Angel, "Judgment" Review (2x01)

Brief Synopsis: “After accidentally killing a demon that was protecting a pregnant woman, Angel feels obligated to take the demon’s place. There’s just one problem...the woman is missing. Singing karaoke at a demon sanctuary known as ‘Caritas’ may be the answer to Angel’s dilemma. Meanwhile, Darla is struggling with her newfound heartbeat.”


"To Shanshu In L.A." (1x22) quick link here                                               "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been" (2x02) quick link here

Three quick notes before we get started...

1) This review will almost definitely contain spoilers for episodes after this one.

2) If you enjoy my reviews, please subscribe to the blog! Over on the right-hand side there's a little box that says "Follow Shangel's Reviews by Email!". If you put your Email address in there and click "Submit", then confirm your subscription, you will get each review sent straight to your inbox! No junk mail, no bullshit, just my reviews.

3) If you're going to be using Amazon (UK/USA) or eBay (pretty much anywhere) soon, please do so through my blog. It'll take you just a couple of extra mouse clicks, but they will pay me a small percentage of the money you spend, helping me find more time to write these reviews. Most importantly, it costs you nothing at all extra. Details of how to do this are located here (it'll take less than a minute to read!). Thank you very, very much!

With that being said, let’s get started, shall we?



Oh my goodness, happy nostalgic feelings. As those of you that have read my “City Of” review are aware, “Judgment” was the first “Angel” episode that I ever saw. After Angel walked away from Buffy and Sunnydale in “Graduation Day Part Two”, my ten-year-old self was so furious with him that I flat out refused to watch “Angel” on principle. I was ten, okay! I was having a hard time letting go of Buffy and Angel as a couple! Due to my stubborn refusal, I missed the first season of “Angel” when it originally aired in the UK. By the time “Judgment” was set to premiere on Channel 4, my rage had subsided enough for me to give it a try. So, on a dusty Saturday night (I believe it originally aired on the Friday and that I was watching the late night repeat the next day), I sat down and watched “Judgment” with my elder sister at my father’s house. The very first moment of “Angel” that I ever saw was a green-skinned demon in a white suit, microphone in hand, singing “I Will Survive”. A love affair was born and my new favourite television show was established (a record that “Angel” still holds to this day). Two thoughts very quickly flashed across my young brain... 1) Wow, this show is so much different to “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”! Is “Angel” a musical show? 2) Stupid, idiot child! Why did you miss season one?! Now you’ve got to somehow find it to catch up! My younger readers will be sat there thinking “why didn’t you just find season one online?”. Oh, sweet summer child. This was the year 2000. It wasn’t so easy as to just find it online instantly. This was the days of dial-up modem, the days of floppy discs. I had to wait for “Angel” season one to be released on VHS to finally catch up...now I feel old. I’M 24, DAMN IT! OH MY GOD, I’M 25 YEARS OLD IN 3 WEEKS (21st of June)! SOMEONE BUY ME A ZIMMER FRAME! 

“First impressions are over in an instant, you make your decision.

Before you speak a word, you end your search, the page already turned.”

- Trapt, “Skin Deep”

As a whole, “Angel” season two is vastly superior to the first season. While the first season has some truly fantastic episodes and has a recurring theme of connection and redemption, it lacks a strong season arc. Season two is a much more complete, complex, and coherent season because it has a better structured arc. It feels more fluent and less disjointed. Not only that, but the character of Angel goes through so much in this season that you can’t help but get invested in his story. While season one focused on establishing the characters and their journeys in relation to connection and redemption, season two’s major theme is that of making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. With that in mind, “Judgment” works well as an opening episode. Fittingly, “Judgment” is all about pre-judgments and how they affect the world surrounding you. Pre-judgments are often mistakes. There’s a reason why the phrase “never judge a book by its cover” exists, yet we do it in our lives on a daily basis. We judge people based on their appearance, on first impressions, and on hearsay. So how do these pre-judgments affect us? More importantly, how do they affect Angel Investigations? Wesley assumes that the Prio Motu demon is evil because historically speaking every Prio Motu he’s heard of has been evil. Therefore, Angel kills an innocent demon that was protecting a pregnant woman because he pre-judged that the demon was trying to kill her. Oops.

