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1) This review will almost definitely contain spoilers for episodes after this one.
1) This review will almost definitely contain spoilers for episodes after this one.
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“Heartthrob” is a perfectly acceptable season opener, if not a little odd until the conversation between Angel and Cordelia at the end. At the conclusion of the last season, Angel returned from Pylea and was immediately bitch-slapped with the news that Buffy, his former love, is dead. I figured that the season opener was going to explore Angel’s sadness and heartache about this, but instead Angel returned from a ‘spiritual retreat’ feeling positive and showering his friends with gifts...who are you and what have you done with Angel? ANGEL DOES NOT SMILE, DAMN IT! However, by the end of this episode, Angel’s behaviour makes perfect sense. I can’t imagine it’s easy for a writer to explore a character’s reaction to death so openly, especially when that character is as closed off emotionally as Angel is usually, but I’m happy with the direction they went with Angel here. After the horrific internal struggles Angel faced last season and his realisations in “Epiphany” and Pylea, it’s in character for Angel to be able to deal with Buffy’s death so well. When he left Buffy in “Graduation Day”, Angel was a depressed, mopey, loner for months and months because he was heartbroken. Yet, here, after just three months, he’s basically back on his feet. Simply, Angel has grown and evolved. Enter James, a man who gives us a window into what Angel used to be like in regards to his love with Buffy. When James’ girlfriend is killed, James can’t go on without her. He has no life outside of her, so he decides to take his own after getting revenge on Angel. If Buffy had died at the beginning of “Angel” season one, would Angel have been able to go on without her? Perhaps not.
Like almost all season openers in the Buffyverse, “Heartthrob” deals with what will be the main theme of the season. Season one focused on redemption and connection, while the second season explored identity and choices. The third season will focus on responsibilities and the sacrifices we make for them. Most of these stem from baby Connor arriving on the show, but they’re scattered throughout the season in more subtle ways too, such as Cordelia sacrificing her health to carry the burden of the visions. Until baby Connor arrives, we have a wonderful situation with Angel Investigations. In my opinion, the first half of season three is the closest family unit that we ever see on “Angel” or “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. Angel, Cordy, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, and Fred have never been closer and they never will be again after Wesley steals Connor. So, for the next fourteen episodes, I’m going to enjoy and appreciate this bonding because it won’t last. Have the Scoobies ever been as close as Angel Investigations are here? I don’t think so. Take “Waiting In The Wings” for example! Angel Investigations all dress up (and look stunning) and go out to the ballet for the night. My heart can’t take all the cuteness already! In the case of “Heartthrob”, responsibility and sacrifice are explored through Buffy’s death. Does Angel owe it to Buffy and their love to mourn her and be broken? Or does he owe it to Buffy to move on and live his life? To come to terms with her death, Angel leaves Los Angeles for the summer and goes on a spiritual retreat to Sri Lanka with some monks...
Gunn: “Angel and a bunch of monks in the middle of nowhere. There’s a party! He should have got hammered and went to Vegas just like I told him.”
Wesley: “He doesn’t need a lap dance. He needs some peace and quiet to work through this.”
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Man (in Tibetan): “What happened?”
Angel (in Tibetan): “Demon monks. I should’ve gone to Vegas.”
What did we learn, Angel? When in doubt or turmoil, lap dance!
After returning from the spiritual retreat that ended in chaos, Angel is notably different. He’s loving, smiling (what the fuck is that?! I thought Angel’s facial muscles only allowed the corners of his lips to move downwards!), and giving his friends compliments and gifts. This is not the behaviour of a man in deep mourning and it’s not what I was expecting Angel to be behaving like in this episode...
Cordy: “Well, the point is, you worked on things. It wasn’t like a holiday, where you come back home to your friends, you know, with some small mementos of your trip...”
Angel: “Fishing for gifts?”
Cordy: “Yes!”
*Angel hands her a shrunken head*
Cordy: “Oh...a small human head.”
*Angel pulls it out of her hands and tosses it to Gunn*
Gunn: “Cool!”
