Angel: There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb (2.22)

I find this episode a little underwhelming compared to its two predecessors, if only because the writers seem to have ran out of story around fifteen minutes in. There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb is all about getting the hell out of Pylea, with our protagonists quickly discovering the darker side of paradise. There are a bunch of great scenes, but some of the humor felt a little more forced than usual here, and certain moments dragged. It's a little flat, yet not at all terrible.

Angel: Through the Looking Glass (2.21)

Can I ask the TV gods why the hell Charisma Carpenter doesn't have her own sitcom? I seriously think her performance here ranks up there among her best, with her desperate attempts to flee the royal castle and avoid mating with the Groosalugg ("Say, don't you think it would add an air of feminine mystery if I were to, you know, not be here?") She's ridiculously funny throughout, and channels both a delightful air of self-importance as well as a frantic fear of having to com-shuk a giant beast monster. The Groosalugg, in the end, turns out to be a hunky slice of man-itude. A little pea-brained, sure -- but Cordy likes what she sees.

Angel: Over the Rainbow (2.20)

As you may or may not know, the Pylea arc only existed due to scheduling conflicts terminating a big blow-out for Lindsey, Darla, Dru and Kate. Admittedly, it does feel a little jarring to see characters who anchored so much of season two suddenly peter out. But one of the factors that strangely makes this storyline so much fun is that very feeling of the writers making it all up as they go along. It's like a bunch of really funny dudes throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. It's all very Xena, very Army of Darkness; but crazily entertaining. Ordinarily this would result in disaster, but I've always liked this series of episodes. Sure, it falls apart towards the end, but it feels so fresh and different that you can't help but get swept away by it.

Angel: Belonging (2.19)

In setting up the last run of episodes this season, the Angel writers do a decent job of dumping on all the regulars. Cordelia is left humiliated during a commercial shoot and reduced to some token hot girl in a bikini. Wesley is once again criticized and bullied by his father during a simple phone call wishing him a happy birthday. Gunn is outcast from his one-time LA crew, and loses one of them to vamps. Angel is generally frustrated with the world. While Belonging feels a lot like part one of a long arc, it's a fun hour which gives everybody great material to work with.

Angel: Dead End (2.18)

It was clearly the influence of David Boreanaz and Christian Kane's real life friendship, but I loved the way their characters interacted with each other. They were always at each others throats, but this season has been particularly memorable in making their feud so childish and silly. There's no greater moment reflecting that than during Lindsey's performance at Caritas. Everybody is so captivated by his singing, and Angel's there trying so hard to undermine it. It's so schoolyard, and it's really unfortunate that moments like this were cut short due to scheduling conflicts. They had such great banter, and then he's written out.

Angel: Disharmony (2.17)

After a run of heavy drama, this was entirely welcome. Disharmony is a whole barrel of silliness featuring a series-best performance from Mercedes McNab. Like practically everybody else that comes to Los Angeles, Harmony is seeking some kind of redemption. Or if that doesn't work out, at least a new perspective on life. I loved how the writers depicted her flakiness here, gradually going from one extreme to another as she tries to figure out what she wants to do with her life. That also feeds into vampire mythology, too, since she's not the blood-hungry monster that most vampires in the Buffyverse seem to be. She hasn't got a soul, but it's almost like she hasn't got the smarts or the ambition to become a fully-fledged blood-sucking fiend.

Angel: Epiphany (2.16)

This was all about putting things back together. After a run of episodes in which people fell apart and new allegiances were formed, Angel got the titular 'epiphany' we were all waiting for. But, being this show, things aren't as simple as they could have been. There's a lot of hurt still present throughout the ensemble, Angel's behavior having genuinely messed people up along the way. With that in mind, the most affecting moment of Epiphany is probably Cordelia's almost embarrassed declaration to her former boss: "You really hurt my feelings". It's one of the most endearing moments of human vulnerability I've seen in a long time.

Angel: Reprise (2.15)

Up to this point, Wolfram & Hart had been depicted as pretty darn evil. Their brand of evilness has always been written with a neat streak of black comedy, but nonetheless they've been this show's biggest of big bads, so calculating and nasty that you don't give a damn when Angel allowed them to get slaughtered a couple of weeks back. But in just one scene in Reprise, our collective opinion of Wolfram & Hart is radically altered. I'm talking, of course, about Angel's elevator ride down to hell in which Holland explains to him that W&H isn't a company with walls and offices that can be easily taken down, its existence has always been connected with man's natural desire to be cruel and evil, W&H a 'being' that has always been around and always will be around, thriving off the worse inclinations of humanity. It's beautifully profound, and successfully subverts our expectations once again. Everything we have here -- this is hell, not some imaginary place full of fire and brimstone. And it can't be taken down with an axe or an explosion or a mass murder of a bunch of lawyers. It's a chilling moment.

Angel: The Thin Dead Line (2.14)

I always feel like zombies help raise the bar of the episode they're featured in, even episodes that people seem to violently dislike. The Thin Dead Line, for example, is considered one of the weaker season two stories, just like Dead Man's Party garnered almost universal criticism during Buffy's third year. Both episodes feature some awesomely well-choreographed zombie carnage towards the back end of the script, the main cast and a bunch of extras barricading themselves in-doors while the undead launch a full-blown attack. It's exciting and crazy fun. And unlike Dead Man's Party, I actually liked the principal 'bones' of this story. It has some interesting ideas and features strong use of the core cast, which is always great.

