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Angel

WOW!!

I thought this episode was going to be fluff. Pure filler. Something to get us from last week’s resurgence of Wolfram & Hart and the choices that Angel made to the next batch of visions & Darla sightings. Boy was I wrong. Let’s talk about...

"That Old Gang of Mine"
Season III, Episode 3
Written by Tim Minear
Directed by Fred Keller

Someone has been killing demons. And not just the bad ones... After a well-known demon is found dead in his home, Angel & Wes start to investigate. Gunn shows up a bit late, and doesn’t seem to care much that a demon is dead for no apparent reason. His feelings – “He was what he was... Someone killed a demon... Why should we waste our time?”

So with no suspects and no leads, Angel & Wes dig through the demon’s belongings for clues. Gunn decides to visit his old haunts and talk to his old gang. There he meets Geo, the cocky newcomer from Miami that questions Gunn’s loyalties and accuses him of working for the enemy. He’s a real character this Geo, and we get the feeling that he’s NOT good news.

After a brief break, where Angel asks Cordy to take Fred (mmm, Fred) out on the town, we return to Gunn talking to his old fighting pal. We find out that the general consensus is that Gunn has turned his back on his comrades, and taken to fighting with the enemy. We also find out that it was the death of Gunn’s sister Alonna that marked the beginning of his drifting away from his friends.

Wes, while following up on a lead from the mess at Merl’s, has discovered another demon killed. Again, Angel and Gunn assist in the investigation, but once more Gunn is hesitant about wasting time on investigating the death of another demon. That is until he finds an arrowhead. An arrowhead that he made. He slips it into his pocket and goes to confront the new owner of his gear, Geo. He finds his old crew gearing up for another night of demon slayage. There is a huge confrontation between him and his ex-comrades that ends with them leaving to cause more havoc in the name of “good.”

Meanwhile, Cordy has convinced Fred that a night on the town will do her good, and she takes her to Caritas. We finally get to see Fred behind the karaoke microphone. Ironically enough, she’s singing “Crazy” by Patsy Cline. Unfortunately, her singing is interrupted by Gunn, followed closely thereafter by his old friends, and they’re not at the bar to sing or have Lorne tell them their fortunes.

Now this is the part that really got to me. I could literally feel Gunn being pulled in two. On the one hand, he wants to be a part of his old gang, have the recognition and the friends and the fun, but on the other hand he’s pulled to the mission. Geo and crew come in, guns blazing. They kill most of the demonic patrons of Caritas, and hold Wes, Fred, Cordy & Lorne hostage. They want Angel, and they want Gunn to kill him.

Now again, I’m not going to give away all the nitty gritty details, because that just wouldn’t be fun... But rest assured that the scene in Caritas is one that you won’t soon forget.

This episode was awesome. It showed a side of Gunn that we don’t get to see very often. Usually, he’s been going with the flow, doing right and killing evil. But now he’s torn; he wants to do the right thing and “obey” the powers that be, but he wants to have a place with his old gang. The polarity between Gunn and Geo is amazing. How similar, yet how different they both are. The episode is about Gunn, and he shows his true colors, yet the other members of the ensemble really come through and show how great this show and this cast really is. We get to see an authoritative Wes, and a side of Fred that hasn’t been able to come out yet. And my, oh my, is it a good thing.

Next up, the crew seizes the night in “Carpe Noctem”. And I’ll try to get the review in on time, so you don’t have to wait so long!

Episode Rating: 10 out of 10

- The guy who doesn’t want to be on Gunn’s bad side, PunkJr

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