Shane King returns with another in depth review of a key Angle episode. This week it's the ninth installment of season one, Hero.
After the
gut-wrenching, tear-inducing, depressing, sobfest that was “I Will
Remember You”, I’m looking forward to a light-hearted, funny,
uplifting episode of “Angel” to make myself feel better...oh,
wait, another sobfest! Curse you,
Whedon!
“Hero” is the
second episode out of the last three that is all about Doyle. I’m
really impressed with how fleshed-out and loveable they’ve made
Doyle in just nine episodes. He’s had two episodes that centre
around him and we know a lot about his history and his motivations
before the end of this episode. While “The Bachelor Party” gave
us a significant amount of backstory on Doyle (more than we get in
seven years of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” for Giles), “Hero”
fills in the blanks. We learn that Doyle turned his back on his
Bracken demon side, we learn that when a group of Bracken demons came
to him for help, he turned them away and they were slaughtered, and
we learn why Doyle
is so desperately fighting for redemption and why his behaviour is
often self-destructive. I’ve got to be honest with you guys, I’ve
been dreading re-watching
this episode. Even more so than “I Will Remember You”. It’s a
goodbye to Doyle and in a lot of ways it’s a goodbye to Glenn
Quinn. In saying that, Doyle’s farewell episode is the perfect
ending for his character. He
validates himself for the choices he made historically, he finds the
redemption he’s been seeking, and he proves that he’s a hero. My
only regret is that Doyle was in just nine episodes of “Angel”.
In my review of
“The Bachelor Party”, I compared Angel Investigations to the
characters from The Wizard Of Oz. “Hero” continues in that same
vein, only this time they’re the characters from Harry Potter
instead. The Scourge are the ‘monsters-of-the-week’ in this
episode and they deliver in a big way. The Scourge are a race of
‘pure blood’ demons whose sole purpose in life is to eradicate
the ‘half-bloods’, such as part-demons and vampires. Is this
sounding familiar to you at all? THE
SCOURGE ARE DEATH EATERS! ALL THEY NEED ARE WANDS! After
The Scourge were introduced, I assumed that this episode would
concentrate on social class and racial oppression. It would explore
the persecution of a certain group, similar to how the Nazis
operated. In some ways, I was correct. However, this episode isn’t
an exploration of social class and prejudice, it’s a swan song for
Doyle. This entire episode is building up to Doyle making the
ultimate sacrifice. If The Scourge are Death Eaters, you would expect
Angel to be Harry Potter, right? That
is what makes this episode great! You
expect Angel to swoop in and save the day at the last minute like he
always does. However, Joss pulls the ol’ bait-and-switch on us at
the last minute. It was well shrouded, but Doyle
is Harry. Doyle is doing what Harry
does in “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows”. He’s
voluntarily walking to his death in order to save the people around
him. I swear, I’ll stop talking about Harry Potter now...
The episode opens
with Cordelia, a muggle, trying to explain to Angel what she’s
going for with the advert she’s attempting to shoot. Even though
it’s only in Cordelia’s head, Angel pulling a goofy face and
pronouncing “You can count on me, ‘cause I’m the Dark Avenger”
is so funny that I may die. David’s delivery of that line is so
over the top and cheesy that I can’t help but want that advert to
become a reality.
End of
episode. Press eject and move on to “Parting Gifts”...can I do
that? Is that allowed? Is that it? Am I done?
After Angel is
less than enthusiastic about appearing in the advert, Cordelia turns
to Doyle...
Cordelia: “Come
into the light and let’s see if we can create some cheekbones.”
-------------------------------------------------------
Doyle: “I don’t
see Angel putting on tights...now I do and it’s really
disturbing...”
Cordelia wants
Doyle to be the focus of the advert because he’s normal, he’s
ordinary, he’s average. On the surface this looks like another
back-handed compliment from Cordelia, but by the end of this episode
we discover that Doyle is far from
those things. Cordelia’s advert gives the audience the opportunity
to think about what a hero is. What makes a hero? Is it constantly
sacrificing for the greater good? Is it never giving up? Is it doing
anything to help the people around you? Is it putting other people
before yourself? Is it a combination of all of those? Whatever makes
a hero, the beginning of this episode emphasises the point that Angel
is a hero and Doyle is not one. Oh, you tricky, tricky Whedon!
Angel himself has
grown rather a lot since hooking up with Doyle and Cordelia in Los
Angeles. Through flashbacks, we’ve learned that Angel closes
himself off from the world when he’s going through a rough time. He
becomes a loner, distances himself from everyone around him, and
starts to brood. God damn, that man
knows how to brood. After rewinding
time and his perfect day with Buffy, I was expecting Angel to turn
back into the brooding loner that he was when Doyle found him at the
beginning of “City Of”. I was wrong. Angel has learned to evolve
and talk to his friends in moments of emotional turmoil. I was
happily surprised to see Angel confiding in Doyle that Buffy was
there for an entire day and night before she left for Sunnydale. Not
only does this show us just how close they’ve become, but it’s
also important for the end of this episode. Angel sacrificed
everything he’s ever wanted (Buffy and humanity) in order to
protect the world and the people around him. Doyle mentions to Angel
that he’d never have that type of strength and that he’d choose
pleasures of the flesh over doing the right thing any day of the
week...
