bernice Summerfield.

Karra: “When I’m hungry, I hunt. When I hunt, I eat.”
Ace: “Would you eat me?”

The Master: “You are my hunting dog, Midge. You’re my teeth for my trap. Trust me, Midge. Trust me.”
Midge: “Yes. Trust me Midge.”

Some of the original titles for this serial were “Cat Flap” and “Blood Hunt” but I think “Survival” is a better title.

Karra: “I can run into the dark. Run forever.”
Ace: “Just wait. I’ll get you something.”
Karra: “Good hunting sister.”

The Master: “It seems we must always meet again.”
The Doctor: “Well they do say opposites attract.”

Judging by that line and some stuff from “The Mark Of The Rani”, no wonder Russell T. Davies had absolutely no problems with playing with the homoerotic tension between The Doctor and The Master in “Utopia”, “The Sound Of Drums” and “Last Of The Time Lords”.

The Doctor: “There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea is asleep and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do.”

This was released on DVD in April 2007 with some excellent extras including a fan commentary as well as one from Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. The “Endgame” featurette is a must see too.

“Survival” may not be the kind of serial you would expect a long running series like Doctor Who to end with but as series finales go, I actually like this a little more than other shows who know in advance that they are about to end and still don’t produce anything satisfying. Bringing back The Master is a good way to end it and the Cheetah plot overall works for me. Plus in terms of DVD releases, the extras really do go all out.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Angel - Season 1 Review

US Airdate on the WB: October 5^th 1999 – May 23^rd 2000

Leaving both Buffy and Sunnydale behind him, vampire with a soul Angel heads for solitude in the busy city of L.A, only to find a purpose with former friend Cordelia Chase, vision afflicted Doyle and eventual help from ex-watcher Wesley Wyndham Price. The downside of this also include a relentlessly evil law firm called Wolfram And Hart and the resurrection of an old flame.

Bright Lights, Big City, More Demons – As clichéd as the phrase “you can’t run from your problems” is, it’s been constantly proved that there is an element of truth behind that popular saying. Spending three years in Sunnydale has seen Angel do good and terrible deeds in equal measures and after having the sense to finally end his relationship with Buffy, our favourite vampire made the right move to put as much distance between him and the Slayer as humanly possibly but because we knew that Joss Whedon had no intention of Angel just sitting on his ass and chewing up the LA scenery, I found it hard to buy Angel’s protests that he wants to left alone in a city so filled with people and all forms of life.

Then again neither did charming jack the lad half demon Doyle, thus beginning the season premiere “City Of” where the demon with visions of people in distress tried to appeal to the brooding vampire, along with the powers that be, that Angel could really atone for the bad he’s done as Angelus by doing more good in LA. In a way Doyle reminds me of Whistler and he and Angel make an unlikely but interesting duo as they track young women being murdered by vampire millionaire Russell Winters. The premiere is made even better when former Sunnydale resident and aspiring actress Cordelia Chase pops in the City Of Angels and Angel has to rescue her from the nasty Winters.

Then again, Russell is easy to deal with as Angel pops into law firm Wolfram And Hart and throws the vampire out of a window without thinking about it. In the space of one episode Angel has already made a powerful enemy in the evil law firm and their charismatic lawyer Lindsey McDonald, played by the delightful Christian Kane but on the plus side, along with Doyle and Cordelia, Angel also has his own detective agency and with these two as your back-up, you’re in pretty good hands.

Unlike even the first season of Buffy, the great majority of this entire spends more time on personal arcs as opposed to big bad ones. Yes, there are a few episodes where Wolfram And Hart make their presence more than felt but the grand majority of the episode, it’s mainly minor villains or a few people from Angel’s past but for the most part, the first nine episodes go out of their way to establish the relationships between Angel, Cordelia and Doyle and like a good people, I found this to be the season’s biggest and best strength.

Cordelia and Doyle enjoy their fair share of bickering and unrequited lust for each other (well mainly Doyle) in light hearted instalments like “Lonely Hearts” (where a sex demon invades) and “I Fall To Pieces” (where a stalker can disassemble his own body parts) but the inevitable Buffy crossover start with the third instalment “In The Dark” where Oz appears to help and Spike appears to be a pain in Angel’s backside (preparing us for Season Five then).

The light hearted antics also pop up in “Room With A View” as Cordelia deals with a ghost set out to stop from moving into an apartment and “Sense And Sensitivity” where abrasive cop Kate is reduced to a basket case. All these episodes while average at best are important for characterisation as it’s great for Cordelia to call herself out on her previously callous behaviour and even the somewhat annoying Kate is sympathetic enough when her Daddy issues are brought to light. Doyle gets a mediocre episode with his ex-wife and a lame eating ritual in “The Bachelor Party” before the season hits its first standout episode.

Surprisingly as someone who liked Buffy and Angel as a couple but wasn’t devastated when they broke up, the shipper tastic “I Will Remember You” where Angel briefly experienced mortality and a chance to be with the woman he loves even got me nearly at it but the first death of a team member when Doyle bravely sacrificed himself to save a clan of demons in the powerful “Hero” is jaw dropping stuff. With the death of a character that had a direct link to TPTB, was Angel royally screwed in his mission to help the helpless?

