Angel, "Billy" Review (3x06)

Brief Synopsis: “A wave of unexplained and extreme violence against women is traced back to Billy, the young man that Angel was forced to free from a demonic prison a few weeks earlier. Billy's merest touch can cause an otherwise good man to become violently misogynistic...and the results can be deadly. Can Billy be stopped before the infected Wesley hurts Fred, who are alone in the hotel together?”


"Fredless" (3x05) quick link here                                                                                                                         "Offspring" (3x07) quick link here

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“Billy” is something of a ‘part two’ episode to the 2nd episode of the season, “That Vision Thing”. During “That Vision Thing”, Angel rescued a prisoner from a cage full of eternal fire to save Cordelia from physically manifesting visions courtesy of Lilah and Wolfram & Hart. Billy’s family are a wealthy, powerful client of Wolfram & Hart who wanted their nephew freed from captivity. What Billy did to end up in the magic box of fire we’ll never know, but based on his actions in this episode, you can rest assured that it wasn’t from saving a kitten from a tree. Billy is the walking definition of misogyny. The way he talks to women, the way he thinks about women, the way he looks at women...he’s a sexist asshole. However, unlike almost every villain we’ve encountered on the show thus far, Billy doesn’t like to do the killing himself, he likes to bring out a primal misogynistic streak that apparently exists deep down in all men and then watches as the man he’s infected does the beating or killing for him. That’s a whole new level of sick. Before diving into this terrific episode, I have something to get off my chest. While this episode is amazing, intense, creepy, and hits all the right buttons, I despise the message behind it. The message that all men have this primal sexism deep down and think that women are not equal to them and are nothing more than sex toys and objects to bow to their male master’s will. In my opinion, that message itself is sexist. From a franchise that was so groundbreaking in feminist issues, depression issues, identity issues, having a genuine lesbian relationship, etc., how did it go so far wrong with the message behind this episode? Sexism works both ways, people. A much better solution to this problem would have been that Billy inserts this misogyny into a male when he touches them and it didn’t work on Angel at the conclusion of the episode because the demon inside of Angel fought it off (similar to Angel vs. Eyghon in Buffy season two’s “The Dark Age”). I hate this notion that every living man has these feelings and capabilities deep down and Billy merely brings them to the surface. In some ways, that’s taking the responsibility off of Billy and placing it onto the individual as these feelings and thoughts were there already deep down. Ugh.

Brushing past my rage issues (and deep-rooted sexism, apparently), “Billy” continues the subtle trend of the theme-of-the-season, responsibility. We’ve seen Angel have to be responsible for his actions post-Buffy’s death, we’ve seen Gunn have to take responsibility of his life and pick a side, we’ve seen Fred have to take responsibility and accept that Pylea was real and not a fairy tale, and now we Angel, Cordy, and Lilah all trying to take responsibility for Billy and try to stop him. For most of the episode, it doesn’t look as though Lilah is going to come through after being beaten to a bloody pulp by Gavin, but, alas, at the last moment, she does. One thing I appreciate about “Billy” is that the episode isn’t subtle. There’s no thinking required or hidden meaning behind the episode, everything is right in front of your face. When you think about that message and think about this episode, and then you subsequently watch this episode, it might be the most uncomfortable, startling 42-minutes of television that the Buffyverse produces. Not just because we have Wesley vs. Fred and Gunn vs. Fred, but because within the context of this episode, all men have these capabilities before Billy comes along. I’m not sure if I’m alone in this, but I found myself questioning a lot after watching this episode. Have I ever acted this way, consciously or subconsciously? When I’m at a sporting event (for example) against a female, do I automatically expect to win because she’s a female? A thousand different thoughts popped into my head and I started wondering whether or not I had this asshole streak inside of me like the episode suggests. It was not a pleasant experience and I don’t think an episode of television should leave you with lower self-esteem than when you went in. Should it get you thinking? Hell yeah(!), but this wasn’t constructive thinking, I was given myself a character assassination. I wonder if other males that watched this episode left feeling the same way?

