Sanctuary continues Faith's road to redemption, the character trying to figure out where she goes from here. The episode beautifully captures her mental state, from her initial fantasy of stabbing Angel right in the face, to her fear of saying sorry, since 'sorry' seems so empty considering the violence and chaos she has caused recently. I love the Angel/Faith dynamic just as much as I love the Buffy/Faith dynamic. Unlike Buffy, Angel has been through the same thing that Faith has gone through, making amends for causing so much pain. What makes the two of them interesting is that Angel was forced to acknowledge his past evilness because of his curse, while Faith is turning it around on her own terms.Just as things are getting better, Buffy bulldozes her way into the show and threatens to derail any potential intervention. If anything, Sanctuary explores how vastly different both series are, and it's never been more apparent than in Buffy's insistence on getting vengeance. It's not so much about moralism or punishment, but more about methodology. Angel is quiet and practical, while Buffy barnstorms her opinions and arrives expecting everybody to bend to her rule.
Their big fight was a long time coming, and clearly lay down the differences between them. Buffy acts petulant and naive here, a far cry from Angel's clearer world view. I don't know if this is a result of Buffy's recent characterization over on her show, but she came off so badly here. Angel certainly made her look like a moron.
Elsewhere, the action sequences at the end felt slightly gratuitous, and I thought Wesley and especially Cordelia were entirely short-changed compared to last episode. Did Sarah and Charisma dislike each other? I read that their scenes in I Will Remember You were filmed separately, and now Charisma is removed from this episode after one scene. Makes you wonder...
I did, however, love Wolfram & Hart's involvement in the Faith hoodoo. They've completely come into their own over this two-parter, Lilah being especially genius in all her snarky, badass glory. I love the whole concept of these gross sleazy lawyers with ties to the occult and mass control of Los Angeles. Awesomeness.
This isn't as epic and intense as Five by Five, but it's another spectacular depiction of Faith's journey to some kind of inner peace. Eliza Dushku is once again wonderful, and I loved the entire shift in dynamic between Buffy and Angel, something which really forces Angel as a series to begin to evolve and grow past just being a 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off'. It's another great episode, and the entire microwave exchange is priceless. A-
Credits
Guest stars Elisabeth Rohm (Kate Lockley); Christian Kane (Lindsey McDonald); Thomas Burr (Lee Mercer); Stephanie Romanov (Lilah Morgan); Alastair Duncan (Collins); Eliza Dushku (Faith); Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers)
Writers Tim Minear, Joss Whedon Director Michael Lange
Yeah, I thought it was very interesting seeing the two shows collide here, Buffy storming in and making a scene was very her, particularly in the police station scene- she just doesn't have that experience with the police and it felt all wrong. It did kind of reinforce what I like about her though, how she doesn't let things get in her way even though its sometimes foolish.
ReplyDeleteI think its very impressive how they still kept an Angel feel, even when it was just Faith and Angel alone with the history of the characters still there. I like that aswell, how Angel has a lot of tact and control- it's quite a strong point to the show that he has that interaction with the city and police and other stuff.
This episode definitely gave me more back story to go on, sometimes Angel gets a bit tedious for me because the priority is all about each particular episode's monster and less about the character progression, where I think its more the other way round on Buffy (although the last episode with Angelus returning was different- its so creepy how he still remembers everything when he's evil!).
I didn't watch the episode where Kate's father gets murdered so I don't know what that's all about but she didn't annoy me so much this time (lol) and I'm quite interested in where her story is going.
Though it was sad when Doyle left I think Wesley is a richer character and it was satisfying to see him have that inner turmoil and see his emotions run free, I like him as a character.
What I like most about the whole thing is the consistency of all the characters, its brilliant.
blah, sorry to go on for so long!
ReplyDeleteAngel's first season is standalone-driven and a bunch of episodes are pretty terrible. But the show begins to put character ahead of action right around this time, and its something that continues through the rest of the show. It gets a ton better next season, so definitely keep watching.
ReplyDeleteAnd no problem about the length, always great to have discussion here.