Episode Reviews   

"Lonely Hearts," Tuesday 12 October, 1999

by Chrystal

I enjoyed this episode very much. The show continues to move at a nice pace. Angel isn't turning into a suave party animal. He doesn't really understand the whole getting out there and meet someone thing. I loved when he was reminiscing about his youth and Doyle had to remind him that he (Angel) used to go to taverns. Angel likes brooding, it's his thing. If Doyle and his visions weren't around, Angel would sit in the dark most of the time. At the end of the episode, when Cordelia and Doyle rejected his offer to go out, I had to laugh at Angel's smile and utterance of "thank God." I see this as gradual character development which can only help the series. Hopefully whenever, Buffy comes to visit she will see Angel's social skills have somewhat improved.

The concept of the demon trying to "make a connection" in a place full of humans desperately trying to "make a connection" worked really well. I did find the demon to be a bit "Alien/DSN,Trill," but it must be hard to keep coming up with unique creatures.

Cordelia and Doyle in the club were hysterical. Gotta to admit Doyle dresses like a pimp. I did wish Cordelia had taken a more active role in the fight, rather than just standing there. On Buffy, she used to jump in and do what she could to help out.

I'm not sure what I think of Kate at this stage. I thought she was fine (how neutral is that). I didn't get any great chemistry off them like Angel has with Buffy, but I still have lingering pangs of the Angel/Buffy romance which make my views at this point totally bias. At least, in Kate we've got a smart woman who shoots the lock rather than wait for Angel to come up with another Batman-like device. In any case, as Cordelia pointed out Angel can't do anything about his romantic feelings and this is obviously a limitation on any potential romances on the show.

On a negative note, the ratings for "Lonely Hearts" lower than the Angel's premiere, 5.6/9 (6.2/9). However, on a very positive note, Spike drops by for a visit next week, expect many witticisms and major fighting scenes.

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