Perri's Review

Wheee! Spike!!!! Does more actually need to be said? The first crossover does a nice job of making both the villain and the crossover hero pointy, to say nothing of giving Spike such awesome lines!

Synopsis:
A terrified blonde (what else) runs down a dark alley, stalked by a crazy guy who is, unfortunately, her boyfriend. Spouting the usual line of "It's your own fault I'm abusing you", the guy hits his girlfriend, then pulls a gun on her, ready to end the relationship the easy way. As he gloats that no one will hear or care... Angel grabs him from behind and proceeds to beat the living hell out of him. Rachel (the blonde), shakily thanks him for carrying out their plan -- as a certain blond vampire mockingly overdubs their dialogue from a nearby roof. Spike is back in town, and he's here on a mission.

Meanwhile, a familiar van drives through the city, with a familiar werewolf behind the wheel. Oz pulls up to Angel's building, where Cordelia is exulting to a somewhat-less-enthusiastic Doyle about printing out their very first invoice. Doyle's attempt to point out their actual chances of getting paid is cut off by Oz's arrival. A delighted Cordelia rushes to greet him -- the obligatory catch-up concludes quickly and Oz heads down to deliver his message from Buffy to Angel. Doyle nearly chokes upon realizing that Oz is delivering the Gem of Amarra -- a ring recovered from Spike by Buffy a few days earlier which renders a vampire invulnerable to everything, including stakes and sunlight. Angel is reluctant to put the ring on, even when Doyle urges him to do so; after the others leave, he instead hides the ring behind a brick in the sewers.

The next morning, Doyle nurses his hangover with a distinct lack of sympathy from Cordelia, who was witness to the getting drunk part of the hangover. Below, Angel works out (tai chi! yum!) until a phone call interrupts him. Rachel, the scared blonde from the previous night, just found out her boyfriend was released from jail. Angel heads out to reassure her -- and runs right into Spike's fist. Spike wants his ring back, and has a plan... which he forgot when he got bored. The two exchange the ritual insults, followed by the ritual fight, which Spike loses; the fight ends when Doyle and Cordelia show up and Spike bails. Worried by the fact that Spike recognized Cordelia, Angel sends her to stay with Doyle until Spike is dealt with.

Doyle and Cordy head for Doyle's place, where Doyle starts calling his contacts looking for Spike; Cordy passes the time returning the favor for his insults of her apartment last week (his is a similar disaster area), and filling Doyle in on Spike, of whom she is justifiably terrified. Meanwhile, Angel resumes course towards Rachel's place, reassuring the scared girl and talking her out of trying to resume her relationship with Psycho Boy. She has to have faith in herself, he tells her, and she begins to believe him.

Doyle's contacts finally pay off, giving Angel the first step in search for Spike. Several fist fights and a few broken-up bars later, he finds the one where Spike is hiding. Stalking out in search of his prey, Angel gets Spike cornered against a fence -- then turns to find himself surrounded by Spike's goons. That plan of Spike's apparently had a few wrinkles he didn't share. Angel goes down in chains.

Cordelia and Doyle wait by the phone, worrying more and more as Angel fails to check in. They're right to worry -- Angel is hanging his wrists, chained to the ceiling of an empty warehouse as a vampire named Marcus prepares to exercise his favorite trade. Torture. Spike wants the ring and doesn't care what he has to do to Angel to get it. Marcus is delighted with his new prey -- Angel's soul, and his love for Buffy, make him a very special practice piece for the demon -- and begins work with gusto (and pokers and sunlight and fire and musical accompaniment). Spike contributes by taunting Angel -- his lowest blow involves telling him about Buffy's experience with Parker in Sunnydale, both sex and heartbreak.

But Angel holds out, long enough to make Spike get really damned bored. He heads for Angel's apartment to do his own kind of searching, which basically involves trashing the place. Cordelia and Doyle come down from the office before he can do a really effective job; Cordelia holds a crossbow on him and Doyle blocks for Cordelia, but Spike is less than impressed. He offers a trade -- Angel for the ring, before sundown. While neither of Angel's sidekicks trust Spike even slightly, they don't see any other choice.

