Angel just didn't want to admit to Xander that he'd never bothered to learn CPR during his century of brooding.

"And yet, somehow, I just can't seem to care" Probably a top 5 Angel quote, if not top 3 for me. Just...chilling

The Champion Counter, something I didn't think I needed till now

“Resentment and hatred are still a burden that commemorates the abuser. A weight around the neck that maintains their continuing power over their abused.” - that is a fantastic quote. Thank you! I’ve been trying to put this thought into words for a long time.

Finally someone is standing up for Willard. He was the best character on the show. Justice for Willard.

Ah, yes, the "Bring Angel down" - plan, or B.A.D. plan for short.

Angel never learned to do CPR, but he didn't want to admit that to XANDER, so he made a mystical excuse.

Drusilla's quiet "Daddy?" has always stuck with me. I think of it whenever I see Drusilla even on repeat watches of episodes before this one. Very powerful episode.

Gunn: OK, I'm still trying to get this family tree straight. Darla sired Angel. Wesley: Correct. Gunn: And Angel sired this Drusilla... Wesley: Back when he and Darla were together, yes. Gunn: But before Angel got his soul back, right? Wesley: Certainly. Gunn: Now, these lawyers, they brought Darla back as human. Now, this Drusilla vamp goes and bites Darla? Wesley: So it would seem. Gunn Making her a vampire again. Wesley: That's the cosmological upshot, yes. Darla's human self has died and sometime before dawn, unless Angel can stop it she will rise again, a soulless demon. Gunn: So that means... Wesley: The clock is ticking. Gunn: Naw naw. What I'm saying is that means the granddaughter remade the grandmother. Wesley: Oh...yes. Gunn: Man, somehow that weirds me out more than the whole blood sucking thing.

"And yet I just can't seem to care." I knew it was an echo, but I always forgot that this was the episode Holland said it.

My headcanon for that line in Prophecy Girl was that Angel didn't know how to perform CPR and, out of guilt for not being able to save Buffy, lied.

It makes perfect sense to involve Dru because it twists the knife on Angel. A random vampire would be one thing, but to have Darla taken from him at the hands of something he created adds to his own guilt and culpability. The way he sees things, it's essentially the same as if he turned Darla.

23:48 "We'll talk about this more when we get to the episode, Epiphany" See you guys in 2023.

I've always seen Angel's fall as self-defined. He set the limits for what makes him a champion/hero, chief among them being to avoid unecessary bloodshed. The moment he closes the door is him turning his back on his own morals and willingly embracing everything he opposes. Becoming the Dark to fight it.

My theory has always been that vampires don’t technically need to breathe, but they just do it out of old habit from when they were humans.

I never found Angel's actions in this episode questionable from a narrative standpoint. He's been sliding that way slowly thanks to the lawfirm's actions. This episode was just the breaking point.

My "Angel has no breath" canon is that the breath is missing like, the humanity or the soulfulness that would allow him to use it to bring Buffy back to life. Like, yeah, they breathe and pant and talk and blow recent-victim's cigarette smoke but they can't use their breath to revive a person. Contrived but consistent. Works for me.

When the discussion of Angel's ethics came up, I thought about the first season of The Good Place. Eleanor tries to get more points to stay in the good place, but it doesn't work because her motivation is corrupt. That's the issue with Angel's choice in the episode. He didn't abandon the lawyers because it was an ethical choice which prevented potential death and harm. He closed the door on them out of spite. That's the recurring thread with Angel. As an addict he tries to be a better person. He tries to take the high road, but he is constantly cut down by morally bankrupt people or by people who give into their worst impulses. It happened in 'Blind Date' and 'Are you now or have you ever been.' If I was Dru in this scene I would said Anayanka instead of Angelus. To me Angel's chose a vengence demon's version of justice. He chose retribution over mercy. After all what is the point of pursuing justice in a cold and unjust universe?

I love how simultaneously, “I just seem to care” is simultaneously one of Angel’s most human & inhuman moments. …What? I’d let them reap what they sowed too. Not like he killed them, he just let them die. Bortles!

