Angel 1.19: "Sanctuary"

Written by Joss Whedon and Tim Minear
Directed by Michael Lange

In which Angel’s decision to help Faith does not go over well with Wesley or Buffy, while Wolfram and Hart, the Watchers, and the LAPD all come for their own pound of flesh…


Status Report

The second part of this story is remarkably different from the first, and feels more like the conclusion to the “Buffy” episode “Who Are You” than a direct follow-up to “Five by Five”. As crossover events go, this is far more integrated than the whole “I Will Remember You” episode, based entirely on the consequences. This is really where Buffy and Angel complete the process that began at the end of the third season of “Buffy”, which of course, was also prompted by Faith.

It would have been easy for Angel to have all the answers, but the writers use this situation to establish where Angel is in terms of his own personal search for redemption. This is effectively an opportunity for Angel to reflect on the past year in Los Angeles and figure out where he’s going. The answer is simple: he really doesn’t know, but he’s quite certain that it can’t be on anyone else’s terms.

The episode is chaotic enough to make the character dynamics a bit difficult to grasp. It all seems jumbled, especially when Buffy arrives and the main thrust of the story is revealed. Angel takes most of the episode trying to convince Faith that she wants to find her own solution, but since he’s largely doing everything to stop her from running away and avoiding that process, it doesn’t translate very well.

But once Buffy comes along, the question of Faith is given scope. Is it about justice or revenge, which imposes an external judgment upon a person and actually can help them avoid any process of self-reflection, or is it about taking responsibility? Buffy and Kate want to impose judgment, which allows Faith to become a victim again.

Angel recognizes the danger in that. Faith’s issue is that she has great power, but no sense of responsibility for its application. Any moment of obligation is met with a snarl, offense as defense mechanism. That’s been Faith in a nutshell. When Buffy tried to give Faith what she really needed, Faith became threatened. And when Faith is threatened, she reacts as the primal instincts of the Slayer demand she react: with violence.

This is why Faith wanted Angel to kill her when she recognized that everything she hated was in herself. It’s the only way she’s ever known. Taking responsibility and feeling the pain of remorse and regret are new concepts. It’s about convincing her to see that path as the correct one. Buffy cannot do that, and certainly the Watchers wouldn’t recognize her needs. Angel sees that very clearly, based on his own experience, but he really doesn’t know how to communicate that to others.

Ironically, Buffy was the one that set Angel on this path, back in the “Buffy” episode “Amends”. But Buffy is also dealing with her own questions of self-identity, and soon after this, she seeks to discover the source of her own Slayer legacy. Buffy, in essence, doesn’t deal in rehabilitation. She doesn’t care whether or not a vampire or other demonic entity can be reformed at this point, even if she knows that demons are not necessarily evil. It’s just not in her nature to assume that something dangerous, especially someone like Faith, can change and just needs help. (Ironically, everything that Faith says about how it feels to lose control is exactly what happens to Buffy in the sixth season of her series.)

Angel has to believe in that possibility of change and redemption, because it’s all he has to keep going. It’s at the heart of his being. So when Buffy and Angel come at odds throughout the episode, it’s not as simple as the history of those three characters. It’s about dueling philosophies and which one should apply to Faith in her moment of weakness. Angel wins the day when Faith takes responsibility and makes the choice herself. It becomes the transformative moment that takes Faith on her redemptive journey back to the light, which culminates in the fourth season of “Angel” and the final season of “Buffy”.

Wesley’s action actually fit within the context of dueling philosophies, because in this instance, Buffy and the Watchers are on the same side. Wesley is offered the tempting chance to abandon the idea of redemption and go for the immediate gratification of vengeance. He’s even offered a reward for turning his back on the concept of redemption. Seen in that respect, it’s easy to recognize that his insistence on keeping Angel out of harm’s way is a direct indication of his true design.

This is why Wesley tells Angel that he didn’t decide to help Faith, but rather, he betrayed the Watchers for Angel. He was referring to the philosophy that Angel champions, which is the way he has adopted. Wesley is at his darkest when he has reason to doubt that philosophy, as seen in later seasons, but at this point, Angel is putting his existence on the line for an enemy, all in the name of reclaiming a soul from the darkness. Is it any wonder that Wesley betrayed the Watchers?

Speaking of the Watchers, the idea of a black ops division of the Watchers is not the most credible one. It works a little better in this context, however, because of the thematic role they play in Angel’s world. On “Buffy”, they were simply a roadblock, which little or no thematic relevance. The idea of secret Watcher assassins is still rather amusing, but at least their menace fits “Angel” well.

Wolfram and Hart serve a dual purpose. Part of the season arc, however modified it might have been, was always for Angel to become more and more their enemy. As the scope of the series and its future became more clear to Joss and his writing staff, they recognized that Angel had to do something extraordinary to force the firm’s hand. This episode provides much of the motivation for the events at the end of the season.

But Wolfram and Hart also provides another source of pressure on Faith. It’s not enough to have Buffy and the Watchers trying to gain vengeance. Faith also has to know that the forces of darkness are just as willing to put her down. In this case, it’s a question of survival. It would be easy for Faith to let Wolfram and Hart’s assassin kill her and be done with it all. The assassin and her reaction to it affirms her desire to live through the process and make things right.

Inevitably, this episode is strongly disliked because of what it does to the Buffy/Angel relationship. It doesn’t seem to matter that these same issues were introduced much earlier in the third season of “Buffy”. What it does do, at least from an overall perspective, is establish how the changes in the fourth season of “Buffy” and Buffy’s isolating relationship with Riley, as well as the progress of Angel’s redemption, combine to set them at odds. Faith’s arrival in Los Angeles is the catalyst for Buffy and Angel to have a painful yet necessary face-off under the worst of conditions, and this episode serves that purpose well.


Memorable Quotes

CORDY: “Well, if it’s any consolation, it really looks like you were tortured by a much larger woman…”

ANGEL: “It wasn’t too long ago that you were the one making the case for her rehabilitation.”
WESLEY: “It wasn’t too long ago I had full feeling in my right arm!”

ANGEL: “Is everything OK in there?”
FAITH: “It was touch and go for the four minutes you left me alone, but somehow I got through it.”

BUFFY: “Giles heard that…that she tried to kill you.”
ANGEL: “That’s true.”
BUFFY: “So you decided to punish her with a severe cuddling?”


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode was a difficult test of Angel’s resolve to find redemption through helping others and how that must necessarily change his relationship with others. The episode has a lot of fine structure to it, even if the underlying message is muddled somewhat by the train wreck of the Buffy/Angel fallout. That aspect of the plot is unlikely to make this a fan favorite, but it is an important step forward for several characters.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10