I would certainly argue that this is the campiest episode of the entire series. And as a fan of camp, this was no exception. It is terribly cheesy, but so is all this crap I love watching. Having said that though, with a tiny bit more effort they could have made it campy AND good. Make it more Rosemary’s Baby and less Species. But i’m not complaining, so bad it’s good.
This is the type of episode that I would have expected from this show. It has that gothic feel to it that most vampire series from the 90s had (Kindred! Forever Knight!) and revealed a part of Angel’s past through flashbacks. Even though the story is kind of stand-alone-ish and was never heard from again, it does develop certain things within the actual show such as Kate finding out about Angel’s true face. I personally wish that the show had more of these type of episodes that would focus on Angel’s past and on vampires rather than some random made up demon, this is the stuff my heart beats faster for. Actually, one of the few things that bothers me about Angel is that it never actually introduced any returning vampire characters such as Spike, Darla, Dru, Harmony etc. A character like Penn could have been great to have around in several episodes but alas.
The first episode without Doyle and intro of my very favorite: Wesley aka The Rogue Demon Hunter! Not nearly as charming or cute as Doyle, but certainly as entertaining. The thing about it is though, Wesley couldn’t fill the void that Doyle left. I don’t think any character ever quite did fill that void, Doyle had a chemistry with Cordy and Angel that no one else had. Wesley didn’t unify that 3-some group the same way but instead was more of a tag-along with his own silly gimmicks. I personally preferred Wesley’s darker stroyline that came much after but silly Wesley is always a good fun. As far as the episode goes, it was entertaining but not very memorable. The main plot about a demon auction is unique but hardly something to remember, what this episode does well is the character moments and that’s that.
“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.
I remember the time when this was the most popular and iconic episode of Angel, but as time passed the Bangle relationship became less prominent and the Bangle fans moved on to Spuffy which caused a massive decline of popularity. I hardly see Angel fans cream over this episodes anymore. Personally, I too went through a love/hate phase as it was once my favorite Angel episode (!!!) then by Season 4 it wasn’t even in my top 30 anymore. But looking back now I absolutely appreciate what it did, and as annoying as I find Buffy to be the episode delivered great romance and drama. It is also why I prefer Angel to Buffy, I just can’t see her giving up something so selflessly and manage to live with the burden of a great memory that could never be.
This episode suffers from lazy writing. The first 20 minutes were on their way to be my favorite episode up to that point. There seemed to be character development for both Cordy and Doyle. It was cute, funny and pretty exciting. But then then Bachelor Party thing happened and the episode took a turn for the worse. For a character as great as Doyle, I cannot comprehend why of all the episodes they could have given him they did THIS.
My issue with S&S was how different it felt like watching compared to the first five, the formula of the show (dark drama with humorous dialogue) turned into pure comedy and a silly one at that. Although the episode doesn’t entirely work, cops on sensitivity training? eh. It still worked for the most part and gave a more humane face to the Kate character. And despite some failed gags, it did have a couple moments that had me laughing out loud.
This is one of those episodes that are hurt with repeated viewings. It was a favorite of mine once upon a time, but the flaws of it are too strong to overlook. For a character as great as Doyle, his storyline never really worked (more on that in two episodes). I loved the blewing relationship between him and Angel though, I don’t think that Angel ever was as close to his other guy friends or at least not in the way that he was with Doyle. As for Cordy, her part is pretty great. Some of the ghost stuff is annoying, but the main reason why the episode works is because it had a great ending. The flashback and introduction of Dennis, who should have been a much bigger character than he ended up being. Overall, good episode and it’s a MOTW that actually added something (Dennis the ghost <3).
Often considered to be one of the worst episodes of Angel. It is undoubtly weaker than the previous three, but I have always had a soft spot for it. It contains the same formula that worked previously, the darkness and wit. It had some of the best lines yet, the case itself was also quite intrguing. A man who can detach his limbs? Ridiculous but it worked for me. Especially when he started throwing body parts at Angel and co. I enjoy this episode a lot but it’s not that good and obviously flawed.
I have always had some issues with this episode, and some things just irritate me. But as a whole it is an entertaining episode with some great dialogue. It was the first crossover and I sure wish it wasn’t Oz’ last.