Angel Investigated - 5.11 Damage

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 11.23.2011

An unexpected guest helps Angel and Spike track down a psychotic vampire slayer!

5.11 Damage
Writer: Steven S. DeKnight and Drew Goddard
Director: Jefferson Kibbee

Whedon Speak

Harmony: Boss, we just got a tip some looney's hatched from the bin.
Angel: A who did a what?

Andew: Spike? It's you. It's really you! (sobbing) My therapist thought I was holding onto false hope, but...I knew you'd come back. (sniffles) You're like...you're like Gandalf the White, resurrected from the pit of the Balrog, more beautiful than ever. Oh... he's alive, Frodo. (sobbing) He's alive.

Case Files

The events of this episode are a result of the actions in the Buffy series finale, in which Willow turned every Potential on Earth into a Slayer.

Jeremy Thomas has the full review!

When Buffy the Vampire Slayer went on to that great TV set in the sky (and endless syndication) while Angel lived on to fight another day, many Buffyverse fans—myself included—found ourselves speculating excitedly about what kinds of crossovers they were going to do. Would we get Robin Wood traipsing into Los Angeles for a little slaying? Giles showing up to advise Wesley about the Watcher\s Council? Willow moving over to join the fellows at Wolfram & Hart? (I maintain that such a thing occurring would have been amazing for the show and would have filled a hole that the AI staff was missing…but I digress) The speculation was pretty endless, and in truth the results were more sparing—yet probably more effective because of that—than most Whedonites were hoping for. This week's episode, "Damage," was basically the most significant of them, as it brings us around to what's been going on after Sunnydale became a big hole and how it affects the rest of the world—particularly our favorite group of Angelinos.

"Damage" takes place about six months after the end of Buffy and focuses on the ramifications of Willow's big spell to turn all of the Potential Slayers into Actual Slayers. You had to know that something like that would have serious ramifications. As it turns out, the ramifications were even more serious if you follow the comic books, but we'll not get into that. Here we realize that not all the Potentials probably should have been activated, since some of them—surprise, surprise—are hideously damaged from a psychological standpoint. In this case the damaged one is Dana, a teenage girl who has spent the whole of her life in a mental institution. Suddenly she gets Slayer powers, and needless to say she's not in the institution anymore, leaving it for Angel and the gang to track her down. After a first fight, Angel realizes what Dana is and asks Buffy—through Wesley—to send their top guy to help out. That top guy turns out to be everyone's favorite sexually ambiguous former Big Bad…or actually, the other one of those in Andrew. Seeing Tom Lenk back is a joy, as he is the perfect guy to inject some needed humor in here. His friendship (such as it is) with Spike makes for some fun awkwardness when he realizes that Spike is alive and then we have the silliness of his presentation on the Vampyr Slayers. Andrew is played for laughs here, but he's far from being the goof that he used to be, as we'll find out.

Before that though, Spike has to go off on his own to investigate, as his continued storyline arc of being at odds with Angel and the Wolfram & Hart crew gets him out of the office fairly quickly. Andrew comes along for the ride as Spike tracks Dana down…much to his chagrin, as she bests him and injects him with a sedative. Seems that Dana recognizes Spike as the monster who killed her family and tortured her for months as a ten-year-old, and she's looking to repay the favor. Soon Spike ends up without hands so that he can't hurt anyone anymore. This is why, even if you don't like your fellow souled vampire Champion, you should always go out with more backup than just a Watcher-in-Training. Luckily he is able to make her realize that he didn't do all that to her, and Angel shows up to confirm it.

As Spike is being wheeled away, Andrew arrives to collect Dana. Angel refuses, and this is where Andrew drops the act. (Okay, it wasn't all an act, but it was partly one.) All of a sudden he gets serious and tells Angel that they're not leaving a Slayer in the hands of someone working for Wolfram & Hart…and he has the power to take her, in the form of a good couple dozen Slayers. Andrew tells Angel that no one trusts him anymore, and when Angel says he'll take it up with Buffy Andrew replies, "Who do you think my orders came from?" That's cold. With Dana firmly in Slayer custody, Angel is left with the realization that he is truly without allies outside of his close-knit group.