It never occurred to Holland that he was just as expendable as everyone else to the senior partners. I think the main issue with W&H's plan, besides the vagueness of it, is that they largely dropped the arc when they went to Pylea and never really picked it back up until "Home". The question I have is why the senior partners wanted him dark so badly. I realize that he's destined to play a major role in some far off apocalypse but that still seems like a lot of work for an outcome that wouldn't guarantee what side he'd ultimately be on.

“And they have a plan…” Wolfram & Hart are worse than the Cylons.

*spoilers for the whole show* So I have some thoughts about Wolfram & Hart’s plans regarding Angel and how they, at least to me, work thematically to make the show a masterpiece. It’s been stated since the Shanshu Prophecy was revealed that Angel is supposed to play a major role in the apocalypse, but nobody knows precisely what that role is or who’s side he will be on. My take on Wolfram & Hart is that people like Holland are never given the full picture by the people, demons, or inter-dimensional beings above them. Holland is told, “we need Angel’s ties to humanity to be severed, we need him thirsting for vengeance, we need him as aggravated as you can possibly make him so that he’s less likely to be a champion for good, come the apocalypse.” But we also know from later seasons that “the apocalypse” isn’t really the long term goal for the majority of the firm’s staff. They are perpetuating the status quo, keeping things going as they are, which is a pretty hefty criticism of capitalism and industrialism that I personally agree with. There is no need for an all-out, world ending apocalypse if the world itself is living hell. This may seem to contradict the mission statement given to Holland, but I think it’s purposefully inconsistent. No one knows the future, even the senior partners. So they are keeping the wheels of the world greased with blood, feeding the slow-motion apocalypse of daily life - but all the while hedging their bets about this prophesied “Apocalypse” apocalypse in which Angel will supposedly take part. This is where I find the show to be absolutely brilliant. By putting Angel in a position of power, showing him just how hopelessly corrupt and infected the world at large is, and by targeting his friends as pawns in keeping him on “their side” of the chess board, the senior partners actually placed Angel in a position where he could choose to bring about this Apocalypse himself. As he says, he wants to bring the whole thing to a screeching halt, even if for just a second, if only to show them that they don’t own him. So at the end of the day, Angel did play a major role in the “Apocalypse”, he caused it himself. Which side was he on? Did he do exactly what was prophesied for him, is he an agent of evil regardless of his motivations? Many, many people will have died as the result of his actions. But maintaining the status quo, doing Wolfram & Hart’s work for them, would surely result in a cumulatively equal amount of evil in the world. Is Angel a hero for bringing a momentary end to the veneer of normalcy, revealing the world as the hell on earth it truly already was? That is the overall theme of the show to me: choice. Angel was allowed to choose his path, and we may choose to see it in whatever way we will, but the truth is life on earth was always going to end the way it was maintained- in blood.

everytime I watch this episode i think back to the moment in amends where angel explains that "it isn't the demon that needs fighting, it's the man". i think this episode forced that moment open and showed two sets of morally grey soulded "men" fighting against two monsters. Angel doesn't choose to let dru and darla feed because he wants to join (as his monster would) but because he hates them, a very relatable, human problem. Holland and angel are paralled in this episode with the line "i just can;t seem to care", and I think more than anything this episode is about the downfalls of souled beings bringing their own demise. the wolfram and hart gang brings the demise by igniting this plan in the first place, and angel by walking away from his gained morality. I'm always stunned that ATS went there with this episode, and, kind of like buffy season 6, I find it a beautiful exploration of chaos I can't look away from but somehow doesn;t fall into meloncholy or melodrama

I love the symmetry of the color of Darla's dress. It reminds me a lot of Buffy's dress in Prophecy Girl and it's also the antithesis of Drusilla's dress in What's My Line Pt 2. I hope I'm not talking out of pocket with these connections

Holland subscribes to the Dutch van der Linde school of having plans; insisting that you have one which will be set in motion as soon as the next prerequisite is fulfilled

For me the plan is the "Vampire with a soul will play a pivotal role in the Apocalypse." That means they know a vampire with a soul will play a part in their (Wolf, Ram & Hart) fate, so what they need to do is make sure he is corrupted so he will more likely be on their side. Kill him, well who knows if some other vampire with a soul would shows up they don't know about? Also, as high ranking a Holland is, he's still expendable to Wolfram & Hart. They plan was probably to get Angel to be dark, but him letting Darla & Dru kill everyone, well it works better than expected (for the senior partners). What is going on is a chess game between the senior partners & The Powers That Be to make sure Angel is on their side for the Apocalypse (hence why they let Angel into Kate's place without an invite).

