Angel, "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb" Review (2x22)

Brief Synopsis: “Cordelia learns that when she ‘comshuks’ with the Groosalugg, her visions will pass to him, but Cordy isn’t sure if she wants to lose them. Meanwhile, Wesley and Gunn are working to overthrow the monarchy, while Angel and Fred are struggling to control the beast inside of Angel.”


"Through The Looking Glass" (2x21) quick link here                                                                                     "Heartthrob" (3x01) quick link here

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



One of the disadvantages to reviewing “Angel” alongside “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” is that I’m now left with the unfortunate comparison of “The Gift” and “There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb”, which is unfair. “The Gift” was the culmination of a five-year thematic story for Buffy Summers that’s simply unbeatable for “Angel”. “The Gift” is one of the finest episodes of television ever, so to compare it to almost anything is thoroughly unfair. While “The Gift” focused on the past and the present, “There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb” touches upon the past and the present, but also spends a lot of time exploring where these characters are going in the future. The second season of “Angel” is unique in that the last few episodes aren’t the culmination of a season long story. That ends with “Epiphany” for the most part. Instead, the latter part of season two focuses on thematic nuances that have been steadily explored over the past couple of years. We somewhat get closure on many character struggles that have been rife throughout this season and the last (in some cases, ever since Sunnydale). We see Angel start to accept the beast within him and discover that he can be a good person, even with the darker side of his personality. We see Wesley finally grow confident in his role as leader of Angel Investigations. He’s certainly far more comfortable giving orders and making sacrifices in the next three seasons than he has been in the previous two. One could argue that this episode closes the curtains on the more dorky, light-hearted Wesley and makes way for the badass, gruff, bearded Wesley that emerges as the next season rolls on. Cordelia also finally accepts her visions and no longer sees them as a burden. While they’re still killing her physically, she’d rather endure the pain and help people than give them up. Finally, there’s Gunn. Out of all the major characters of the show that left Los Angeles for Pylea, Gunn is the only one who has little resolution in this season. He’s made his choice to stay with Angel Investigations over his old gang, but he’s far from at peace with his decision. It’s not until the next season’s “That Old Gang Of Mine” that Gunn really makes a decisive choice. Throw in Lorne’s lack of death and Fred’s return to Los Angeles, and you have an episode that is worthy of a season finale, albeit a unique one. In my opinion, it’s the strongest episode of the Pylea arc.

It’s kind of nice to have a more light-hearted, largely contained final arc after the dark, depressing episodes that came before it this season. Everyone returns to Los Angeles feeling positive and more confident of their place in the world than when they left...except Fred, but she didn’t leave Los Angeles with the gang. Going to Pylea and being forced to face their fears individually has made the members of Angel Investigations realise where they belong...together. Lorne’s speech to Angel at the conclusion of the episode sums the entire point of the Pylea arc up nicely...

Lorne: “My psychic friend told me I had to come back here. I didn’t believe her. Then I realised I did have to come back here, because...I really always thought I had to come back here, deep down inside, you know? I had to come back here to find out I didn’t have to come back here. I don’t belong here. I hate it here. You know where I belong? L.A. You know why? Nobody belongs there. It’s the perfect place for guys like us.”
Angel: “That’s kind of beautiful.”
Lorne: “Ain’t it? I’m very moved, if I do say so myself.”
Angel: “Please do.”
Lorne: “You know, I feel a song coming on.”
Angel: “I thought you might.”
Lorne: “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high!”
*The two Pyleans working on the side of the road cover their ears with their hands and fall to the floor, groaning*

 
Firstly, notice that Lorne sings “Over The Rainbow”, the name of one of the episodes from the Pylea arc. The only differences is that Pylea is the reverse of Oz. Dorothy leaves the dark, gloomy land of Kansas and finds herself in the techni-coloured, magical land of Oz. In the case of Angel Investigations, they landed in this strange new world, only to face their biggest fears and realise that they belong together in Los Angeles. The Pylea arc placed these characters under a microscope (hence the episode title “Through The Looking Glass”) and made them find their own identities. Los Angeles is the perfect place for these characters because they don’t fit into every day society, but they’ve found a family and a place in the world together...how beautiful is that? Like with “To Shanshu In L.A.” last season, “There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb” sets up the pieces of the new season perfectly and gives the audience a glimpse into where the show is heading...before breaking all our hearts with a cameo appearance from Willow.

