“Hero” is neck-in-neck with “A Hole in the World” as the most depressing Angel episode imo, and i’m not a major crybaby but it’s tough to hold in the tears while watching it. And you know what gets me the most? Not Doyle’s death, but that tape at the end. Somehow more effective than Doyle being incinerated by that light bulb. I also like the theme of the episode and how the writers turn around the whole nazi/Jewish holocaust thing into Pure Demons taking out the half breeds. The Jewish persecution is a concept that i’ve never seen any other supernatural series try to explore and I thought it was pretty well executed for the limited time and resources that they had. What truly worked about the episode was the loveable and magnificent Doyle who went from a somewhat cowardly weasle to the hero of these people. My only real problem with the episode is that I think it happened too early and should have happened towards the end of Season 1 if not the series finale. Losing Doyle made for a pretty weak second half of the season but despite his limited existence he went down as one of my favorite characters ever.
Quote: Too bad we’ll never know if this is a face you could learn to love. – Doyle
Highlights
– Cordelia’s commercial
– The Dark Avenger
– Cordy forcing Doyle to pose for the commercial
– Is that it, am I done? – Doyle
– Low rats
– It’s not like he has a heart, how can it be so broken? – Cordelia
– Angel tells his story to Doyle
– Fight the good fight – You fight and i’ll keep score
– Cordy and Doyle growing closer ;_;
– The whole Hitler / WW2 vibe
– Doyle flashbacks
– Turning away his own people
– A slight hint of Angelus
– The cool leatherface type demons
– Cordy slapping Doyle
– I recjeted you way before now! – Cordy
– According to Cordy, being short and poor is worse than being a demon
– You never know until you’ve been tested. I get that now ;;;;;;;______________;;;;;;;
– The kiss
– Doyle’s video
– Is that it, am I done? – Doyle ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;_________________;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Rating: 9/10