Angel: Waiting in the Wings (3.13)

Now midway through its third season, there are many things that Angel obviously does right. It's depicted incredibly powerful story arcs, featured characters that are ridiculously well-drawn, all of which has been propped up by a main cast that has entirely grown in strength and numbers and gradually become a multi-faceted crime-fighting unit. But one of the things that has kind of eluded Angel over the years is something that made Buffy one of the most attention-grabbing series on television. I'm talking about 'event' episodes along the lines of Hush or Innocence, arresting detours into unexpected adventures, hours that broke new ground and experimented with the conventions of the series. Waiting in the Wings is a rare Angel episode of that type, an ambitious melodrama that is just as profound as it is visually gorgeous.

Ballet is one of those art forms that is casually undermined by a lot of society, notably the young. And I'm including myself in that, since I always assumed it was flouncy and silly and crazily annoying. But then I got slowly turned onto it, Black Swan happened, and the whole thing suddenly clicked together for me. It's beautiful to look at, while it's interesting to see stories being performed through that type of dance. The sheer skill of the dancers, too, and the tension and strength that is put into every performance while simultaneously making it look effortless -- it all demands admiration.

Waiting in the Wings captures that sense of regal performance so well, all the while wrapping the story up in something of a gothic parable; all about doomed love and long-lasting resentment. Summer Glau's dancer is trapped in an eternal punishment, something that outwardly appears so beautiful but is in reality a horrifying prison for her. While all of this is occurring, Fred and Gunn are growing closer as a couple, while Wesley is blissfully unaware of the obvious spark between them. Wesley's devastation folds into the melodrama, a modern-day parallel of the Count's jealousy. The story is so grand and operatic, Joss Whedon finding the human emotion in something filled with curses and joker-faced minions. "I don't dance, I echo" -- Jesus, is that line spectacular.

It's also important to talk about the delirious sexiness of Angel and Cordelia's possession. It's aggressive intimacy of the most overt kind -- the two of them becoming slaves to absolute desire, while still retaining their own self-awareness. Their relationship, just like Fred and Gunn's, changes depending on the writer of each episode, sometimes being cutesy and annoying, other times (like this one) being charged with a heat that is really undeniable. There's humor to their partnership here, as well as a ton of kinky banter. Being Joss, he unsurprisingly throws a major spanner in the works via the return of Groo, but the sexual intensity was awesome while it lasted.

Waiting in the Wings is one of Joss' more underrated scripts, something so vivid and erotic while at the same time so absorbing and affecting. I defy anybody not to feel like an emotional wreck when Wesley glimpses Fred and Gunn's first kiss. You completely feel his shock and devastation. This is Angel working like an epic powerhouse, and it's an instant series classic. A+

Credits
Guest stars Andy Hallett (Lorne); Mark Harelik (Count Kurushu)
Writer Joss Whedon Director Joss Whedon