Season Three

 

Regular cast: David Boreanaz, Charisma Carpenter, Alexis Denisof, J. August Richards, Amy Acker

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This is the season Angel becomes a father, loses his son, and finally gets his son back. Fatherhood is not an easy road and going from having an infant to having a teenage son out to kill you in the span of a few weeks is a tall order for any parent. The gang will also have to deal with betrayal, and the price of the choices they make, some good and some bad. Additionally, Fred joins Angel Investigations. 

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“Heartthrob”

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Episode 1 of Season 3

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“The woman I love is dead.”

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Original US airdate: September 24th, 2001

Rewatched: March 31st, 2023

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• Writer: David Greenwalt

• Director: David Greenwalt

• Guests: Julie Benz, Andy Hallett, Ron Melendez, Kate Norby, Keith Szarabajka

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This episode is about love and loss. Angel starts the episode in a monastery, looking to find some peace after Buffy’s death, but unfortunately all he found was demon monks. On his return to LA, he reconnects with the gang. Wes and Gunn are excited he’s back and doing better, but Cordy knows he’s still not okay. Fred is also there, living in the hotel and not coming out of her room. In fact, she’s covering her walls in writing and talking to herself. She hasn’t fully recovered from her Pylean adventure, but she’s very happy to see Angel again.

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Cordy has a vision that sends Angel, Wes and Gunn after a group of vampires. While staking them, Angel realizes he knows one. Her name is Elisabeth. She and James were two vampires in love, hanging out with Darla and Angel in Marseilles in 1767. It’s never quite clear how the four ended up together (did Darla and/or Angel sire the two?), nor is it clear how long they spent together, but the four are trying to flee Marseilles as Holtz, the vampire hunter, is after them. James can’t understand Angel and Darla’s relationship. How they can be so self-serving and yet still have a strong relationship (for example, how could Angel forgive Darla for leaving him in the barn when Holtz was after them last?). Indeed, Darla and Angel’s relationship seems built on convenience and a mutual love of the pain they can inflict on each other. But it could be argued that Elisabeth and James are no healthier. In the present, with Elisabeth dead, James has a demon doctor take his heart to make him invincible, with the catch being that he’ll die after a few hours. He hopes it's enough time to kill Angel and exact revenge. 

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With Elisabeth dead, James can’t go on living. Like Drusilla and Spike, this is an unhealthy, all-consuming love. Just because you’d die without each other, doesn’t mean you’re doing it right. This is in stark contrast to Buffy and Angel.  Angel is feeling some guilt that he wasn’t there to fight with Buffy or save her, but the fact that he can go on without her shows he had a healthy relationship. When James and Angel have their final showdown, James claims that Angel can’t have loved Buffy if he's still alive after her death. But at the end of the episode, a conversation with Cordy brings it all together. The big reason Angel isn’t okay is because he’s okay. He tells Cordy “that losing Buffy didn’t kill me. That I could deal with it. In all those years, no one ever mattered. Not like she did and now she’s gone. Forever. […] It just feels like I’m betraying her somehow.” Cordy tells Angel “no… you’re a good guy who’s still fighting and trying to help people and that’s not betraying her, that’s honoring her.”

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Love can be strong and powerful, but it shouldn’t be so strong you can’t live without it, or be yourself. This was clear when Angel left Sunnydale for LA, and it’s still clear now. Angel will always love Buffy, but he has a mission and a life that is independent of her. He can go on.

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A minor theme briefly touched on at the beginning of the episode, and through the evidence of Cordy’s visions getting worse, is the sacrifices Gunn, Wes and Cordy make to fight demons. Before Angel’s arrival, they stop some demon worshippers and on returning to the hotel, Wes quips that “it’s sad. The only way some people can find a purpose in life is by becoming obsessed with demons.” Gunn eventually adds “So glad to know we’re not the sad people obsessed with demons.” All three lament a lack of a social life, but Cordy’s worsening visions are a scary sacrifice. She cries on the floor of the hotel after one, then goes home to pop pills and have Dennis draw her a bath.

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Finally, a few fun facts. We learn that Gunn hates rats, which will come up again in the future, the Ring of Amara gets a mention, and the audience, but not Angel, finds out Darla is pregnant, something that will become a major plot point this season.

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And a final note about Caritas. It’s fun how sometimes the demons in the audience there can be demons seen in other episodes. In “Judgment”, a demon singing is the same type as one seen in “The Ring” and in this episode, a Codger demon tells Gunn and Wes to be quiet. Codger demons will be seen again in “Double or Nothing”.

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“That Vision-Thing”

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Episode 2 of Season 3

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“What could be so important that the Powers would do this?”

