EPISODE 5.12

(The 100th Episode)

You're Welcome

Written by: David Fury

Directed by: David Fury

Cordelia Returns

These days for any series to reach the milestone of 100 episodes is rare enough for it to be considered something of an occasion. But when the event is marked by the one-off return of a character like Cordelia, it becomes even more significant.  She was a founder-member of the BUFFY ensemble, a regular character in ME’s twisted world of the occult even before Angel.  And although perhaps never a core character on ANGEL’s sibling show, she was one in this series right up until the moment that she was so abruptly written out.  It would have been  remiss indeed of the writers to ignore her when the show reached its 100^th episode.  But I think it was more than a sentimental ploy to bring her back for “You’re Welcome”.

First and foremost it allowed a sense of closure for the character.  When it has been decided that, for whatever reason, a popular and important character is to leave a long-running series it lands the writers with something of a problem.  Having established close ties between the character and the world in which and the people with which they have lived, it often lacks credibility for them to leave that world behind, especially when this happens in a rush.  I do not, for example, think that the looming ANGEL spin-off was handled all that well at the end of season 3 of BUFFY.  Killing the character off (lets face it an not entirely remote possibility in a series like ANGEL) is much more satisfactory from that point of view.  But that often leads to a backlash from fans who are invested in him or her.  I well remember the furore over Doyle’s death and he had been in the series for only 9 episodes.  Some people watch a program for the skill with which the plots are developed, some like the action/adventure elements and some enjoy thematic development.  But there are a lot who watch simply and solely because they like the characters and killing off an important one may leave them so resentful that they will feel they have no further reason to watch. So, putting Cordelia in a coma was an uneasy compromise.  It avoided the major pitfalls of the other options, the implausibility of her leaving Angel and the others behind and the finality if death.  But it is so obviously a failure to face squarely the difficulty of writing Cordelia out that it was profoundly unsatisfactory from everyone’s point of view.

The second advantage of  her return was that it constituted a significant outside intervention in the established dynamic between Angel and the others on the one hand and Wolfram and Hart on the other.  As such it gave the writers the opportunity to create a turning point in the direction of the present season and the fact that this turning point coincided with both the 100^th episode of the series and the half-way point of the season just made the timing even more ripe.

Lacking Conviction

Through the first half of season 5 we had seen the twin themes of ambiguity and uncertainty.  From the moment that Angel accepted Wolfram and Hart’s Faustian pact, he has been faced with the possibility that his actions can serve either his own agenda or that of his new masters.   In “Conviction” the writers asked: which was stronger, the malign intent of the Senior partners or the belief of the former members of Angel Investigations in their mission?  And the way that Angel and the others accepted an outcome in that episode more in keeping with the Senior Partners’ views than their own did not bode well.  “Just Rewards” and “Hellbound” reminded us that there were alternative paths that could be followed; but in the latter and especially in “Numero Cinco” we see the extent to which Angel has lost heart.  He still believes in doing the right thing but it has no meaning for him and he actually has no confidence that he even knows what the right thing is anymore.  And in “Destiny” and “Soul Purpose” we see his sense of failure and purposelessness crystalized.  In many ways the developing theme of this part of season 5 is summed up in “Damage”.  There we see the basic conflict between good and evil.  But we also see the way in which any person’s ability to choose between good and evil is hampered by their history and the impact that this history had on their ability to understand the world and their own complex psychology.  But it is also handicapped by our own inability to foresee the consequences of our actions.

Almost anything can have two meanings; the trick is to discern what the right choice is in any given situation and to make that choice regardless of the temptations of the alternative.  The problem for Angel is not that he had been landed in a situation replete with ambiguity.  It is that, in facing up to the ambiguities in his situation, he has been making the wrong choices and he has been doing so because his conviction in his mission did not match that of the Senior Partners.

And this situation is summed up very neatly in the contrast between two scenes.  The first comes in the Teaser.  Here a certain Greenway is mentioned.  He is of course an utterly unimportant character, indeed it is unlikely that we will ever hear of him again.  He was, however, a client of Wolfram and Hart and Gunn made a deal with him:

“It was just a stupid racketeering charge. I told him we'd get him off with probation, so long as he shut down operations.”

