Angel, "Epiphany" Review (2x16)

Brief Synopsis: “After an empty night of passion with Darla, Angel wakes to discover that his soul is still intact. This leads to Angel having an epiphany, and he realises how far into darkness and despair he’s sank. Angel wishes to counteract his destructive behaviour by righting some wrongs, starting with his former team. However, Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn may not live long enough for Angel to make amends...”


"Reprise" (2x15) quick link here                                                                                                                  "Disharmony" (2x17) quick link here

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



“Epiphany” signifies the end of the Darla arc of “Angel”, which is a sad thing to type as it’s the greatest arc of the show. When you think about the quality of the episodes since it began, you realise that this was something truly special. Let’s take a look at my ‘final scores’ for the Darla arc, shall we (excluding standalone episodes)? Each episode is ranked out of ten...7.5, 8.5, 8, 9, 7.5, 9, 9. That’s one helluva run! What makes it great is that it’s a relatively simple story compared to the others. No ‘Big Bads’, time travelling enemies, or fallen Powers That Be, just Angel battling against a law firm and his sire. It’s a journey about what it means to be human, what it means to be evil, what it means to be a hero, and how entangled the relationship between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ really is. Is a villain always bad? Is a hero always good? We’ve certainly seen Angel commit some truly villain-like acts recently. Dangling Merl upside down in the sewer and leaving him there, for example. Plus, we’ve seen Wolfram & Hart help to raise money for a homeless shelter, even if they were going to keep the vast majority of the money for themselves. The Darla arc has taken the mostly black-and-white world of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” and turned it into nothing but different shades of grey. Most bad people have reasons for being that way and most good people have bad traits. When you couple this behaviour with top notch writing, acting, and directing (mostly from Tim Minear), you have groundbreaking television that’s hard to top or compete with.

After arguably the most depressing, devastating “Angel” episode ever, what “Epiphany” offers us is a light at the end of the tunnel. Now, that light is far away and it’ll be a long time before we breathe in fresh air again, but it’s there somewhere. There is hope for Angel after all. It’s not going to come easy. Angel needs to win his friends back and start helping the helpless again and making even more amends for his actions. But, the P.T.B. step in and help Angel to realise that he does have a purpose and he can make a difference. If Earth is Hell (which Holland showed Angel in the last episode), it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. The world is still capable of being changed for the better. While “Epiphany” doesn’t quite pack the emotional punch of “Reprise”, it’s equally as good because it brings a nice counterbalance to the bleakness of its predecessor. 

I appreciate that this episode doesn’t sugarcoat things for Angel or make it easy for him to stroll back into his old life. After committing to Angel’s darkness for seven episodes, it would have been a travesty and an insult to the audience to just have Cordy, Wesley, and Gunn accept him back as their leader with open arms because he’s had an epiphany. The second season of the show has been an exploration of how close Angel is to Angelus at times. Angel doesn’t need to be soulless to do terrible things and hurt people. Sure, Wolfram & Hart were the catalyst for this and spent months and months trying to turn him dark, but it was Angel’s actions and decisions that ultimately brought him into the position he’s in now. Angel hurt Wesley, Cordy, and Gunn’s feelings. Cordelia in particular as she’d been with Angel since day one. They survived Sunnydale together (granted, they weren’t close in Sunnydale), they survived Doyle’s death together, they spent a good 18 months helping the helpless together, and then Angel fired her and abandoned her out of the blue. Angel needs to earn their trust and friendship back and this isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight.

The episode opens much like “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” season two’s “Innocence” does, with Angel crawling across a rain-soaked floor, half-naked, in pain, about to lose his soul...but then Angel doesn’t lose his soul.