The opening of “Billy” hints that an Angel vs. Cordelia fight may be looming later in the episode or season. Angel is teaching Cordelia how to defend herself, how to fight, and how to wield a sword. Of course, with this being the Buffyverse, my first thought was, “Angel and Cordy are going to fight in this episode and Cordelia’s going to beat him by using some move or trick that he didn’t teach her at the beginning, but she learned during her cheerleading days”. I thought my conclusions were solid. I was wrong. I must admit, though, this is the first episode where I openly thought of the idea of a romantic relationship between the two and found myself okay with it. Whenever I’d briefly addressed the idea before here, I found myself disliking the notion because they worked too well as friends and would never work as a couple. Things are different now. Cordelia is growing into a champion in her own right. Gone is the spoilt, bratty, bitchy, no-filter Cordelia of Sunnydale...well, mostly...and what has emerged is one of the strongest, most compassionate characters from either show. Seriously, her character growth has been astounding, yet has never felt forced. The first traces of misogynism appear before Billy does, as Angel is teaching Cordelia self-defence that will aid her long enough for him to swoop in and save her from the monster. I know Angel means well when he says this, but it comes across as so very sexist that I’m surprised Cordy didn’t stake him on principle. After her recent battles with physical visions and mind-splitting headaches, Cordy is keener than ever to learn how to defend herself.

Wesley: “It’s inspiring to see you like this. The initiative you’ve shown in training with Angel, taking responsibility...I’m proud of you.”
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Wesley: “I was thinking, perhaps I’d enter into a similar training arrangement with Fred.”
Cordy: “Oh, hey, if you think she can help you fight, why not?...I’m kidding. Wesley, if you wanna get to know Fred better, maybe the next time you have her over for an intimate dinner for two, you won’t ask the rest of us to come along.”  

This season is breaking my heart already! When I see this scene, all I can think about is how different things may have been with Wesley and Connor later in the season if Cordy wasn’t on vacation with Groo. Then, I think about Wesley and Fred, and my mind drifts to “A Hole In The World”, and I want to curl up into a ball and hum Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” until my brain stops functioning. Wesley had a crush on Fred since almost the moment he first saw her. How adorkable is that?

I will admit, I completely forgot about the existence of Billy until the episode showed me his punchable face again. Kudos to Justin Shilton, who has this incredible ability to pull a specific facial expression for Billy that makes me want to headbutt him whenever he’s on screen. Just a little trivia fact for you too, Justin also plays the police officer ‘Munroe’ in Buffy season seven’s “Empty Places” (the guys who start a fight with Faith in The Bronze). In my own personal head-canon, Billy survived the shooting at the end of this episode, decided to change his evil ways, became a police officer, but eventually turned back to corruption because of his deep-rooted sexism. Therefore, when he saw Faith in The Bronze, a woman with confidence, he couldn’t help but try to fight her and bully her. THESE ARE THE TYPES OF THINGS I THINK ABOUT WHEN I CAN’T SLEEP, OKAY! 

 
While I dislike the notion that this misogyny is inside all males all along, if I take myself outside of the situation, I appreciate the mental processes behind this episode. I’m currently completing a criminology and psychology degree from home and one of the things that I’ve just been learning about in depth is identity. How a person’s identity is created, what factors contribute to it, etc. From that perspective, the idea that all men contain this within them is fascinating. Watching the change in personality in Wesley and Gunn is fascinating. In Wesley’s case, the excellent thing about it is that it was gradual. When he first started talking to Fred in his office, I didn’t realise he was infected. Even after a few of his out-of-character comments to Fred. The interesting thing to try to dissect here is whether or not Wesley believes what he was saying deep down. Does Wesley really resent Fred for wearing “revealing” clothes in front of him? Does he really think that she’s flaunting it in his face? When I wasn’t having deep psychological thoughts like those, I was highly uncomfortable and wanting to jump through the TV and rescue Fred. I’ve often said that I believe Alexis Denisof might just be the greatest actor on the show and it’s episodes like this that help to reinforce that. Wesley started off his time in the Buffyverse by being comedic relief. He was a bumbling, stumbling buffoon. During the next two years on “Angel”, he emerged into something much more confident, but he still has that clumsiness and warmth within him. Have we ever seen Wesley really, really angry? Have we ever seen Wesley frightening? Wesley’s behaviour while under the effects of Billy’s infection is downright terrifying and a large part of that is thanks to Alexis. Watching Wesley stalk through the hotel hunting Fred reminded me of Angelus stalking Rebecca through his darkened apartment in season one’s “Eternity”. In essence, Billy gives us a glimpse into the human version of Wesley and Gunn’s internal Angelus’, which in itself is captivating...and it’s not just people under Billy’s infection that are acting this way. The other examples are much subtler, but sexism is rife through this episode. From Angel’s sparring with Cordelia at the opening of the episode to the man that Angel questions who said that the beaten woman probably had it coming because women like to yap.

