Episode Reviews   

"Hero," Tuesday, December 1, 1999

by Chrystal

Last night's Angel was poignant. There was enough angst to share all the way around. First, Angel is in power brood mode after losing Buffy. Loved the sweat as he worked off his frustrations. A pity he was not shirtless. Then we get insight into Doyle's personal demons. His inner turmoil about being half demon, his failure to help his people, and that the visions were perhaps retribution for his lack of compassion. I empathized with him as he mustered the courage to tell Cordelia the truth. Unfortunately, whenever there is this much character development in one episode, you know that the character is about to leave the show. The one thing I have learned about both shows, Angel and Buffy, don't ever get invested in any of the relationships. You get dumped on all the time.

I thought it was sweet when Cordelia confronted Doyle about his secret. I liked that she was the one actually taking the lead in moving their relationship along. I don't know if she could have loved him or accepted his demon side, but I like to think that she would have. This Cordelia after all, her depth surprises the heck out of me sometimes. Does the blue gas that appeared when they kissed mean a transfer of Doyle's powers to Cordelia? Guess we have to wait and see.

I was moved by Doyle's sacrifice. We were shown in detail that Doyle had a very painful death. This made it harder for me to deal with losing him. He was a good person/demon, but I guess the point was that "bad things happen to good people." It was interesting that the demon refugees said that their prophesies referred to the one who would save them. They believed it was Angel so did I (and I'm sure most of you did also), but in the end it was Doyle was the one in the prophesy. He gave the ultimate sacrifice to save their lives.

The final scene where Angel and Cordelia watched the video was bittersweet. Doyle was so awkward, but endearing. Even though he didn't believe himself capable of heroism when he said those words, he lived them. I will miss this character tremendously. He had a unique comedic presence and balancing the brooding Angel against the flighty Cordelia.

I liked that the demon army was modeled after the Nazi sickness. A good reminder to us all that hatred is the source of pure evil and if good people do nothing, it is victorious. I usually don't like my television shows to preach moral values, but I can appreciate it if done well.

Next week is a repeat of "Lonely Hearts." I think this a good thing, I need a break from all the emotion surrounding the loss of Doyle as well as last week's Buffy visit. Again no overnight ratings as yet. I will post them on the Angel Notes page when I do get them.

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