*Angel hands Cordelia a necklace*
Cordy: “Oh! Oh my gosh! It’s gorgeous! And look how it brings out my breasts...you know you were all thinking it. Thanks.”
*Angel hands Wesley a sheathed dagger*
Wesley: “Ooh! Sixteenth century! Angel! Murshan Dynasty? I’ve always wanted one of these! I didn’t think you...oh, I can’t wait to kill something with this...any visions brewing?”
1) Angel continues his tradition of having perfect taste in clothing and jewellery for Cordelia (“Disharmony”)
2) I hope Wesley has a hand free from the dagger long enough to cover his erection.
3) LOOK HOW HAPPY THEY ALL ARE!
Cordy: “I miss Pylea.”
Wesley: “I would think you might. You were there a week, they made you a queen. Fred was there for five years. She was a slave, a runaway, they nearly chopped her head off. All those years she spent hiding out alone in that cave...”
Gunn: “She survived. Girl’s strong.”
Cordy: “The girl’s trading one cave for another, how strong is that?”
It’s clear from the onset that Fred is having severe trouble adjusting to life after Pylea. How could she not? Fred was a slave and a ‘cow’ for five years. No friends, no family, no help, no hope. Trading that in for a nice hotel room in Los Angeles, Earth, and friends again can’t be an easy adjustment to make. Fred lived in total isolation for five years. The only friends she had were the markings she drew on the side of caves...which is exactly what she’s doing with her hotel room. Fred has compartmentalised her trauma and she’s been able to deal with it by pretending that it was all one big story. A handsome man swooped in and saved her from the wicked world of jousting, green-skinned demons, and monsters. Fred is recreating the story in her head and displaying it on the walls of her room. When Fred’s parents return to her life in “Fredless”, she is desperate to try to avoid and escape them because if she sees them, everything suddenly becomes real. The fantasy world is gone and all that’s left is the harsh reality that Fred was alone and scared for five years. As disheartening as it is to see Fred struggling, I’m so pleased that Fred isn’t adjusting well. If after three months she was completely back to her old life, I’d have been thoroughly annoyed. We saw firsthand Fred’s struggles in Pylea. She shouldn’t be okay so soon and she isn’t for another five or six episodes.
Furthermore, Angel was the one to swoop in and save her in Pylea. He was the one to show her kindness and respect, and help her through her challenges. He was the first friend she’d made in five years and he was her salvation. As soon as they returned to Los Angeles, he was gone. She didn’t know Gunn or Wesley, or Lorne, and she barely knew Cordelia. Surrounded by strangers and back to a life she barely remembered, she returned to what she’d grown to know best – a cave, talking to herself, and decorating the walls with her thoughts. As Fred explains to Angel after he returns, she’s in her room waiting for the ‘click’ in her head where everything makes sense. She’s home now, something she’s wanted all along, but she doesn’t know how to live on Earth anymore. She’s fractured, dazed, and confused. Angel asks of her just one tiny step...leave her room for a while. Then, James arrives at the hotel seeking revenge and Angel barks for her to return to her room. Make your mind up!
(Angelus and Darla's second, much less successful, attempt at the 'Fanged Four')
Cordy is also struggling in this episode. She’s dealing with the consequences of refusing to ‘comshuk’ with the Groosalugg in Pylea. Cordelia was offered a choice: ‘comshuk’ with the Groosalugg and pass to him your visions or keep the visions and continue to help people at the expense of your deteriorating health. Cordy chose to help the helpless. In doing so, we see Cordelia grow more and more burdened by the visions. After receiving a vision of some people in trouble and sending the males of Angel Investigations on their way, we see just how badly these visions are starting to affect Cordelia physically. Her head is pounding, she’s weak, fatigued, and returns home to the most amazing roommate in the history of the world, Phantom Dennis. Dennis runs her a bath, turns the lights down for her, adjusts the room temperature to suit her needs, and scrubs her back with a loofah. Speaking of the loofah, I bring your attention to a line that Cordelia utters in “Waiting In The Wings”...“the best action I can get is an invisible ghost who’s good with the loofah”...oh my...fiends with benefits, huh? Cordy’s in some weird, multi-transparency, sexual relationship with her ghost roommate. This season is an amazing one for Cordelia and it’s the last season of the show that actually contains her. Season four is amnesia-Cordy and then possessed-Cordy, and the fifth season only has one Cordelia appearance. In this season, Cordy’s character completes her journey. She becomes a champion. She’s completely selfless, completely kick-ass, and is every bit as much of a hero as Angel. She sacrifices her own health to save other people and she makes herself part-demon later in the season to save Angel. HOW AMAZING IS THIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FROM THE SPOILT BITCH OF SUNNYDALE HIGH?! Yet, through all of this, it’s still Cordelia. Look at Cordelia’s dialogue to Angel at the end of the episode. The old Cordelia is still there, she’s just evolved as a person.
