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EPISODE 3.10 DAD
Written by: David H Goodman Directed by: Fred Keller
My Son, My SonFor Angel it naturally came as something
of a shock to discover that he was going to be a father.
But once he had come to terms with the news it was not long before his
paternal feelings started to surface. While
the child was still in Darla’s womb these manifested themselves in the simple
desire to see the baby delivered safe and well and to ensure that he did not
fall into the wrong hands. But the
full range and weight of responsibility of fatherhood could not really be
understood while the child was still to be born. It was only when Angel was confronted with the reality of that
tiny human life that the full force of what it meant to be a father hit him.
It would I think be no exaggeration to say that taking care of
Connor (as we must now call him) was more important to Angel than anything else
had ever been. It hardly needed the
Host to point out the combination of hope and fear that was now Angel’s lot.
There was hope for the future. As
Darla pointed out to Angel towards the end in Lullaby:
Darla: “We did so many
terrible things together. So much destruction, so much pain.
We can't make up for any of it. You know that, don't you?" Angel: "Yeah." Darla: "This child - Angel, it's the one good thing we ever did together. The only good thing." Here was something (more properly someone) that Angel had helped to create that would be untainted by his past. In itself that could be described as a form of redemption. And yet there is fear as well – fear for the child and more particularly of failing the child. A baby’s father has a very powerful influence on the way he grows up, on the sort of man he becomes. How do you deal with that sort of burden? Then there is the fact that the child is so vulnerable, not just in the ordinary way of humans but in the enemies he had managed to collect just by being born. And I haven’t even mentioned the fact that Angel must also now deal with the normal everyday needs of his son. In many ways this is the easy bit but it is the bit we see him having so much difficulty in coping with here: “You know what – you’re fed, you’re changed. I hold you, you cry. I put you down, you cry. What do you want me to do here? I’m a terrible father. I can’t even get him to stop crying.” It’s no wonder that the Host could say to Angel: Host: “It’s getting a little tense…your vibe that is.” Angel: “My vibe? What vibe?” Host:
“Oh, just the incredibly anxious one that’s been coming off you in waves
ever since he was born.” The importance of getting things right and the uncertainty of doing so make this perhaps the most searching test possible for Angel and how he reacted to it would say a great deal about him. This is what “Dad” as an episode is all about. On Our Own, TogetherRight from the teaser, Angel’s behavior
is strange. When the team enters
the Hyperion he seems almost to be separate from the others.
He doesn’t show much of an interest in the state of the hotel lobby.
And when the first demon assassin attacks far from rushing to help the
others he leaves the fighting to Wesley and Gunn and retreats to a defensive
position. And when the rest of the team are trying to figure out the
next move all Angel has on his mind is what is making the baby cry.
The message is that for Angel now it is the baby first last and always to
the exclusion of anyone or anything else, even his friends and acquaintances - as demonstrated by
Angel's reaction
when the Host gets too close for comfort: Host: “Aw, come
on hand over the little nipper. Let
Uncle Lorne take a gander, huh. Come
on I’m sure everyone else has had their turn.
Wow…I’m sensing a serious Momma Bear vibe.” Cordelia: “Yeah…we’re also waiting out turn.” Host: “I get
it. Lookee don’t touchee.” No-one else is allowed to help: with the
scratch to the face, feeding the child, holding him or changing a diaper.
Angel wasn’t even interested in letting a hospital get a look in.
This was his anxiety at work and it’s effect was to make him revert to
type. Forgotten were the post-Epiphany
resolutions about connecting with others, especially your friends.
This was the Angel of old, who set his own agenda without reference to
others and pursued it obsessively.
Once he set his mind on something, no-one else mattered.
In order to protect his son he had to kill some bad guys.
His friends could help him by getting him the weapons he needed or by
tracking them down. But there were
once again really only a means to an end and when they were not doing what he
needed, well he would let them know: Wesley: We all want the same thing Angel. We’re all doing the best we can.” Angel: “Do better.” For Angel, Connor was now the limit of his
horizon – the only thing that really mattered to him.
