Author: jdsarmiento

This is the equivalent of Buffy’s The Gift for me. An episode I loved as a child, but began to see for what it was the older I got. Yes it’s importat, and epic I guess? But it lacks soul, complexity and fun. I would rather re-watch a filler episode over it. Production-wise, it’s also quite bad. Some bad acting and cheesy dialogue but it picks up after Cordy and Wesley wind up in the hospital. The episode just didn’t age well for me or hit the right spots, but I feel obligated to appreciate it by default for the introduction of the shanshu prophecy, character development for Cordy and of course the reanimation of Darla.

A solid episode, just isn’t one you’d randomly watch for entertainment or a good sob fest. It’s very generic, but relevant to the overall storyline and accomplished what it set out to do. It’s the first one to focus on the inner dynamics of Wolfram & Hart. The power struggles between Lindsey, Lee and Lilah and their moral standings. The episode gave the company and characters a more humane face, although they’re pretty evil there is a level of understanding of why they do the things they do (not just power, but also to balance out the good vs evil and help the world work the day it does). The interactions between Lindsey and Angel were great, there’s much more of that chemistry to come next season and it makes me wonder how important Lindsey’s character was originally meant to be. In the end though, Lindsey sells his soul for his own office which sets up the tone for the next episode (with the shanshu prophecy being found and all).