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Original US airdate: October 1st, 2001

Rewatched: April 7th, 2023

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• Writer: Jeffrey Bell

• Director: Bill Norton

• Guests: Andy Hallett, Stephanie Romanov, Frank "Sotonoma" Salsedo, Daniel Dae Kim, David Denman, Julie Benz

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The first key theme in this episode is Cordy’s visions and how they are changing her. The symptoms continue to get worse, and although the physical manifestations Cordy experiences in this episode end up being something Wolfram & Hart are visiting upon her, she’s still dealing with ever worsening symptoms from the normal visions. But the visions have become a key aspect of Cordy’s identity (as Fred notes, Cordy is Angel’s Lassie) and Cordelia is afraid of who she is without them (this is similar to Buffy’s feelings about her powers – it’s a pain to have them but once they become a part of your identity, who are you without them?) Cordy needs to fully realize she’s a hero, even without her visions.

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Cordy often feels like bad things might be happening to her because she’s a bad person (in this episode, she asks Angel explicitly if she’s a bad person, and she’s expressed similar sentiments in episodes like Rm w/a Vu). Angel assures her she’s not a bad person, but a strong person, but Cordy is skeptical. She claims “I’m not. I know what I said earlier, but I don’t want the visions anymore. I tried to be brave, I did, but I’m just scared now. I’m scared all the time.” It may be true that Cordy is scared in this episode, but she shows again and again just how strong she is, and how much fighting the good fight means to her. Cordy has refused to give up her visions (and she will continue to do so). Further, she is able to take control of situations, even without visions, and help people. She’s been doing it since season 1 of Buffy (notably when she drove Willow and Jenny Calendar through the school to the library to help save the day) and even when she wasn’t particularly friends with Buffy or the other Scoobies, she did what was needed to save the day. She has continued to be someone willing to help save the day on Angel. The visions just added to this, giving her the ability to help more effectively.

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The second key theme is Angel’s comment that it’s not always about winning. Sometimes the stakes are too high. In this episode, Wolfram & Hart win. Lilah sends visions to Cordy that lead Angel to free someone imprisoned in another dimension. At first, Angel doesn’t realize the visions are fake, leading him to take out several good guys (not the first time Angel has killed demons aligned with the Powers). The first two visions lead Angel to two pieces of a key to another dimension. By the last vision, the gang have figured out the visions are fake, but Angel goes to the other dimension, meets Skip (who will play a role later this season) and frees a prisoner (who will also play a role later this season). For Angel, there is a clear line. He won’t sacrifice Cordy to win a battle. He’s willing to live with some gray in his life.

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A third theme that is alluded to in this episode is the importance of communication and trust. Angel sometimes has trouble trusting the rest of his gang. In this episode, he makes some strides and eventually leaves Cordy to Wes’s care, something he was reticent to do at first. Cordy continues to hide the extent of her issues with the visions. In this episode, she hid the physical manifestations until it became too obvious. The lack of trust and communication underpin many of the bad decisions made on both Angel and Buffy.

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In terms of themes, we continue to follow Cordy on her hero’s journey and learn from Angel the boundaries a hero can set, but also there is some feeling of foreboding when noticing the lack of communication the team sometimes has. Two final notes, however, before leaving this episode. Fred is out of her room and starting to contribute to the group, coming up with the idea to trace Cordy’s visions. And Gunn (and Fred) surprise some exterminators in the hotel, who seem to be up to no good.

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“That Old Gang of Mine”

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Episode 3 of Season 3

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“Every choice we do end up making we feel as though we've betrayed someone.”

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Original US airdate: October 8th, 2001

Rewatched: April 14th, 2023

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• Writer: Tim Minear

• Director: Fred Keller

• Guests: Andy Hallett, Jarrod Crawford, Khalil Kain

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Gunn must finally choose between his gang and Angel. Towards the beginning of the episode, Gunn dreams of his sister Alonna. Gunn is woken (this is the first episode where we see Gunn’s apartment) by a call from the team to help investigate Merl’s death. Gunn can’t really care about solving this crime, as Merl was a demon and a bit shady, so even though he wasn’t evil and did help them with info, Gunn thinks they shouldn’t be tracking his killers. Instead, Gunn pays his old gang a visit and meets a new member, Gio, who is a bit hostile to him, questioning his loyalties. Even Rondell, though not openly hostile, has clearly moved on from Gunn. Again, Gunn is faced with the conflict of who he was and who he is now. As Angel Investigations continues to find dead demons of all varieties, they decide something is killing demons for fun. Gunn figures out it’s his old gang and goes to talk to them (again), as Gunn assumes it’s Gio who’s doing the killing. But it turns out it’s also Rondell.

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It all comes to a head when Rondell and his gang attack Caritas (where Cordy and Wesley had taken Fred for a night out). While demon violence is not allowed, by spell, in Caritas, human violence is. Rondell’s gang holds Wesley, Gunn, Fred and Lorne (and several other demons) hostage, but lets Cordy go to get Angel. Angel sends Cordy to the Transuding Furies, who put the spell on Caritas and seem to know Angel well, and Angel goes to Caritas. It ends how it ends. Gunn is honest in front of his old gang that he can never really be friends with Angel because he’s a vampire, but he can work with him because he agrees with his mission and he feels his old gang has lost theirs. He also shoots a hostage (a demon who eats babies), but helps get everyone else out alive.