Though it contains big moments for Fred and Cordelia moving forwards, “Heartthrob” is the story of one character, our leading champion, Angel. Unlike James, Angel seems to be coping okay with the loss of the love of his life. He brings his friends gifts, somehow starts to rebuild Fred’s confidence, and seems to be perfectly okay. As I mentioned in the introduction of this review, Angel’s behaviour makes sense after the events of the last season. Angel went into a very dark place and lost everything. He was forced to see that Earth can be Hell (“Reprise”) and was forced into facing the demon inside of himself. This has helped to put things into perspective for Angel. He can’t save everyone and he shouldn’t feel guilty for not being able to protect Buffy...hell, he wasn’t even on the same planet as her when she died! No matter how much he loves Buffy, no matter how devastated he is by her death, he needs to move on. He’s spent the past two and a half years building a life for himself outside of her and their relationship and her death shouldn’t negate all of this wonderful growth. All of this behaviour felt weird and unacceptable until Angel and Cordelia’s conversation at the end of the episode. Angel had mourned for Buffy. He had been upset and shocked to his core...but it didn’t destroy him. It didn’t end his world like it would have a couple of years ago. This realisation disturbs Angel more than anything else. How can he be okay and move on with his life after the person he’s loved the most in the world is gone? What does that say about him? James asks Angel these exact questions and tells Angel that he couldn’t have loved Buffy if he’s okay after her death...
James: “Now I can kill the woman you love.”
Angel: “No, you can’t.”
James: “Are you forgetting who’s the invincible one here?”
Angel: “The woman I love is dead.”
James: “Who are you talking about?”
Cordy: “It happened about three months ago. We try not to say her name too much.”
James: “You loved someone? With all your heart?”
Angel: “Yeah.”
James: “No, you didn’t. Because if you had, you wouldn’t be standing here playing games with me. You wouldn’t be able to because once she died or some bastard killed her, it would have killed everything in you.”
Angel: “I wouldn’t be able to go on living.”
-----------------------------------
James: “You think you won just because you’re still alive? I lived, you just existed.”
Notice that they barely speak Buffy’s name in this episode and even mention the fact that they barely mention her name? This is mostly because Buffy switched networks to UPN, so the shows weren’t on the same network anymore and The WB didn’t want to advertise another channel. James is telling Angel everything that Angel has been fearing. Angel couldn’t have loved Buffy with all his heart and then moved on after her death. James was willing to end his life in order to get revenge on Angel, yet Angel has adjusted to a world without Buffy after just three months. James couldn’t imagine a future with his love, yet Angel is okay. What’s bothering Angel most is that James’ words might be right. That is, until Cordelia Chase gives Angel some reassurance...
Cordy: “I know you. Ever since you’ve come back from your grief trip, I can tell that something’s not right, and obviously it’s not...Buffy’s dead and I don’t mean to diminish that. I miss her too. I just wanna say, I know that James, with all his Romeo and Juliet madness, opened up a lot of wounds for you, but you’ll be okay.”
Angel: “I am okay.”
Cordy: “Then what’s the problem?”
Angel: “That I’m okay. That losing Buffy didn’t kill me. That I could deal with it. In all those years, no-one ever mattered, not like she did, and now she’s gone forever.”
Cordy: “And you’re still here.”
Angel: “Yeah. I just feel like I’m betraying her somehow.”