I jsut found Buffy and angel this year and I binged both shows in the span of three months(I’m a full time student) and it really has changed my life view. I’m know an existentialist myself! Anyways these shows are my favorite shows now, and your guides are some of my favorite as it feels like I’m discussing this show with friends(sadly no one in my generation gives the show a chance)

Amazing analysis Everytime you bring a new dimension to the show Those parts like the toxic family vs chosen family always hit home with us, but only on a subconscious level You vocalize them beautifully

Based on the skid marks, that road must have had a "J-turn zone" sign on it.

22:32 You did the thing. You did the thing! [Context: I used a GIF of this scene to reply to Ian and he said he'd use it and I was excited that I helped]

I always took “I have no breath” to mean “I have no animus.” A dead thing cannot give life, that sorta thing. Just in case my headcanon helps :)

What blows me away about Reunion is that its NOT the SLAM DUNK of the Angel/Holland battle you assume it is on first watch through. I remember the first time I watched this. When Angel throws Hollands "and yet somehow, I just can't seem to care." line back in his face, and lets him suffer the consequences of his evil actions, while I was stunned, I was also stoked that Angel finally got one over on Holland/Wolfram & Hart..... you wanted Evil Angel, well ya got him! I had no idea that just 5 episodes later, Holland would DESTROY Angels entire world in 1 scene in an elevator. Honestly, the season long arcs at play in Season 2 are incredible. If it didn't have a few real stinkers in the middle (Happy Anniversary/Thin Dead Line), and a kind of weird mini arc tacked on at the end, it would be the best season of the show, by a mile.

14:25. The problem with going back in time and killing Baby Hitler is that you won't be known as the guy who killed Baby Hitler, you'll just be some guy who killed a baby.

I always thought the plan was what was revealed on Reprise. That they don’t really have an end goal or win they are trying to get to, just trying to corrupt and take as many good people down as possible. And with angel, he has the capacity to do some really great good but also some really evil evil, so they’d rather have him bad or evil to cause more suffering. I never thought there was some great end plan, just the continual grind towards evil.

4:23 This is my favorite WTF moment! It's just one of those things where once you've seen it you can't unsee it. It just cracks me up every time.

SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT SIX EPISODES ALTHOUGH THE VIDEO HAS VAUGUE MENTIONS ALSO, SO DON'T CRUCIFY THE WARNING PLEASE I've heard interviews with writers saying they were going to draw the "Angel going dark" story out before they realized he was already dark, thus resulting in Angel locking up the lawyers with Darla and Drusilla. Gunn: "The granddaughter re-made the grandmother." Drusilla to Darla in the episode _Darla:_ "I could be your mummy." Great foreshadowing. Angel referencing Angelus as himself shows another level to his guilt. Vampires breathing is one of the few times I go outside of being a Watsonian and into being a temporary Doylist. Vampires don't have to breath, but actors do, acting or no. Its one of those things that I've always been able to ignore in-universe for the out-of-universe reason. I find it interesting that Darla, at first, as a soulless creature, was upset with Drusilla for being turned again. But what Ian said about it made sense. TV special effects in general are always a bit dodgy. The budget just doesn't stand up to what they want them to do, then or now, so fans are lucky they are as good as they are. I love the Angel and Lindsay comparison with being cut off and death. Angel going dark before and now doing so again actually goes against the idea that writers cannot redo storylines. They just have to be creative to make it work, and this worked. I agree that most AtS episodes between this one and _Reprise_ seem almost unneeded. I like that Angel takes time "after the fall" to get back up again, but I wish the in-between had been as interesting instead of filler boring-ness, arc-wise. I don't think Holland getting eaten was the plan. The replacements characters of whomever dies have been told by their bosses that it was the plan, though. Ultimately, no one knows the plan or has a design, probably not even the senior partners. Everyone at W&H seems to be trying to guide prophecy instead of letting prophecy play itself out naturally, and in the end that dooms their employees. In short, Holland, nor anyone else, actually has a plan. They just put on a show to make it seem they do, and Angel continues to have free will to close those basement doors. I think that idea fits in perfectly with Angel learning what he does in the elevator _Epiphany_ reveal. I think it had to be Drusilla to turn Darla because she is the only tie close to Darla and Angel (as Angel wouldn't have cared about Spike or he would have called Angel on his darkness and bull$%^&) and Darla is a personal connection to Angel. Not just because she "made" him, but because he killed her back in S1 of BtVS. It wasn't a coincidence that we didn't see Angel for three episodes after Darla's death in BtVS. He feels guilty. Drusilla turning Darla will make it all the worse due to the guilt over what Angel did to Drusilla, so the metaphorical back breaks when Angel closes those basement doors and he answers the "siren call."