Angel: “You
never know your strength until you’re tested.”
We’re then
introduced to the Lister demons and The Scourge. While I really enjoy
The Scourge and think that they’re interesting, they do raise a
potential error in continuity. Giles explains to the rest of the
Scooby Gang on “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” that no pure
demons exist on Earth anymore. A few
people have achieved ascension and become a pure demon (such as The
Mayor), but they are few and far between. Excluding those exceptions,
the last ‘pure demons’ disappeared from Earth when the Old Ones
were driven out. Wouldn’t that make The Scourge less than ‘pure’
themselves? I can see a way around this problem, though. Just because
The Scourge claim to
be pure, it doesn’t make them pure. They are more ‘pure’ than
vampires and half-demons either way. The Scourge are interesting,
memorable, creepy, and actually serve a purpose beyond being the
villains of the episode. They have a history with Doyle that is
directly tied into Doyle’s past mistakes and they were part of the
catalyst for Doyle’s mission of redemption. Doyle’s history with
The Scourge makes this episode work so well. It adds a new dimension
that wouldn’t have been there if Doyle had sacrificed himself to
save the Lister demons from something else.
The revelation of
The Scourge leads Doyle to confide in Angel. Doyle explains that just
after he discovered his Bracken demon side (he was 21-years-old when
it showed itself), a group of Bracken demons needed his help as they
were being persecuted by The Scourge. At this point in his life,
Doyle didn’t want anything to do with his demon side. He despised
that side of himself. Doyle refused
to help and in doing so refused to accept who he is. Instead he chose
to hide from it. The repercussions of Doyle’s decision were
devastating. The Bracken demons who came to Doyle for help were
slaughtered brutally. The scene where Doyle discovers them all dead
is shocking. The musical score that plays over the scene is
absolutely perfect too. Again, it’s another example of making
“Angel” a grey-area show. Angel and Doyle are both extremely
flawed heroes and the Lister demons
aren’t evil in the least. It really makes for an excellent dynamic.
You never know who’s ‘good’ and ‘evil’ based on appearance
alone. It’s this exact thing that
makes the next episode, “Parting Gifts”, so interesting. I get a
great deal of satisfaction in watching the Lister demons interact
with each other. They are a loving family that want nothing more than
to be left in peace.
Rieff: “She
took me out with her one day, I was so excited. Just out in the
neighbourhood with all the other kids. Do you know what day it was?
What day was it?!”
Doyle: “It was
Halloween.”
How heartbreaking
is that line? You know you’ve had an interesting life when you’re
empathising with a demon. Like Doyle was after he discovered he was
part-demon, Rieff is struggling to accept what he is. Rieff doesn’t
belong in the world. He has to skulk in the shadows and hide away
from humans because he doesn’t look like the rest of them. I think
a lot of Buffyverse fans can relate to the issue of not fitting into
the ‘normal’ societies of life. I know I’ve struggled with it.
During my school years I was physically and verbally bullied on a
daily basis because I wasn’t ‘normal’. I wore black clothes,
had shoulder-length hair, wore eyeliner, and was a huge fan of comic
books and metal music. None of this was considered ‘normal’ in my
school. I was outcast and shunned because of that. My friendship
group consisted of all the people that didn’t belong anywhere. To
this day I’m still great friends with those people. Interestingly,
after starting college (and beyond that), it’s been those things
that have helped me to stand out in a positive way and make friends.
Being confident and self-assured in who you are is a great
thing...unless you’re in school and surrounded by people who want
to abuse anyone who is confident in being ‘weird’ and ‘odd’.
Doyle explains to Rieff that he’s got to keep faith. He can’t
give up and repress who he is. Remember that, people! You were made
to standout, not blend in. It’s almost like Doyle is talking to a
version of himself from a decade earlier. Rieff is going the same way
that Doyle did. Doyle lost faith in the world and ran away from who
he was. This resulted in innocent demons being slaughtered. Doyle
doesn’t want the same thing to happen to Rieff. He explains to
Rieff that Angel is the genuine article, a real hero.
Then, Angel
snapped Doyle’s neck in front of The Scourge to prove that he’s
worthy of joining them. Well, that was violent and shocking.
Especially when the audience didn’t know that Doyle could survive
that! Watching Angel snap Doyle’s neck to prove himself was
disturbing because it made me jump forward in time to Angel’s
penultimate episode, “Power Play”, where Angel legitimately
snaps the neck of a friend in order
to prove himself to the Circle of the Black Thorn. Angel officially
joins The Scourge (and in turn has glorious hair) in order to keep an
eye on them while the Lister demons try to escape on a boat. It turns
out to all be a ploy. The Scourge are aware that the Lister demons
are trying to escape via boat and are heading to the boat to kill
them.
Before Angel and
The Scourge arrive, Doyle reveals to Cordelia that he’s part demon.