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The episode ends with Wesley telling Gunn he understands how hard “the pull of divided loyalties” is, that “every choice we do end up making we feel as though we’ve betrayed someone.” But then tells Gunn to never withhold information again, because “I can’t have any one member of this team compromising the safety of the group, no matter who it is.” This statement will be somewhat ironic later this season. You can’t demand full disclosure without being willing to do it yourself, and while Gunn should have communicated, it’s a lesson Wesley fails to learn here.

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Angel is more understanding. He knows Gunn spoke the truth even though Gunn later tries to deny it, but Angel’s okay with that.

Gunn: Can’t help the way I feel, man, it’s just the way it is. Doesn’t mean that I don’t like you, may be someday, I don’t know.

Angel: I don’t know either, but I got time.

Gunn: Hey, no matter what else, I think I proved that you could trust me. When I could’ve killed you and I didn’t.

Angel: No, you’ll prove I can trust you when the day comes that you have to kill me and you do.

This is somewhat like an exchange Angel has with Wesley in “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, and Wesley (not just Gunn) have had their doubts about Angel in general, for example in “Somnambulist”. While Wesley has come to terms with this a bit more, he still faces his divided loyalties (to the Watcher’s Council and Angel) and will continue to have his doubts from time to time.

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Finally, putting Gunn’s divided loyalties in the center and alluding to Wesley’s really highlights why, while the Angel Investigations team is sometimes billed as a found family, Gunn and Wesley are never quite family. Perhaps to each other, and to Cordy and Fred, but not with Angel. In fact, it’s really only Cordy and Fred who fully accept Angel for who he is and can find their family in him as well as the rest of the team. 

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“Carpe Noctem”

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Episode 4 of Season 3

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“...love is, well, in a way it's everything.”

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Original US airdate: October 15th, 2001

Rewatched: April 21st, 2023

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• Writer: Scott Murphy

• Director: James A. Contner

• Guests: Stephanie Romanov, Daniel Dae Kim, Rance Howard, Paul Benjamin

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This episode has the themes of friendship and love. On the theme of friendship, Angel Investigations is looking into the death of two young men. Angel figures out that a man living in a senior home has been switching bodies with young men, until the bodies give out. The man, Marcus, manages to switch bodies with Angel and he begins to live it up, while Angel is stuck in an old man’s body (and in a retirement home that won’t let him leave or make calls). While at first no one realizes Angel is not Angel, when the team finally does figure it out, they come to save the day, getting Angel and Marcus to switch bodies again and making it so that Marcus can never do a spell again. The dialogue between Marcus and Angel really underscores this theme:

Angel: You may have the attitude and you may have the power, but there’s one thing you don’t have and never will. Friends. […]

Marcus: You don’t deserve that body.

Angel: Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you. I’ll tell you why you have a weak heart, Marcus, you never use it.

 

On the theme of love, two things happen. First, Fred’s love of Angel continues to grow, and when Angel takes her to the movies (a Heston double feature) and Fred mistakes it for a date, things spiral a bit. Cordy is the first to realize that Angel needs to nip things in the bud, but Angel is too chicken. Then Angel is Marcus, who wants to sleep with every woman, so of course he flirts with Fred, too. And finally Angel has to tell Fred that they can only be friends. But of course, in the meantime, the gang has filled Fred in a bit. When Angel Investigations realizes Angel is not himself, they first think he’s turned into Angelus before they realize there’s been a body swap. So, Fred has been told about Angel losing his soul and why dating is not really a great thing for him to do. As Fred say, “It’s like something out of Fitzgerald. The man who can have everything but love. Well, maybe in some ways you’re better off, because love is, well, in a way it’s everything. It’s also heartache and disappointment and those are good things to avoid.” But Angel hasn’t completely avoided love. And the second important event here is a call from Willow. Buffy is alive. Angel drops everything to take that call. And he will drop everything to go see her, meeting halfway between LA and Sunnydale. Angel does have love. But it’s complicated. And it’s not Fred.

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A final theme of this episode is the exploration of what keeps Angel in check. Marcus has a soul, but he is not a good person. He is trading bodies, knowing he’ll kill his victims, hiring hookers and picking up women, and living it up. As Angel, he embraces being a vampire. When Lilah comes to Angel with paperwork to help protect him from Gavin (Lilah is not about to let Gavin’s attempts to thwart Angel by attacking his real estate holdings succeed), Marcus seduces Lilah (just after having flirted with Fred and Fred is devasted when she sees “Angel” kissing Lilah) and then bites her. Then he goes out on the town and bites another woman. It’s not just Angel’s soul that keeps him in check. It’s who he is. His desire to be good and find atonement make him who he is. The soul just gives him the ability to do that.

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Angel may not have romantic love for Fred, but he and Angel Investigations have each others’ backs. They are five people devoted to making the world a better place and that is something powerful.

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