It was not an untypical pact.  Instead of Angel and the others forcibly “shutting down” Greenways operations for him they bargain with him.  They effectively write off what he has done until now on the basis that he will stop doing it.  This dog has been allowed its bite.  But that wasn’t enough for Greenway.  It may be that he didn’t even want to accept probation.  Or it may be that he wanted to continuing racketeering.  It doesn’t matter.  What matters is that he wanted to flee the jurisdiction and the fact that he needed a ritual slaughter of five nuns to do so obviously wasn’t going to stop him.  After all, as Angel pointed out:

“He's a Wolfram & Hart client. Our client. Oh, and he's evil. What are the odds?”

If anything shows the one sided nature of the bargains that Angel and the others are now making, this is it.  It was bad enough that Greenway got away with a serious crime by simply agreeing in  return to abide by the law.   Now he flouts even that part of the deal, five women are dead as a result and there is nothing anyone can do about it.  What is the point then in making such deals in the first place since no good comes of them?  It’s no wonder that Angel concludes on the spot that he can’t continue to live with this arrangement.

And yet, when Cordelia sees what has been going on, he tries to defend his position:

“Cordy, I know there's a lot to take in, a lot of changes, but I promise you... things here are working out.”

And when she challenges him on this his answer is

“Well, yeah. With these resources, there's nothing we can't do, no one we can't save.”

Why the change of heart?  Indeed was there a change of heart at all?  When Angel first announces his decision Gunn, Fred and Wesley try to talk him out of it.  Wesley tries to minimize the problem, describing it as a setback.  Fred says that they are doing the best that they can.  Gunn points to the obvious:

“Any thought about what would happen to us if we tried to say bye-bye? The ramifications, I mean. You think the senior partners are just gonna let us breeze on out the front door?”

But it’s only towards the end of this conversation that we get close to the truth.  Angel challenges Gunn over the real reason for his opposition to Angel’s decision to quit the law firm:

“And I'm sure that legal brain upgrade they gave you has got nothing to do with”

Interestingly enough Gunn does not deny the importance of this factor.  Instead he simply points out:

“We all got something out of this.”

And so they all did, not least Angel.  He later says as much to Cordelia.  He admits to having been seduced, but not because of the manpower, money or expensive toys promised by Wolfram and Hart.  It was Connor:

“The senior partners altered reality. They gave Connor a life, a real family, and a childhood. Something I could never give him. He's got no memories of us. And no one remembers him.”

So this was the real reason why Angel swallowed his doubts, his fear that he had something to loose by leaving Wolfram and Hart.  Of course deep down he knows that this is wrong.  That is why he was given to the occasional outburst such as that over Greenway here and the Warlock Lucien Drake in “Soul Purpose”.  But he can’t bring himself to risk all he has gained for Connor so he tells Cordelia and himself:

“And...we're doing fine here. I mean, we've done some great work here…”

At one level you can understand his attitude.  Angel’s anguish over his son is clear:

“He was about to kill you. And himself. He was so torn up. I didn't have any other way to stop him, any way to help him. Connor's happy now.”

But there are two ways of looking at even this situation.  Cordelia describes his bargain in different terms:

“So, not only did you strike a deal with your worst enemy to give up your son, you let them rape the memories of your friends who trust you?”

It's all a matter of perspective.

Ghosts of Angel Investigations Past

And this is what I think really works so well about her re-introduction in “You’re Welcome”.  We have been watching events unfold from the perspective of those within Wolfram and Hart for six months.  Accordingly we, just like Angel, Wesley, Gunn, Fred and Lorne, are so used to this point of view that we almost take it for granted.   Cordelia on the other hand now only looks on things with a fresh eye, but also from the perspective of Angel Investigations as it was at the end of season 3.  And that affords us the opportunity to look at things afresh as well.

Having watched Angel and the others coming and going as if they own the Wolfram and Hart Offices, we now see Cordelia almost afraid to get out of the elevator and into the lobby.  We suddenly see these Offices as they would have appeared to Angel and the others too 18 months ago.  And when Angel tries to reassure Cordelia:

“ See? It's just an office. Going about its day. Nothing scary popping out at you. Just regular people.”

we see more clearly the hollowness of his words because she is present.  Equally, when a lawyer walks by with Archduke Sebassis’ slave and says:

“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.”,

the implications of slavery and abuse  are brought home to us more forcefully.  And the fact that Angel actually tries to cover for the mistreatment rather than rescuing the slave is still more shocking.  To be reminded that Harmony is not only still alive but is actually Angel’s secretary in spite of the fact that she tried to kill them all is even more a cause for wonder.  It is all summed up in a very nice visual image showing us that Angel has actually made a deal with a Devil (and is apparently on good social terms with it as well).

