Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Angel # 1: Reunion

Season 2, Episode 10
First Aired December 19th, 2000

I thought about including the preceding episode "The Trial" and/or the following episode "Redefinition" along with "Reunion" but ultimately decided to present it on its own. "Reunion" was a pivotal episode in Season 2; it kicked off the "beige Angel" arc and changed the direction of the season. The previous episode ended with Angel and Darla realizing that even though Angel couldn't save Darla's life, he had saved her soul. Then Lindsey and a bunch of Wolfram and Hart security personnel showed up with Drusilla, subdued Angel, and had Drusilla re-sire Darla. This episode begins immediately after and the first part follows Angel as he tries to find Darla before she awakens as a vampire again. Unfortunately, Wolfram and Hart did a pretty good job keeping her hidden, and even the Powers That Be try to keep Angel from succeeding; when he finally figures out where Darla is being kept, Cordelia receives a vision telling them to go the other direction.

Angel later confronts Holland Manners, the W&H lawyer in charge of the Darla "project"; Manners was quite pleased with himself, and looked forward to the massacre Darla and Drusilla would commit in Los Angeles. Ironically, reviving Darla would be the end of Holland and 20 other W&H lawyers. That night, Manners hosted a wine party in his cellar for his colleagues, including Lindsey and Lilah Morgan. Unfortunately, Darla and Drusilla showed up to get revenge for the way they treated Darla; they brought her back as human, used her as bait for Angel, knowing that she would eventually (1) regain her conscience (and feel terrible about her deeds as a vampire) and (2) succumb to syphilis. Before the two vampires could begin their feast, Angel showed up at Manners' house, but instead of saving the attorneys, he locked them in the cellar with Darla and Drusilla. Lindsey and Lilah would be the only survivors. When Angel returned to the Hyperion, Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn expressed their growing unease with the way Angel was conducting himself, so he fired them, to allow for his all-out war against Wolfram and Hart.

Up next: Firefly #3...

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