It didn't seem like there was any scenario where Angel would save them. The PTB's own trolley problem seemed to be that either they let all the lawyers become snacks, or lose their champion by having him hold the lever in place to make sure all the lawyers became snacks. So, I guess what I'm saying here is, good luck getting Willard any justice?!

I always thought the best vamp face was when Angel turns back into Liam (the episode they lose their memories). And he keeps vamping out over and over again, in shock.

“The trolley is on rails, Angel is not.” Is he… going off the rails, then? 🥁

Gimme gimme, three of the best Angel episodes back to back

I was having a very frustrating day. My feelings on this episode are equally complicated. Thanks for the laughs and the solidarity.

I always suspected that the PTBs were evil, but when they send Angel across town to save an idiot from himself when he had a chance of catching Dru and Darla before they killed anyone, they confirmed it.

I read a few things differently. To me the Shanshu is THE APOCOLYPSE, the inevitable coming of the end of the world in which the Senior Partners and PTB will go all out in a slug match, and the Vampire with a soul will play the deciding role in the battle. WR&H wanting to get Angel on their side for the battle and that's their goal. An ensouled Angel wouldnt fight for them, and Angelus wouldnt either, but maybe a Ensoulded Angelus would. Secondly with Dru, not only is it poetic in a way to hurt Angel, but (maybe this is the Vampire the Masquarde nerd in me) I've always read Buffyverse vampires as being more powerful the closer they are to the old ones. Through The Master Darla was pretty close to the old ones, as was Angel, Dru and Spike. By having Dru resire Darla it keeps her on that power level relative to Spike.

Yayyyy, I've been so excited for this one! I'm so glad you brought up the family parallels, it's something that I think about all the time, especially with regards to (MILD SPOILER) Angel's relationship to a certain cave-dwelling physicist we've yet to meet versus his relationship with Drusilla and, even further back, his own sister. To me, the vagueness of Wolfram & Hart's plan IS the point. Okay, admittedly from a purely narrative standpoint it's weird but thematically it makes sense to me. If evil in the Buffyverse is roughly parallel to our biggest fears, isn't the seed of fear the idea that the worst thing that can possibly happen or that we can possibly become is more powerful than us and therefore inevitable? Or, in the parlance of this channel, that there is only one choice and it is the worst one available. But it's still just fear. Wolfram & Hart's power is the IDEA that they have some grand and inevitable plan that is doomed to swallow Angel up, not the FACT of them actually having one. They're written as the embodiment of fear/evil, with some big, horrible plan we don't understand and can't overcome. And (SPOILER) we never learn if that plan is actually bigger and badder than us, but Team Angel continue to believe it isn't.

I really like how Wolfram and Hart play the long game.

Your ending gave me goosebumps! Amazing editing 🙌🙌🔥

I always did want more of Lindsay! I thought he was super cool!

I remember reading a Buffy comic once where Angelus struggles to breathe after being turned into a vampire for the first time: he's not used to no longer needing to breathe, so he panics and assumes he must be choking. While that obviously doesn't match up with his canon transformation, it does nicely explain away some - though obviously not all - of the moments where vampires clearly breathe, like Darla's rise in this episode. She's gotten used to breathing again and, still a bit confused about what's going on, thinks she's choking.

The Plan is something only the Wolf, The Ram and the Heart truly knows. They don't want the world to end by any means they want the world to end and they end up on top. That plan needs Angel to be on their side. The details are vague and unimportant to them and if one plan fails throw up another one, they have time.