The episode opens with Cordelia desperate to go home after being served Lorne’s decapitated head on a silver platter. Lorne’s eyes pop open suddenly and he utters, “oh, honey, I’m right there with you”. While it’s amazing to have Lorne still alive and a decapitated Lorne head does lead to some very amusing moments (such as Lorne’s eyes bulging open when Cordelia demands that her servant strips or when Cordy accidentally bangs his head against Groo’s ass (“feels like somebody works out”)), I’m left questioning whether Lorne still being alive was the right move from a storytelling standpoint. Lorne’s death was supposed to be the big punch in the gut to Angel Investigations to remind them that their choices have consequences. Lorne somehow surviving kind of negates that message and left me feeling like nobody important was going to die in Pylea. Part of the reason why “The Gift” worked so well was that any character could die at any moment, which is definitely missing from this episode after the cold opener. However, with that being said, I love that green, sassy bastard and it’s nice to have a light-hearted finale, so I’m going to allow it.

Like with the rest of the Pylea arc, I’m going to look at each character individually here, as they’re separated from each other in Pylea so that they can grow by themselves...


Angel

As I mentioned in my review of “Through The Looking Glass”, Angel’s journey throughout this season has been the most interesting, and honestly, it’s been one of the greatest one-season character arcs in the Buffyverse thus far. Every single episode, without fail, has held some form of development for Angel’s struggles to control the darkness within him. Since arriving in Pylea, Angel’s story has felt like a contained version of his arc since “To Shanshu In L.A.”. Angel started the season feeling refreshed and positive after discovering the Shanshu Prophecy that he will one day become human. Soon, Wolfram & Hart distract him by dragging a newly human Darla out of God knows where to mess with Angel. When Angel landed in Pylea, he was able to see his reflection, walk in the sun(s), and was treated like a respected hero and champion due to his fighting ability. Things quickly fell apart and Angel discovered that he cannot control the beast inside of him at all when he vamps-out in Pylea. Since returning to the fold in “Epiphany”, Angel has been struggling to fit back into Angel Investigations. Not just because they’ve bonded while he’s been away, but also because he’s terrified that he’ll turn dark again if he’s pushed too far or tempted too much. Angel believes that this darkness will always have some form of control over him and that the people he loves should always be weary of him. He’s forced to truly face just what he put his friends through by leaving them out in the cold and disappearing from their lives. He’s worried about returning to Los Angeles because he’s afraid the same thing could happen again.

The Pylea arc takes this fear, makes it worse than ever, but also gives it a resolution of sorts. Firstly, we have Fred. Sweet, sweet Fred, who’s seen both sides of Angel’s personality in a matter of hours. She’s saved by the ‘handsome man’, but then sees beast-Angel tear people apart. Fred explains to Angel that everyone has their demons. Angel’s are just a little more literal than most people’s. Angel can be a good man. He can choose to be a good man. If nothing else, Angel has control over his thoughts, actions, and decisions. If Angel fights to be a champion and keeps fighting, he will one day succeed. However, before getting to that place, he has to face the beast inside of him in Pylea. This is explored through Wesley’s plan to use Angel as the champion to face the Groosalugg in mortal combat...

Angel: “Look, when I fired you guys, the reason I...darkness was coming out in me. I didn’t want you near it. The thing that comes out here is ten times worse. Wes, I do this, you know I won’t come back from it.”
Wesley: “Yes, you will. I know you. We know you. We know you’re a man with a demon inside, not the other way around. We know you have the strength to do what needs to be done, and you will come back to us.”