Of course having been aware all along of the sort of bargains that Angel and the others have been striking with Wolfram and Hart’s clients we can see the same things from both points view.  We are aware that things are not entirely black and white and that there are reasons for the compromises.  But the fact that there are reasons why Angel and the others chose to make the compromises does not make that their choice the right one.  And this is the other great strength of bringing back the authentic voice of Angel Investigations from times past.

We see Angel interrupt Cordelia as she is sitting on the edge of a bed watching the tape of a promotional spot she and Doyle made in the early days of Angel Investigations.

Doyle: “If you need help, then look no further. Angel investigations is the best. Our rats are low…"

Cordelia: “Rates”

Doyle: “It says rats. Our rates are low, but our standards are high. When the chips are down, and you're at the end of your rope, you need someone that you can count on, and that's what you'll find here, someone who will go all the way, who'll protect you no matter what. So don't lose hope."

Those were the days when Angel Investigations had no big budget for PR.  And equally there were no inexhaustible resources in terms of power, technology or money.  But what they had was standards.  Angel Investigations would go all the way – no matter what.  And this was the message that Cordelia sought to convey.  Doyle was the first soldier down.  He not only sacrificed himself to defuse that (admittedly ridiculous) genetic bomb but he also passed on the visions to Cordelia.

“Doyle Pissed me off so righteously going out like that, but he knew. He knew what he had to do. Didn't compromise. Used his last breath to make sure you'd keep fighting. I get that now.”

Angel too was once cut from the same cloth.  Cordelia describes him in the following terms:

“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.”

This then is the message.  There should be no compromise with evil. It is Angel’s mission to do the right thing, no matter how hard that is and without regard to the consequences for himself.

It isn’t that Angel doesn’t know what the right thing to do is or that he deliberately chooses to do the wrong thing.  Rather, as I noted above, when faced with choices his ability to make the right one is hampered.  It is hampered by the fear that his past will continue to haunt him.  It is hampered by the fact that he has lost those who promised him a connection with and a future in the world.   It is hampered by his consciousness of having been used as a pawn all his life.  Above all it is hampered by his feeling that whatever he tries to do will turn out badly.  In short it is hampered by his loss of a sense of destiny.  He never perhaps had much faith in himself as an individual.  He used to have a great deal of faith in what he was doing.  Now he has none.  As I said in my review of “Soul Purpose” because he has no faith in his mission, he has lost the frame of reference by which he can judge what is the right thing to do.  Or, put another way, if you really have lost your way the easiest thing to do is sit back and let others set the agenda whether those others be Spike and his night time heroics, or your friends who find their needs being met by Wolfram and Hart or indeed the Senior Partners.

The sad irony is that, no less than Doyle, Cordelia illustrates the moral for Angel by her own example.  As we have just seen she refers to Doyle passing something on to others from the very gates of death, a gift given solely to ensure that the fight went on.  Cordelia herself did the self-same thing:

“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.”

For her too there would be no compromise.  She used her last influence to help keep Angel in the fight.  For her too the watchword was “no compromise”.  But that was the coda of the episode.  The turning point was the confrontation between Angel and Lindsey.

Angel -- Then And Now

In the course of this confrontation we were also brought back to the “good old days” of Angel Investigations before the Babylonian captivity of season 5.

Angel: “I've seen your tough act before, squirt. First time we ever met, you put on a show. Huffing and puffing, telling me I couldn't lay a hand on your scumbag client.”

Lindsey: “So you kicked him out a window.”

Angel: “Good Times.”

Lindsey: “It was a defining moment. Kind of like this one.”

A defining moment is the point in time when you achieve clarity about who you are or the direction in which you are travelling.  But more specifically it generally refers to the moment when things change.  Angel and Lindsey are here referring to the moment in “City of…” when Angel coolly kills Russell, a Wolfram and Hart client who had just lectured him on the way real power worked in Lost Angeles.

“Look at me: I pay my taxes. I keep my name out of the paper, and I don’t make waves. And in return I can so anything I want!"

As Angel said these were the “good times”.  Now he panders to people like Russell.  And in the comparison between then and now we ask the question with Lindsey – will Angel redefine himself?

“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's that feel, champ?”

Symbolically at this point Angel is at his lowest ebbs, injured and with a sword through him.  His enemy seems to be triumphant; he even has to bend down to get to his level so that he can talk to him.  And this is where we see the pay-off from introducing Lindsey.  As Angel later observed:

           "Lindsey wasted a lot of energy trying to make me doubt myself."