Cordelia slapping Doyle and yelling at him for not telling her before
is amazing. In
this one moment Cordelia proves just how much she’s grown since
leaving Sunnydale. She instantly
accepts Doyle for who he is. When you consider that Doyle has been
terrified that
Cordelia would turn her back on him if she found out, it makes the
moment all the more wonderful. Not only does Cordelia accept Doyle,
she demands him to ask her on a date already! See all that growth!...
Cordelia: “You’re
half demon. That is so far down the list. Way under short and poor.”
...okay, perhaps
she hasn’t completely grown
yet! We can’t expect miracles!
Angel
Investigations are too late. The Scourge have implanted a device on
the ship that will kill all non-pure demons for a quarter of a mile
in every direction. Doyle finds himself in a situation similar to
when he turned his back on his Bracken demon kin before. This time
around, Doyle quickly takes a different route...
Doyle: “The
good fight, yeah? You never know until you’ve been tested. I get
that now.”
The second
that Doyle said that, I knew how the
rest of the episode was going to unfold. The writing had been on the
wall since the opening scene of “Hero”, but I was too blind to
see it. Doyle makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to save the
Lister demons, Cordelia, and Angel. It’s easily the most selfless
that we’ve seen Doyle be. I feel that there are two main reasons
why Doyle found the strength to sacrifice himself...
- Earlier in the episode, Doyle listened to Angel explain how he gave up everything he ever wanted in order to help people. He listened to his best friend explain how he sacrificed the two most precious dreams he had in order to protect the world. I think this finally prompted Doyle into realising just what a hero is and what a hero must sacrifice for the greater good.
- Harry’s return in “The Bachelor Party”. As I mentioned in my review of “The Bachelor Party”, Harry returning and Doyle realising once and for all that Harry wasn’t pitying him with her talk of loving his demon side encouraged Doyle to finally embrace and accept who he is. Doyle was able to find closure on his past and come to terms with his Bracken side.
When I realised
that Doyle was about to die, I was frantically looking for a way
around it. Frantically trying to find another way for the plot to
resolve. Then, I thought about the episode. I thought about the
advert, I thought about the Lister demons, I thought about Doyle’s
flashbacks, and I realised that it had
to end this way. Doyle’s character
had come full-circle and had reached his redemption. Doyle made
amends for what happened last time he was face-to-face with The
Scourge. I like to think that Angel’s influence helped Doyle become
the selfless, compassionate man that he was during death. Doyle
kisses Cordelia (I sure hope that
doesn’t have repercussions for the
next three years...)
and exclaims...
Doyle: “Too bad
we’ll never know *he transforms
into his Bracken demon face* if this
is a face you could learn to love.”
In that one
moment, I had more love for Cordelia and Doyle as a romantic pairing
than I ever did
for Cordelia and Xander.
Doyle’s death
was tragic and incredibly sad, but it’s also the perfect way for
him to leave the show. What makes this message more powerful is that
Doyle mentioned earlier in the episode that he could never be as
heroic as Angel, yet here he is sacrificing himself when he didn’t
have to. Angel
was willing to die to save the Lister clan. Doyle didn’t have to
sacrifice himself, but he did so anyway. Doyle died a hero. I always
get teary-eyed watching Doyle’s death scene. I think about the rest
of “Angel”, I think about how funny it would have been for Doyle
and Wesley to interact, I think about the drinking sessions that
Spike and Doyle could have had in season five, I wonder what Fred and
Gunn would have thought of Doyle, I think about Doyle and Lorne
drunkenly singing karaoke songs in the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel,
and I can’t help but feel sad that I never got to witness this.
Goodbye, Allen Francis Doyle. You and your accent will be greatly
missed. Goodbye, Glenn Quinn. You were taken far too soon and may you
rest in peace.
The episode
fittingly closes on Doyle’s advert, as Angel and Cordelia both look
heartbroken...“So don’t lose hope. Come on over to our offices
and you’ll see that there’s still heroes in this world...is that
it?...am I done?”
You are done.
Farewell, Doyle.
Quote
Of The Episode
Doyle:
“If you need help, then look no further. Angel Investigations is
the best! Our rats are low...”
Cordelia:
“Rates!”
Doyle:
“...It says ‘rats’....our rates
are low, but our standards are high. When the chips are down and
you’re at the end of your rope, you need someone that you can count
on and that’s what you’ll find here. Someone who’ll go all the
way, who’ll protect you no matter what. So don’t lose hope. Come
on over to our offices and you’ll see that there’s still heroes
in this world...is that it?...am I done?”
FINAL
SCORE: 10/10
Shane
‘Shangel’ King is a blogger from England, where he spends most of
his time reviewing television shows, attending conventions, and
fanboying professionally. He’s currently reviewing every episode of
“Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” in-depth on
his blog, and will soon be covering “Firefly”, “Game Of
Thrones”, “The Walking Dead”, “Chuck”, “Doctor Who”,
and more in equal depth! You can also follow
Shangel on Twitter.
Previously
City Of
I Will Remember You
Previously
City Of
I Will Remember You