Wesley has always been the most intuitive member of the team, in my opinion. For example, only he was aware that Beth had been abused by her father in “Untouched”. He knows that Angel’s journey out of darkness hasn’t been straight forward and it will continue to haunt Angel for a long time. What Angel needs right now is support and reassurance. Whether Wesley believes what he says or not, he needs Angel to believe it himself. He needs Angel to believe that he can face the monster inside of himself and win. Fred’s words to Angel paired with Wesley’s words (FRESLEY!) give Angel the strength he needs to control the beast within him while he’s fighting the undefeated Groosalugg...

Angel: “We’re not gonna do this. We’re gonna find another way. I’m not an animal.”

With Groo’s life on the line, in a clinch moment that could decide where Angel’s character goes in the next season, Angel does something he hasn’t been able to throughout this season...he stops. He gains control. He manages to hold back the monster within him that represents all his worst and most brutal personality traits. It may be a more subtle ending than Wesley or Cordelia’s, but Angel’s character growth here cannot be discounted as it sets up the next season of the show for him perfectly. The only missing piece of the puzzle is giving Angel a reason to fight other than redemption or for personal gain (the Shanshu Prophecy). Angel needs a completely selfless reason to fight the good fight. That comes in the form of his son, Connor, in the next season. The one thing Angel never thought he’d be able to have, a child. Before that, however, we have Angel’s feelings for Cordelia. For a few episodes now, since Angel returned to his friends, there have been hints. Angel getting overly protective of Cordelia in “Belonging” when the director was being an ass, Angel’s over the top reaction to Cordelia being sucked through the portal to Pylea. At first, I thought that perhaps this was just Angel over-correcting for abandoning his friend, but there’s a moment in this episode that sways me more towards romantic feelings. When Cordelia tells Angel that she loves Groo, Angel gets majorly pouty about it...

Angel: “You love me?”
Cordy: “Not you, dumbass! Him! I love him!”
Angel: ...“She loves me too, right? As a friend and co-worker...maybe love is too strong a term...”

Hmm...sounds more feelings-y than friendship-y to me.


Wesley

While Pylea has primarily focused on Angel and Cordelia, there’s no denying that Wesley has grown too. In fact, he does most of his growing in this episode. At the start of “There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb”, he’s desperately asking Gunn why people keep putting him in charge of things. At this point in time, Wesley’s not the strongest, most skilled fighter in the world, and he’s not a man that people naturally follow, but why is this? The primary case I present is his father. Wesley was brought up by a man that was never proud of his son. He’d never praise his son or allow his son the room to grow in confidence. In was nothing but being locked under the stairs, disappointment, disapproval, and disrespect. Even after moving to Sunnydale, Wesley was never treated with the respect that he should have been as Watcher. He was ignored by Buffy, abused by Faith, and undermined by Giles. I don’t think he was ever cut out to be a Watcher at this point in his life, but being so disrespected and ignored could do nothing to improve his self-esteem after finally escaping from his father’s disapproving eyes. Since moving to Los Angeles, Wesley has grown from strength to strength. He’s not the badass, bearded, collapsible sword wielding Wesley on the later seasons, but at the same time he’s also not the bumbling buffoon of the first one. When the rebel ‘cows’ place Wesley in charge of their planned attack on the castle, Wesley does a damn good job! None of the members of Angel Investigations would have made it home to Los Angeles if it wasn’t for Wesley! In the midst of planning the storm on the castle, Wesley starts to develop confidence...

Gunn: “I wouldn’t split my crew up this much if I was leading this charge.”
Wesley: “I’m leading this charge.”