"Damage" is definitely the best of the Angel Season Five episodes that features crossover from Buffy regulars. The idea of an activated Potential who has serious emotional damage was fun to explore, and I liked the way it built on the whole collective consciousness of the Slayers through dreams to fuel Dana's insanity. Dana is an unreliable narrator and so for part of the episode we thoroughly believe that Spike is probably the one who did hurt her; as it turns out he wasn't, but as Spike himself notes, what does it matter when he hurt so many? This is an important episode for Spike as he starts to realize the same things Angel did years ago about his regret over the things he did while evil. This is an important plot point as it provides some form of resolution between Spike and Angel and allows Spike to become a more cohesive part of the team. The AI crew will need him soon enough.

Mike Gorman	I have a love/hate relationship with "Damage." I love to see the aftereffects of the Buffy finale crossover into Angel's world. The separate but connected nature of these two shows was always one of my favorite parts of the Whedon-verse. They were on different tracks but every so often their worlds would intersect. With "Damages" we learn just what Buffy and her gang have been up to since all of the potential Slayers were activated. Having Andrew be the character who leads the "visit" was a nice choice, especially considering his past interactions with Spike. Andrew delivering Buffy's take on Angel's current status quo is one of my favorite moments of the season. Plain and simple, they see Angel and Co. as the enemy because of their current affiliation. It is a splash of water on Angel's face that will segue nicely to next week's return of Cordelia. The hate side of my feelings is simply because it reminded me of how much I miss Buffy and how much I wanted to see the story of what happened after the defeat of the first evil. All in all this episode had some great moments that felt like a homecoming and sets the stage for "The Girl in Question" later in the season.	9
Ronny Sarnecky	One of the great things about the “Buffy/Angel” franchise was the use of crossovers between the two shows. Whether it was Buffy going to Los Angeles, or Angel visiting old friends back in Sunnydale, it wasn’t odd to have the characters of the two shows intermingle a couple of times a year. It’s something that I love about the franchise. With Season Five, I imagined that we would see a bevy of Sunnydale alumni pay a visit to the Angel gang. In “Damage,” we got a taste of what I was expecting throughout the year. However, Andrew was the last person that I expected to see in a crossover. Sure, he’s no Giles, Xander, Willow, or Buffy, but the addition of Andrew on the show was a welcome surprise. I loved Andrew’s storytelling ways in “Buffy,” so to hear him tell the Angel gang about the events that happened at the end of “Buffy’s” series finale. While still not tough, Andrew had a little bad ass in him, which was nice to see. I guess the “training” has been paying off. Seeing Andrew on “Angel” made me realize something. I really miss “Buffy.” I thought it was a nice twist that the writers used by having Dana be a slayer. It showed that what Willow did has consequences besides “we saved the world.” Its something I never thought of before, as to what the aftermath would be in a world filled with slayers. “Damage” helped answer that question.	9
Jason Chamberlain	It was really cool to have a bit of a crossover episode now that Buffy was off the air, and long before the Season 8 comics, this episode gave us a small glimpse into what the Scooby Gang was up to. Bringing Andrew in was an inspired choice, even if it was probably only because Anthony Stewart Head, Alyson Hannigan or a bigger Buffy name couldn't/wouldn't do it. A psycho slayer is an interesting twist and a fun foil for our gang. .	8

GRR!!! ARGH!!!

The 411: A crazy Slayer and Andrew come to Los Angeles to stir up their own types of trouble, and the results are damn good. A solid balance of humor and horror, "Damage" is the best of the Buffy crossover episodes in Season Five and has the significant development of pushing Spike back toward the Angel crew. Good episode with a lot of ramifications not far down the road.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]