Darla has been turned by Drusilla and Angel is determined to save her from a life of further torment by staking her before she rises. But can he reach her in time?
After last episode's impressive finale, it's time for even more surprises in this episode that sees the fully-fledged return of Drusilla to the fold. I was never that keen on the character when she was in Buffy, with her main function being to support Spike, or later Angelus, and act insane. Here we finally see Juliet Landau have a chance to cut loose and we see just how dangerous Dru is: deranged yet strangely intelligent and fully aware of what's going on even if she doesn't let it slip. You get the impression that there are layers of workings going on behind her outward veneer of insanity. Juliet Landau is a revelation, strangely alluring and wonderfully loopy as she calls Darla grandmother and tries to recreate her family, getting all the best lines in the process.
Let's take things in order. The fight between Dru, Darla and Angel as the second is resurrected is astonishing, with people flying everywhere, leaping huge distances and showing just how versatile vampires can be when they cut loose. Dru and Darla's shopping trip is also wonderful, as they tear up the town preparing for some major carnage. And then they get it.
It was unwise of the Wolfram & Hart team to believe they could keep control of two vampires in the first place, and they finally realize their mistake when their wine tasting is crashed by the girls, who proceed to make in-roads into some serious snacking. You know Angel is on his way, but you don't expect the outcome of it all. By the end of the episode, everything we know has been ripped down. What has actually happened to the lawyers we don't know, but they may have succeeded by their failure in doing just what they wanted to do to Angel. The ending, when it comes, is satisfying, shocking and left me begging for more. I don't know where the story is going from here, but the intensity is amazing. More right now!
*****
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