Angel continues to be tortured -- at least as much by Marcus' attempts to find out what Angel wants (anyone else having B5 flashbacks?) as by the actual physical injuries. "Forgiveness," he finally admits to Torture Boy. But even in the middle of bleeding, Angel still manages to get a stake between his feet, and almost gets it in Marcus' heart, but Spike intervenes at the last second, leaving Marcus alive and pissed. Meanwhile, Cordy and Doyle continue the search of Angel's building, concluding at last that the ring must be somewhere in the maze of sewers below. While the job seems impossible, Doyle has an ace -- letting Cordelia drift out in front of him, he makes a split-second transition to his demonic side and sniffs the ring out. The spines are gone by the time he locates it, to Cordy's joy and amazement. But she's not happy enough to hug him.

Fortunately, the two of them realize they need a plan before they go racing off to make the exchange. They lie to Spike that they don't have the ring with them, and he finally gives in and takes the pair to their boss, who is in bad shape. "You want the ring, you dog?" Doyle says angrily to Spike. "Go fetch." With that, he tosses the ring across the warehouse. On cue, Spike reneges on the deal; equally on cue, Oz's van crashes through the wall of the warehouse. He leans out the window with a brace of crossbows, holding them on Spike while the other two get Angel into the van. They retreat in a squeal of tires and Spike cuts his losses, groping for the ring -- which has vanished, along with Marcus. Life just isn't treating the Platinum Destroyer well. He throws a tantrum, determined to be Big Bad Lone Wolf Boy... until sunlight from the roof sets his head on fire.

Meanwhile, Marcus strolls along the beach, enjoying the sunlight, and the sight of children playing. Oz drives while Doyle and Cordy try to keep Angel alive, but Angel is far more concerned with finding Marcus -- who has a thing for killing children. He advances on a troop of scouts, but the Oz-van comes to the rescue first. Doyle and Oz's crossbow fail to make a dent in Marcus, leaving him to Angel -- who lunges out of the back of the van into the sunlight, into Marcus and into the water. The ocean puts out the fire on Angel's back, and the two vamps to duke it out in the shade of a pier. Invulnerability doesn't help Marcus once Angel stakes him to a pylon -- then steals back the ring. Dust.

Angel finally puts the ring on himself, and emerges, blinking, into the first sunlight he's stood in in 200 years, as the other three watch in worry, sympathy and wonder.

It's a fleeting pleasure; Angel savors the sunset, then tells Doyle he isn't keeping the ring. He can't trust himself not to forget his mission, his redemption, if he becomes one of the ones who walks in the day, instead of in the night. Lifting a brick, he slams it down on the ring, which disappears in a flash of light. As the last of the sunset fades Doyle relays a message from Rachel -- who has found a shelter and her faith. Chatting, Angel and Doyle retreat back into the building. Back into the night.

Continuity:
Angel had a shot at being invulnerable and able to walk in the sun, and gave it up. Yeep.

Apparently the Slayerettes have known where Angel is -- Oz has no problems finding him and already knows about the detective gig.

Characters:
What can you say about Spike? The boy almost managed to actually see a plan through to the bitter end; if he hadn't changed it in mid-stream and introduced two more variables (Doyle and Cordy) into the mix, it probably would even have worked. But more good guys once again screwed him up. < g > Poor baby. You'd think he'd learn... Oh, I want more Spike. Immediately. If not sooner. But he's got to do something about that short attention span.

Angel gets tortured. < shrug > And half of it is his own damn fault. Oh, not the Marcus part, of course; I'm talking about the upcoming torture, the first time he needs to get out into the sunlight to save someone, and can't because he stupidly broke the ring. Not that I can't understand the reasons -- the fact that ownership of the ring paints a big screaming target on not only him, but Doyle and Cordelia, is a big reason for destruction right there (assuming anyone's going to actually believe he destroyed it, which is actually doubtful) -- but the best reasons aren't the ones he gave. Just a song-and-dance about not wanting to forget the people he's supposed to protect. Translated: he needs to keep suffering before he can be forgiven/forgive himself; God save us from Catholic vampires. :P Need to stick him some kind of support group, the same one I've been begging to send Nick Knight to for years.... I do feel for him once what Spike said about Buffy and Parker sinks in. I'm not sure what's going to hurt him the most: knowing Buffy slept with someone else (I know that's what he said he wanted, but it's still gotta hurt), or the fact that she was apparently hurt because of it. Neither one is going to make him real happy.

