Angel's Secrets

Episode Reviews   

"Forgiving," Monday, April 15, 2002

by Anne

Episode Summary

Fred and Gunn search for reasons behind Wesley’s betrayal; after finding his journals in the trash they learn about the prophecy. Fred tries to explain the situation to Angel, but he declares that the prophecy is a lie because he doesn’t hurt people he cares about. Lorne discovers that Connor was taken to the Quor-toth dimension; to get there very powerful dark magic has to punch through the fabric of reality. Angel isn’t phased by this news, because he has kidnapped Linwood, who becomes very cooperative under threat of torture. Linwood sends Angel to Wolfram and Hart’s mysterious White Room, where Angel is given instructions on how to make Sahjhan material. Angel performs the ritual but somehow Sahjhan materializes elsewhere. Meanwhile, at Sahjhan’s place, Fred and Gunn find Justine, who begins to realize that Holtz lied to them all. Before she can tell them about Wesley, Sahjhan appears. He threatens them a bit before Angel arrives. As they fight, Sahjhan gloats that he rewrote the prophecies, which actually said that the one sired by the vampire will kill Sahjhan. Angel is no match for Sahjhan, but Justine manages to trap Sahjhan in the special urn that Holtz had. Fred and Gunn are able to find Wes. At the hospital, Angel explains to Wesley that he knows why Wes did what he did; he wants him to know that he didn’t turn evil. Having said that, he angrily grabs the pillow and begins to smother Wesley. As orderlies and Gunn drag Angel out, he screams vengeful vows that Wes is a dead man.


Episode Review

In a previous episode, Angel revealed that anger was not the reason Angelus killed. We learned, or perhaps we already knew, that Angel can be driven by human emotions such as anger.

The motives behind the other characters' actions were also explored. Fred was glad to learn the reason for Wesley’s actions; to her that made them acceptable, even forgivable. Gunn knew that the motive wouldn’t justify the betrayal to Angel, and he was correct. Angel stated that he doesn’t hurt people he cares about: this gives us insight into his state of mind when he attacks Wesley.

Angel is now in "vengeance is all I’ve got" mode, and he now shares several other similarities with Justine. Generally speaking, it was observed that there is "no happy" for Justine, and, of course, Angel can't experience a moment of true happiness without dire consequences. Also, both were betrayed by men they believed in and trusted; Justine returns to Sahjhan's place the way that Angel stares at Connor's empty crib. Justine used trickery to get close to Wes; Angel did the same, knowing that the others wouldn't let him near if they knew what he had planned. Justine tried to kill Wes, but eventually tells the others where he is, which saves him. Angel who has saved Wesley’s life numerous times, now wants to kill him.

A big question has been: what is Sahjhan’s reason for wanting Angel dead. Now we know. I found it interesting that Angel stated that the prophecy was a lie as soon as he heard it. Given his behavior in the previous episode, I’m surprised he could be so sure.

Now we’re to the part of the review that I like to call Problems With Sahjhan. Excuse me? *Sahjhan* rewrote the prophecies? And how exactly did he-who-can’t-hold-a-pen do that? Which reminds me: when we first saw Sahjhan, wasn’t he both leaning against a table and smoking? I guess it was one of those interdimensional light 100’s. Anyway. I might - grudgingly - buy that Sahjhan tricked some writers into changing the prophecies. The next problem: how did Justine capture the now material Sahjhan in the urn? And is ritualistic chanting not required to trap him? Apparently not. Plus, did he really think he could change what was foretold in the actual prophecy? If he could, then it wouldn’t have been much of a prophecy.

The spooky yet obnoxious girl in the White Room told Angel that the information he wants would come at a price, but exactly how would killing Lilah be a sacrifice for Angel? The girl said that the fact he was willing to kill her is good enough for now. However, that means the price Angel owes them has not been paid.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

* The opening scene was nicely filmed with the shot of the broken room symbolic of the shattered state of Angel’s life.

* Kudos to the writers for including the remark about the shotgun in Wesley’s closet. That makes it believable and consistent that Wes would own a handgun, namely the one he used in the previous episode.

* I like how it wasn’t clear what Lilah would do when Linwood asked for her help when he was trapped by Angel. I really thought she would cut Linwood when Angel needed human blood for the ritual.

* Did you notice the drool that flew out as Angel was shouting while smothering Wesley? That reminds me of a certain scene from Thelma & Louise.

* If Lorne could read what Wes had done and planned to do, why couldn’t he read the reason why?


Reviews Index