Epiphany (Angel)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Epiphany
Series = Angel


Caption = {Caption|}
Season = 2
Episode = 16
Airdate = February 27, 2001
Production = 2ADH16
Writer = Tim Minear
Director = Thomas J. Wright
Guests = Elisabeth Röhm
(Kate)
Andy Hallett
(Lorne)
Julie Benz
(Darla)
Christian Kane
(Lindsey)
Kevin Fry
Episode list = List of "Angel" episodes
Prev = Reprise
Next = Disharmony

"Epiphany" is episode 16 of season 2 in the television show "Angel". Written by Tim Minear and directed by Thomas J. Wright, it was originally broadcast on February 27, 2001 on the WB network. After spending an evening of empty passion with Darla, despite knowing that any moment of true happiness will make him lose his soul, Angel wakes up with his soul intact and realises that being evil to combat evil is not all it’s cracked up to be. Now, Angel needs to regain the trust of Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn who have been taken hostage by a group of murderous, revenge-seeking Skilosh demons who are looking for human hosts to spread their kin. Meanwhile, a jealous Lindsey learns that Darla has had sex with Angel, and goes looking to kill Angel himself. Also, Kate recovers and sees a new light to her life after Angel saves her from a suicide attempt. See List of "Angel" episodes for a complete list.

Plot

Angel pulls on some clothes and struggles to the balcony, falling to his knees in pain as Darla watches on, waiting for him to become Angelus. Angel apologizes for not being able to save her, revealing that he never lost his soul: instead of experiencing the "perfect happiness" that would release it, he realizes his surrender to her was instead an act of perfect despair. Darla can't accept that she failed in ridding him of his soul, but the sex has reawakened the good in Angel, making him realize his recent mistakes. Angel advises Darla to leave and then rushes over to Kate's place and revives her from her drug and alcohol induced unconsciousness.

Lindsey returns to his apartment to find Darla who tells him of her night with Angel. Angel shows up at the bar after hours and wakes the Host for advice. He's confused about his future and the Host warns him that his friends may not be around for much longer as their lives are all in danger. Cordelia arrives at the Sharp home, finding all of the family dead. She receives a vision about a demon attacking her, only to have it actually occur moments later.

Cordelia realizes that the demons have an eye on the back of their heads and they want all of her friends destroyed in retaliation for destroying their spawn in Stephanie Sharp. Wesley hears noises in his apartment and just before one of the Skilosh demons attacks, Angel arrives. Wesley eventually invites him inside (after taking the chance to sound off to Angel about his recent behaviour) once the demons start attacking, and the two manage to destroy the demons and both share a brief moment of camaraderie before the walls go up again. Angel tries to explain his return to helping his friends. Wesley tells everything he knows about the demons, their reproduction through human hosts, and the destruction of the demon in Stephanie.

The Skilosh demons are upset about losing two more of their kind so they use Cordelia as bait to bring hosts for more. Arriving at the new headquarters for Angel Investigations, Angel and Wesley are dismayed to find Cordelia missing. Angel humorously suggests that maybe Cordelia has gone out for the evening, thinking that's the sort of thing Cordelia likes to do but Wesley tells Angel harshly that Cordelia is not the same woman she was, the visions have turned her into a solitary person, a far cry from the carefree girl she used to be, and that while Angel was more than happy to turn his back on the visions, that's not a luxury Cordelia has. Angel is left feeling very ashamed of himself, but he and Wesley agree they need to find her. Hearing a noise outside, the two arm themselves, but find it only to be Gunn checking out why the lights are on. Angel notes the strong bond that's developed between Wesley and Gunn. Setting off for the Sharp residence, Angel leaves the car and volunteers to take care of some Skilosh demons waiting for them telling the others that Cordelia is the only thing that matters. As Angel's about to start fighting with the demons they suddenly flee. Angel is confused, until Lindsey drives a truck full-speed down the street, repeatedly running Angel down.

