Contains minor season five spoilers.
When the chips are down, and you’re at the end of your rope you need someone you can count on. And that’s what you’ll find here – someone who will go all the way, no matter what. So don’t lose hope. Come on over to our offices and you’ll see that there’s still heroes in this world.
What does it mean to be a hero?
Definition: a person of exceptional bravery; a person admired for their superior qualities and achievements; the central male character in a play, novel, etc.
One man stands up and proclaims that he is a hero, but does this make him one? The definition is a simple one, but the actual act of heroism is something else all together. At the end of Hero, Doyle overcame his own personal fear and acted in a way only a true hero would; he gave up his life in order to save others. That makes this much-loved and sorely missed character a true hero.
The beginning of the episode is perhaps ironic, and it is evident in the opening scene as Cordelia describes Doyle as being average, run-of-the-mill, ordinary. And while Angel explains the day that never was (I Will Remember You), Doyle confesses that had he been in Angel’s position, he’d never have turned the clock back and would take the pleasures of the flesh over duty and honour anytime. He described Angel as being, the real deal in the hero department. He continues to say, I don’t have the strength, to which Angel replies, You never know your strength until you’re tested.
It is our history that shapes us and makes us who we are, sometimes resulting in action rather than contemplation. Doyle’s past was revealed during this episode where we revisited key moments from his past, one being when he was confronted by one of his own kind; a Brachen demon whose name was Lucas.
Lucas approached Doyle for his help against the Scourge, a military-like organisation of demons set up to kill all half breeds just like Doyle. Helping Lucas’ family and friends did not mean fighting the Scourge. All Lucas asked for was a place to hide. But having just discovered his demon side, Doyle chose to turn his back on Lucas and others like him. He opted not to get involved with the fight against the Scourge. I punked out, confessed Doyle to Angel.
It was shortly after the visit from Lucas that Doyle had his first vision and like all those that followed, it was not a pleasant one. The half-demon was sent images of Lucas and his clan being killed. He was soon to discover that the vision was not a dream at all when he found the bodies of Lucas and those he had tried to help.
It was now that it became apparent that the fight against the Scourge was indeed a personal fight for Doyle. The Scourge were once again on the rampage and Angel was thought to be their saviour as he set out to help them. But Doyle played a key part in their survival and what transpired resulted in him being the first character to find redemption, a common theme in Angel. With the help of Cordelia and Angel, he sets about finding a safe passage for the half-demons in order to get them away from the rampant army.
Like all good Angel episodes, a fight scene and acts of desperation ensue. After discovering that the Scourge had developed a light machine that kills all humans, Doyle ignores Angel’s own heroic intent and chooses to jump onto the machine to save the clan running from them. With this, Doyle dies and the rest survive.
The most tragic part of Doyle’s departure from Angel was the fact that in December 2002, life imitated art when Glenn Quinn, the actor who played Doyle, died suddenly. The affect it had on fans of Jossverse was insurmountable and even today there is much talk of the character of Doyle on message board across the internet. Quinn’s death was to have a long-standing affect on the fans and made Doyle’s heroic act even more poignant. Many fans proclaim that they still cannot watch the episode Hero. No other episode in Jossverse has had such an affect with the exception of The Body (Season Five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
But the death of Doyle was something that reverberated throughout the entire series. Looking back at the episode, what transpired pathed the way for the ground-breaking show. Moments before Doyle gave up his life, he gave Cordelia a gift. He kissed her, but this was no ordinary kiss. As Cordelia soon discovered, Doyle gave her his visions. It was through this gift that Cordelia changed from high-school, superficial, materialistic bitca to a compassionate, tower of strength for her own hero, Angel. It was because of the visions that Cordelia became a Higher Being and returned to guide Angel once he strayed from his path. Just when the fans thought they had lost Doyle, Cordelia and the visions, all three subtly played their own part in Angel’s ultimate fight towards the end of season five.
The video that Cordelia made at the start of Hero featured Doyle talking of heroes in the world. That video would reappear in the season three episode Birthday, when Cordelia has to make an important choice in her life – keep the visions and become half-demon, or lose the visions and live a normal life. Demonize me already, was Cordelia’s response to the conundrum. The sweetest reminder of Doyle’s heroic act via the video leads Cordelia to maintain her place in the world and in particular, her place with Angel.
That same video would be part of a touching scene in the 100th episode You’re Welcome, when Cordelia returned in order to remind Angel where his own place was in the world.
Today, Doyle is a key factor in the fight to Save Angel, as his final words are used in order to stir up strength in the campaign. The good fight, yeah? You never know until you’ve been tested. From these words, every fan fighting to save Angel has become a hero in their own right. Thousands of fans are still sending postcards and this has led to worldwide media exposure to the plea of Save Our Show. Adverts were placed in big Hollywood publications, a truck with a massive billboard drove around LA for two weeks in order to drum up support and show the networks that Angel was much loved and much wanted. The fans meant business and they still do. You’ll see if you head over to SaveAngel.org
People die all the time in Angel, some popular characters and some big nasty demons. Every death means something but losing Doyle in the circumstances we did, it means more. It moves us. It inspires us. Doyle was a hero who not only passed on his gift of visions to Cordelia, but he also passed on his hope, strength and love. He gave us the power to fight for something when we truly believed in it. This was one death that really meant something and led us to act when we really needed to, just like Doyle did.
It is difficult to wrap up an article that contains so much meaning and actually do it the justice it deserves. But I’d like to finish by correcting a line Cordelia said in You’re Welcome when she spoke of Doyle:
One soldier down.
Correction. One hero down. Thousands of heroes up. All fighting the good fight.
This article is dedicated to the memory of Glenn Quinn.