I appreciate the fact that it’s the intelligence, strength, and ingenuity of the victimised women that stops the attacking males in this episode. What do the women in this episode possess that the males don’t? Confidence. Wesley’s dialogue to Fred highlights just how insecure he is about his masculinity and his ability to win Fred’s heart. Angel is insecure about his ability to save Cordelia from harm, regardless of the situation, especially since her physical visions in “That Vision Thing”, and Billy is angry at all women, probably because at some point in his past he got his heart broken. Bless him. In comparison, Cordelia and Lilah have always been confident, self-assured, headstrong women and they’re not going to let a little physical beating stop them. In comparison, Fred never realised her strength until she survived five years alone and isolated in Pylea. After that, stopping Wesley seems like a piece of cake. Fred is used to thinking for herself and avoiding sticky situations because of her time in Pylea. It is the security of the women in their identities that helps them overcome the more insecure males in the episode. However, this confidence doesn’t just magically appear in this episode. Lilah needs a stern talking to by Cordelia, Fred needs to be back into a corner, and Cordelia feels obligated to stop Billy because he was released from prison to save her.

Ultimately, Cordelia, Lilah, and Fred are all able to do something that Cordelia was fighting for at the beginning of this episode...save themselves. When Angel was teaching Cordelia how to fight long enough so that he could arrive and save her, she demanded that he teach her more than that because he won’t always be around to save her. In fact, he could be the danger that she has to stop if he ever loses his soul again. Once Billy is unleashed into the world again and starts making waves, Cordelia goes after Billy by herself. She doesn’t go with Angel or hang onto his idea that she needs him around to be safe, she actively goes seeking the psychopath all by herself. She feels responsible for Billy being free (even though it’s not her fault) and she feels as though everyone who gets hurt or murdered by his infection is her fault. She’s a woman on a mission. I was curious to see whether or not Cordelia would be capable of killing a semi-human. Would they really take her character down this path? In comparison, you have Lilah, who had her identity and power stripped away from her by Gavin, who beat the crap out of her while under the influence of Billy’s infection. The interesting thing about Lilah’s journey is that she’s a villain! We’re supposed to hate her! Look at what she did to Cordy in “That Vision Thing”! Yet, we find ourselves identifying with her and feeling for her during this episode. Excellent, excellent writing. Three-dimensional villains are vastly more interesting. As I mentioned before, Lilah is prompted into action by Cordelia, but not before a much more important conversation takes place...

Lilah: “So, you know me?”
Cordy: “Please, I was you...with better shoes.”
Lilah: “These are Boracchi.”
Cordy: “Fall collection?”
Lilah: “Next spring.”
Cordy: “He’s widened the heel.”
Lilah: “And rounded the toe.”
Cordy: “That won’t work with pink.”
Lilah: “The pink is out this spring.”
Cordy: “Billy Blim makes people crazy.”
---------------------------------
Cordy: “You know that guy you hired to hack into my visions? What he did to me? What it felt like? I was cut, my face disfigured, and burning with pain every second, not knowing if it was gonna end or just get worse until I died.”
Lilah: “So you think I owe you?”
Cordy: “It’s not the pain, it’s the helplessness. The certainty that there is nothing you can do to stop it, that your life can be thrown away in an instant by someone else. He doesn’t care. He’ll beat you down until you stay down because he doesn’t even think of you as alive. No woman should ever have to go through that and no woman strong enough to wear the mantel of ‘vicious bitch’ would ever put up with it.”

The self-reflection and character growth that Cordelia shows here to label herself as someone that used to be Lilah is another fascinating moment within this episode. Cordelia is so self-aware now! Cordy is on a mission to help the helpless and right now that mission includes re-empowering Lilah. Some people might wonder why Cordelia would even want to help Lilah after what Lilah did to her, but Cordy explains it within the above dialogue...“no woman should ever have to go through that”. Cordelia is putting her identity as a female ahead of her identity as a victim of physical visions at Lilah’s hands. Due to Cordy once being Lilah, she knows just how to reach Lilah...through her pride and ego. She uses Lilah’s own words against her and reminds her that she’s a “vicious bitch”. Like the audience, the vision of Lilah’s bruised and battered face reminds us of the all-too-real issue of domestic violence. Physical visions don’t exist in the real world, but spousal abuse does. Therefore, we identify with Lilah here and want to see her exact vengeance. When she comes to her senses and shoots Billy at the end of the episode, we rejoice. Even in victory Lilah makes it clear that she’s not joining Team Angel. She’s not going to switch sides, she was merely stopping the villain for personal reasons.

Wesley: “Maybe Mommy and Daddy never explained to you that men, grown men, are wired a certain way. You can’t be coming in here day after day, waving it in my face like this.”
-----------------------------
Wesley: “What do you tell a woman who has two black eyes? Nothing you haven’t already told her twice.”