    (another "Innocence"/"Epiphany" parallel) 

Darla: “You’re not evil. I don’t understand, was I...was it...not good? Well, I don’t accept that. You cannot tell me that wasn’t perfect. Not only have I been around for four hundred years, but I used to do this professionally, and that was perfect. We’ll go again...”
Angel: “No, no. We can’t. You know we can’t. We’re finished.”
Darla: “Finished? Why? What, because you suddenly decide? You know, an hour ago you wanted this! You weren’t tricked into anything, I didn’t seduce you, you wanted it!”
Angel: “Yeah and it was perfect, Darla. It was perfect despair...and you were the reason, you’ve always been the reason. You were the thing that made me what I am, and I thought if I could save you, I’d somehow save myself, but I was wrong, and when I failed...”
Darla: “Stop it!”
Angel: “...When I failed, you saved me. And I have to thank you for that. There is nothing I can do for you now, Darla. I can’t even hate you.”

Double ouch. Not only did Darla’s attempt to turn Angel evil fail, but she has to live with the fact that Buffy made Angel ‘perfectly happy’, but she didn’t. After having sex with Darla and falling into perfect despair, Angel reaches an epiphany. He realises once and for all that he’s been a royal douchebag and needs to sort his life out. Angel realises that what Holland showed him in “Reprise” doesn’t have to be the horrible, traumatic thing that he thought it was. Holland was right, evil will always exist. Suffering, pain, greed, hatred...all of these negative concepts and emotions will always exist so long as humans exist. There’s no grand scheme, no ultimate fated plan in place, no destined course of history. No winning, no losing, only existing. While this all seems like a negative, it inspires Angel to realise that his actions are all that he has in life. Screw the Shanshu prophecy, screw trying to get a reward, just help people because they deserve to be saved and you don’t want to see people suffer. That is what Angel epiphany allowed him to see clearly. If it really is Hell on Earth, then the people of Earth need his help more than ever. Is he going to continue down his dark, lonely, brooding path or is he going to pull his head out of his ass (which Wesley alludes to later in the episode) and start saving souls again with his friends? I need to reiterate that almost everything that Angel has done over the past seven episodes makes sense. He didn’t just wake up one day and think “you know what, I’m going to fire my friends and be particularly broody for the next few months”. He was forced into a corner by Wolfram & Hart constantly finding new ways to mess with him and ruin his life. Wolfram & Hart pushed and pushed Angel until Angel snapped and pushed back. I don’t blame Angel for most of his actions, but it’s time to get that wake-up call and realise that there’s more to life than revenge. In a way, after getting some perspective (clearly Angel does his best thinking when he’s thrusting into Darla...), Holland’s words to Angel actually free his mind and help him to live an existential existence. If nothing he does matters, if nothing any of them do matters, then all that matters is what they do because it’s all they have. If Earth is filled with evil and always will be, then the same must be said for good at the same time. Angel can choose to let this information sink him or he can use it to inspire him to greater heights than ever before.

Angel’s behaviour in this episode is already different to what we’ve seen over the course of the past half of a season. The dark Angel of the past few episodes would have staked Darla after she attacked him, but Angel offers her one last chance because her siring wasn’t her fault nor her wish. He feels as though he owes her one last chance...especially after having just used her. I’ve always wondered if Angel made the right choice here. Yes, he’s discovered this wonderful new lease on life, but Darla is a soulless vampire. How many people will she kill because he chose to be lenient here? Is allowing a murderer to live the best way to start his new journey?

If Angel merely came to this epiphany and did nothing with it, it would be pointless. Angel can’t just realise that his actions are all that matters and then change nothing about himself. He needs to make amends. The first thing that Angel does is rush to Kate’s house. In the last episode, Kate left Angel a voicemail where she was drunk, depressed, suicidal, and had lost her job and career. Kate tried to overdose on pills to take herself out of a world that she no longer wanted to be a part of. Her father is gone, her career and reason to live is gone, and she has no strength or hope left to hold on to. Angel is able to save Kate from her overdose, but Kate seems less than thankful at first. She didn’t want Angel to save her. She wanted a way out of all her pain. Angel couldn’t allow that to happen because he knows that he played a big part in Kate’s downfall. He introduced her to the supernatural world, he was there when her father died, he kept asking for her to use her police connections to help him solve cases. All of this contributed to Kate’s firing and attempted suicide. He can’t just allow her to take her life without talking to her and trying to help her see that life is worth living. Before this, however, Kate needs time.

