"Angel" Slouching Toward Bethlehem (2002)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Skip Schoolnik

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"Angel" (1999)

Original Air Date:

27 October 2002 (Season 4, Episode 4)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

Cordy returns from being a Higher Power and Team Angel is thrilled to see her. Unfortunately, she has...

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Vampire Slayer | Redemption | Actress | Supernatural

Cast

David Boreanaz	...	Angel
Charisma Carpenter	...	Cordelia Chase
J. August Richards	...	Charles Gunn
Amy Acker	...	Winifred 'Fred' Burkle
Vincent Kartheiser	...	Connor
Alexis Denisof	...	Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
Andy Hallett	...	Lorne
Stephanie Romanov	...	Lilah Morgan
David Grant Wright	...	Minivan Dad
Carol Avery	...	Minivan Mom
Steven Mayhew	...	Minivan Teen
Nynno Ahli	...	Carlo
Thomas Crawford	...	Eater Demon

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Mutant Enemy

Trivia:

The title and Lorne's comment about "slouching towards Bethlehem" come from the W.B. Yeats poem The Second Coming: "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Connor supposedly jimmies the hallway window to gain access, there is obviously no lock mechanism on the window and no need to jimmy it to gain access.

Quotes:

Cordelia: That's everything? It all makes perfect sense now. I was a cheerleader, a princess and a warrior. And I have visions and super powers and I'm the target of an evil law firm because I've spent the last three months living on a higher plane, fighting for the forces of good, who wage a battle against demons and evilies and squishy bug babies, 'cause all that stuff's real and that's the world I live in. And-and I think I know why I don't remember any of this 'cause, hey who'd want to!

Cordy's back... Sorta

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I hit the spoiler button at the top, but just to let you know, I'm about to blow a major plot point of the season. So if you haven't seen all of season four and you want to be surprised stop reading this. I don't want to ruin anything, okay? Ready? Last chance.

Cool, so is Cordy evil from this episode on ward or what? I kinna think that she's at least a little bit of real Cordeila, what with the looking at Sunnydale High's year book and singing "The Greatest Love of All" to Lorne. (Those are BTVS references from season three's "Graduation Day Part Two" and season one's "The Puppet Show," if anybody out there missed those episodes.) The way I understand it Real Cordy is inside that body someplace, but so is a demon thing. So is real Cordy in charge at this point? Is she really Cordelia fighting the demon for power, trying to see through the amnesia, or is this all an act? They seem to wake something up inside of her in "Spin the Bottle," so did the demon gain total control at that point and do something to Real Cordy? Or did the spell do something to push Real Cordy out? Or am I wrong and was Real Cordy never in the body, at all? Honestly, it all gets kinna confusing. Anyway, this isn't my favorite episode or plot, but it does have a pretty big impact on the rest of the season so you shouldn't skip it.

The episode revolves around Cordelia showing up at the Hyperion. She's back from Floaty, Magic land and Angel is thrilled to see her. Unfortunately, she seems to have amnesia. Worried that telling her about vampires, demons and fighting for the mystical forces of good might scare her, Angel, Gunn, and Fred try to hide the truth. After Cordy's sees Fred & Gunn covered in monster-slime, reads her old Sunnydale year book (Dear Cordy, Thanks for the flaming arrows...) and sees Angel's game face, she quickly learns the truth. She listens to their explanations, but she's not happy. Lorne tries a reading, but something in Cordy's head scares him... A lot. When one of Lorne's clients attacks her, Cordy flees the Hotel with Conner.

Meanwhile Wes and Lilah continue to have a good time being bad together. When Wes hears Lilah talking on her cell-phone, he realizes that Wolfram & Hart is after Cordy and Conner. He goes to warn Team Angel. They arrive just in time to save Cordy from Wolfram & Hart's goons, but it turns out that it was a set-up. Lilah wasn't after Cordy. She was after Lorne. Wolfram & Hart sucked his reading out of his head, so he can't remember what he'd learned about Cordelia. Wes is hurt when he learns that Lilah lied to him, but she points out that he's the one who eavesdropped. Angel wants Cordy to come back to the hotel. But she says that she wants to stay with Conner, the only one she claims never lied to her.

There are some good parts to this episode. Angel trying to hide the mystical happenings at the Hyperion is funny and sweet at the same time. He's so anxious to make Cordy feel comfortable, that it just makes her more nervous. He finally just asks her to trust him and he looks so adorable, that Cordy's temporarily won over. Then comes the whole reading thing. Poor Lorne winces through her song, partly because she's really bad and partly because of the visions he's getting. It's very cool. Also, I just love Wes and Lilah. I think that they're starting to like each other just a little bit more than they'd ever intended. Finally, I just love all the Sunnydale references. It's so great when the show remembers it history.

On the downside, I don't think it's fair to blame Wes for this. He was right about Wolfram & Hart attacking Conner and Cordy. In fact, when Team Angel arrived, Conner had gotten beat down and Cordy was getting kidnapped. And Lilah didn't seriously hurt Lorne because she knew that he was part of Wesley's family. Wes takes some flak for this, but without him, things could've been a lot worse. Also, I just don't like Cordy and Conner together. It's sort of creepy, since she's almost his mother. In fact, one of the reasons that I think the demon is at least partially in control of her at this point is the fact that Cordy left the Hyperion with Conner. Speaking from my personal experience of being a 20-something woman, NO WAY am I ditching Angel for Conner. I don't care if Angel's the undead or not. I don't need any memories to know that just ain't gonna happen. Sorry.

My favorite part of the episode: Wes giving Lilah that dollar when he loses the bet and uses the word "relationship" first. It's crazy, but they're just so darn CUTE together.