Angel 1.17: "Eternity"
Written by Tracey Stern
Directed by Regis B. Kimble
In which Angel encounters a fading young star who seeks to remain beautiful and popular forever, but has no idea what lies in store when she tries to use Angel for her purpose…
Status Report
This episode, like the previous installment, hinges on how well the writers sell the central conceit: a fading young star, seeking immortality, temporarily unleashes her worst nightmare. And it just happens to be locked within Angel in the form of Angelus. That’s all well and good, but the process of getting there is not the most interesting journey in the world. There are also some issues of character development that don’t quite work in the overall scheme of things.
The writers remember that Cordelia has been seeking an acting career, and so the story is somewhat grounded in Cordy’s wistful yearnings for fame. It must be rather hard to act when the character is supposed to be a bad actor, but Charisma does a good job of it. Unfortunately, the script forces her into territory that is not unlike bad acting in and of itself, when she has to go ga-ga for a supposed star that was never important to her before this episode.
Underneath the first act of the episode is an interesting concept that remains in the background of the entire series. Angel seems to detect the fact that his actions and choices are transparent to the rest of the world, and even the hint of possible fame and public adulation has its allure. Of course, what makes Angel a Champion is the fact that he’s fighting for a world that doesn’t even know he exists.
There’s some commentary on how fame is ephemeral, especially in a town where there’s always someone new and younger waiting in the wings, but it gets old fast. Especially since there’s nothing all that attractive about the actress. But the premise demands that Angel feel an attraction, so that he can be concerned about the desire to get too close. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be an issue for Rebecca to show interest in Angel, since Angel would be on his guard.
Some external pressure must still be applied, however, and so someone is stalking Rebecca, requiring someone with the right skill to keep her safe. This sets the stage for Rebecca’s discovery that Angel is a vampire, something that a person with such a desire for endless youth would find rather fortuitous. And that quickly, Cordy gets rather worried over the possibility of Angelus’ return.
That doesn’t quite track, because it’s not like Rebecca is incredibly gorgeous or seductive. She’s actually a bit desperate and pathetic. There’s no reason to think that Angel would suddenly forget all about the curse, and before he knew about the curse itself, it took him forever to get close enough to Buffy for that kind of action.
Rather quickly, the plot against Rebecca turns out to be a bid by her agent to generate buzz, because Rebecca’s career has hit the skids completely. This just serves to put a very stupid plan into Rebecca’s head, which makes her seem even more pathetic. (It also feels like a retread, to a certain extent, of a second season “Buffy” episode “.)
Returning to one of the weaknesses of the story, Rebecca somehow gets Cordy to spill everything about Angel’s history. Cordy is so blinded by her star worship that she completely misses how obvious Rebecca is being. For one thing, Cordy is smarter than this; she should have quickly seen that Rebecca is not the best person in terms of mentoring a career. And Cordy usually picks up on the undercurrent of a conversation (at least eventually). It’s far too convenient that it takes her hours to figure it out.
That brings the story to a place that is rather questionable: the synthetic re-awakening of Angelus. There are a number of levels on which this doesn’t work. The most obvious problem is that the curse was broken by a moment of perfect happiness; it didn’t revert once the happiness faded. The state of bliss was also not tied to a physiological cause, as the second season would directly address. The nature of the curse was such that Angel’s psychological state needed to be free of any guilt or desire for redemption, so that when Angel finally felt free of his burdens, darkness would consume him.
The ingestion of a drug would result in euphoria, but then again, so would so many other things (the exhilaration of victory being the best first season example). Future seasons are filled with moments that would clearly result in euphoria and extreme happiness. But that’s not the same thing as what he felt with Buffy, which was a freedom from his inner demons, brought about through love and the prospect of a future filled with contentment.
One might argue that a drug could bring those feelings about, but then there’s still the question of how the curse suddenly reverts without another trigger event. Angelus should remain in control, even after the drug wears off. A far more logical reaction to the drug might have been a loosening of his morals, since Angelus’ personality is essentially an extreme reflection of Angel’s darkest obsessions. A drug might allow him to act on those desires as Angel, but it doesn’t make sense for a drug to unleash Angelus on a temporary basis.
Perhaps the worst part, however, is that Angelus only comes out long enough to be brutally honest with Rebecca, Wesley, and Cordelia, and then it’s all over. He’s easily beaten, and he disappears without unleashing much of a consequence on anyone. There’s not even a follow-up to see if Rebecca learned anything from her experience. Everything is fine and dandy in the final scene, and then it’s barely mentioned again.
The problem is, of course, that Wesley and Cordelia should be very worried if Angelus can be unleashed by something so simple as a drug dropped in Angel’s drink. Surely the writers understood the problem: why wouldn’t an enemy just lace Angel’s blood supply with some of the drug when a little distraction was needed? It’s too quick and easy this way; the writers simply didn’t earn Angelus’ return.
Thankfully, this would turn out to be the last episode of the first season to tread water. After this, the writers would resume setting the stage for the second season and introducing the concepts that would drive that season’s character arcs. Episodes like “Eternity” would become an aberration…something easily set aside in favor of the episodes that followed.
Memorable Quotes
ANGEL: “And I thought I knew eternity…”
ANGEL: “Cordelia…you’re here. And you brought a cross.”
CORDELIA: “Along with three double half-caf, non-fat, skinny lattes!”
ANGEL: “And a cross!”
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode has an interesting enough central premise, but the execution leaves something to be desired. Even worse, there’s a serious logical flaw at the heart of the episode, one that was thankfully ignored in later seasons. If anything, this feels like an episode where the writers just couldn’t make the concept work without compromising character, and as a result, the episode falls flat.