Just because Angel’s boomshackalacka with Darla led to him having an epiphany and seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses, it doesn’t mean that Darla left the experience feeling as good as he did...typical male, right ladies? So long as he’s satisfied, he can roll over and go to sleep. I jest. When Lindsey returns home and finds Darla on his couch, she seems...empty. Her last ditch attempt to bring back her former partner in crime, Angelus, failed. Angelus is further away from her than ever now. She acts distant and cold towards Lindsey and he realises that Darla slept with Angel. Of course, Lindsey is in love with Darla (or so he thinks), so he reacts with a rage fit. I’m sure this won’t have negative repercussions for Angel later in the episode.

Lorne: “Jeez, keep your pants on! *sees Angel stood there and reads his waves*...well, I see we’re a little late with that advice.”

Oh, Lorne. Never change, you sassy bastard. Angel knows that he’s at a crossroads. He wants to make amends and reach out to his friends, but he’s scared and has no idea how to do it. So, he turns to Lorne, who is the only remaining friend that he has. Lorne’s entire life revolves around setting people on their path and helping them through their issues, so helping another pouty vampire through his dramatic life is like a regular Tuesday for Lorne. He’s a sparkly suit-wearing, green-skinned counsellor for demons and vampires. That’s not to say that Lorne sugarcoats things for Angel. He tells Angel that he can’t go back to his old life, he can only move forwards. Angel can work for forgiveness from his friends and move on with them, or he can move on without them. This is clearly setting up the end of the episode, where Angel doesn’t ask his friends to come back and work for him, but offers to work for them instead with Wesley as their leader. It’s a big step for Angel.

So...how many times has Cordelia been impregnated by a demon at this point? Two? Three? It happens at least one more time after this. Has she ever considered buying a demon-proof chastity belt? Or, in this instance, a helmet? I would be put off sex for life if I’d been violated as often as Cordelia has been.

The next person on Angel’s list of people to seek out and apologise to is Cordelia. However, Cordy isn’t home so Angel goes to Wesley’s apartment and finds Wesley in the process of a skirmish with a band of Skilosh demons that want retribution for Wesley killing one of their offspring (removing the third eye from the girl in “Reprise”). After briefly teaming up to take down the Skilosh and Wesley smiling at Angel, he quickly remembers that Angel betrayed him and fired him, and his behaviour is less than enthusiastic after that. GOOD. I cannot emphasise enough how pissed off I’d have been if Wesley was suddenly nice to Angel like nothing had happened. Angel fired him without notice and walked out of his life. He didn’t care that Wesley had rent and bills to pay, he didn’t care that Wesley respected him and valued his friendship, he just left. He had his reasons to leave (as he explained to Lorne in “Happy Anniversary”), but he still walked away from Wesley. Now he swoops back into their lives again because he’s had an epiphany. How does Wesley (or any of them) know that Angel won’t desert them all again if Wolfram & Hart push too hard? How does he know that Angelus isn’t moments away from re-emerging the next time that Angel sees Darla? He doesn’t. He needs to trust Angel again before accepting him back into the family, and this shouldn’t be, and thankfully isn’t, a quick and painless process. It’s also really nice to see that the team have bonded a great deal since Angel left them. It was because Angel left them, actually. When Angel takes it upon himself to inadvertently insult Cordelia, Wesley is quick to jump to her defence. Something he certainly wouldn’t have done before Angel left...

Wesley: “You don’t know her at all. For months now you haven’t cared to. Otherwise you might have realised that our Cordelia has become a very solitary girl. She’s not the vain, carefree creature she once was...well, certainly not carefree. It’s the visions, you see. The visions that were meant to guide you. You could turn away from them, she doesn’t have that luxury. She knows and experiences the pain in this city and because of who she is she feels compelled to do something about it. It’s left her little time for anything else. You’d have known that if you hadn’t had you head firmly up your...place that isn’t on top of your neck.”

