"Angel" Forgiving (2002)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

Turi Meyer

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator) &
David Greenwalt (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Angel" (1999)

Original Air Date:

15 April 2002 (Season 3, Episode 17)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

With Connor trapped in a hell dimension, Angel is willing to do anything to rescue him... Even make a deal with Wolfram and Hart...

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Vampire Slayer | Redemption | Actress | Supernatural

Cast

David Boreanaz	...	Angel
Charisma Carpenter	...	Cordelia Chase (credit only)
Alexis Denisof	...	Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
J. August Richards	...	Charles Gunn
Amy Acker	...	Winifred 'Fred' Burkle
John Rubinstein	...	Linwood Murrow
Andy Hallett	...	Lorne
Laurel Holloman	...	Justine Cooper
Stephanie Romanov	...	Lilah Morgan
Jack Conley	...	Sahjhan
Kay Panabaker	...	The Girl
Kenneth Dolin	...	Bum
Tripp Pickell	...	Holtzian
Sean Mahon	...	Truck Driver

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Mutant Enemy

Quotes:

Fred: Don't you think she would want us to call? Shouldn't we tell her what happened? Maybe she could help.
Angel: No!
Fred: Angel...
Angel: She'll be back soon. And when she does, she'll have presents for Connor. And he's gonna be here so she can give them to him. Okay?

This episode just break my heart

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This episode blew me back on the sofa cushions the first time I saw it. Not the whole thing, just the last ten minutes. It's brutal. We learn that Angel's baby can never come back, that Shajahn rigged the prophesy and, in probably the most shocking scene of the series, that Angel wants to kill Wes. When Angel walked into Wesley's hospital room, I really thought that he was going to try and reach out to Wes. Instead, he launches in a screaming, out of control frenzy and tries to suffocate Wesley will his own pillow. I have never seen Angel so angry or Wes so broken. The episode ends with my heart just breaking for both of them. Anyway, this is a very important episode to the show's story arc and you need to see it.

"Forgiving" revolves around Angel's reactions to Conner's abduction. He is crazed to get his son back and he's willing to do whatever he has to get it done. He starts by kidnapping Linwood and torturing him for some information on how to re-corporealize Shajahn. Linwood quickly gives into Angel and sends him to the White Room at Wolfram and Hart, which is a magical place run by an evil little girl. She gives Angel the spell he needs, but there will be a price. In the meantime, Fred and Gunn are searching for Wes. The discover his Watcher journals and realize that he's been trying to protect Conner.

Back at the hotel, Angel performs the ritual and Shajahn is re-corporealized across town. Angel goes to hunt him down and demand that he take him to that hell dimension after Conner. Shajahn says that opening the portal was a one time thing and Conner can never return. Which actually suits Shajahn perfectly, as he finally admits that Conner was really the one he's been after this whole time. He saw a prophesy that foretold that Conner would kill him and so he set things into motion to stop it. He tampered with the prophesy, adding "The father will kill the son" part and he's thrilled that it worked. He's less thrilled when Justine traps him in a magical jar. Wes is taken to the hospital. Lorne advises Angel to try and forgive him, but Angel can't. He tries to smother Wes with a pillow and has to be drug from the room.

There on some good parts to this episode. I like the White Room, which will come into play in seasons four and five. Elevators are always played as sort of sinister in "Angel." They took Angel to "hell" with Holand Manners back in season two, and now they lead to this mystical sort of evil conduit. It's interesting. And Fred is really starting her tough side. She shot that guy last episode and now she punches Justine. She's coming into her own. Also, it's cool that Wes kept Diaries on Angel. He was trained by the Council and he's been seeing himself as Angel's Watcher.

On the downside, I don't think it's fair to say that Wes was tricked by the prophesy. The thing about prophesies in the Buffyverse is that the more you try to get around them, the more you play right in fate. Watching the rest of the series, I think it's pretty clear that Wes was right. The father WILL kill the son, but in trying to stop it, all Wesley does is set it into motion. By the same token, Shajahn is sealing his own doom by messing with the prophesy. Ensuring that it will come true. I think that this all applies to the Shanshu Prophesy, too. If you try to mess with a prophesy, then you're SUPPOSE to mess with it. It's all part of the series of events that needs to occur for the prophesy to come true. Just my opinion.

My favorite part of the episode: It's sort of sad, but I like how every side in this horrible mess respects or understands Wes's situation. Lorne, Fred and Gunn say that he was trying to help. Even Angel knows it on some level. Justine admires Wes for sacrificing for the greater good. Shajahn praises Wes's spine. Wolfram and Hart are even impressed (something that will come into play later.) Everybody gets why Wesley did what he did, but the poor guy still winds up alone.