I’ve literally written an A4-page before even pressing ‘play’ on the episode. Either this Red Bull has made me hyper and overly talkative or I’m as giddy as Andrew would be in a shop called ‘Warren, Warren, Warren’ to see “Angel” season two again. 

When first watching “Judgment”, the character that instantly stood out to me was Lorne. Lorne brings a whole new dynamic to the Buffyverse because he’s the first main character (opening credits) to be introduced that’s a demon. I’m excluding Anya because she’d already lost her demon powers and was living as a human by the time she was promoted to the opening credits of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. Lorne also brings an interesting new level to the show because of his ability to read people’s emotions and futures when they bare their soul and sing. The concept of a demon that can read people’s emotions isn’t new, as we were introduced to an empath demon in “Angel” season one’s “Parting Gifts” (Barney!), but the added bonus of Lorne being able to sense people’s futures was terrific. When you throw in the sparkly suits, the green skin, the cool horns, the sassy personality, the sarcastic sense of humour, and the fact that Lorne totally hit on Angel when he first met him, you have a character that receives Shangel’s patented thumbs up!

Andy Hallett’s singing voice is so soothing that I want him to sing in every episode. Not just of “Angel”, but of every television show I ever watch. EVER. The second thing I instantly fell in love with was Caritas, the sanctuary demon bar where everyone is chilling out and singing karaoke. Caritas and the Hyperion Hotel are my two favourite sets on “Angel”. In the case of Caritas, it allows so much growth for the show after Angel’s apartment building blew up in “To Shanshu In L.A.”. It’s an adult setting where the show can experiment with new things, such as introducing new characters and having the ability to play around with singing and dancing. On the downside, it leads to the ear-violating rendition of “Mandy” by Angel later in the episode, so there’s always a grey cloud to go with that silver lining. I should probably start reviewing the episode itself at some point...

The episode opens with the members of Angel Investigations appearing vastly more confident and cocky than they were at the conclusion of season one. Cordelia has clearly improved as an actress since the last time we saw her on stage in season one’s “Eternity” (“line!”), Wesley is trying to impress women with his ninja-like darts skills...until he throws a dart into someone, and Angel enters a gym, stops a ritual sacrifice, and makes a quip to the gym employee about steroids without even breaking a sweat...

Gym worker: “That guy has horns...”
Angel: “Steroids, not good for you.”

What a terrible cover-up. Angel Investigations are clearly operating from their comfort zone. Now that Angel has a renewed focus due to the Shanshu prophecy, he feels untouchable. “Judgment” is a fall from grace for him. One that eventually leads him to visit Faith in prison at the end of the episode. Like Angel here, Faith fell from grace after accidentally killing an innocent creature. In Faith’s case it was Allan Finch, a human, whereas in Angel’s case it’s the friendly Prio Motu demon. What a beautifully haunting parallel between these two sympathetic characters that care about each other a great deal.

Angel: “You’ve got your steam, you’ve got your sauna, your fresh towels...how bad could it be?”
Cordelia: “You shower with a lot of men.”
Angel: “I’ll always be a loner...”

I’m wet...with perspiration at the prospect of having Darla back in the Buffyverse. First time around (“Buffy The Vampire Slayer” season one), Darla didn’t leave the greatest impression on me. She was a fairly standard secondary villain to The Master for a while before she was killed off far too quickly. Now, she’s back and far, far, far more interesting. Bringing Darla back was brilliant. Bringing Darla back as human was downright genius because it allows her character to become much more complex. We’ve never seen a character deal with a situation like this before. Angel had his soul forced upon him again, but we only see glimpses of this in flashbacks. At the beginning of “Angel” season two, we get to witness Darla’s struggles with her newfound heartbeat and guilt over the people she’s murdered firsthand. I feel so fulfilled at the fact that the show didn’t gloss over Darla’s struggles. It makes sense that she wouldn’t instantly be normal and focused. Being alive again must be a tremendously surreal experience. Being human again and having a soul and a conscience must be traumatic. Julie Benz plays Darla perfectly throughout this season and the next. She’s one of the most captivating, most talented actresses that I’ve had the pleasure of watching in my life. She brings such presence to the show. Wolfram & Hart’s plan to use Darla to turn Angel dark is obvious, but it’s not about how obvious the plan is. It’s about how the plan is going to be executed. There are so many wildcards and unanswered questions...does Darla still love Angel? Does Angel still love Darla? Will Darla betray Wolfram & Hart and seek redemption now that she has a soul? Will Lindsey allow his personal feelings towards Angel to spoil Wolfram & Hart’s plans? Does Lindsey’s new plastic hand come with an adjustable grip lever? Does it give him Darth Vader like grip?