Still too English to say ‘ass’, huh Wesley?

What’s interesting to me is that Gunn is the member of A.I. that reacts the strongest to Angel’s reappearance...

Gunn: “So, you had an epiphany, did you?”
Angel: “Yeah.”
Gunn: “So, what? You just wake up, and ‘bang’?”
Angel: “Sort of the other way around.”

Not the time to joke, Angel. I feel that Gunn has a harder time accepting Angel back than Wesley (who has known Angel longer and should theoretically be more hurt) because Gunn already has a disdain of vampires since his sister was sired. Plus, Gunn has spent his entire life fighting vampires and being taught that they’re the scum of the Earth. Gunn have up his crew and his old life to join Angel Investigations and work for a vampire because he knew that he could save more lives and souls with Angel Investigations than he could ever hope to with his gang. It doesn’t mean that he likes Angel or has given up his hatred towards vampires, it just means that he’s doing it for the greater good. I think that Gunn respected Angel and might have even partially liked him before he left, but the forgiveness of vampires isn’t in Gunn’s nature as much as it is in Wesley and Cordy’s. Gunn’s feelings toward Angel get explored in much greater detail at the beginning of the next season in “That Old Gang Of Mine”, where Gunn is forced to choose once and for all between his old life and his new life.

Angel: “Does it make sense that she would go there in the middle of the night without calling either one of you?”
Wesley & Gunn: “They owe us money.”
Angel: “Let’s go.”

While travelling to the Sharp’s house to look for Cordelia, they encounter some of the Skilosh demons and have to stop to fight them. Angel tells Wesley and Gunn to go on ahead to look for Cordelia and that he’ll meet up with them later. After Wesley and Gunn drive off, Lindsey comes out of nowhere and mows Angel down with his pickup truck. The fight that ensues is terrific. It’s filled with such fury and venomous, seething hatred that you can’t help but get caught up in the moment. Lindsey wants revenge on Angel for sleeping with Darla, who he views as his girlfriend at the moment. Lindsey is running off of pure fury and doesn’t care that he’s going up against a vampire. After smacking Angel around for a surprisingly long portion of the fight (Lindsey hits Angel in the face with a sledgehammer!), Angel eventually makes his comeback. Angel’s newfound epiphany extends just about far enough for Angel to allow Lindsey to live. He’s giving Lindsey one last chance, just like he did with Darla, because Angel himself has just been given one through his epiphany. He’s sharing the love! Lindsey has a soul and a conscience and is therefore capable of changing his life and starting down his own path to redemption. Angel is willingly giving him that chance. Lindsey does take this chance and he leaves Los Angeles in a couple of episodes. However, Lindsey being Lindsey, he returns in season five darker and more power hungry than ever. To those of you that dislike Angel choosing to kill Lindsey in “Not Fade Away”, look to this episode. Angel gave him his chance here (his second chance, might I add), and Lindsey didn’t take it. I think part of the reason why Angel extended that olive branch to Lindsey here is explained in Angel’s speech to Lindsey while he’s hitting him. He apologises to Lindsey for not trying harder to help him when he came to him in the last season’s “Blind Date”. In some small way, I think that Angel sees Lindsey’s current path as his fault. He could have tried harder with Lindsey. He’s making up for it now by sparing Lindsey and giving him one last chance...but the epiphany doesn’t stretch as far as Lindsey’s plastic hand, as Angel smashes it with a sledgehammer before leaving to find Cordelia and the guys. He does leave a note for Lindsey to find under the wiper of his truck later saying “thanks”, so at least he’s a polite vampire, I suppose. Lindsey returns home as a bruised and battered mess to find that Darla has fled Los Angeles.

I need to dedicate a small paragraph to Wesley toppling over after standing out of his wheelchair. Alexis is still the King of physical comedy in the Buffyverse.

