Episode Reviews   

"Guise will be Guise," Tuesday, November 7, 2000

by Dawn

This episode is an example of making a virtue out of necessity. David Boreanaz was tied up filming at BTVS for next week's mega-super-duper crossover, so the writers needed another character to carry the episode. Wesley Wyndham-Pryce is the lucky winner.

This was a good episode, though not outstanding. Wesley's impersonation of Angel was amusing, but a little heavy on the slapstick. Virginia, the girl he protected, struck me as a bit too whiny... and would someone please tell me how she didn't figure out Wesley wasn't a vampire when they were in bed? I mean, if there's any time when you're going to notice a heartbeat, it's then.

The episode seems to take pains to reaffirm that which most fans already believe: namely, that Angel lost his soul because of true happiness, not mere sex. Wonder where they're going with that? The fake swami was funny, and I wonder how he got his insights into Angel's character.

I found the villains in this episode a little hard to follow. Someone on a mailing list that I'm on referred to them as the Magic Mob. It was like "The Godfather" meets "Charmed". I never got a decent explanation as to why the rival sorcerer lured Angel away with such a complicated trick. If he just wanted to keep Angel from protecting Virginia, it seems too roundabout and complicated. Why wouldn't such a powerful sorcerer just attack Angel directly?

Cordelia turned in a good performance this week. She said in "First Impressions" that she is Gunn's protector, but in fact she protects all of her menfolk. From trying to talk Angel out of an ill-conceived infiltration of Wolfram and Hart (come on, that's the kind of plan Riley would come up with), to going after Wesley, Cordelia is always looking after the guys. Her imitation of Angel cracked me up, and it was nice to hear her say she loves him. (I mean platonically.)

Gunn was fine as usual, though he didn't have any critical part in the plot. His reactions in the karaoke bar were hilarious. Thank heaven, Angel didn't have to sing again.

Wesley once again showed that although he's a bit spazzy and goofy, he can still get the job done. You've got to hand it to a man who's willing to drink actual blood. I think he had a bit of fun, dressing up in Angel's clothes and living large on the vampire's reputation.

The post-sacrifice scene where everyone is talking at once was funny, but a little over-the-top. If I ever hear the word "eunuch" come from Angel's mouth again, I might throw up.

This episode works well as filler, but like "Go Fish" or "Bad Eggs" it's basically some inconsequential fun before the heavyweight episode airs. Next week, we get an unprecendented look at the history of Angel's bloodline, which contains the five most important vampires in the Buffyverse: the Master, Darla, Angel/Angelus, Drusilla and Spike.

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