And the counterpart to that was that Connor was now completely his
responsibility: “I’m his only
family. My job now is to be
everything for him.” This was the attitude that Cordelia took him up on. In a way that is typical of her no-nonsense approach to life she confronted him with the limitations on himself as both vampire and father to demonstrate to him just how unrealistic he was being: “We’re going
outside – where your son’s gonna want to go play.
Where you’ll have to rush him to the hospital when he gets sick in the
daytime. But I see your point.
You can’t go outside in the daylight like other parents because
you’re a vampire and even if you weren’t you can’t do everything for
him.” The point she was making was that Angel
had to let others help him. He
couldn’t just think in terms of himself and his son.
There had to be room in his world for friends who would go out in the
daylight, who would look after the boy when his father was sleeping or away
doing other things. She was telling
him not to forget what he had learned so painfully when he abandoned his friends
and concentrated on his own narrow concerns once before. And this was a doubly powerful message because Cordelia
delivered it. First because she
remains his closest friend, indeed arguably his only true friend. But secondly because after the events of "Epiphany" he had to work harder
to mend his fences with Cordelia than with any other member of Angel
Investigations. However it was a
message Angel was not then disposed to listen to: “If he has to
get to the hospital at noon on the sunniest day of the year, he’ll get there
even if I don’t.” The way in which
this conflict over the right way for Angel to care for Connor was central to the
ending of “Dad”. When the attack on the hotel develops in earnest Angel comes up
with a plan: Angel: “The
plan is I go. Take the baby
somewhere safe.” Cordelia: “What?” Angel: “He was
born in a siege; he’s not going to die in one.” Wesley: “Not of you stay and help us fight. You said it yourself – we’re in a war.” Angel: “And now I’m in a
retreat.” Wesley: “What
happened to taking them out” Angel: “There
are too many of them. I can get out
through the sewers and with any luck I can get a couple of miles before anyone
knows I’m gone.” Cordelia: “So
you’re just gonna leave – run away.” Gunn: “Why not.
It’s what he’s good at. Sure
you don’t want to fire us first?” Gunn’s last comment did constitute
hitting us over the head with the message but it was plain enough anyway. Angel had reached the point where he had to make a choice
between his narrower vision of looking after the child all by himself and the wider one that
Cordelia had offered him. It seemed
that he really had forgotten everything that he had about friendship, about
relying on other people. He had
stuck with Cordelia, Wesley and the others because they could help him in his
war. But once Connor’s well being
dictated a different approach they were of no more use to him. He left without displaying any obvious concern for their
jeopardy. His only interest seemed
to be in the time they could buy him. As
Cordelia said: ”I’m sure that tripping over our dead bodies will really slow them down.” But in fact what the twist revealed was
the opposite. When Angel told
Cordelia he had heard her, he wasn’t lying.
And when Wesley said the child was upstairs in room 312 he probably
wasn’t lying either. Angel had
trusted his child’s life to his friends.
He had been the bait to lure those interested in Connor away from him.
But by adopting that role he was also accepting that if a threat did
emerge at the hotel he wasn’t going to be there to save Connor.
That would be left to his friends. And
ultimately this represented an acceptance of his need for others even in this
the most important and deeply personal part of his life. For me this works at a couple of different levels. It has been a long time since ANGEL as a series has shown any interest in using the supernatural as a metaphor to explore the trials and tribulations of young adulthood. But in the uncertainties facing Angel we can recognize the difficulties of becoming a parent for the first time. Like most such parents the overriding feeling was anxiety – not only about the future of the child but about the difficulty of being a parent. How do you know what is right for your child? And in Angel’s dilemma over what to do for the best we also see the confusion of any new parent in choosing the right way to approach raising a child. More particularly though it was the choice
Angel ultimately made that was the important point.
And the first thing to say here is that I like the way that the writers
used this opportunity to do some solid character work.
That Angel loved his son and wanted to protect him was both obvious and a
little trite. There was really very
little of interest to be gained by concentrating on this aspect of their
relationship. Instead they used it
was a means for asking questions about how someone like Angel would react to
these responsibilities. And I find
it very interesting that in this context they chose to re-open issues dealt with
in the corresponding episode in season 2. In
effect they were asking, exactly one year on, whether Angel really had changed.
