Everyone loves a good time travel episode.

Now look there, my Angel reviews are getting so sloppy these days. Let me start again.

I enjoy a good time travel episode. There’s just not enough of them about. I expect to get at least one from a certain up and coming British show next year, but this one tided me over through 2004. Oh, and one episode of The Outer Limits that I saw in Canada. I actually watched this episode again before reviewing it — of course, I always do that, of course — but this time I especially did it. I’ve copped some flak for not summarising the plot recently, so let’s be clear that I don’t make that mistake again.

Angel has problems. For one, he’s still not sure what to do about this whole Wolfram & Hart business. And he knows he’s getting close to the end of the season, so he’d better come up with something. Perhaps he’s toying with some plans. He also has problems with Illyria. She can bend time, jump dimensions, and hit people REALLY HARD. You’d think he’d be happy that the last point is being repeatedly brought down on Spike, but he’s not. The term ‘loose cannon’ is thrown about. So he asks Wesley to get rid of her.

Wesley has problems. His dead lover’s shell is wandering around with an ancient demon inside it, and it’s come to him for help. He’s not sure how to feel about it, and is in fact getting kind of loopy. He probably still finds the shell kind of attractive. Perhaps he’s even warming to the host in a kind of worship-ish kind of way. Then his not-terribly-trustworthy boss asks him to kill her. What’s a guy to do?

Gunn has problems. He’s been tied up and stabbed through the heart on a daily basis for two weeks, and now he’s been rescued by the creature who’s summoning he inadvertently caused, killing his ex-lover. His erstwhile friend stabbed him just before all the other stabbings. And he’s not sure how to go back to what he was doing before the shit hit the fan. He does know however that his principles are all he has left.

Lorne has problems. Fred was never his lover, but he’s still kind of pissed that she’s dead. And he’s hardly gotten a slice of the plot-pie this season. He’s justifiably stroppy, especially when he gets a lame, not-as-funny-as-it-thinks-it-is comedy plotline this episode. He’s probably confused as to why he’s using a mobile phone as if it’s a walkie-talkie, especially given that he’s got heaps of mobile phones.

Illyria has problems. She’s got no Army of Doom, and worse, her shell can’t take the infinite majesty of her transcendent being. She’s breaking up, and she’s not particularly bothered if she takes the world with her when she goes. But she’s getting irrationally fond of the ants that surround her. It’s probably just vestiges of her shell infecting her mind. Killing all of them should help her unwind. But her imminent doom is fracturing time and space around her, and she’s dragging that pesky half-breed with the big forehead along with her.

Angel still has problems. His ‘loose cannon’ has killed him and all his friends, and he’s only wandering about because of some time paradox. He’s not sure what happened when he got knocked back through time, but it almost makes sense, and at least there’s been few other time travel episodes in his universe for this story to contradict. But things always turn out alright, because despite appearances to the contrary, he’s reasonably bright and a fast talker when he needs to be. And perhaps he’ll learn some life lessons from this uppity demon from the ancient time.

622

This entry was posted by the illustrious Tom Charman on Sunday, July 25th, 2004. It concerns such pressing issues as . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.