Angel: Five By Five

Angel: "You'd remember this one. Pretty, dark hair, kills things?"

So with the flying body parts and the torture scenes and Angel sinking his teeth into that Gypsy girl's thigh and all, was that an intense little episode or what?

I'm certain that we were meant to compare Faith and Wesley with Angel torturing Giles in "Becoming." That and the Romania flashbacks were intended to show why Angel would want to forgive Faith, and they were very well done. But as powerful as that final scene in the rain was, I think Angel was wrong; I just don't buy that Faith is truly repentant. I think Angel might not have been so ready to forgive if it had been Doyle that Faith was torturing. Or Cordelia. Or for that matter, Buffy.

Wesley continued to evolve as a character. Even more than his responses to Faith, I was impressed at the way he cut himself free and got himself down the stairs, knife in hand, so that he could help Angel fight Faith. How is he going to feel about Angel forgiving Faith? I think he has the right to be incredibly pissed off. Next week ought to be very interesting.

Wolfram & Hart are cool villains, and with Lindsey and Lilah, we're finally starting to see some good recurring characters. I loved the way Angel just walked in the door dressed as a lawyer and the way he winged it with the guy in the hall ("through the ceiling?" "In the toilet!")

Bits and pieces:

-- Angel was right to try and get Wesley and Cordelia out of the way. They should have listened to him. It looked like Phantom Dennis was trying to warn Cordelia; she should have listened to Dennis, too.

-- I really liked the bar scene with Faith combining two of her favorite things, dancing and fighting. Very well done.

-- Angelus lost his soul in 1898. That meant that when he met Buffy, he hadn't eaten anyone for nearly a hundred years.

-- Angelus and Darla were together for 140 years? No, that can't be right -- they must have done an on-again off-again thing because when would he have gotten involved with Dru?

Quotes:

Cordelia: "I knew it when you brought him in here yesterday. Someone with that much body art is gonna have a different definition of civic duty."

Cordelia: "Wesley, you don't change a guy like that. In fact, generally speaking, you don't change a guy. What you see is what you get. Scratch the surface and what do you find? More surface."

Lilah: "You call them back and tell them that's our drop-dead offer. And you make sure that they understand we mean literally, not figuratively."

Wesley: "We won."
Cordelia: "Gang-guy testified?"
Angel: "Stood up and told the truth."
Cordelia: "What did I tell you?"
Wesley: "That he never would."

Cordelia: "You can always tell when he's happy. His scowl is slightly less scowly."

Lindsey: "I think if a service is rendered, we can get you off."
Faith: "You don't know how many men have promised me that."

Cordelia: "What's wrong with a divorce case?"
Angel: "That's not what we do."
Cordelia: "According to the husband, the wife is a real witch."

Angel: "Giles said she left Sunnydale about a week ago. He described her mental state as borderline psychotic."
Cordelia: "That explains her outfit."

Lawyer: "We have to close Gruber now, before the soft offer becomes hard and the stock goes..."
Angel: "Through the ceiling!"
Lawyer: "In the toilet!"

Lindsey: "I'm sorry, we only handle a certain class of clientele."
Angel: "Oh, I'm sure that I've killed enough people to qualify."

Wesley: "I was your Watcher, Faith. I know the real you, and even if you kill me, there is just one thing I want you to remember."
Faith: "What's that, love?"
Wesley: "You are a piece of sh..."

Definitely four out of four. Very good.

Billie