Angel

REVIEW: ANGEL - 5.08: DESTINY While Spike was incorporeal, he and Angel were reduced to verbal sparring. One surprise package later, they finally have the chance to beat each other into a bloody pulp... something they thoroughly do in this intense, plot-ridden, excellent episode written by David Fury and Stephen S. DeKnight.

Not that they needed an excuse, but they do actually have something to fight about: Shanshu.

Let’s back up a bit. Spike, after receiving a mysterious piece of mail, suddenly has his body back... and proceeds to make full use of it. As luck would have it, his sudden corporeal-ness comes with a minor side effect: it throws the entire universe out of whack and makes people - including Gunn and Harmony - turn temporarily insane.

How to resolve this? The world needs a champion. One. With two vampires with souls running around who qualify, the universe doesn’t know what to do with itself. In Wesley’s absence, a member of his department suggests a quest to find the Cup of Perpetual Torment, and whoever finds it will be the "Champion" who will face whatever the next apocalypse might be.

Here’s the little problem: who deserves the title more? Is it Angel, who has been doing good works for many years now and has been striving for this goal? Who has been helping the helpless for their sakes, not his own? Or is it Spike, newly-souled and with only one world-save under his belt, but who sought out his own soul and joined the good side - well, mostly - before that ever happened? Who chose to give his life to save the world, even if the only thing he had to do to save it was stand still?

Rivalry is nothing new to these two vampires. Throughout the episode, there are flashbacks to Spike’s early vampire days and the competition for Drusilla’s affections. In fact, before Drusilla became an issue between them, they are shown to be comrades in arms who caused murder and mayhem gleefully together. Now, with the Buffy factor, their antagonistic relationship could reach new heights.

In this first of a new set of competitions between them, the prize turned out to be a red herring planted by a false advisor, and the winner of Round One - Spike - only got to Do the Dew. Will either of them be the "champion" that the prophecy calls for? Will they kill each other before the Big Battle we keep hearing about?

Ladies and Gentlemen, place your bets.