And one of the things that worked so well about this was that the
writers made me believe in the possibility of Angel abandoning his friends yet
again, in spite of all the good intentions of “Epiphany” and the lessons of
the Pylea arc. There are two sorts
of character regression. One (the
type that afflicted Xander on BtVS with such regularity) is regression as a
plot device. You can see a
character reach a turning point in a given episode and make the right choices,
seemingly thereby to change and grow.
Then in the next episode he behaves as if nothing of the sort had ever
happened simply because it suits the purpose of the writer to have him behave as
the character of old. But there is
another form of character regression. It
is the sort that mirrors similar behavior in real life.
It is based on the proposition that the demons within are never fully
conquered. They are always lying in
wait, ready to seize their opportunity and when the right combination of
circumstances arises they can inflict us with all the old problems.
The way that Angel teetered on the brink of falling back into his old
habits here was for me completely believable and realistic.
Given the pressures of anxiety over the child and confusion over what to
do for the best I find it very easy to believe that someone like Angel would
crave the old certainties. Indeed,
as I have just suggested, the idea that ingrained ways of thinking and behaving
would change permanently overnight is far less realistic. And another thing I liked was the way
Angel’s dilemma was finally resolved and he turned his back on the idea of
Angel and son as an island. In plot
terms this was readily explicable. Once Angel realized that anything he said or
did in the hotel was known to Wolfram and Hart, he would have also realized just
how vulnerable a position he was in and how little he could do about it himself.
The position within the hotel was as perilous as ever and escape with the
child had just become a non-option. And
once he realized that the only way to defeat those planning to destroy his son
was to rely on his friends. Therefore it was obvious why he should draw the general
lesson from the specific solution. But
more than that there was, it seems to me, a very nice parallel between the way
Angel finally got the child to stop
crying and the way he resolved his dilemma about sharing responsibility for him.
In both cases the problem was anxiety.
The Host explained Angel’s failure to calm the child in the following
terms: “He’s deeply
connected to you. If you’re wound
this tight how do you think he’s gonna feel.” And then he told Angel just to look at his son. And that is what he did. Instead of fussing over Connor, trying to change him, to get him to feed, distracting him with a teddy bear or funny faces or trying to sooth him with a lullaby, Angel was just himself with the child – truly himself. He stopped trying to be the perfect Dad and giving off all those anxious vibes. Instead he looked at his son with what Darla once called his true face, his vampire face. And because Connor was so deeply connected to Angel he recognized and felt comfortable with him and stopped crying. Similarly, it was the anxiety about his son’s future that drove Angel into the old obsessive and independent ways of thinking and behaving. He was so afraid of what might happen that he took it upon himself to make sure it did not. He personally had to be ready to do what was necessary because it was too important to be left to others. It was only when he recognized that it was the anxiety that was the real enemy because it was getting in the way of what was best for his son that he could let it go and find the real solution in help from his friends. PlotI think that it must be recognized that
this episode was in plot terms essentially a transitional one.
In “Offspring”, “Quickening" and Lullaby” much was made of the
child’s role in the Nyazian prophecies and his attractiveness to various
groups and cults because of this. There
are advantages to having an interested third party pop up and complicate things
in the middle of any struggle between our protagonist and his antagonists.
But you cannot really build a coherent narrative with too many contending
groups. You will simply lose track
of who wants what and why. In many
ways this episode was a perfect illustration of this.
In the confused melee of contending groups around the Hyperion we never
had a definite idea of who was who; no distinct sense of identity or obvious
feeling of purpose. There was in
short nothing to give the conflict any meaning at all.
That was why I think a “thinning of the herd” was necessary. From now on it looks as though the central conflict here will
be a three cornered fight between Angel Investigations, Holtz and Wolfram and
Hart. The latter two continue to
have an obvious interest in both Angel and the child. So while “Dad” in some ways closes a chapter in others it
contains a great deal of set up for what comes next. I have written more than enough about
Holtz’s motives and his attitude to Angel remains unaltered.