Excellent work my friend, as always

"Taking one life to save a thousand. No one should have to make that decision." - Sam Fisher.

It feels like Wolfram and The Powers That Be are playing a long giant 7D chess game and we just saw a series of moves to get rid of a piece. Like all the lawyers at W are pawn (literally) and rooks and bishops trying to capture a troublesome knight only to have them fall for a trap by a third player.

I love that in defeating the morality inside Angel, Holland sets up his own death indirectly. He faces the immediate consequences of breaking Angel down. Too good at his job.

Legit one of my favorite episodes of the series. This is one of those episodes that stayed with me long after the viewing.

It's just such a treat every time a new video of yours appears!

having survived a couple decades in the bowels of a soulless corporation, I always looked at WR&H's approach to Angel as a strategy or a "playbook" or "blueprint" as we called it, and not a plan. A plan indicates the goal is to win. as Holland pointed out so well, they intend nothing so prosaic as winning.

This is one of your best videos. Very well done.

Angel, vampire Dexter? Also, him shutting the door makes me think of that saying a hero let's one(or a small room) dies to save the world, a villain saves one and let's the world die. Edit: Holland totally has a Caesar cut, not a bowl cut

Wow, this one was really well done!👌 Definitely worth the wait!!!

You did it again. I absolutely loved this video. The family aspect rings loud. Thank you 🙏🏽

This is why I love your videos. I'd never really considered the parallel between this episode and Are You Now or Have You Ever Been. Chills!

Beautiful editing on this one, bravo!!!

I love these reviews so much

I like how you can see the skid marks on the road from the previous J turns while shooting.

another awesome deep dive, connection points and moments together that i hadn't truly thought of! :D

I've been waiting for this episode review for the longest.

I'm always so happy when I see one of your videos drop. Thank you so much for your work, it is appreciated

Beautiful as always, Ian.

Omfg my favorite KZfaqr with a new vid as I get home from a long day!!!!!! I love you man

Looking ahead to the rest of Season 2, when you get to Dead End, if you don't spend AT LEAST 20 to 30 minutes on the best part of the episode, CHHHAAARRLLIE!!!!, I'm rioting. In my head canon, he was the secret Big Bad pulling the Senior Partners strings all along.

Just my opinion, but I do think W & H (specifically the Senior Partners) do have a clear plan, it's just that some of the people who think they're in on the con turn out to be one of the marks. It's a wheels within wheels kind of thing. I would say more, but can't without being super spoiler-y.

You mentioned in your video for Revelations that these retroactively instituted "counters" are a big bowl of butts for you to do so the first time I watched this video (I've watched it three times since you posted) and I saw the rewind and the imposing of the Champion counter, I cackled out loud and said "I love you Ian." I'm still cackling, and I still love you and all that you do. Stellar guide for one of my faves of the series.

I love that you cover Buffy and Angel. Some of my favorite shows ever!

Great work as always.

I never stay up this late and refresh my page. Lucky me tonight.

A champion counter? Fuck yes!!

Nothing like waking up to a new video from you! I hope that you have been doing well!

This is it friends, this is the one we've all been waiting for!!! Can't wait to watch this, but unfortunately I have to. I'll back in a few hours

FINALLY!! I almost lost hope sir. And now we observe.

Ah I've been waiting for this one! This has to be one of my favourite episodes in Angel! It almost feels like it could have been a Season Finale given the stakes and the set up for the next episodes!!! Can I just point out how dynamite Darla and Drusilla look when they turn up at the party? Like if that's what happens when you die and are resurrected then SIGN ME UP! XD

Oh, my god! FINALLY a new Angel analysis!