Firstly, how can anyone not love the bromance between these two? It’s been one of the highlights of this season...curse you and your adorableness for getting in the way in the next couple of seasons, Fred! Since becoming the leader of Angel Investigations, we’ve seen Wesley delegate decision after decision to Angel. It’s almost as though he doesn’t want the burden of being leader. Yet, look how decisive he is above with Gunn. Suddenly, he’s a captain. He’s creating the plan, mapping out the plan, executing the plan...and all with complete conviction. Wesley just had one last lesson to learn if he was truly going to be a leader. He needed to learn the same thing that Angel, Buffy, and Dumbledore had...the greater good. Are the lives of a few worth the same as the lives of many? Is sacrificing a few people in battle morally just if it means saving many more lives? In Pylea, we see Wesley do just this. Wesley uses Angel’s inner demon, which could have gone horribly wrong. Wesley sacrifices some of the rebel ‘cows’ in order to get into the castle and stop the Covenant of Trombli, yet there’s no denying that his plan worked and he was the most important cog in the Angel Investigations wheel here. This does leave the audience wondering if Wesley did the right thing though, which it should. Wesley is going to commit a very polarising moral act in the next season and this Pylean battle could be deemed a preview of “Sleep Tight”...

Gunn: “I’m only gonna say this once. The guys you send to create those diversions are gonna die.”
Wesley: “Yes, they are. You try not to get anybody killed, you wind up getting everybody killed.”

Could you imagine the Wesley of Sunnydale or “Angel” season one saying that?! You know the show is heading down a new, exciting avenue when Gunn, the former street gang leader that didn’t care about anybody or anything outside of his crew, is more moral than Wesley. This leads us nicely into...


Gunn

As Wesley has grown more commanding and authoritive, Gunn has become more moral and compassionate. There are many similarities between the Wesley of Pylea and the Gunn of “War Zone”, yet there are few between the Wesley of Pylea and the Gunn of the present. It’s been very, very subtly done over this season, but Gunn has evolved. Was it Cordelia’s humanising influence? Was it Wesley’s bromantic feelings and taking a bullet for Wesley? Either way, Gunn has grown. I find it oddly poetic that it’s Gunn questioning Wesley’s plan from a moral standpoint, yet just a year previously he would have done the exact same thing.

(Gunn's sassy look to Wesley is forever win)

Gunn: “I’m thinking these guys have a cause worth fighting for. Isn’t that what we do?”
Wesley: “What about Cordelia?”
Gunn: “If we’re gonna be getting her out of that castle, we’re gonna need a lot of muscle.”
Wesley: “Muscle which could come in handy if we have to incapacitate Angel...”
Gunn: “Yeah. Also, look at them. They won a skirmish today, but they’re no match for the Covenant. I don’t wanna leave them to get themselves killed...I do that enough.”

Gunn is still clearly in the midst of an important life decision. He feels undeniably guilty over the death of his friend George and part of him feels that he should return to his old crew and protect the people he always has. On the other side of this, Wesley and Cordelia are like family to Gunn now too. Instead of just protecting his own crew, with Angel Investigations, Gunn can protect many more people. He’s not fighting to survive, he’s fighting to help the helpless and save souls. There’s not much more to say about Gunn’s story in Pylea because it’s not resolved until the next season, but ultimately this ability to help more people and to do so for selfless reasons is what prompts Gunn to stay with Angel Investigations and not return to his old crew.


Lorne

Lorne’s section is going to be a short one because his story is fundamentally so simple and Lorne himself sums it up best...

Lorne: “My psychic friend told me I had to come back here. I didn’t believe her. Then I realised I did have to come back here, because...I really always thought I had to come back here, deep down inside, you know? I had to come back here to find out I didn’t have to come back here. I don’t belong here. I hate it here. You know where I belong? L.A. You know why? Nobody belongs there. It’s the perfect place for guys like us.”

Lorne needed to return home to prove to himself that he did the right thing in leaving his old life and family behind. He had some setbacks along the way and lost his head at one point, but Lorne discovered what he needed to in order to leave Pylea behind him once and for all. Plus, it was worth Lorne coming to Pylea just so we could learn more about him. It took us almost an entire season to learn his name! As I said in the intro. to this review, there is a part of me that thinks it would have been better storytelling to kill Lorne. However, that better storytelling is for the other characters’ journeys, not Lorne’s journey. Lorne can finally move on with his life in the beautiful knowledge that he’s right where he belongs...in Los Angeles, running a karaoke club, surrounded by his friends, putting people back on their paths. Plus, he also learned just what he means to his friends while in Pylea...