But the nature of his role is now quite definitely changing.
Whereas before he did indeed seem merely the instrument of another, now
he has carved out an agenda of his own. He
dictates the object of the exercise. He
wants Angel’s demise to be a great deal more painful than Darla’s.
Sahjhan might disagree: “Listen to me
Holtz. We’ve got prophecies to
fulfill. We don’t need some deep
dark plan for Angel. You put a
stake in him. You watch him go
poof. It’s a classic.” But in the end he facilitates Holtz plan.
And Holtz even dictates the means for bringing about Angel’s end by
replacing the Grapplar demons with Justine.
In deciding the limitations of the Grapplars and in the way he chooses an
instrument of his own Holtz shows a thoughtfulness and a shrewd understanding of
human nature that we hadn’t really seen in him before.
More than that he is now beginning to show patience.
When he first arrived in the 21st century he couldn’t wait
to get after Angel and Darla. That
made his willingness to talk a good fight when he eventually met up with Angel
look all the weaker. But someone
who knows exactly what he wants to do and is prepared to bide his time until all
preparations are complete so that he can guarantee exactly the sort of outcome
that he wants is a far more menacing proposition. I am a little less positive about the involvement of Wolfram and Hart. Their initial interest in the child was dictated by a sense of self-preservation among senior executives. The pregnancy was unknown to them and unless they were in a position to explain it they might be held personally accountable. But now there seems a confusion in the firm’s motivation. Self-preservation remains a theme but this time it is for a different reason: Linwood: “A vampire has sacrificed herself for her baby. Do you know what that means?” Lilah: “That there’s something good about the kid? Linwood: “This child could grow up
and hunt each and every one of us down. Let’s
not let that happen shall we?” On the other hand they are now aware of
the prophecies and the child’s role in them.
That too must therefore be a motivating factor.
And the desire to find out why the pregnancy happened at all is still
there, as confirmed by Lilah’s interest in vivisection.
All in all I am finding it increasingly hard to get a firm handle on the
nature of Wolfram and Hart’s interest in Connor. And in this particular
case I don't think that is a good thing. I also thought the final scene when Angel
entered the Wolfram and Hart offices and threatened Linwood was badly judged
(although I did enjoy the riff on Marlon Brando in “the Godfather”).
I can well accept that Angel feels he can enter and leave those offices
with impunity, vampire detectors or not. After
all the Senior Partners still apparently want him alive.
But how did Angel know about Linwood in the first place?
And what was the purpose of the threat?
Was it to get Wolfram and Hart to back off? Is this rather than the explosion the reason why we will see
no more vampire cults after the baby? Is
it conceivable that Wolfram and Hart would be so weak-kneed as to cave into a
threat like that to one of their executives when they are themselves quite
ruthless practitioners of the gentle art of sacking people (using real sacks of
course)? Also quite disappointing has been just how
ineffective they have proved to be. They
have now lost two SWAT teams in as many nights.
They have also lost the one advantage that thy had over everyone else –
the surveillance capability on the Hyperion.
And then there is the fact that there was valuable information about Holtz
available within the firm
but the senior executives didn’t know about it. This is a long way away from the sheer competence the firm
have been noted for previously. The
obvious question is: is that the best they can do?
If so then their credibility is damaged. But having said that, there is still a lot about the internal dynamics of the firm that fascinates me. First there is the cold ruthlessness with which Linwood contemplates Angelus ripping out little Connor’s throat and relates the sacrifice of his own children. This is a ruthlessness matched by Lilah’s calculated reference to the dissection of the child, something that clearly earns her Linwood’s approval. This truly is a firm that is capable of anything and has the resources to match. Indeed in many ways it is the counterpoint between on the one hand this combination of ruthlessness and power and on the other the inefficiencies caused by internal feuding and bureaucracy that continues to make this particular corporate villain such a wonderful antagonist for Angel. For all the firm's strengths, it is handicapped by something it has limited control over - the constant attempts by Lilah and Gavin to undermine each other’s efforts and in particular the inefficiency in Lilah’s misguided attempt to find the answers about Holtz herself when all she had to do was ask “files and records”. There is a great deal of potential in the
set up that we are now seeing. But
the pay-off from that set-up is necessarily delayed.