Wesley and Gunn are captured by the Skilosh demons, they’re about to be impregnated with demon spawn too, everything looks bleak, then Angel drives Lindsey’s pickup truck through the house and rescues everyone. All is well again and everyone goes home happy as one big family...

Cordelia: “Angel...hi.”
Angel: “Hi. Are you okay?”
Cordelia: “No.”
Angel: “You’re not?”
Cordelia: “No, you really hurt my feelings.”

Angel returns back to Kate’s apartment to check in on her and it leads to one of the most jaw-dropping moments in the show for me. Angel and Kate both make peace with one another and decide to part as friends, rather than enemies. After hating the supernatural world and despising her life for so many months, Kate has found one small glimmer of hope to hold on to...she never invited Angel in to her house. WHAT?! HOW DID HE SAVE HER THEN?! DID THE P.T.B. STEP IN?! WHY WOULD THEY CARE ABOUT KATE’S LIFE, BUT CHOOSE NOT TO SAVE ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE THAT ANGEL COULDN’T HELP BECAUSE HE COULDN’T ENTER? KATE’S FATHER, FOR EXAMPLE! THEY COULD HAVE SAVED KATE AND TREVOR BY ALLOWING ANGEL INTO THAT HOUSE IN SEASON ONE’S “THE PRODIGAL”!...stupid P.T.B. 

However, it is a nice moment for Kate. This tiny moment gives Kate enough strength to forgive Angel for everything, start to deal with her father’s death and her firing, and to move on. The realisation that she’s not as alone as she thought she was has done wonders for her. We’ll never know what became of Kate (I’m keeping the comic spoilers out of these reviews and will get to them later!), but I like to think that Kate went on to help the helpless in her own way. She has the strength and abilities to do so, and now she’s found that spark of inspiration she needed to move on from her struggles and step into the next chapter of her life. Angel now knows that Kate is going to be okay and that another soul is saved. With Kate firmly back on the straight and narrow, he turns his attention back to his former friends...

Angel: “I’m sorry.”

FINALLY! IT TOOK LONG ENOUGH! I do appreciate that Angel actually said the words “I’m sorry”, though. He needed to do that. Cordy, Wesley, and Gunn earned that. Angel saving his friends from the Skilosh demons opened the doors for him to enter their lives again, but he still has a long road ahead of him to earn their trust and friendship back. Angel doesn’t ask for his friends to work for him again, he offers to work for them. Not as the leader or an equal part of the team, but for them. He’s giving up control to prove to them that he’s serious about helping the helpless and being a part of their team again. It’s kind of beautiful. Lorne told Angel earlier that Angel couldn’t go backwards, he could only move forwards into the next stage of his life. This is the next stage. A new and improved Angel Investigations with Wesley at the helm. MY BABIES ARE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN! 


Quote Of The Episode

Angel: “In the greater scheme, in the big picture, nothing we do matters. There’s no grand plan, no big win.”

Kate: “You seem kind of chipper about that.”

Angel: “Well, I guess I kind of worked it out. If there’s no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. ‘Cause that’s all there is, what we do. Now, today. I fought for so long for redemption, for a reward, and finally just to beat the other guy, but I never got it.”

Kate: “Now you do?”

Angel: “Not all of it. All I want to do is help. I want to help because I don’t think people should suffer as they do, because if there’s no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world.”

Kate: “Yikes, sounds like you’ve had an epiphany.”

Angel: “That’s what I keep saying, but nobody’s listening.”

Kate: “Well, I’m pretty much convinced, since I’m alive to be convinced.”

Angel: “You know you don’t have to be a cop to be...”

Kate: “I’m okay. Anyway, I’m not headed towards another pillathon. I’m very grateful. I never thought you’d come for me, but I got cut a huge break and I believe...I don’t know what I believe, but I have faith. I think maybe we’re not alone in this.”

Angel: “Why?”

Kate: “Because I never invited you in.” 


FINAL SCORE: 9/10

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

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