But he's got Doyle right there to point this tendancy out, which may, someday, do some good. Thank goodness for Doyle, the voice of reason and pragmatism. And the Nose from Hell, literally; he's serious about keeping this whole demon thing for Cordy, but didn't let that stop him from helping Angel. Good boy. Cookie! But I'm still not gonna lend that man money! And what was that about his mom? < giggle > More information, please?

Yay, Oz! He's used sparingly in the ep, but when he's onscreen it's great -- we'd damn near forgotten about him until his van crashed through the warehouse. And how about that single, cold "Spike" -- I keep forgetting that Oz has some personal reasons to really hate Spike. He and Angel are hilarious together, as always, speaking in a few words as humanly (vampiricly? werewolfly?) possible; you almost don't need to bother writing dialogue for them. He's nicely low-key when Cordelia pounces him, and perfect behind the wheel as they get away with Angel -- I think that may be the most words I've ever heard that boy string together at once.

Cordelia is becoming more and more hilarious. And showing guts -- she's perfectly willing to face Spike down not only once, but three times, when the last one involves a trap that could very possibly get her killed. And she still goes through with it for Angel's sake. Nice going, Cordy. She's also apparently homesick as hell; her delight in seeing Oz is very real, and, since they were never anything resembling close, generally translates to missage of all things Sunnydale. Admittedly, most of that because of fond memories of being queen of the school and having money. But some part of her must also miss being a Slayerette very badly... or she wouldn't have hooked up with Angel to begin with. But I'm with Doyle; your chances of collecting on that invoice are slim.

Best Moments:
Spike's entire opening monologue. Check the quote list to read it if you, too, were too busy laughing hysterically to actually listen past the first three lines.

Spike greeting Cordelia -- talk about flashbacks. I thought we were back on Buffy for a second there. < g>

Cordy and Doyle -- Apartment Wars, round 2!

Doyle and Cordy's face-off against Spike in the office. Cordy is awesome with the crossbow and Doyle is really careful to keep himself between Cordelia and Spike at all times. And his "More than meets the eye, blondie" had better give Cordy some thinking, later.

Oz's arrival. Right through the wall, yeah! With both crossbows leveled and greeting Spike with what is, for Oz, barely retrained hatred and violence, Oz comes through in every possible sense of the word.

Spike's wonderful temper tantrum in the warehouse, and the lovely finale of hair burning. < giggle > You could almost feel sorry for the boy if he weren't such a wanker.

Angel diving out of the van, and the following dive into the ocean, back aflame. Major kudos to the stunt double and the stunt coordiantor (Jeff?).

Angel walking out into the sun. Very cool.

Doyle and Angel leaving the roof -- from angst to idle chit-chat, and Angel's off-hand dismissal of the torture. A really lovely rapport is building between these two.

Rating: 4.5 out of five, only because I'm saving that five. Spike is outstanding, Oz is used pretty well, Cordy and Doyle continue to be hilarious together.

SunSpeak

"Oz - One thing I'm sorry never got used more on Buffy, especially after seeing this episode -- the friendship between Oz and Angel. Sure, they're "usually laconic." But they have a quiet understanding of each other....they're a lot alike... they can appreciate the other's demons (literally and figuratively) and love for their respective gals. And Oz is probably the most mature teen that Angel's ever known. Very much in common. And they may have only had two scenes together in this episode, but it was just *cool* how they connect and understand one another." -- MB

"Angel and the ring -- I think it's perfectly in character for Angel to want to remain humbled. That would be why he didn't wear it -- he then destroyed it because he couldn't risk anyone being used to get to it again. And I loved that he was willing to pull out all the stops to get at Marcus -- including risking becoming a crispy critter. And the "long cool drink of water after a lifetime in the desert" look on his face when he stepped into the sun. Man, I almost cried. Beautiful moment." -- MB

"Angel destroying the ring was the low point. Not in dramatic terms. In terms of, if he hadn't already been tortured all day, I would have wanted to smack that boy around! Actually, I did anyway; the torture thing was all that would have stopped me if I'd had the opportunity." -- Val