That is why it is often a penalty of good and careful set up episodes
that they are short on interesting plot themselves.
And indeed the first half of “Dad” is very slow.
There is a lot of Angel struggling with the baby.
In fact there is probably too much of this.
A certain amount was, I think, necessary for the development of the theme
discussed above but the writers could probably have been just as effective in
their treatment of this theme with less. There
was also a great deal of talk about the enemies of the baby and how to trace
them. This was substantially wasted
because nothing came of it. But
these were not the real problem with the first half of the episode. This was that there was just too little on the
gathering threat outside the hotel. The
idea of having a mystical barrier protecting the Hyperion until a given moment
when it was broken down was a good one. It created a situation where
tension could build towards a certain point in time when a overwhelming force
could be concentrated against the defenders.
Instead of having a drawn out series of skirmishes you could then have a
single decisive moment around which everything turned. But there were difficulties with the way the writers handled these developments. Part of the problem was that it begged the question: why did the contending groups wait until the barrier was down before fighting it out among themselves? Surely it would have made more sense to sort things out among themselves first? Even more problematically, while the barrier was up, those outside it were basically treated as an afterthought. There was so little attention paid to them that you could be forgiven for forgetting they were there. There is no real sense of a siege or that Angel Investigations were just waiting for the attack to happen. And because of that there is a little build up of tension towards the moment when the barrier is about to break and Angel has to make the crucial decision about how to protect his son. And that is a crucial weakness in the story. But in the end it is the twist to Angel’s abandonment of his friends that really made the episode. The twist really works for two reasons. First and foremost the writers for the most part played fair. All the clues were there. First there was Lorne asking about the humming sound. At the time I thought this had to be the surveillance equipment and when the subject was dropped without further mention that should have alerted me to the fact that not everything was as it seemed. Then there was the quiescent nature of the child itself during the pursuit. As Angel later said in the mineshaft: ”It could be worse; at least you’re not crying.” Finally there was the fact that Angel’s
idea was apparently to get a few miles away before anyone noticed he was gone.
And yet his escape route was in full view of
the hotel and its besiegers. The
one slight unfairness came when Angel started talking to the child in the car.
That seemed calculated to deceive. The
other reason the twist worked so well was because, as I have already said,
Angel’s apparent actions were, while disappointing, entirely believable.
That was why it was only when he threw the baby to his pursuers and made
his escape that I realized something was up.
That made a terrific climax to the episode. Overview (B)Once again I find myself appreciating the thoughtfulness and intelligence with which the writers approached an episode. The aftermath of the baby’s birth could have been characterized by cheap sentimentality. Instead they concentrated on some pretty solid character work. There were no great new insights into Angel in “Dad”. Indeed the questions asked of him had already been dealt with extensively. That obviously limits the power of the ideas. But the fact that old problems can and do raise their ugly heads in this series just as they do in real life seems to me to be a sign of the maturity of the writing. And I also liked the fact that in addressing them we can see parallels with the real life anxieties of new parents. That just adds an extra layer of interest. As a story with a lot of set up in it, the episode needs some patience. We do not have enough material, for example, to see where Holtz is going with his new recruit. But that is an inevitable part of the development of any arc. There are, however, a number of more serious flaws. First of all the transformation of Wolfram and Hart from a machine with exceptional powers of planning and execution into something more fallible is something of a mixed blessing. At one level it makes the internal dynamics of the firm more interesting. At another level it makes it harder to take it seriously as a threat. Worse, is the lack of impact of the siege. Although intellectually it was clear that Angel and the others found themselves in a very difficult situation I don’t think the writers managed to convey the feeling of tension very well at all. And as that sense was important is helping us relate to the dilemma Angel found himself in, I think that was a serious problem. Nevertheless the twist ending worked extremely well and that together with the interesting character work justifies the grade even in the face of the problems I mentioned.
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