Angel: Happy Anniversary (2.13)

There's a great moment towards the end of Happy Anniversary in which Lorne criticizes Angel for losing track of his mission, telling him that his recent decision to cut ties and embark on a road of vengeance is the type of thing reserved for lesser beings, not somebody as noble and heroic as he normally is. It's the strongest representation of what's occurred over the last couple of episodes, Angel for the first time stating his reasoning for firing his employees and attacking back at Wolfram & Hart. He hates those guys, his friends were getting in his way, and he's lost interest in pursuing redemption, considering it an impossible outcome.

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.

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.

Angel: Reunion (2.10)

There seems to have been a concerted effort this season to explore the darker fringes of Angel's mindset, blurring the line between Angel as we know him now and the Angelus of the past. So much greatness occurs in Reunion, but the shot that truly sticks with you long after the hour wraps is that moment when he locks the door on Wolfram & Hart, allowing them to be killed by Darla and Dru. It's a sucker punch scene, thrusting the series into that gray area where the hero of the show does something that is morally so wrong yet something that on a personal level feels right. The lawyers in that room are all guilty of creating death and destruction without doing the dirty work themselves, and you don't care if they live or die. But allowing them to be horrifically murdered is just too much, right? It's a really strong moral dilemma and raises the bar for the entire show.

Angel: The Trial (2.9)

The Trial falters a little because it's clearly an episode which only exists to set the scene for the real action occurring over the next couple of weeks. There are obviously some interesting character moments spread throughout the story, but the bones of the episode are taken up with the annoyingly rote 'trial' sequences. There isn't a whole lot to that element of the script, and even Julie Benz struggles to make some of her dialogue work.

Angel: The Shroud of Rahmon (2.8)

In a lot of ways this is a filler episode. But similarly to something like Untouched, it's an energetic and fun distraction which ends up being so much better than it easily could have been. It takes two standard plot devices and renders them sort of fresh and amusing. The museum heist is fun and well-written, with the motley crew of vamps and demons at each other's throats constantly and being kind of dumb while lugging around a doom-leaden sarcophagus. At the same time, the cast get to act all squicky when they're all possessed by the Rahmon goo, which leads to a couple of funny moments.

Angel: Darla (2.7)

One of the most interesting angles to this episode is the implication that Angel and Darla's entire relationship has been founded on a misunderstanding. Darla believes that by siring Angel she freed him from a terrible existence, while Angel insists that she did nothing but 'damn' him. At its heart, vampirism (is that even a word?) equals two vastly different things to the two of them. Darla uses her pre-vamp days as an example of how terrible mortal life is, while Angel can only acknowledge the pain and misery being a vampire has brought him and others. It's a wonderful contrast, made even stronger by Darla's reaction to her soul.

Angel: Guise Will Be Guise (2.6)

It feels a little jarring to be thrown into a comedy episode right in the middle of a dark and dramatic Darla arc, but Guise Will Be Guise still exists as a strong, tightly scripted comedic detour. At the same time, Jane Espenson showcases her knack for making character-driven comedy by giving Wesley some additional depth and strength. He's still a lot of fun, but already his wacky season one persona feels like a million years ago. The episode allows him to evolve from bumbling comic relief to a real hero, saving the day and getting the girl. It took literally becoming somebody else to allow Wesley to discover the confidence and strength of a hero.

Angel: Dear Boy (2.5)

Darla is bringing out the spectacular in Angel's writing team. One of the major themes this year seems to be Angel's conscience, and how it can alter and change. During one of their many fascinating conversations here, Darla insists that his 'true' self is itching to get out, and how his natural instincts are just being restricted by his silly little soul. At the same time, Angel's obsession with Darla has been affecting his mindset. He's far more reckless and aggressive when he's around her, not so concerned about doing the right thing or upsetting the apple-cart in his pursuit of her. It's an interesting idea to play around with, getting to the root of Angel as a character.

Angel: Untouched (2.4)

Sexual abuse is never an easy subject to explore, with the risk of exploitation and ignorance ordinarily outweighing the story's dramatic potential. To avoid this, Untouched features a victim of abuse who is crazily multi-faceted, Bethany being vulnerable, aggressive, self-destructive and eventually badass. She also has a messy relationship with her own sexuality, and in that regard reminded me a little of Faith. This is another episode in which Angel sets out to help a damaged young woman, but the involvement of Wolfram & Hart and the Angel Inc. team themselves raises the bar.

Angel: First Impressions (2.3)

I mentioned this elsewhere, but I love how the cast is coming together this season. Angel's first season felt a lot like it was Angel and the other ones, while this season the ensemble is really working wonders as a real team instead. First Impressions continues the theme of splitting Angel Investigations down the middle, but it split the team off into two winning pairs, Cordelia and Gunn creating sparks while off on a demon-hunt, and Angel and Wesley generating a lot of laughs and sexually ambiguous chemistry with the nakedness and the motorcycle-sharing. Or maybe I'm reading way too much into things...