Angel Season 3 Rewatch

[thetopher]

@thetopher So I watched Double or Nothing and I think you're a bit harsh. While it's not great by any stretch, its not the worst episode ever. Though the scene of Gunn while they play Gangsters Paradise was so cheesy.
Also Fred/Gunn was played to cutesy wuetsey and sickly for my tastes.
The actual idea that a young Gunn with nothing to live for would sell his soul is not a bad idea (why wouldn't he help him and his sister get off the streets ?) Its just the execution is a bit poor as is the resolution of The Soul Sucker.
That said the B Plot involving Angel dealing with Connor loss is decent. Plus Fred telling Wesley he should've spoken to them before betraying them to Holtz was needed.
So yeah not the best episode but not the worst either.

The problem is this episode doesn't jibe with Gunn in S1 where he knew about vampires but that's about it. The idea of a 'good vampire'- as in a shade of grey- knocked him for a loop. He was initially very wary, plus he knew very little about things like demons and Karitas.
But apparently we're supposed to believe that he was actually trusting enough to sell his soul to a demon gangster. For a friggin' truck!

Not only that but the plot is so predictable, its all in service of getting Angel out of mope mode by putting one of his friends in danger.
Oh, and this is also the start of Cordelia's 'nothing matters to me more than Angel! I won't even think about talking to Wesley about his side of things.' the death of a 3 year friendship right there. The next time they interact in any meaningful way is S5 'You're Welcome'. Yep, this season really did a number on Cordy's character.



The strongest parts of this season are 3 main parts:
- the pregnant Darla arc. It's good if at times it feels like too many moving parts and some padding in places.
- the Welsey's betrayal arc. Best thing in the season. Easily; from his isolation that starts in Couplet to the aftermath Forgiving its all very strong.
- Connor's return; the last three episodes that have some momentum and a lot of deft character work in them. Wesley's fall gets deeper, Holtz revenge is completed. The ending is one of AtS strongest.


Weak parts tend to be the stand-alones, even the 'good# ones such as Waiting In The Wings aren't really up there in quality (especially considering it sa Joss episode) and 'Dad' and 'Provider' and 'The Price' and Double Or Nothing' are all very weak.
Birthday is- imo- a garbage episode, saved by the revelation in the next season that it was a psy-op that plays on Cordy's hubris, then it becomes quite clever. But taking this a some kind of 'truth' about Cordelia is laughable. The beginning of the end of her character.
Cangel. Sigh. It's boring and unconvincing, no matter how hard Lorne and Fred push it.
Also W&H are suddenly stupid now, all the good villain work is done by Sahjahn and Holtz.

I stand by the fact that this is Angel's 'safest' and dullest season, mostly light and inconsequential with a few awesome dark bits. Weakest season overall. But still better than Buffy S6.