Angel

THE WATCHER: ANGEL 5.17 - UNDERNEATH review

After a far-too-lengthy hiatus, ANGEL is back with its six final episodes. Final... that’s such an ugly word in this case, isn’t it? But it’s sadly true, and the main plot arc of the season rolls on right where we left off. Well, not quite... For the first time, the opening credits included Mercedes McNab (and here’s hoping Harmony does not get the “Tara treatment”: in the credits one day, gone the next).

The tone of the episode was unsurprisingly dark, but there were a few fun spots, including a mention of shrimp that set BUFFY fans a-twitter. Spike continued to be the main source of levity (with his mid-meeting beer and KNIGHT RIDER references), but these days there’s not much for the characters to laugh about. Fred’s absence isn’t just felt be the characters, but by those of us watching as well. Without Fred or Cordelia, the group has no heart. We know it, they know it, and the episode allows the characters to mourn for Fred. Angel remembers their first meeting. Lorne tries to drown his sorrows before pasting his happy face back on. Wesley dreams of his lost love while passed out from "poison" (whiskey). Gunn, hiding from his guilt, remains safe in his hospital bed where he doesn’t have to fully face the consequences of his actions.

So... Who is the Big Bad this season? Surprise, surprise, it looks like the Senior Partners are finally being pointed out as the official Big Bad. Nice plan, too: distract Angel & Co with shiny things like desks and offices and satellites with lasers while the Senior Partners get their master scheme rolling. Which, as Lindsey tells Angel, is already happening. Right underneath their noses. They’re putting a "the" before the word "apocalypse," and it’s one that’s somehow different than the yearly spring apocalypses that we’re used to.

And who, pray tell, can Angel go to for information about these pesky Senior Partners? Eve seems to be a dead end as far as information, but Lindsey - last seen sucked into a vortex by those same fun-loving Senior Partners - might have more information. Problem is, it’s hard to have a chat with him when he’s in one of the many hell dimensions. Or, in his case, a holding room that looks exactly like California tract housing, which is just as bad.

Gunn gets Spike and Angel into Lindsey’s suburban cell, but he knows the price for a release going in - switching in another being for Lindsey so that a door may be opened. Gunn stays behind so that Angel can get the information he needs. It’s his self-imposed atonement for indirectly causing Fred’s death, as well as a way for him to escape his guilt and shame for a short time each day... even if the rest of the day involves horrific torture and getting his heart ripped out - something that he likely feels has happened already - underneath the idyllic house that is his prison. Whether he is stuck in Pleasantville Hell eternally or not, or whether there really is a chewy center underneath the inner core... that remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, completely separate from the rest of the group, Wesley and Illyria continue their not-so-unlikely partnership. The anger and sadness Wesley feels is described by Illyria as she recounts his drunken behavior and unconscious ramblings. Awake and functional, he calmly continues to goad Illyria, forcing her to examine her boundaries and her place in our world.

Illyria, for all her boasting of being formerly omnipotent, omniscient, and all the other goddess-ness she claims to have had, is far more human than she wants to be. Not only is she seemingly stuck in our dimension (shrimp notwithstanding), but her own humanity - or rather, Fred’s humanity - is trapping her, and she can feel it as a part of herself. Instead of contributing to the action in the episode, Illyria continued the self-discovery that began at the end of SHELLS. Her place in the upcoming battle is still a total mystery, as is the actual amount of humanity that still lies underneath her cold surface.

On top of all of this fun, enter Marcus Hamilton, new liaison to the Senior Partners (played by Adam Baldwin - "Jayne" from FIREFLY). He’s a man who is a little too glad to be on board with the team and who, as Angel notices, looks great in a suit. Just the wrench the few soldiers that remain needed with "THE Apocalypse" brewing.

What makes this apocalypse so special? Hard to say. Considering that there are only five episodes left of ANGEL, we’re already in the apocalyptic realm with that issue alone. The nuts and bolts of this new version of The End Of The World remain to be seen, and the loose ends continue to dangle. But, based on the preview for next week, it looks like some of those loose ends will start a-tying.

 Reviewed for DARKWORLDS.COM by Amy Berner. Contact Amy at amy_berner@yahoo.com.