"It's also infuriating because I know that there are very practical reasons the thing really couldn't be kept around, but the reasons *Angel* gave for doing it just don't hold up. I want him to admit that he was *afraid* of the responsibility. Because that's what it boils down to. The responsibility to maintain his personal standards (which I respect, I really do) and use it only in innocent-life-threatening emergencies. And even more scary, the responsibility to keep it out of the hands of other vampires...this would have been a *perfectly* good reason in and of itself, considering the near-disaster just that afternoon. But were these the reasons he gave? Oh, no. Not our silly puppy. (Yes, I've decided to bow to the inevitable and join in the dog references. They're obviously not going to go away. *snerk*) *thwap* Bad dog." -- Val

"So he hides it again and doesn't use it. It took Doyle knowing pretty much exactly the area to look in and demoning-out in order to find it then-- and that was a 30-second hiding job. (Frankly, I'd take a page from the "100 Things I'm Going to Do When I Take Over The World" list and put it in a *&^% safe deposit box. A nice sturdy one under an assumed name and then hidden the _key_--which even Doyle wouldn't have smelled. But that's just me. ;-) That way Angel's no more invulnerable than he was when Spike grabbed him without it, and he's no more a creature of the light. It's not easily available as a quick CPD, but it's there in case it becomes an issue and/or a necessity. And if it make him a target as the last known one to have it, he passes the buck. Marcus stole it and disappeared-- as Spike is quite vocally aware. The fact that Angel caught and killed Marcus (in broad daylight, no less!) and therefore recovered the ring, can simply be a Slayerette/Angelette(?*g*) secret." -- Dianne

"I wasn't surprised that he did it, but I'm surprised by the reasons he gave. It made him a target, check (although Dianne's point that last anyone knew, Marcus had run off with it). He didn't want an unfair advantage, check. (Basically, I was figuring he was going to refuse the ring on the basis of, "I'm helping people to save my soul. Soul saving involves risking myself. If I have this ring, I don't risk anything (other than being mocked for brooding). Therefore, if I keep this ring, my soul remains in serious jeapordy.") But, hello, bad things happen in broad daylight. Smashing the ring because otherwise he was afraid that he'd overlook the people at night just didn't make sense to me." -- Lizbet

"Actually, I had another quibble with that scene... *why* did they bring the _real_ gem with them, when they were planning on just using the delivery of the gem as a ploy to rescue Angel? I would have brought a fake one, myself."
"Um... .cuz Spike had seen it and would know it was fake and kill them all? Cuz they didn't want to risk Angel? Cuz it was in the script?" -- Mo & MB

"About the Ring: All right, plot-wise, it would've gotten old fast. Angel's a vampire, he shouldn't be playing in daylight. Plus I'm sure it would've made him a target for every vamp in the state, if not the country and the world, and it clearly wasn't worth that kind of a headache, when it can still be taken off his fingers. Not to mention that there are five million evil vampires in the world, and only one good one; so that's the sort of artifact that really ought to be destroyed, just for the sake of safety. Still... I keep trying to think of ways where he could wear it only in daytime, or keep it somewhere so safe that no one else could get it; but they all have the disadvantage of not being quite perfect. Even if no other vamp could get to it, they would just have to kidnap Doyle and Cordy and then demand that Angel get it for them. No. It had to be smashed." -- Kiki

"RE: All the blondes: Whoever said this was right, that he's mostly saving blondes. They really need to get a new spin on this soon. Tina, Kate, this week's chick (can't remember her name), Sarah, and those two girls in the alley in the pilot --- that's a pretty high concentration of blonde. Even for L.A. :> Okay, we throw Cordy and next week's female in there, we have a couple brunettes, but even with the gender-switching burrowing demon, it's practically all female. Some balance by episode 5 or 6 would be nice." -- Kiki

"RE: Doyle as demon: I am so, so, so looking forward to Cordy finding out about Doyle. We got so *very* cheated out of this with Angel two years ago. And the two of them have such fun chemistry--- kind of high-school-ish, kind of good buddies who like slaying evil and both think Angel needs a life, kind of disbelieving in each other. Cordy's amazed anyone could be so ambitionless and unimpressed with her; Doyle's amazed that Cordelia's so matter-of-fact and optimistic about coping with all things vamp and occult. They're wonderful for each other.... The scene where Cordy explained Spike in Cordy-terms was just priceless." -- Kiki