One of my favourite things about “Angel” is the family dynamic between the main characters. This might not be a popular opinion, but I feel like Angel Investigations are closer and more of a family than the Scoobies for the most part. Not more so than the ‘core four’ Scoobies, I suppose, but as a whole I feel the “Angel” characters are closer. Therefore, “Angel” season two is my favourite season for the family dynamic between the cast. Season three’s “Heartthrob”-“Sleep Tight” is my favourite period of the show for portraying how close they are, but that gets spoiled with Wesley’s removal from the group. After that, they never get back on track again as a family. Season one creates the main bonds of friendship, but there are never more than three main characters at any one time. Season two establishes Angel’s version of the ‘core four’ (Angel, Cordy, Wesley, and Gunn), but also introduces Lorne and Fred into the family. These six characters are the foundation of the Angel Investigations family. Plus, Dennis is back and throwing books at Wesley. Oh, the LOLs.

...Can someone explain to me why a small Chewbacca with horns is singing at Caritas? ‘Singing’ might be a little polite. So much ear violation in this episode. Can we create a rule where only Lorne is allowed to sing at Caritas? And Darla in “The Trial”! I suppose we at least get to meet Merl for the first time in this episode. He’s awesome. And tongueless.

Angel: “There are three things I don’t do: tan, date, and sing in public.”

He does one of those in this episode, another one by the end of “Angel”, and I bet he wears fake tan when he knows nobody will notice.

Eventually, after all this humour and entertainment, Angel snaps the neck of a Prio Motu demon, who turns out to be a good guy that was protecting a pregnant woman. Of course, it’s not Angel’s fault that he killed a noble demon. Merl told Angel that the Prio Motu was a stone cold killer and when Angel first saw the Prio Motu, it attacked him. Yet, Angel being Angel, he gets broody, blames himself, and decides that the Prio Motu’s mission is his now. He’s overcome with guilt and shrinks back inside himself...that’ll add another 5 years to his penance and redemption, I’m sure. After learning that the Prio Motu was going to champion for Jo at the Tribunal, Angel decides to take up the mantle himself. In essence, the Tribunal is a panel of judges that have the ability to offer protection to people if they can win a jousting fight against the Tribunal’s champion. If you lose, you die and they probably get to keep your soul or some disturbing shit like that. Well, this is new and interesting. A joust in the middle of a street in Los Angeles. Before Angel can champion for Jo, however, he has to earn her trust. I love that Angel keeps accidentally fucking up Jo’s life. Angel, thou art a flawed hero. In the pilot episode, “City Of”, we witness Angel jump into the wrong car and fail to save the ‘damsel in distress’. Here we are one year later and Angel is still making mistakes. I love that. That’s awesome. Far too many shows are scared of making their hero or lead character seem flawed. Being flawed and overcoming those barriers and insecurities is what makes a hero in the first place!

I also think it’s fantastic that J. August Richards is now a series regular. It makes such a nice change to have a black character as one of the main stars. Sunnydale is so white-centric that they even joke about it in the show when Mr. Trick mentions that Sunnydale is rife with the ‘Caucasian persuasion’. Having a little diversity on “Angel” is a wonderful thing to see. Plus, J. is ridiculously talented and deserves the opportunity to shine (which he does).

Gunn: “Well, did you find the scumbag that killed him?”
Angel: “I’m the scumbag that killed him.”
Gunn: “Ohhhh....”

