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Angel
Episode 3.21, "Benediction"
Written by Tim Minear
Directed by Tim Minear
So we're nearing the end. Connor is now Steven. Holtz is ten billion years old. Angel took a shotgun blast to the back but still has a spring in his step because his son's back. And Wesley's scenes are so good I think he deserves his own spin-off. Even if it's just him sitting around his apartment for an hour with one really great five minute scene.
Here we go again as Angel comes back to the Hotel after his adventures in CrackWhore Place. Everyone is worried about Connor and the possibility that something else came through the portal. And Fred comes away with the most perfect line at this point: "So he survived an unspeakable hell dimension... who hasn't?" That's why I love Fred. She's like Anya, always speaking her mind, without the blonde streak (both in that her hair is her natural color and she doesn't say really dumb things occasionally).
Connor, er Steven, seems to be doing okay in L.A. though. After almost banging the Hottest Crack Whore Ever, slicing off a guy's ear, and jumping on a moving bus, now he gets to share a junk food breakfast with Daddy Holtz. And in the harsh light of day Holtz looks even older. The man's got enough makeup on to push 100. It's freaky. And probably really hot, so Holtz sends Connor, er, Steven back to Angel so he can disappear this episode and to learn what evil part of Angel is inside him.
But before we get to that Groo starts brooding out in the sunlight courtyard. I guess they have to make his brooding seem a little different from Angel. And he's even clever. He tricks The Host into saying "Just 'cause someone hops a dimension or two is no guarantee things will work out." It's a cool little scene but basically slapped us all in the face with Angel and Cordelia sitting in a tree B-I-T-I-N-G. I know I'm scared.
But the meat of this episode is Angel and Connor bonding. After being sent back to the hotel by Holtz, Connor does a lot of things with his father, including going to a bar to save a woman Cordy had a vision about. This woman turns out to be Justine, who was set up by Lilah to be here to set up Wesley and to provide us with another amazing Wesley/Lilah face-off and an awesome fight scene of father and son kicking vampire ass. Wesley is so cool.
But I guess that's not all this episode is about because we get another scene of Cordy doing the glow-worm routine. This time after Connor attacks her when she tells him she's part demon. Since I'm writing this review after having seen the finale, this whole scene just sticks out even more for how stupid it is. Although I did like the staredown between Connor and The Host right before it. Lorne's got a dark side that I'd really like to see more of.
But that short interlude was just leading to the final moment of Connor and Angel. Angel confronts Holtz about stealing his son and Holtz tells him he's leaving and Connor is his again. Angel's ecstatic which of course can mean only one thing: double cross! Holtz makes Justin stab him with an icepick in the neck so it looks like Angel killed him. You knew it was coming, but it was still pretty cool.
In the end the Connor and Angel show turned out really good. Going into the finale I was way pumped. It's almost a shame I know what I know now.
Episode Rating: 8 out of 10
John the Slacker is starting to think his obsession with Wesley is bordering on the weird.