Thankfully that would turn out to be “no” on both counts as “Parting Gifts” saw Cordelia inheriting Doyle’s visions (note to self – don’t kiss half-demons) and to keep the terrific trio alive, we got reinforcement with Wesley Wyndham Price, a man who couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag and whose general uselessness got him fired from the Watchers Council. Wesley is a little hard to take in initial episodes as he mostly seems to be whaled on (“Somnambulist”, “Expecting”) or taken as bait (“She”) but by episode 14 “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” when issues of his parents, abilities as a former watcher and his established friendship with Angel are challenged, you find yourself liking him more and more and Cordelia’s neat array of sarcastic one liners in regarding to Wesley’s manliness raise a chuckle every now and again. Baddies during these particular range from lowlifes like empathy Barney trying to flog Cordy on the black market, a killer vampire sired by Angel, a disgusting beast who gets men to impregnate women with it’s spawn and a powerful female named Jhiera who wants equality for her female raise along with a possessed and ultimately soulless young boy named Ryan, so yeah, as viewers we’re pretty much kept on our toes.

Along with establishing Wesley in the group without ultimately erasing Doyle’s existence, another person we focus on in the latter half is policewoman Kate. Initially, you’re dreading a romance between her and Angel but by the time she discovers he’s a vampire and can’t get past that, and then you can breathe a sigh of relief. No romance here, in fact, Kate and Angel can barely stand one another after that bombshell and the fact that vampires kill her disapproving father in the excellent showcase “The Prodigal”. This episode excels for Elisabeth Rohm’s performance but mainly for the first appearance of Julie Benz’s lethal Darla in flashback as Angelus is sired and slaughters his own family with complete and utter glee.

The next two episodes, while not short on eventful stuff aren’t quite as good. “The Ring” may reintroduce Wolfram And Hart and debut Stephanie Romanov’s ruthless Lilah Morgan (a character who gets more interesting in later seasons) but the central premise of demons fighting it out for survival just plain suck and even the drugged return of Angelus in “Eternity” isn’t as interesting, although Cordy and Wesley’s own feelings on their boss returning to his former certainly is.

The season hits an all time with the mind blowing two parter “Five By Five” and “Sanctuary” as fresh from body jacking in Sunnydale, Faith’s two episode stay in LA is unmissable. Allying herself with Lindsey and Lilah at W&H, Faith wastes no time in trying to kill Angel, kidnapping and torturing Wesley but the saga takes a reversal when Faith decides she wants to redeem herself and Angel and company, including a royally pissed off Buffy and the ever insufferable Watcher Council think otherwise. Powerful, raw, packed with flashbacks and cementing Wesley’s likeability, these are two episodes you could watch on a loop. Similarly we get a wonderful introduction to Season Two regular, vigilante vampire hunter Charles Gunn in the interesting “War Zone” and Lindsey gets to show he’s capable of having a conscience in “Blind Date”.

Season finale “To Shanshu In LA” ends the season on one hell of a strong note with both Cordelia and Wesley attacked by Vocah, the Oracles who’ve recurred throughout the season are slain, the office blows up to bits, Lindsey loses a hand, a prophecy reveals the possibility of Angel becoming human and Wolfram And Hart who have designs on Angel gets their own little victory when their plot to raise Darla from the dead is a complete success but not without it’s own surprises. For those you who have recently been thriving on Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, you need to see this series. Angel does what Torchwood is doing but somehow better. This debut season may run primarily on standalone format with the occasional arc but I guarantee you won’t be bored.

DVD EXTRAS: Disappointingly the first two seasons of Angel are the most lightest with the goods but there are good and these include two pretty enthusiastic commentaries for “City Of” (Joss Whedon/David Greenwalt) and “Room With A View” (Jane Espenson) on the first two discs. Disc 3 has a “Season One Feature” as well as standard trailer for the first season on VHS, Cast biographies and a neat Art gallery. Disc Five has reasonably hard to navigate scripts for the excellent “Five By Five” and “Sanctuary”, while the final disc has more satisfying features like “Introducing Angel”, “I’m Cordelia” and “The Demons” where cast and crew discuss various people and the making of the series.

EPISODE RATING FROM 1 TO 10:

1x01: City Of = 9/10, 1x02: Lonely Hearts = 7/10,
1x03: In The Dark = 6/10, 1x04: I Fall To Pieces = 5/10,
1x05: Room With A View = 7/10, 1x06: Sense And Sensitivity = 6/10,
1x07: The Bachelor Party = 6/10, 1x08: I Will Remember You = 10/10,
1x09: Hero = 9/10, 1x10: Parting Gifts = 7/10,
1x11: Somnambulist = 9/10, 1x12: Expecting = 7/10,
1x13: She = 8/10, 1x14: I’ve Got You Under My Skin = 7/10,
1x15: The Prodigal = 9/10, 1x16: The Ring =6/10,
1x17: Eternity = 7/10, 1x18: Five By Five = 10/10,
1x19: Sanctuary =9/10, 1x20: War Zone = 7/10,
1x21: Blind Date = 8/10, 1x22: To Shanshu In LA = 9/10.

Season One is currently available on both VHS and DVD.