Angel is beaten with a sledgehammer by Lindsey, who wants to know what happened with Darla. Angel turns the tables on Lindsey, and starts to beat him all the while apologising. Apologising that Darla will never love him and that he didn't try harder to save Lindsey when he came to him for help. In the end he uses the sledgehammer to smash Lindsey's prosthetic hand, and steals Lindsey's truck telling the lawyer that he could have smashed the other hand if it wasn't for the epiphany. Gunn and Wesley try to sneak into the Sharp home but are caught. Angel crashes Lindsey's truck through the Sharp house, rescuing his friends, but he's hurt emotionally when they aren't willing to accept his returned presence. After finding his damaged truck returned by Angel, Lindsey finds that Darla has moved out of his apartment and has left L.A.

Angel talks with Kate about his new look on life, and how he's realised that what he does shouldn't be about scoring points off lawyers or to get closer to his own redemption but that he should help people for the sake of helping them. Kate mentions how a higher power must be watching over them because she never invited him into her home. Angel appears at the Angel Investigations office and apologizes to his friends. Wesley tells Angel that the three of them have talked and have decided they're not ready to return working for him, however Angel responds that he doesn't want them to work for him - he wants to work for them, and accepts that he will have to work hard to regain their trust. A vision from Cordelia puts their doubts on the back burner and the reunited team head out to help the helpless.

Acting

Main cast

*David Boreanaz as Angel
*Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
*Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
*J. August Richards as Charles Gunn

Guest stars

*Elisabeth Röhm as Kate Lockley
*Christian Kane as Lindsey McDonald
*Andy Hallett as The Host
*Julie Benz as Darla

Co-stars

*Marie Chambers as Mother
*Kevin Fry as Skilosh Demon

Production

In an essay examining the use of cinematic effects of time on "Angel", Tammy Kinsey points out this episode is set up so that at first, the viewer suspects Angel has lost his soul - the structure of the opening scene strongly references the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode "Innocence" in which Angelus first emerges. However, as it becomes clear that Angel's soul is intact, he rushes to save Kate in a blur of quickly cut scenes. Kinsey says that, when viewed in slow motion, the last image in the transition is Angel smiling widely. Kinsey argues that "the subliminal image of David Boreanaz grinning" causes the viewer to emotionally move from "fear and concern about Angel to a sense of comfort and trust." [Citation |title= Reading Angel: The TV Spin-off With a Soul
editor=Stacey Abbott |first=Tammy A. |last=Kinsey |pages= 50 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year= 2005 |chapter= Transitions and Time: the Cinematic Language of Angel |url=http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7B42U0hgDy0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=%22that+vision+thing%22+angel+&ots=O9BPB9gkOm&sig=unwx6wQvzSd0bjnyxU32BOchV5I#PPA50,M1]

Arc significance

*Angel rejoins Cordelia, Gunn and Wesley, albeit as their employee rather than as their employer.
*Angel and Darla's night of passion has far-reaching consequences, as she becomes pregnant with Connor, her and Angel's son.
*"Epiphany" marks Kate Lockley's final appearance in the series until After The Fall (The canonical continuation of Angel written by Brian Lynch and Joss), issue 7.

Continuity

*Darla's reaction to Angel still having his soul echoes that of Buffy's when Angel lost his soul. In "Innocence", Buffy reacts to Angelus. While in this episode, Darla reacts to an unchanged Angel.

"Innocence"
Buffy: "I, I don't understand. Was it m-me? (meekly) Was I not good?"
"Epiphany"
Darla: "You're not evil. I-I don't understand. - Was I... Was it... not good?"

Cultural references

*It's a Wonderful Life: Lorne's mention of Zuzu's Petals is a reference to this film.
*Blade Runner: Angel's line "I've done questionable things" is a direct quote from "Blade Runner", where the main villain, Roy, attempts to confess his sins to his creator, Dr. Tyrell, immediately before killing him.

Translations

* German title: "Epiphania" ("Epiphany")
* Italian title: "Il grande premio" ("The big prize")
* Spanish title: "Epifanía" ("Epiphany")
* French title: "Retour à l'ordre" ("Back to normalcy")

References

External links

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ee also