Angel

Herc Gives ANGEL 5.5 Four Stars!! I am - Hercules!!

Angel 5.5 FAQ What’s it called? "Life of the Party."

Who’s responsible? "The Tick" creator Ben Edlund ("Sacrifice").

What’s did Coax say about this one back in August? * The episode centers around the big Wolfram & Hart Halloween party.

* The episode also centers to large degree around the firm’s resident Pylean karaoke demon, Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan.

* The episode may remind some a bit of "Forbidden Planet," only funnier, and with fewer spaceships.

* Spike remains confined to his ghostly form.

* Eve, Team Angel’s liaison to the firm’s "senior partners," will arrive at the party wearing her tightest, sexiest outfit to date.

* Eve and Angel end up making out with each other.

* An amusingly loutish and poorly spoken demon named Devlin will come to the party costumed as a human.

Did Coax’s sources get it right? Yes. Though Eve and Angel do a good deal more together than make out.

The big news? Fred psuedo-drunkunly decides which Wolfram staffer will be her boyfriend (breaking, it seems, another Wolfram staffer’s heart).

What else is TV Guide not telling us? This is easily the best installment of "Angel" since the season opener. Herc laughed loudly at several junctures. Do you think this is something that happens every day?

Who is Sebassis? A "demon arch-duke."

Why is Krevlornswath anxious for Sebassis to attend? If he comes, Lorne explains, "all the other glitterati will just domino in right behind him."

And why is it important for the glitterati to domino? "We gotta show all the big bads that the new regime is here to stay," explains Charles Gunn, "which, for the most part, boils down to image. And image-wise, if this party doesn’t kick ass, we lose face."

Why is Sebassis initially reticent to attend? Everyone thinks Angel is just inviting people to the party so he can slaughter them.

Assuming Krevlornswath’s id is unleashed, what causes the unleashing? Lorne underwent a 20-minute Wolfram procedure to have his "sleep removed." Unbeknownst however to Lorne, if one takes away an empath demon’s sleep, his ability to read destinies mutates into an ability to write destinies. (This episode is very similar to that fourth-season "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" installment in which Willow causes Giles to go blind and Ms. Summers agrees to become Mrs. William the Bloody.)

What’s good? Lots and lots. Sebassis’ beverage decanter. Devlin pretending to be human. "Peepee!" Demon on the potty. The drunken Winifred. Eve, naked and cowering. "Lord, I hope so." "I went to UC Santa Cruz."

What’s not so good? I would have made Sebassis more overtly fearful of Angel. And they probably could have figured out something better to do with Spike.

How does it end, spoiler-boy? Angel tucks Lorne in.

Herc’s rating for "Angel" 5.5? **** The Hercules T. Strong Rating System: ***** better than we deserve

**** better than most motion pictures

*** actually worth your valuable time

** as horrible as most stuff on TV

* makes you quietly pray for bulletins

9 p.m. Wednesday. The WB. Swing the crebbil! Swing the crebbil! I am - Hercules!!