I think I may have been expecting a little bit more on Cordelia's transformation in one of these two episodes. By its general absence, are we supposed to imagine that her demon aspect is not all that important, or am I being lulled into a false sense of security? Must wait and see. There are certainly a couple of hints of the difference in Cordelia in 'Waiting in the Wings' at least.

3.12- Provider

Not a big fan of Scott Murphy at all. I know he has to compete with Greenwalt, Minear, Whedon and the underrated Mere Smith, but 'Carpe Noctem' had some wholes in it, (partly edited out, I admit), and this episode, while dealing with a question which was interesting to address, did it without any real style and panache.

The question is about how Angel will deal with his fatherhood, and how it affects his work. As the almost-leader of his company, he responds by changing the emphasis towards getting as much money as possible. Of course, the obvious ending to the episode would be that getting money fails on all counts, and they realise that it is 'helping the helpless' they do best, and that Connor doesn't need money, he needs love. Fortunately, the message isn't quite that trite or unrealistic, with the money actually being found by killing a race of demons who just happen to be rich.

The impression we are supposed to glean from five plot-lines is that the ambition that Angel has is not working. What happens is that the failure of AI is reflected in the episode. Wes and Gunn's zombie plot-line is underworked, only the humour of Lorne and Fred as a partnership saves the demonic head idea, (extraordinary echoes of 'The Bachelor Party' and various others, seeming derivative), and the Angel plot-line, while interesting, is a little neglected. On top of this, we see Holtz testing Justine's ascetic loyalty, and the most successful of the stories, the small one with Cordelia becoming a surrogate mother to Connor.

In a few of the cases, the idea that the team is being spread too thin is backed up by the way in which the smaller teams or individuals fail. Angel almost gets himself in a scrape because he doesn't engage with the faking man, (a fault less likely to happen with Cordelia in tow), and subsequently carelessly misses some of the vampires, (a fault less likely to happen with Logistics man Wesley). Wesley and Gunn have some problems with barricading the door, and also with engaging with the woman and ascertaining her story. Finally, Fred, while intellectually capable, is not given the back-up required to defend herself against strange, clicking demons who want her brain. In each case, the unholistic approach leads to the operation's failure.

A few other random thoughts:

- The reveal on Justine's hand was a little shocking, particularly just after her apparently meaningless retort about the hand being a pun.

- We see Wesley and Gunn paralleled in what is being quickly set up as a triangle. Its a touch inexpert, but at least it has pay-off in the next episode.

- Lorne appears to be becoming a rather more integrated member of the group. I wonder whether he has given up on Caritas, or whether yet another re-building is underway.

- The final shot is rather beautiful, with the slow pull-back, and we see the nascent family unit. That's going to be an important visual moment for whatever events befall AI in the rest of the season.

Not great. But, I thought to myself, Whedon will save me. And guess what I got...

3.13- 'Waiting in the Wings'

This is the first solo episode by the master since way back at the premiere 'City Of...', and let me say this first of all. I didn't fill up my envelope side for 'Provider'. I had great difficulty keeping to one side for 'Waiting in the Wings'. I was a little bit grumpy with it to start with, because it seemed to be setting out its stall as a soap opera with some superb dialogue, but as usual, Joss managed to really give the plot an extraordinary depth of resonanace, beauty and emotion due to his intelligent writing and often extremely intelligent directing. He has really grown as a director recently, and this is a testament to the case.

On the surface level, we have the two possible relationships, and their ultimate failures, which are replaced by relationships which seem on a surface level less obvious. Whedon heavily underscores the suggestion that Angel and Cordelia are going to get together at the end of the episode. We have the coy concern over their outfits at the beginning, the shadowing of their intentions at the ballet in the middle, and then the big, emotional talk at the end. Only for the whole, over-earnestly structured plot to be turned on its head by the arrival of Groo. That's another thing I love about Joss Whedon. His pacing and balance is dead on, so if you ever feel something is being too heavily signposted, it generally suggests a dramatic switch coming up.

The other relationship is that of Wesley and Fred. This is the one which seems the more obvious of the two which comprise the triangle. The brains of the group. And we have the talk between Cordelia and Wesley, where, as well as effortlessly showing he misses none of the nuances of the characters' interactions, (with the lines about Cordelia with Wesley back in Sunnydale), he sets up Wesley's hopes. Of course, Cordelia has all the hope in the world for the couple, particularly after the scene where she supposedly advises Fred about Wes, when in fact Fred is talking about Gunn. It's ironic that Cordelia trumpets her female intuition, (often genuinely useful in the series), only for her lack of actual understanding to deeply hurt Wesley later on.

There's an obvious feeling of comradeship when Whedon directs an episode. I got that feeling powerfully when he directed 'Untouched', and it's here again. There's an extra sparkle in the eyes of the cast, which never hurts in bringing out the humour of the opening acts. There's some great Whdon humour, as always, my personal favourite being Angel's annoyed 'And stop calling me pastries'.

