Reviewed by: Adam Bardwell
Rating: 7.5/10
This episode is largely just the reworking of a very old story. To try to stop age eroding her chances for work, actress Rebecca tries to get Angel to turn the into a vampire so she can look young forever. Even the lead up to this with her manager faking stalker attacks to give her publicity is clichéd. However, this episode still works and feels quite fresh largely due to the interaction between the cast and of course the appearance of Angelus which is always fun.
Its such a shame we saw so little of Angelus. Angel turns evil because Rebecca slips a happy pill into his drink. However, this happens near the end of the episode and we end up see not very much of Angelus. This is frustrating not only because Angelus is fun (although admittedly cruel) but also because, this was quite a contrived way to turn Angel and its going to be hard to do it again convincingly for a single episode so if the writers were going to use this card they should have made the story revolve total around Angelus.
Although Angelus was fun as always he didn't quite seem the same as he was in season 2 of Buffy. Maybe it was because he didn't have Buffy to obsess over but the way he acted didn't sit quite right with me. He was brutally honest in the way only Angelus can be; questioning Wesley's bravery and laughing at Cordy's act skills. The fact that Wesley and Cordy told Angel not to apologise about Angelus' outburst so that they recognise that there was some truth in what he said and it should signify a more honest relationship between the three of them.
Although Angelus may have revealed some home truths Cordelia and Wesley proved Angelus wrong to some degree in their end confrontation. Although Cordelia had been a hopeless actress in the play she was shown to be in at the beginning of the episode here acting abilities seemed impeccable when she bluffed Angelus into think she was holding holy water. This inconsistency does grate a little especially as its been seen before this season. With Wesley Angelus basically called him a coward and generally inferior. However, Wesley's attack on Angelus ultimately saved the day showing his bravery. I think Angel's complement to Wesley at the end shows that Angelus was wrong.
Beyond Angelus Cordelia is the funniest element of the show. To begin with Cordy's play at the beginning is very funny. She is so bad you could hardly believe that anyone would have cast for what seems like a lead role. Her; "Are you insane" followed by a cough is also very funny when she is over listening to Angel turn down Rebecca's case. She sees Rebecca as a link to stardom and her first chance to make it too the big time. Not only does this lead to her hilarious fake vision but ends up clouding her judgement as Rebecca takes Cordy out to lunch and a shopping spree and pumps her with questions about Angel and how to become a vampire. The fact that Cordy works out what Rebecca is up to show intelligence it just a pity that she gave her the information.
This episode shows just how much Cordelia fears Angel turning evil. Compared to some of her Sunnydale school mates she got off lightly when Angelus was back last time but it obviously affected her greatly. Although she has grown close to Angel it is clear that deep down she has this terrible fear of Angel curse lifting. Her bring a huge cross to Rebecca's house may have been funny but it really shown how scared she is.
Angel's craving for human blood is again mentioned but yet again not really explored. This isn't really a problem with this episode for there wasn't room in the plot to study Angel's addiction in any detail. Really the series has mist the boat on this one for although he will always crave human blood he can't really still be sine to be addicted for it is so long ago that he drank Buffy's blood.
Qualms with this actual episode, beyond the classic story, centre on some of the events seeming way to convent and unexplained. The best example is the elevator going up too far when Rebecca is trying to get away from Angelus. I can't see how Angelus did this as he was going to the outside of the building to cut the power and phone-lines. The only reason seemed to be to give a means for Angelus to be knocked out for neither Wes. or Cordy have the fighting skill to do it. Another convenient event is Angels ability to almost fly up to the man who seemed to be shooting at Rebecca in the alleyway.
The fact that Angel found Rebecca attractive has lead to her being cited as a possible future love interest for him. I personally don't buy this. Firstly, after almost being murdered by Angelus I don't think she'll ever want anything to do with Angel. More importantly I think Angel needs to be with a fellow fighter. On those grounds Jhiera makes a more logical partner for Angel, although I can't see Angel getting together with anyone anytime soon because I don't think he's over Buffy yet as his reaction to finding out about Riley testified. I initially thought that Angels different reaction to Rebecca compared to Jhiera despite the fact that he found them both attractive was merely a writing inconsistency. However, if you think about it he ends up helping both of them despite his fears of getting close. The fact that Angel was pretty much forced to get involved with Jhiera after Cordy's gift and yet had a chose with Rebecca doesn't show that he has any particular preference between the women.
Greatest Angel Moment: Angel bursting a bag of blood into Rebecca's mouth.
In a Nutshell: Unoriginal actress story is lifted above mediocrity by great character interaction and of course Angelus.