Angel: Blood Money (2.12)

I'm liking this new Angel. He's cold, ruthless and has a darkly humorous streak. It's difficult to completely understand what he's doing, especially since he's charitable and compassionate at the very end of this episode, but I'm assuming he needs to be a lone wolf right now, at least until he's successfully taken out his enemies. What Blood Money does is throw a spanner in the works in that final Wolfram & Hart scene, with the news that the firm wants to do a lot more with him than simply kill him. It's a lot tougher to destroy something that actually needs you around.

Blood Money successfully melds together standalone elements with the show's overall arc, and I really adored that teaser sequence double-bluff with Angel 'accidentally' bumping into Anne, the writers having fun with subverting the expected. The story itself was intriguing, if only because it showcased Wolfram & Hart's more mundane corruption. I always like storylines that involve Lindsey and Lilah's schemes, and this one was a doozy. Their sexually-charged banter was a lot of fun, and I continue to love the shades of depth Stephanie Romanov gives Lilah in her interactions with the various men in her life (Nathan Reed; Angel; Merl), all of whom occupy different levels of power and importance.

Shawn Ryan and Mere Smith's script also explores the mundane elements of revenge and hostility, Angel's plan merely set up to publicly humiliate Lindsey and Lilah and not much else. His nobility is still intact, however, regardless of how he has treated those closest to him over the last couple of weeks.

Speaking of the artists formerly known as Angel Investigations, the show is having fun with them on their lonesome. The three of them are bonding like they've never done before, and it's interesting to speculate whether it was Angel's broody influence that made them at one point be so argumentative together, or if it's a natural effect of their recent firing.

Blood Money is an interesting detour with a clever script that utilizes Angel's key players really well. I've always disliked the contrived comedy dialogue of those two sitcom actors at the fundraiser, but generally this is a fun little revenge saga. B

Credits
Guest stars Christian Kane (Lindsey McDonald); Stephanie Romanov (Lilah Morgan); Sam Anderson (Holland Manners); Julia Lee (Anne Steele); Gerry Becker (Nathan Reed); Mark Rolston (Boone)
Writers Shawn Ryan, Mere Smith Director R.D. Price