Angel: Redefinition (2.11)

Redefinition juggles a lot of balls in the air, working as something of a new pilot. At least for the second half of this season. While the ensemble felt a little scattered over the course of the last couple of episodes, each player gets some intriguing material to work with here, and they're all sent down new roads which are riddled with possibilities. It's a sign of a show that's having fun exploring the unexpected. This entire season has played around with what we think we know about the characters and their 'roles' in the Angel mythology, and Redefinition continues that theme in a really strong way.

Mere Smith's script depicts Angel as a mute warrior, no longer brooding and melancholy but instead violent and ready for war. Parts of this feel a little melodramatic, but the show is completely selling Angel's extravagant transformation. His burning down of Darla and Dru isn't as horrifying as his actions last week, but just as brutal.

On the periphery of things for a while, Cordelia, Wes and Gunn have some great scenes here, drowning their sorrows at Caritas before pursuing a demon on their own for the first time. They're at first warring with each other while getting completely hammered, before realizing they too can save the day and protect the innocent with or without Angel. It's some welcome character development.

Elsewhere, the villains continue to steal the show. The underhand power play between Lindsey and Lilah reaches its peak, and while it's almost sitcom-like to have them thrown together as co-partners, it's such an irresistible turn of events that it's not surprising the writers initiated it. Darla and Drusilla, too, are crazy fun as they try and assemble their own evil faction. They come off as a little in-over-their-head here, but I guess they were just unprepared for how unimportant they are in modern-day Los Angeles. As a side note, Juliet Landau continues to have a blast as Dru. Love her work this season.

Expectations continue to be undermined, and the potential of an overlong Darla arc is swiftly denied when her entire plan literally goes up in flames. Great character work all round, and some fun insight into the fresher, darker and more experimental Angel. A

Credits
Guest stars Christian Kane (Lindsey McDonald); Stephanie Romanov (Lilah Morgan); Andy Hallett (Lorne); Brigid Brannagh (Virginia Bryce); Nicolas Surovy (Hunt Acrey); Julie Benz (Darla); Juliet Landau (Drusilla)
Writer Mere Smith Director Michael Grossman