*Angel, Wesley, and Gunn stare down at Lorne’s decapitated head*
Angel: “He was...”
Gunn: “Yeah...”
Wesley: “Hmm...”
*Lorne’s eyes pop open*
Lorne: “That’s it?! Where’s the praising and extolling of my virtues? Where’s the love?!”


Fredikinz

Fred’s section of the review will also be a little shorter because Fred’s story has no resolution, it’s just beginning. The Pylea arc closes with Fred returning to Los Angeles after five years of captivity, loneliness, and fear. How can anyone not be impressed with Fred? After five years of literally running and hiding for her life, Angel arrives and gives her a friend and a reason to fight again. Look how jubilant she becomes when she talks about soap, oatmeal, and tacos! It takes a special type of person to survive five years in Pylea in the conditions that Fred did and still contain any semblance of empathy or caring, yet Fred displays both of those things when she’s helping Angel come to terms with the beast that comes out of him in Pylea. If Fred was snappy with Angel, if she was bitter that Cordy was made a queen and she wasn’t, if she’d become jaded after five years, nobody could have blamed Fred or held it against her...but Fred isn’t those things. She uses her loneliness and isolation and turns them into a positive and helps Angel battle his own insecurities. She’s not scared of the demon inside of Angel. She doesn’t cower or run away from him, which I would have expected her to do after five years of persecution. Instead, she goes out of her way to reassure Angel that she’s not scared of him and that he’s a good man who’s capable of doing great things if he makes the decision to. What a wonderful human! Plus, let’s not forget, it was Fred’s portals that allowed Lorne to leave Pylea in the first place. It was Fred’s portals that sent Landok and the Drokken through to Los Angeles. Fred is a genius and has been opening portals (which she was trying to do) successfully, only they were opening in locations she couldn’t see. It must be a bitter pill to swallow to learn that she was doing everything right, if only she could have been in the right place too.


Cordelia

Groosalugg: “It was worth it for one moment of your intimate touch.”
Cordy: “That was an accident. It was kind of dark and...oh, you mean the hug.”

How cute are these two together? Cordelia leaves Pylea and the Groosalugg behind her because she needs to return home to reality. To go back to the life she’s created of helping the helpless and saving souls. It was nice to get everything she wanted for a while...servants, admirers, being a princess...but it was a fantasy. A fantasy with jousting, a heroic knight, a damsel in distress, and a wicked covenant.

Queen C., the most popular girl in Sunnydale High and one of the shallowest people on the planet has come a long way since leaving Sunnydale behind her for the bright lights and fame of Los Angeles. We’ve seen Cordelia develop feelings for a part-demon, we’ve seen her inherit painful, heartbreaking visions, we’ve seen her grow empathetic and put the needs of others in front of her own, and we’ve seen her emerge into one of the most interesting, well written characters on television. I kid you not, you can put Cordy up against almost any other character on television from a development standpoint and she’d do well.

Groosalugg: “It is foretold in the ancient prophecies that one will come who is cursed with the visions.  She will mate with the Groosalugg, whose demon blood shall absorb them.”
Cordy: “Absorb them?”
Groosalugg: “Your visions shall pass to me.”
Cordy: “Ugh, I knew there was a catch! You can’t take my visions, I need them! I use them to help my friends fight evil back home!”
Groosalugg: “And I will use them here to fight evil, just as you have done.”
Cordy: “Groo, I can’t give up my visions. I like them...okay, I don’t like the searing pain and agony that is steadily getting worse...”
Groosalugg: “You are pure human. You are not meant to carry such a burden.”
Cordy: “Maybe not, but I’m not ready to give them up either. They’re a part of who I am now. They’re an honour.”