Writing: 0/2
Acting: 1/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 0/4
Final Rating: 3/10
Directed by Regis B. Kimble
In which Angel encounters a fading young star who seeks to remain beautiful and popular forever, but has no idea what lies in store when she tries to use Angel for her purpose…
Status Report
This episode, like the previous installment, hinges on how well the writers sell the central conceit: a fading young star, seeking immortality, temporarily unleashes her worst nightmare. And it just happens to be locked within Angel in the form of Angelus. That’s all well and good, but the process of getting there is not the most interesting journey in the world. There are also some issues of character development that don’t quite work in the overall scheme of things.
The writers remember that Cordelia has been seeking an acting career, and so the story is somewhat grounded in Cordy’s wistful yearnings for fame. It must be rather hard to act when the character is supposed to be a bad actor, but Charisma does a good job of it. Unfortunately, the script forces her into territory that is not unlike bad acting in and of itself, when she has to go ga-ga for a supposed star that was never important to her before this episode.
Underneath the first act of the episode is an interesting concept that remains in the background of the entire series. Angel seems to detect the fact that his actions and choices are transparent to the rest of the world, and even the hint of possible fame and public adulation has its allure. Of course, what makes Angel a Champion is the fact that he’s fighting for a world that doesn’t even know he exists.
There’s some commentary on how fame is ephemeral, especially in a town where there’s always someone new and younger waiting in the wings, but it gets old fast. Especially since there’s nothing all that attractive about the actress. But the premise demands that Angel feel an attraction, so that he can be concerned about the desire to get too close. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be an issue for Rebecca to show interest in Angel, since Angel would be on his guard.
Some external pressure must still be applied, however, and so someone is stalking Rebecca, requiring someone with the right skill to keep her safe. This sets the stage for Rebecca’s discovery that Angel is a vampire, something that a person with such a desire for endless youth would find rather fortuitous. And that quickly, Cordy gets rather worried over the possibility of Angelus’ return.
That doesn’t quite track, because it’s not like Rebecca is incredibly gorgeous or seductive. She’s actually a bit desperate and pathetic. There’s no reason to think that Angel would suddenly forget all about the curse, and before he knew about the curse itself, it took him forever to get close enough to Buffy for that kind of action.
Rather quickly, the plot against Rebecca turns out to be a bid by her agent to generate buzz, because Rebecca’s career has hit the skids completely. This just serves to put a very stupid plan into Rebecca’s head, which makes her seem even more pathetic. (It also feels like a retread, to a certain extent, of a second season “Buffy” episode “.)
Returning to one of the weaknesses of the story, Rebecca somehow gets Cordy to spill everything about Angel’s history. Cordy is so blinded by her star worship that she completely misses how obvious Rebecca is being. For one thing, Cordy is smarter than this; she should have quickly seen that Rebecca is not the best person in terms of mentoring a career. And Cordy usually picks up on the undercurrent of a conversation (at least eventually). It’s far too convenient that it takes her hours to figure it out.
That brings the story to a place that is rather questionable: the synthetic re-awakening of Angelus. There are a number of levels on which this doesn’t work. The most obvious problem is that the curse was broken by a moment of perfect happiness; it didn’t revert once the happiness faded. The state of bliss was also not tied to a physiological cause, as the second season would directly address. The nature of the curse was such that Angel’s psychological state needed to be free of any guilt or desire for redemption, so that when Angel finally felt free of his burdens, darkness would consume him.
The ingestion of a drug would result in euphoria, but then again, so would so many other things (the exhilaration of victory being the best first season example). Future seasons are filled with moments that would clearly result in euphoria and extreme happiness. But that’s not the same thing as what he felt with Buffy, which was a freedom from his inner demons, brought about through love and the prospect of a future filled with contentment.
One might argue that a drug could bring those feelings about, but then there’s still the question of how the curse suddenly reverts without another trigger event. Angelus should remain in control, even after the drug wears off. A far more logical reaction to the drug might have been a loosening of his morals, since Angelus’ personality is essentially an extreme reflection of Angel’s darkest obsessions. A drug might allow him to act on those desires as Angel, but it doesn’t make sense for a drug to unleash Angelus on a temporary basis.
Perhaps the worst part, however, is that Angelus only comes out long enough to be brutally honest with Rebecca, Wesley, and Cordelia, and then it’s all over. He’s easily beaten, and he disappears without unleashing much of a consequence on anyone. There’s not even a follow-up to see if Rebecca learned anything from her experience. Everything is fine and dandy in the final scene, and then it’s barely mentioned again.
The problem is, of course, that Wesley and Cordelia should be very worried if Angelus can be unleashed by something so simple as a drug dropped in Angel’s drink. Surely the writers understood the problem: why wouldn’t an enemy just lace Angel’s blood supply with some of the drug when a little distraction was needed? It’s too quick and easy this way; the writers simply didn’t earn Angelus’ return.
Thankfully, this would turn out to be the last episode of the first season to tread water. After this, the writers would resume setting the stage for the second season and introducing the concepts that would drive that season’s character arcs. Episodes like “Eternity” would become an aberration…something easily set aside in favor of the episodes that followed.
Memorable Quotes
ANGEL: “And I thought I knew eternity…”
ANGEL: “Cordelia…you’re here. And you brought a cross.”
CORDELIA: “Along with three double half-caf, non-fat, skinny lattes!”
ANGEL: “And a cross!”
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode has an interesting enough central premise, but the execution leaves something to be desired. Even worse, there’s a serious logical flaw at the heart of the episode, one that was thankfully ignored in later seasons. If anything, this feels like an episode where the writers just couldn’t make the concept work without compromising character, and as a result, the episode falls flat.
Writing: 0/2
Acting: 1/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 0/4
Final Rating: 3/10
posted by John Keegan | 17:18
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