Review of Episode 12, Season 5

"You're Welcome"


Angel episode’s don’t get much more bittersweet than “You’re Welcome.” Not only is it the landmark 100th episode of the series (no small feat for any series much less a spin-off), but it also marks what is probably the last appearance ever by Charisma Carpenter as much-loved Cordelia Chase on the series. As written and directed by David Fury, the episode deals primarily with the present situation of Team Angel but it also casts a fond eye back over the years to the people and places that have shaped the man Angel is today. It is a subtly crafted and emotional love letter to the long time fans and even more to the character so integral to the journey - Cordy.

Granted, many would say the Cordelia fans knew and loved really hasn’t been the same woman since somewhere back around the end of season three, but her lack of presence this season due to her coma was surely felt. Yet, when she wakes with a start this episode, only to greet Angel and Wesley with her familiar saucy banter and delightfully self-oriented quips, it's like being reunited with a sorely-missed friend. The painfully candid and funny heroine is back and Charisma plays her for all she is worth. She looks amazing and steps back into the show like she has never been away. Whether she is challenging Angel on his current decisions, cutting Eve (Sarah Thompson) down to size, giving a heartfelt apology to Wes for her possessed actions or wielding a sword like a champion – everything about her return is a delight. All of her scenes, dialogue and remembrances, especially of fellow fallen white hat Doyle (in a brilliantly woven cameo from the past) are note perfect and work to remind us and Angel of her impact in his world. It makes sense that Cordy would be the one to smack a dose of reality back into Angel since she has always understood him the best. Unfortunately, Angel and Cordy don’t get to vocally admit their love for one another, which is kind of a cheat to a some fans surely long waiting for that moment, but regardless the love between the two is still palpable and plays the most naturally it ever has.

The episode doesn't work nearly as well when it delves back into Lindsey and Eve’s plans to bring down Angel. It climaxes in a massively staged action sequence between the two rivals that is too Matrix-lite and rife with over-the-top dialogue that doesn’t really work. It also doesn’t help that the entire evil plan set into motion isn’t explained or revealed well enough to feel earned or to even have much of a point. So with Lindsey being sucked into a Senior Partners vortex, the answers are certainly still in the coming but it doesn’t make the short-term resolution any more satisfying.

Luckily, the last act of the episode brings it back to what works so well – the interpersonal relationships of the gang and Cordy’s return. The final few minutes of the episode are just heartbreaking with Angel and Cordelia exchanging a long denied passionate kiss and their goodbyes. As sad as those moments are to watch, they don’t even compare to the kick in the gut after Angel answer’s the phone with some cleverly foreshadowed, but still unexpected news. In that moment, Cordelia’s importance and legacy with the show is forever cemented with a devastating clarity that surely brought tears to even the most stoic fans. The end brought to mind the haunting lyrics of Joni Mitchell when she sang, “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” “You’re Welcome” reminds us exactly of the impact Cordelia Chase had on the series - a true heroine that will be forever missed.

I give it...

Review by Staff Writer, Phoenix



CoA Stakes Rating Guide
  = Disappointing, stake it, bury it!
    = Not too bad, Lacking a few graves.
      = Typical Dark Avenger saves the day Saga.
        = Better still, Quality Headstones.
          = Outstanding! Reward it with mortality!




Wesley: It's extraordinary. You're--you look...I don't want to say really hot--
Cordelia: Oh, yes, you do. I'm a vision of hotliness, and how weird is that? (laughs) Mystical comas. You know, if you can stand the horror of a higher power hijacking your mind and body so that it can give birth to itself, I really recommend 'em.

Man: (dragging Sebassis' slave) Yeah, I found the scamp hiding in one of the copiers, you know? Living on nothing but toner fluid. Can you beat that? The slave, I mean. I mean, I assume the Archduke's gonna beat him and all that.
Angel: (to Cordelia) That's--ha--nothing. Do you want to see my office?

Lorne: Hey, listen, crumbcake, when you're ready to splash back into that acting pool, just say the word. I'll have you lunching with Colin Farrell like that.
Cordelia: Who's Colin Farrell?

Eve: Sweetie, I'm liaison to the Senior Partners. You honestly think you have any control over my comings and goings? Well, maybe not my goings, but you did have a way with my comings at the Halloween party.
Cordelia: So you two are groin buddies? And I thought Darla was rock bottom.
Angel: We're not. (sighs) Just...once. There were special circumstances. Lorne told us to, but mystically.

Cordelia: I naturally assumed you'd be lost without me, but this?
Angel: I am lost without you.
Cordelia: You just forgot who you are.
Angel: Remind me.
Cordelia: Uh, no. That's for you to figure out, bubba. I can tell you who you were. A guy who always fought his hardest for what was right, even when he couldn't remember why. Even when he was miserable, which was, let's face it, a not small portion of the time. He did right. And that gave him something. A light, a glimmer. And that's the guy I fell in--that, um...the guy I knew. I see him around here, then maybe I'll start believing.

Cordelia: Remember how I said, "Let's not have your department looking for those symbols I saw in my vision. Let's do this like we used to, you and me cracking the books?"
Wesley: Yes.
Cordelia: Well, that was dumb. What'd you ever listen to me for?
Wesley: I don't know. I think I sort of missed this. You and me and the books, kicking it old school, as they say, and I never will again.

Lindsey: You know, all my carefully laid out plans, my designs, when you get right down to it, that was pretty sweet, too, huh? Reason enough for me to come back. You, me...fight to the death...yours.
Angel: I've seen your tough act before, squirt. First time we ever met, you put on a show. (attacks and stops) Huffing and puffing, telling me I couldn't lay a hand on your scumbag client.
Lindsey: So you kicked him out of a window.
Angel: Good times.
Lindsey: It was a defining moment. (loud rumbling) Kind of like this one.

Lindsey: Who is this? Who is this? I came to fight the vampire with a soul. Guess you shouldn't have sold it, huh? Look at you, from champion to pathetic corporate puppet in just a few months. You used to have fire in your heart. Now all you got in there is that big honkin' sword. How does that feel, champ?
Angel: Could be worse...if it had been made out of wood, you dumbass.

Cordelia: I can't stay. This isn't me anymore. You can say good-bye to the gang for me, explain everything, once you understand.
Angel: That's gonne be never. I need you here.
Cordelia: Don't make this hard, Angel. I'm just on a different road...and this is my off-ramp. The Powers That Be owed me one, and I didn't waste it. I got my guy back on track.
Angel: Cordy, there's just--
Cordelia: We take what we can get, champ, and we do our best with it. I'll be seeing you. (walks away then stops) Oh, what the hell. One for the road? (runs to Angel and kisses him)

Quotes by Staff Writer, BCangel