Angel Investigated - 2.16 Epiphany

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 02.17.2010

Angel finally comes to his senses, but is it too late for the Gang to accept him back?

2.16 Epiphany
Writer: Tim Minear
Director: Thomas J. Wright

Whedon Speak

Darla: But we... ?
Angel: Yeah.
Darla: And you?
Angel: I know.
Darla: Then I...
Angel: Three times.

Angel: Probably should have killed her.
Lorne: Kill her, give her cab fare. Whatever.

Gunn: So you had an epiphany, did you?
Angel: Yeah.
Gunn: So ... what? You just wake up, and 'bang'?
Angel: Sort of the other way around.

Angel: Guys, guys. Does it make sense that she would go there in the middle of the night, without calling either one of you?
Wesley and Gunn: They owe us money.
Angel: Let's go.

Ronny Sarnecky has the full review!

It’s deja vu all over again. Angel awakes from having sex with a blonde during a rain storm, only to notice that he is a changed man. In “Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s” Season Two episode “Innocence,” Angel went from “vampire with a soul” and reverted back to his old Angelus ways. In “Epiphany,” Angel went from bordering on the dark side to returning back to his “vampire with a soul” helping ways.

Even the dialogue was familiar.
Look at Darla's reaction to Angel still having his soul, and compare it to Buffy's when Angel lost his soul.
"Innocence"
Buffy: "I, I don't understand. Was it m-me? (meekly) Was I not good?"
"Epiphany"
Darla: "You're not evil. I-I don't understand. - Was I... Was it... not good?"

In this episode, we learned that Darla wanted to have sex with Angel in order for him to lose his soul. What Darla didn’t realize was that in order to turn Angel back into Angelus, he needed to be in a state of complete happiness. Obviously, Angel wasn’t completely happy with Darla, so he couldn’t be turned by just having sex.
Apparently, Angel didn’t realize this either, as he went bed with Darla hoping to lose his soul. However, once he saw that sex with Darla worked in the opposite end of the spectrum, he was back to truly being a “vampire with a soul.” He even noted to Darla, it wasn’t an event of perfect happiness, but the perfect act of despair.

While the transformation of Angel was errily familiar to his transformation on “Buffy,” this episode wasn’t a complete copy of “Innocence.” After his transformation, comes Angel’s redemption. Angel had four wounds to heal, namely Kate, Wesley, Gunn, and Cordelia.
Kate was the easiest sell. While she was overdosing, Angel busted in and saved her life. One of the things that convinced her that Angel was a good soul wasn’t just because he saved her, but because she never invited Angel into her home, and he was able to get in. She realized that there was a higher power working.
Gunn, Wesley, and Cordelia were a little harder to convince. Nobody in the group feel they can trust him. I think a key part of the episode was that the characters didn’t immediately accept him back into the fold. Even at the end, Angel said that he wanted to work for them, as opposed to them working for him. It’s the first step into regaining their trust. Catching a falling Cordelia during one of her visions wasn’t a bad second step.

Mike Gorman	Angel comes back over to the good guys and just in time in "Epiphany." As our master reviewer has already detailed, this episode's opening is a clear parallel to the episode of Buffy when Angel lost his soul. It is however not heavy handed and a great way to bring closure to that chapter in Angel's life. By the episode's end he is back where he belongs but on a different path and I think it is great. The title implies a quick burst of knowledge and there will be nothing truly quick about Angel's return to his friends's good graces. Angel also saves Kate's life after her suicide attempt last week and it leads to my favorite moment of the week. In the garden Kate reveals she believes a higher power is on their side because she had never invited Angel into her apartment, which he burst into to save her. She said it made her realize he was a good soul. A fact he is now sure of and if only he can get everyone else to see it. The road ahead will be a great journey for them all.	9
Jeremy Thomas	After the long, hard journey into the deepest night, Angel finally makes his way back in "Epiphany." There are some great things that happen in this episode, from the meaningful but also funny-at-times chat with the Host ("Jeez, keep your pants on…well, I see we're a little late for that) all the way through to the conversation at the end where Angel asks to be able to work for the trio. This is the redemption moment that is needed to set things back on course, and while it does undo a lot of the damage done, it wasn't a "we know we screwed up and we're fixing it" thing with the writers…this was just the natural course of the season and it completely made sense. While I didn't enjoy the Skilosh demons all that much, everything around them is great. I really enjoy Lindsey's vengeance kick on Angel that happens at almost the worst possible moment, and then bad-ass Angel kicking his ass while he sets Lindsey straight about Darla. On a sad side, we see the end of Kate in this episode (at least until the After the Fall comic book series); while I know some of my comrades disliked her, I was always a fan. At any rate, I really enjoy this episode and of course, it's an important one not only in the season, but within the series as a whole.	8.5
Jason Chamberlain	It’s good to see the band back together, but it’s also good to see that Angel has to earn his way back in. The gang doesn’t just accept him back with open arms, and considering what Angel put them through, that’s fair. It’s great to see them together again though. It's also interesting to see Lindsay acting like the smited boyfriend, and Darla taking it when she could easily snap him in two.	8

GRR!!! ARGH!!!

The 411: Season Two of “Angel” can be constituted as “the Fall and Rise of Angel.” “Epiphany” was the rebirth of Angel. Even though the beginning of this episode was a carbon copy of “Innocence,” it was a great episode. Instead of evil winning as in the “Buffy” episode, this time the good guys won.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]