The whole inconsistency surrounding vampires breathing always bothered me too, but I think I might have an explanation that matches the in-universe lore: We know that vampires can *breathe* just by virtue of the fact that they can talk, just like they can bleed despite no circulation, and that they can eat despite not deriving any sustenance from food. My thought is that while vampires *can* still do all of these things they could do as a human, their lack of a soul also comes with a lack of some kind of vital essence. This seems especially possible when you consider the association across many if not most human cultures between soul and breath - e.g. how the word 'spirit' ultimately comes from the Latin for 'breath', link between chi and breathing, etc. This idea fits the lore because presumably the same explanation would work as to why vampires are infertile - the lack of a vital essence precludes them from giving life to anything (unless... it just happens to give you a low sperm count? That'd be a bit of an odd specification). Therefore my reading of Angel's 'no breath' line is not that he *can't* breathe, but that the air a vampire breathes behaves in a similar way to any food a vampire eats: tastes of nothing, provides no sustenance, and so no oxygen etc. As far as Darla is concerned, I then read her gasping when she awakes as a left over human reflex. We don't see the same thing when Angel is hanged because he was a vampire when hanged him, whereas the last thing Darla remembers is being human, and so the need to breathe. There is one major flaw with this idea however - Angel has a soul, therefore shouldn't he need to breathe too by this argument? To this I think I just have to say eh... Gypsy-stereotype magic? The mechanics of how Angel's curse re-ensouls him without de-vampiring him are never really explained, but I guess it stands to reason that if it didn't de-vampire him then the curse must have given him a soul but no life essence, i.e. no spirit, implying that in Buffy canon there is a distinction between having a soul and being alive (which if WH lawyers do sell their soul, also seems consistent.). That's my thought anyway, I'd be interested to know if anyone has any thoughts or counter-examples! I'm a big fan of the Buffy-mythology discussions on this channel!

Great episode. Angel and this 😊

I think when Wolfram & Hart lawyers brought in Drusilla and turned Darla back into a monster right in front of his eyes, Angel had stopped seeing them as humans. They became monsters in his eyes, and he no longer recognized a moral imperative to save them from the consequences of their own evil actions.

Laughed my ass off at this one.

RIP Willard.

I did some research and tracked down the script for this episode. For the curious, this is how the wine cellar gathering is described: "INT. WINE CELLAR - NIGHT This room must have cost a fortune. Stylish architecture. Ornate tables. Then there's the wine. Bottles and bottles of it in the various racks. A dozen WOLFRAM AND HART LAWYERS (including Lilah) stand, sipping wine, listening to Holland who addresses them from a raised stone ledge." I don't really think they were intended to be much more than lawyers, but there seriously were still servants there, and of course, the script can only tell us so much -- what is on screen is still up for interpretation. I don't think it excuses Angel's actions either way. But shout out to this hilarious direction: "And with that Angel closes and locks the two big oaken doors on all of them. Stunned looks all around. Even from Darla and Dru, but they're stunned with delight. They share a "that was so cool!" look." Heh.

Awesome review.

I love it Ian , Fandom Argument aside , You know the truth ,I get tongued tied during our conversations and that is not a reflection on you or any member but my own insecurities , that being said I have mention time and time again That I believe the soul cannon to be the human identity , and here's why my friend one The demon is literal 2 the human consciousness is literal and finally and minor spoilers the direction of Spike, Angel and Darla and their actions onward tie into their own human essence. I also Mention I love the Trials for many reasons and WFH's plan thanks to your video makes it even more clear as to their intent , the vampire with a soul will play a pivotal role in the apocalypse. Great Video Ian I am glad you didn't rush through this one, I am grateful that you give these reviews the care they deserve

I'd never noticed that dummy in the back seat before, but now I'm going to see it every damn time.

Simply the best episode of the show

One of my favorite episodes of Angel but that ending I was not prepared for that.

He is returned

Great guide, well done

yesss new episode !!!!

The universe is chaos. Wolfram & Hart and the Powers That Be pretend that they have a plan and are in control of Angel's journey, but the truth is that no one is in charge of Angel except Angel. He's the wild card in their games with each other.

#Justice4Willard

Thank you

I see it as a human reflex. Vampires, especially new-made ones, forget they don't need to breathe. Darla's just been human again so waking to find herself in that position, plus the memory and emotion of her latest death, pushes the reflex button of, I can't breathe! I can't breathe! Even though she doesn't actually need to.

While watching this I suddenly realized that James Mason (who plays Brutus in the 1953 Mankiewicz movie) and David Franklin (who plays Brutus on Xena: Warrior Princess) kinda look alike. Not much else to say about this that others haven't commented already, other than that I really enjoyed this review. Happy to see you're back, hope you're doing well.