Now let me over-analyse for a minute. Please stay with me, it woun't be too long. This episode is clearly about Joss Whedon's experiences of running his shows. It's interesting to see this one as a complement to 'Once More, With Feeling', where I believe several Atpoers have already pointed out that Whedon is, to an extent, Sweet. Here Whedon is most definitely the Count. The man with the power to get the ballerina to perform the same dance over and over again. The man so in love with his creation that he finds it difficult to let go. Whedon is saying something rather uncomfortable about his own feelings in writing here. Partly, he conveys what it is like to write a serial. While the ballet is one-off, self-contained story, in Buffy and Angel, the characters must keep pirouetting year after year, never able to rest. After, as I once mentioned, Buffy's jump off the tower being Whedon's refusal to continue with his Universe after 'The Gift', (only for it to be picked up by UPN), this episode ties in nicely with the opposing Season Six- about how Whedon is struggling to go on. And also, going a little further, I have mentioned several times that I see Lorne as David Greenwalt, the voice of the writers, and the one who sometimes subverts the natural order of things. It is interesting that Angel and Cordelia were starting to be pushed together in Greenwalt's last episode 'Offspring'. And here, we see Lorne counselling Angel to get with Cordelia. But Whedon, the made count who will never stop his creations from going onwards, propulsive yet frozen in time, has another dance. Enter Groo. Even Lorne, (Greenwalt) is confused as Whedon, the consummate 'Plotter Not Shipper', spins away from the obvious climax, instead writing in a character whose importance seemed, to me at least, quite over.

Which leads me to the question, quite what does Groo re-appear for at precisely this moment? Pylea appears to slowly be turning itself into a functioning Republic, which means no unelected leader is required. But for the basis of the Cordelia/Angel relationship, it has more important implications for the viewer. It suggests perhaps that Cordelia is still not totally comfortable with her relationship with Angel. But on the other hand, it's arguable that her instant regression to her relationship with Groo will not last. Remember Groo appears to be Cordelia's vision of what Angel should be, only for her to realise that his version of the Champion is too one-dimensional. By this point in Season Three, Cordelia has even more reason to have a deeper bond to Angel. She like him has a demon inside her. They have bonded over Connor, with Cordelia becoming the primary surrogate mother. And the relationship has been slowly, tidily building since 'Heartthrob'. I believe Angel is genuinely ready to have a go at a romantic relationship. But ultimately, after the wonderful mis-directm we are left with him 'Waiting in the Wings'.

This phrase of course also refers to two other aspects of the episode. First, of Wesley. He has his expectations dashed when he sees Gunn and Fred together. And so he, like Whedon, is also associated with the Count. This time not with his maniacal encouragement of people to perform over and over, but with a lost love. It is interesting that the Count idealises the prima ballerina and her performance. While the lady is painfully aware that in the repeating identical performance, she slips at one point, the Count sees it as perfect. He doesn't see the imperfection, or doesn't want to see it. I wonder whether this is to an extent true of Wesley again. He sees Fred as a perfectly innocent, beautiful girl. And it's not to be quite that simple. As Gunn is not associated with the Count, perhaps we are supposed to accept that his vision of Fred is the more well-rounded one.

And then there's the final, literal 'Waiting in the Wings' of the ballet itself. In an episode full of powerful emotions, and sweeping character developments, its perfect to have the ballet working in the background. It gives the nexessary depth in the backdrop. It's interesting to see the backing characters laughing madly while committimg their violence. Possibly a deliberately grotesque parody of Whedon's own characters, quipping in the face of mortal danger. And the innocent girl in 'Giselle' is supposed to be Fred to the entranced Wesley and Gunn. Their simultaneous hand movement, interrupted by 'Angel!' is nicely done. More so the elegant piece of directing when we see Wesley in the reflection, when he first discovers Gunn and Fred. He is broken into two pieces- despair and understanding- communal hope and personal despair. Also, we see Wesley not just observing, but on the same side as the other two, highlighting their association rather than opposition.

Finally, there's 'I thought for sure she was supposed to be with Angel'. An admission of the mis-direct, but simultaneously, a chance to watch Wesley's crestfallen visage realise that Angel's story is his own. He has been led on by Cordelia's mis-placed enthusiasm, as Angel has been led on by Lorne and the fake possession.

A few more bits that ought to fit in higher up somewhere:
-Another Whedon moment. 'You love her that much. Start a web-site' A back-handed tip to all the fan-ficcers that only the real Angel is real. Whedon owns the fates of the characters.
-Gunn's trust dissipating after Angel's buying of the ballet tickets, and then his 'trust issues' aide. Subtle; hilarious.
-Love the seating arrangement in the ballet. Fred between Gunn and Wesley. Angel and Cordelia behind on their own. -There's the 'I Only Have Eyes For You' moment. Angel subsequently uses the parallel to realise that he may finally be ready to move on from Buffy to another human being, Cordelia.
-Angel identifies with the ballerina. Partly because his character is doing Whedon's priouettes. Partly, on a less metanarrative level, because he feels he is always having to perfrom into some abstract role of Champion. This gives him even more reason to attempt to woo Cordelia, because he realises the dancer should have just taken off with her true love, and Angel is not doing this only because he feels it may be an impediment to some abstract concept. And there are even more layers of meaning that I've missed out or didn't get altogether. Brilliant episode, as usual from Whedon. He really should write and direct more, you know. Honestly, he was only trying to run three shows...