In particular, he set Spike up to appear to be replacing Angel and he exposed the latter to the attack by the Selminth parasite. In retrospect it seems clear that Lindsey also arranged for Spike to rescue Angel from the parasite because he didn’t want Angel in a permanent vegetative state.  No, he wanted the parasite to accelerate the eating away of Angel’s self-belief.  And the fact that Spike had to rescue Angel from the creature would do even more damage in this respect.  As I observed in my review of “Soul Purpose” the parasite was a perfect metaphor for the Evil Law Firm.  Although the Senior Partners and Lindsey were in some senses at cross-purposes they were nevertheless working along parallel lines.  Both sought victory through attacking Angel’s sense of mission.

And the parallel between Lindsey’s attempt to destroy Angel’s self-belief and that of the Senior Partners is reinforced by the fact that Angel was at one and the same time fighting “the tiny Texan” and trying to prevent the implementation of the latter’s “Fail Safe”.  Described by Eve in the following terms:

“Look, the senior partners were never certain they could keep you under their thumb, so they created a fail-safe. Housed it in the sub-levels of the building.”,

this was the ultimate method for controlling Angel.  But in the end it all came to nothing.

First of all it is noticeable that in “You’re welcome” Spike merely acts as the rear guard, a valuable role no doubt but clearly the sub-ordinate one intended to allow Angel to do what he needed to without interruption.  So to that extent Lindsey’s strategy was already falling to pieces even before the fight. 

Then Angel actually defeats Lindsey in hand to hand combat:

"All those tattoos, all those new tricks you've learned... just don't matter. Doesn't matter what you try.  Doesn't matter where I am or how badass you think you've become. 'Cause you know what? I'm Angel. I beat the bad guys."

This is the defining moment for Angel.  He had to choose whether just to roll over and die or overcome the physical pain and weakness and defeat Lindsey’s new bag of tricks.  And when faced with this extremity he did find it within himself to fight on.  The reaffirmation of who he is and what he does irresistibly brings to mind Buffy’s own decision to come to terms with her identity in “Anne”.  But it has the added emphasis of the last five words.  Those words indicate that not only can Angel beat the bad guys; that is what he now believes he is supposed to be doing – not doing deals with them but killing them.

And in defeating Lindsey's attack on his self-belief, Angel is also defeating the Senior Partners own parallel strategy.   This is reinforced by that fact that he is also effectively takes control of the “Fail Safe”, thus emphasizing that he has again control of his destiny.  In the end he says as much himself when he talks to Cordelia about Wolfram and Hart and their strategy:

“I know it's not even close to over, but I do feel like I can do this. Wolfram and Hart, whatever's coming, I feel like we can beat it.”

But in this final scene we find not just Angel’s ability to fight Wolfram and Hart being rediscovered.  So too is the link between this and his own salvation.  His downfall started with the loss of those he felt were connecting him to the world and it was with the loss of that connection that his loss of a sense of self-belief began.  But as Cordelia pointed out to him:

“You know how you're always trying to save, oh, every single person in the world? Did it ever occur to you that you were one of them?”

Her words here recall to mind the original mission statement delivered by Doyle all those years ago:

"It’s not all about fighting and gadgets and stuff. It’s about reaching out to people, showing them that there’s love and hope still left in the world…It’s about letting them into your heart. It’s not about saving lives; it’s about saving souls. Hey, possibly your own in the process."

And it is at this level that I think “You’re Welcome” ultimately succeeds.  It puts the emphasis fairly and squarely not upon the ambiguities of the situation that Angel finds himself in but on his own sense of who and what he was.  The writers might have created a situation where Angel was forced to choose between different courses of action, one the pragmatic Wolfram and Hart approved choice and the other the right choice, the choice his mission demands and  that leads on to the fulfilment of his destiny.  They avoided that.  Rather Angel was put in a situation where he was forced to fight Lindsey; there was nothing else for him to do.  The question he had to face was whether he was still the person who could successfully overcome the odds.  Putting it in those terms showed that the real difficulty lay not with the nature of the choices facing Angel but in his state of mind. If that was right, then making the right choice in the sense described above would follow.  And this emphasis on the internal also allows for the reminder of the necessary connection between Angel’s sense of mission or destiny on the one hand and his redemption on the other.  In all the debate about which comes first  redemption or mission, it should not be forgotten that Doyle’s words just quoted represent a mission statement that the series has never strayed far from.  Ultimately Angel’s own salvation depends upon his fulfilling his mission and fulfilling that mission is Angel’s way to his own salvation.  There is no conflict.  Quite the opposite.  You cannot have one without the other.