Since finding out about the Shanshu prophecy, Angel has been focusing and fixating on it. It’s understandable, but that shouldn’t become his primary reason for helping people. Instead of working on redemption regardless of a reward, Angel has become obsessed with the reward itself. After killing the Prio Motu demon, Angel gets bitch-slapped back to reality. I get a great deal of satisfaction out of the scene where Cordy is lifting Angel’s spirits about the prophecy and reiterating to Angel that she knows he’ll succeed in becoming human. It’s beautiful. For the first time in hundreds of years, Angel’s thinking about a future. A future where he’s human and can bask in the sunlight. If he can somehow pull it off, it will be validation that his redemption has been worth something to the PTB. Angel is so intent on making amends for his error with the Prio Motu that he’s willing to sing in public. It’s oddly sweet to see that he cares this much...in a disturbing, someone-stab-me-in-the-eardrums kind of way. I know you feel guilty, Angel, but trust me when I say you can never, ever do anything bad enough to unleash this abomination into the world again. His choice of song, “Mandy”, is too funny to put into words. This is the first glimpse into the fact that Angel is a fan of Barry Manilow. This will come up again repeatedly over the next four years.

The Tribunal...love the concept, love the idea, but the execution is lacking. It wasn’t fleshed-out enough to be memorable outside of “Judgment”. What is the Tribunal? How did it originate? How did the Tribunal know where Jo was? Did she go to them? Did she know where they were going to be? Did they appear to her because of some previous summoning? Did she schedule an appointment? Do they have a receptionist? Do they live above that particular building? How much is their rent? Do they get a discount if they win a jousting battle with the landlord? Why is it never used again, like when Darla is pregnant with Connor? Do they only protect humans that are pregnant? Racists. As you can see, the Tribunal opens up a can of worms that isn’t closed.

The Tribunal: “Your life is forfeit, you have no champion.”
*Angel walks over out of nowhere and throws the talisman on the floor*
Angel: “Yes she does.”

Oooh, what a moment! Inspiring stuff, right there. I still can’t believe there was a jousting battle on “Angel”. That was unexpected. FYI, David is genuinely riding that horse, not a stunt-double. I’m sure Mike Massa does parts of the battle itself, but David is riding that horse for most of the joust. Angel wins the battle, Jo has protection, and the day is saved...a day that was ruined because of Angel in the first place. Awks.

All of this pre-judging and mistake making leads Angel to visit Faith in prison. We last saw Faith handing herself in to the L.A.P.D. in season one’s “Sanctuary”. Words cannot describe my joy over this. Not only is Angel and Faith’s friendship one of my very favourite things ever in the Buffyverse, but it’s a wonderful piece of continuity. Angel would stay in contact with Faith after helping her change her life in “Sanctuary”. Angel would keep tabs on her to make sure she’s keeping on her path to redemption. I adore that Angel cares enough about her and her journey to visit and I adore that it happens on screen. Plus, having Eliza back is always a fantastic thing. Faith is clearly still struggling to stay on the straight and narrow, which she should be. It would be disrespectful to 18 months worth of her character journey if she was instantly cured. This is a long and difficult path for Faith. Yet, she’s still fighting and trying. She’s learned from her mistakes...which wraps up the premiere episode of a season that is all about learning from mistakes perfectly...

Angel: “I had to sing Barry Manilow.”
Faith: “You’re kidding!”
Angel: “In front of people.”
Faith: “And here I am talking about my petty little problems.”
Angel: “Just wanted to give you a little perspective.”
Faith: “Copacabana?”
Angel: “Mandy. I don’t want to dwell on it.”
Faith: “The road to redemption is a rocky path.”
Angel: “That it is.”
Faith: “You think we might make it?”
Angel: “We might.”

As the closing credits roll, we get to see David’s outtakes from his singing. It’s hilarious.


Quote Of The Episode

Cordelia: “It’s nice to finally meet.”

Gunn: “I’ve seen you before.”

Cordelia: “Really? The Tan ‘n’ Screen commercials?”

Gunn: “I saw you in bed.”

Cordelia: “What?!”

Wesley: “I can see this is none of my business...”

Gunn: “You too.”


Wesley: “Now just a moment!”


FINAL SCORE: 7/10

What are your thoughts on "Judgment"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

If you've enjoyed this review, please use the conveniently placed buttons just below to share it on Blogger, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, or email it to a friend! It is greatly appreciated!