{"id":1032,"date":"2012-04-03T13:00:45","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T20:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=1032"},"modified":"2012-04-02T22:54:31","modified_gmt":"2012-04-03T05:54:31","slug":"mark-watches-angel-s01e15-the-prodigal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2012\/04\/mark-watches-angel-s01e15-the-prodigal\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Angel’: S01E15 – The Prodigal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifteenth episode of the first season of Angel<\/em>, good lord, this is bleak. If you’re intrigued, then it’s time for Mark to watch Angel<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I can sort of see people not liking Angel<\/em>, nor being that into the character of Angel. I might also get not liking “The Prodigal” either. I think that there are plenty of people who aren’t into dudes angst-ing their lives away about their daddy issues. It’s been interesting to me to watch this show because it has the entire emotional history of three seasons of Buffy<\/em> behind. Basically, I’m still in the process of trying to appreciate it as its own thing. “Hero” certainly helped in a weird way. That episode couldn’t have happened on “Buffy.” And even though I have been begging<\/em> for more of Angel’s history for a while, I’m glad that it was given its own space here on this show. It was also interesting to see bits of “Becoming, Part One” used in tandem with new footage to give us a horrifying context to Angel’s life.<\/p>\n

I’ll always have father issues because it’s now impossible for me to get closure on them. My dad isn’t here anymore, and I never got to tell how I felt about my childhood with him. In a way, I find something remarkably similar in the situation we see with Liam. Actually, wait, do I have to call him Liam? It’s really distracting because he’s Angel<\/em>, not Liam. I know, I know, it’s his real name, but when I was born, I was named Kevin<\/em> until I was adopted. So I don’t exactly go around telling everyone that little fact! Wait\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I just did. Fuck<\/em>. Don’t tell anyone.<\/p>\n

I suppose it’s also easy for me to enjoy this episode (aside from the SADFEST, I mean) because I seriously adore Kate. I’m getting very nervous about saying that, because that means she can’t last much longer, but ALLOW ME THESE RARE MOMENTS. I just can’t believe how well she’s written, and how much respect the writers give her. It would be so much easier for her to come around and trust Angel, but I find it so much more fascinating and rewarding that she doesn’t. She makes her decision, and the writers don’t torment her for it. Instead, what we get is an exploration of her issues trusting other people. Why should she have<\/em> to deal with Angel’s world? She shouldn’t, plain and simple.<\/p>\n

The events that are happening in the present are also contrasted with the past, and my brain started imagining Angel<\/em> as an episode of LOST<\/em> because the framing device for “The Prodigal” reminded me of how LOST<\/em> operated. Let’s not go there right now. I think Angel saw himself in Kate because of the dynamic she had with her father. Both of them wanted approval and affection from their fathers, and neither got them in any satisfying way. I admit that I had totally forgotten that Angel had eaten his family<\/em>, and I may have felt all weird and unsettled after watching him do it. You know what comforted me? Darla. Because I really like her<\/em> and I really like Julie Benz and I know it’s probably asking too much, but I’d be down to see more of her. I shouldn’t say that, should I? Well, she was already killed off, so it can’t get worse, can it??? WHY AM I ASKING THESE QUESTIONS HAVE I LEARNED NOTHING<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The point I was trying<\/em> to get to was that Darla helps Angel realize something about who he’ll always<\/em> be. You know, it’s telling that upon being turned into a vampire, Angelus’s first thought is to go after his whole<\/em> family. He didn’t just torment his father, even though it was his father that drove him to drink. (I suppose that’s a questionable assumption, but I’m thinking about how hard it is to live up to the expectations your parents set, and I could see that being a damn understandable reason why he would act out.) He had to destroy everyone else in his family first<\/em> in order to make his father suffer. This wasn’t about a simple chance to get back at his father, but a deep, disturbing act of revenge. Darla makes a fine point about this: it’s proof that Angel’s father got under Angel’s skin. How is killing his father going to solve anything? He’ll still believe forever<\/em> that he was never good enough for his father. Guess what, Angel? She was right<\/em>. Here you are, hundreds of years later, and you know you weren’t good enough for your father because of what you did to him.<\/p>\n

Darla, please come be insightful near me. I need the therapy.<\/p>\n

I have too many other thoughts. Deal with it.<\/p>\n

Thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n