There is a lot of moments in this episode that make it memorable, but none more so than Wesley hunting Fred through the Hyperion. I’ve mentioned how incredible Alexis is during these scenes and now I have to also mention how amazingly talented Amy Acker is at playing the damsel-in-distress-turned-genius. Fred isn’t self-assured and confident like Lilah and Cordelia. She’s not a “vicious bitch”. She is, frankly, terrified. Terrified of dying, terrified of what might happen if Wesley reaches her. Wesley, whether infected or not, knows these things about Fred and uses her insecurities against her through his dialogue...which turns out to be his undoing, as he didn’t bank on Fred’s ability to set and execute traps. She’s like an adult version of Kevin from “Home Alone”. Although, with that being said, Wesley does have one very good point...

Wesley: “Would you like to hear my theory, Fred? It’s about how stupid you are. I believe that after five years of living in a cave, you’ll instinctively retreat to small dark places, rather than run outside where you’d be safe.”

...He does have a point. Why didn’t Fred just run outside of the hotel to escape Wesley? Head to Caritas or a taco stand? She knows where those places are, after all. An interesting comparison in this episode is Wesley and Gunn. While Wesley went budding serial killer, Gunn instantly tried to protect Fred from himself as soon as he was aware he was changing and infected. He broke a chair into pieces, gave a leg to Fred, and demanded that she bash him over the head until he was unconscious. To be fair to Wesley, he wasn’t aware that he was infected like Gunn was. As I’ve mentioned before, the most dark, creepy, startling part of this episode is trying to decipher how much of Wesley’s dialogue is the infection and how much of it is subconscious (or even conscious) feelings that he ordinarily wouldn’t vocalise. Does he resent Fred for not reciprocating his feelings? Does he sexually objectify Fred at every opportunity in his mind? This episode touches on an issue that is all too familiar with a lot of its audience. How many people have been beaten while in a relationship? How many people have been made to feel worthless by their partner? How many females (or males) have been made to feel dirty and disgusting for having sex? Wesley’s actions in this episode are forgivable because he was infected, but we will never know if any of it was buried in his subconscious before the infection. This exact reason is why Wesley feels so distraught and horrific after the infection wears off. He didn’t just hunt Fred, he didn’t just insult her, he hit her. He struck the woman he loves. For that reason, he needs some time off from Angel Investigations. He needs to re-establish his identity.

Fred: “You’re the boss, we need you. You took a few days off. That’s good. We all did. But now it’s time to come back.”
Wesley: “Fred, I tried to kill you.”
Fred: “That wasn’t you.”
Wesley: “How can you know that? Something inside me was forced to the surface. Something primal, something...”
Fred: “Do you wanna kill me?”
Wesley: “Oh, God, no.”
Fred: “It wasn’t something in you, Wesley. It was something that was done to you.”
Wesley: “I don’t know what kind of man I am anymore.”
Fred: “Well, I do. You’re a good man.”
*Fred leaves the doorway of Wesley’s apartment and Wesley closes the door. Fred distantly hears the echoes of Wesley crying.*

Fred knows that it wasn’t Wesley’s fault. She knows that he’s a good man...but he doesn’t know that anymore. He can’t make sense of what happened in his head, what was him and what was the infection. His guilt and confusion is palpable in that scene. Wesley’s deepest and darkest insecurities have been brought to the surface in the most brutal, indescribable way possible and he has no idea how to move forwards. Does this primal, evil, sexist form exist inside of him all the time? In Wesley’s eyes, Billy didn’t infect him with this disease, these thoughts and actions were inside of him all along. They’re a deep, hidden part of his psyche.  In comparison to this is Angel. When Billy placed his hands on Angel’s face to infect him, it failed. Angel couldn’t be controlled. His rage couldn’t be brought forth. For one hundred and fifty years, Angelus was a vicious murderer that took deep psychological pleasure in the artistry of his kills. Since being re-ensoulled, Angel has been feeling remorse and guilt for over a hundred years. That primal hatred, that misogynism that Billy brought out in human males was extinguished inside of him long ago. Angel is well past that now. He’s past hatred. This doesn’t mean that Angel can’t be sexist or a douchebag, it simply means that Angel has transcended past petty insecurity and misogyny on a primal level. Very interesting stuff! With the team reeling from Billy’s infection, they need a distraction to bring them back together. Luckily, a pregnant, blonde vampire is about to return to Los Angeles to flip the show on its head.

Quote Of The Episode

Dylan: “There was a chick here. She was cute, brunette. Well, she said that a melodramatic guy named ‘Angel’ would eventually show up.”

Angel: “...Cordelia thinks I’m melodramatic?”

Dylan: “Well, you did say that you were gonna kill my cousin.”

Angel: “That’s not melodrama!”


FINAL SCORE: 8/10

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

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