In the nineteenth episode of the second season of Angel, the group struggles to find their own place in Los Angeles, but ends up discovering Lorne. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Angel.
A quick note about Lorne: I actually watched this episode on May 29. I didn’t want to come back from the AIDS ride and have to binge write ten posts in one day. NO THANK YOU. So I started very early to get these done. The next morning, I went back and re-read the review that was going to go up for “Reprise,” and made a few edits to sentences that were awful. In one of those, I saw that I had typed “The Host” and foolishly thought, “Fuck, that’s not his name. You can’t get anything right, Mark.” And I changed it! Then once it went live, everyone was like WAIT HOW DO YOU KNOW HIS NAME.
So no, I wasn’t spoiled for it! I am just weird.
SO! “Belonging.” Fantastic episode or utterly fantastic episode? I know that for the most part, Angel is about redemption and finding that peace in a city like Los Angeles. While we watch the four main characters attempt to do good in a world of chaos and evil, I never really thought about how that journey would leave them all so alone. Gunn, Wesley, Cordelia, and Angel all struggle with how their identities and choices have left them unable to connect with anyone who doesn’t work with them at Angel Investigations. We see how Angel will never truly be able to understand a world without demons, witches, and monsters. Instead, he attacks a random woman at a restaurant entirely by mistake after he struggles to comprehend the restaurant’s prices.
In the case of Wesley and Gunn, both have to deal with people they were once close with rejecting them. In Wesley’s case, we only hear half of what must have been an agonizing conversation with Wesley’s father. No, your son is amazing. What are you doing? Oh my god, shut up. How heartbreaking is that scene? Wesley already isn’t a very confident person in general, but Alexis Denisof really sells the disappointment his character is going through. Some days I forget where Welsey came from, that he was once a Watcher and failed at that job. Oh god, remember when he had a crush on Cordelia? HOW FAR THEY’VE ALL COME.Â
Gunn’s story concerns the betrayal and disappointment his friends George and Rondell feel for him. Gunn really has been spending a lot of time with Angel Investigations. The kids he grew up with are now young men, and they miss Gunn. Even worse, Gunn does his best to try and accommodate everyone, but he ultimately chooses to go with Angel and Wesley first. I don’t think George’s eventual death is necessarily Gunn’s fault, but does it really matter? Gunn feels guilty for not being there to save his friend’s life, and he’s left feeling just as confused as ever about where he fits in. Is he betraying the life on the streets that he grew up with? Is he doing the most good with Angel?
Of everyone, though, it was Cordelia’s story that broke me the hardest. I’ve grown to love how much she finds a way to celebrate the superficial in this really awesome way, and it was just gut-wrenching to watch that fall apart. After landing a fairly high-profile gig, I was excited to see where this would take Cordelia. Would this be the part of an ongoing storyline? Unfortunately, I had to watch her accept abuse and shame from the director in an effort to try and make her dream come true. It’s actually another moment where Angel can’t seem to understand that people exist and operate in different worlds. It makes perfect sense to him to stand up for Cordelia. Actually, did anyone else get a sense that he was doing this more intensely than he might have done so in the past? Perhaps he’s just overcompensating for their friendship after “Epiphany.” Either way, not only does Cordelia desperately want to succeed at acting, she wants to be validating. She wants to be recognized for her talent. Instead, she spends an entire day being objectified by an asshole of a director. God, how sad is it to see her so defeated back at the office after a long day of shooting? I just want her to be happy, and her pursuit of that notion has left her feeling the exact opposite.
After a lengthy introduction of what all four of these characters are struggling with, “Belonging” switches point of view to the one character we know the least about: The Host. Or Lorne. Or Krevlornswatch of the Deathwok Clan. Or please help me, that is the greatest name ever. In just thirty minutes, we find out where Lorne came from, why he came to our dimension, why he refuses to return to his world, and how he has spent his time on earth belonging.
I can’t get over how wonderful and amazing this character’s story is. Here’s a man who couldn’t fit in to his society’s ridiculously violent and patriarchal rules (patriarchal relative to us, I mean), so he OPENED A PORTAL TO OUR WORLD AND USED HIS SPECIAL POWER TO HELP SEND PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT PATH THROUGH KARAOKE. The Host is selfish in this episode, but for ENTIRELY JUSTIFIABLE REASONS. Why would he want to go back to a place where he wouldn’t belong? Plus, I’d argue that he does far more good here on Earth with Caritas than he could ever do in his own universe. Oh my god, his cousin is ridiculous, by the way.
Also, I like how Amy Acker is in this episode for like… five seconds? I don’t know too much about her, so maybe this was like her second role ever or something, because the gang sure doesn’t bring up Fred again for the rest of the episode. Oh, well.
So, it’s come to that time when I need to do this. I do. SpectralBovine can verify for y’all that my brain broke at the end of “Belonging” because I couldn’t even deal with this. So.
what the fuck has this show done WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE WITH CORDELIA WHAT THE FUCK
oh my god, the end of this season is going to be RIDICULOUS.