The visions have been a source of debate and challenge for Cordelia this season because they’ve consumed her whole life. In the first season of the show, Cordy was constantly auditioning and going out to clubs with her friends. She went on dates and lived two lives. That Cordelia has disappeared during the course of this season. She’s become increasingly dedicated to helping the helpless since Vocah opened her mind to all the suffering in the world in “To Shanshu In L.A.”. How many auditions has she been on this season? How many dates? How many times has she been out socialising with someone who wasn’t a member of Angel Investigations? Rarely. Cordelia is carrying a burden that no human should have to. The visions have steadily become harder to bear physically for Cordelia and it’s gotten to the point that her brain is being destroyed. As we discover in the next season’s “Birthday”, she’s been getting secret scans on her brain and she’s been taking strong painkillers just to keep fighting through life. When Groo informs her that when they ‘comshuk’ (read: shag), her visions will pass to him, it leaves her with a genuine dilemma...does she give up the visions and pain or does she keep that burden in order to save souls? There’s no doubt in my mind what the Cordelia of Sunnydale would have done, but this Cordelia is different. She can’t give up the visions, regardless of if they kill her. The visions give her a purpose, a place in the world, and the ability to help people. She’s not a fighter yet and she feels that without the visions she has little to offer Angel Investigations. Yes, the visions are killing her and they hurt increasingly more (her vision in “Dead End” is the perfect example of this), but this pain is nothing to the pain she experienced in “To Shanshu In L.A.”, when Vocah opened her mind to all of the suffering in the world. What’s her mental and physical health when weighed against helping hundreds of people?

Furthermore, let’s also not forget that the Powers That Be didn’t give Cordelia the visions, Doyle did. Cordelia wasn’t supposed to get the visions...well, until Jasmine comes along in season four and takes credit. Doyle was half-demon and was therefore able to carry the physical burden of the visions without his brain deteriorating. It’s interesting timing that Cordelia is sacrificing her life to help people just as Buffy died to save the world in “The Gift”. Who would have thought that Cordelia would be on the same level as Buffy two years after graduating Sunnydale High?

Silas: “You and your filthy cow princess can go straight...”
*Cordy chops Silas’ head off from behind with a sword*
Cordy: “Your cow princess is tired of hearing you yak, padre.”

The Covenant of Trombli are killed too quickly for my liking, but I’m comfortable with it because the Covenant were never really the enemy, they were a plot device. The enemy was the members of Angel Investigations’ own fears and insecurities. That was what they went to Pylea for. To be put under a looking glass and examined, and to come out of Pylea as stronger, more mature people that knew where they belonged, while also setting up the next season of the show perfectly. It’s rare for the Buffyverse to end a season on a positive note, but here they finally do. Everyone makes it back to Los Angeles alive, happy, and healthy. Angel has finally fought back at the demon inside of him and he’s ready to take on the challenges of the world again. To help the helpless alongside his friends once more...

 
Angel: “Okay, can I say it? I wanna say it.”
Wesley: “Say what?”
Angel: “There’s no place like...”
*He trails off as he opens the doors to the Hyperion Hotel and sees Willow sat there*
Angel: “Willow?”
Cordy: “What’s...”
Angel: “It’s Buffy.”

WE WERE SO CLOSE TO A HAPPY ENDING! DAMN IT! Sadly, that’s life. Angel was off discovering who he was in Pylea, while the love of his life was dying back on Earth. Angel disappeared over the rainbow and landed in a magical new land, but unlike Dorothy, when he returned home, he realised that his home had been destroyed while he was gone.


Quote Of The Episode

Gunn: “I’ve got a plan.”

Wesley: “Oh, thank God! What is it?”

Gunn: “We die horribly and painfully. You go to Hell and I spend eternity in the arms of baby Jesus.”

Wesley: “Oh...” 



FINAL SCORE: 8/10

What are your thoughts on "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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