REVIEW: Angel, Season Two (David Greenwalt, 2000-2001)

Angel's still trying to figure out what in the hell it is in Season Two, and if it's no closer than it was in Season One, at least it's more ambitiously confused.  The first year of Angel offered bland detective heroics boosted by a late-season prophecy that foretold of Angel's importance in an approaching apocalypse.  How many armageddons is that now for the Buffyverse?  But anyway.  The prophecy says a vampire with a soul will prove essential to the conflict, and he will be given the boon of life and death.  Like all fictional prophecies, it's ambiguous enough to be swung in any direction.

Similarly, the tone of the show shifts dramatically throughout the season.  It opens on the edge of nihilism.  Angel (David Boreanaz) grows so frustrated with the limitations of moral do-goodery that he lets evil people die and torches his former lover, Darla (Julie Benz).  He severs his friends from his life, and they say he's going "dark," although that's a little like saying that Buffy's gone "sassy."  Although this story turn allows the show to play with questions of morality and shows how Angel could descend to the villains' level...it shows Angel descend to the villain's level, which leaves the show feeling confused.  The season opened with the idea of Angel being a champion.  Way to murder people, champion.

After wallowing in a pool of loathing for half of the season, Angel's second season swings inexplicably into cheery high fantasy for the final four episodes.  Angel, Wesley (Alexis Denisof), and Gunn (J. August Richards) join demon night-club singer Lorne (Andy Hallett) in a trip to his homeworld of Plrtz Glrb.  Sound it out.  The sets recall Xena: Warrior Princess, and the show overdoses on broad humor, although a demonized Joss Whedon dancing in the background gave me some chuckles.  Still, this detour allows a welcome break from the moodier episodes, and it allows for the embiggening of Lorne's character and the arrival of the furtive new girl, Winifred Burkle (Amy Acker).

While Angel goes on his emotional roller-coaster, it's up to show veterans Wesley and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) to ground the show, and although they can't supplant the hero entirely, Denisof and Carpenter offer so much good will and humor that the show keeps working.  Denisof especially proves his strength as an actor.  Despite his origin as an effete, ineffectual demon-hunter, he takes on responsibilities in Angel's absence and matures.  He convinces.  The upside of Angel's turn to evil is that his friends become just as invested in Angel Investigations.  They're not the help anymore.  They're the team.

Despite the emotional whiplash of the season, the two extremes pivot on an episode called "Epiphany," which stands as the best episode of the season, and certainly the most important.  Angel stands at a crossroads after making love to Darla - he can continue to plumb the staggering depths of his hate, or he can reconcile with his friends and begin again.  Given that three seasons of Angel come after this, there's little surprise at what he chooses, but how he chooses reveals how good this show can be.

See, the Shanshu Prophecy isn't anything to take seriously in this story - it's just a plot device to allow for self-reflection.  Is Angel after a reward, or is he satisfying a masochistic streak...or is he trying to help?  This question's prominence will wax and wane as the show continues to its ending, but at this moment, Angel decides he should do the right thing because that's the right thing to do.  Not for redemption.  Not for punishment.  Because there's no way of knowing how everything ends.  Leave issues of faith to the clergymen.  There is just this: ease suffering.  That's all.  That's enough.

RATING: B-

---

Buffy, Season Five:   A
Buffy, Season Four:   B  /  Angel, Season One:  B-

Buffy, Season Three: A

Buffy, Season Two:   A-

Buffy, Season One:   B