Cordy: “No! If you were a loser, if you were some sick, obsessed vampire, you’d go to a Snod demon or whatever and get your heart cut out...but you’re not! You’re a living, breathing...well, living, anyway, good guy who’s still fighting and trying to help people and that’s not betraying her, that’s honouring her.”
Angel: “You think?”
Cordy: “I’m Cordelia. I don’t think, I know, okay?”
Oh, Cordy, I love you. Cordy knew exactly what Angel needed to hear to move on and be okay again. When Buffy was up on the rickety tower with Dawn, she told Dawn to be brave and live for her. If Angel was there, she’d have told him the exact same thing. Angel living and moving on and protecting people, and helping the helpless is what Buffy would have wanted and it is honouring her. It’s also a lovely piece of foreshadowing that Cordelia notices that Angel isn’t okay, but none of the others do. Cordy has known Angel longer and knows him better than the rest. Very soon these feelings will come full-circle and they’ll both realise they’re in love with one another. Unlike James, Angel has grown and evolved. Angel being able to move on shows strength and integrity, two things that James was lacking. Angel isn’t the same person that he was when he moved to Los Angeles. He’s a champion now in character as well as physical strength.
Gunn: “What happened with Holtz?”
Angel: “Oh, that’s another story.”
Gunn: “We got time.”
Wesley: “I’m not sure we do.”
Can you say ‘foreshadowing’?
I was really pleased to see Julie Benz and Darla return to the Buffyverse in the flashbacks of this episode. It made me miss her and think about what had happened to her after she left Los Angeles in “Epiphany”. Luckily, the conclusion of this episode answers that question. We see Darla, sat in a bar in Nicaragua (a place I discussed with Amy ‘Lita’ Dumas at LFCC this year), pondering life. She drains a man’s blood, eats a slice of lime, and utters the immortal line...
Darla: “You know what they say...life’s full of surprises.”
Darla gets off of her stood and turns around to reveal a massive pregnant belly! My mouth dropped open and two thoughts instantly jumped into my head...1) I thought vampires were unable to have kids? 2) Who did Darla sleep with?...Wait...wait... WAIT! DARLA SLEPT WITH ANGEL IN “REPRISE”! IS ANGEL THE FATHER? IS ANGEL GONNA BE A DADDY?! TALK ABOUT A DRAMATIC ENDING TO THE OPENER!
Quote Of The Episode
Wesley: “It’s sad. The only way some people can find a purpose in life is by becoming obsessed with demons. By the way, Gunn, technically that wasn’t a ‘Lu-Rite’, it was a ‘Mu-Rite’, a sub-species of the ‘Lu-Rite’. The male sports a small tell-tale fin just behind the third shoulder.”
Gunn: “So glad to know we’re not the sad people obsessed with demons...”
Wesley: “We have to be a little obsessed. We’re detectives that specialise in these things.”
Cordy: “And we’re not sad.”
Wesley: “No. No, we’re a happy and rambunctious lot if I ever saw one...not going to humour me even a little, are you?”
FINAL SCORE: 7/10
What are your thoughts on "Heartthrob"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!
I'll be damned! Finally I can stop being mad at Angel for not properly grieving for Buffy, thank you for putting into perspective as this episode had me feeling for James and his loss. Now I can appreciate Angel's evolution and that smile, sweet mother my heart failed. Now Shangel, you should know that I love ya but you lost me with the whole Angel and spordelia thing, just no! Your friends are suppose to know when there's something rotten in China town and that was what she was a best friend in my opinion Angel's heart would always belong to Buffy, she's the only woman that he said that he's loved that's canon, oh well my issues, I guess that I haven't evolved as my Bangel heart will never accept anyone else for my two champions. Great review can't wait to read the next one although it'll will be hard to read as I detest Darka more than spordelia.
ReplyDeleteTechnically in 4x02 someone asks him if he loves Cordy and he says yes. Buts it's okay, not everyone ships or detests the same thing, obviously. To each his own.
DeleteOooh that ending! So freaking surprised at that, I felt for Pregnant Darla. This ep was great - Cordy is just so delightful in this episode. She is brilliance!
ReplyDelete