Cordelia is seeing visions of a massive evil about to be unleashed on the world, and she knows it has to be stopped. But is Angel up to the job, or is this the end of the world?

You know how nasty things happen and our heroes put an end to it? You know how shows save the massive fight against the evil arch-enemy until the end of the season? You know how I suggested a while back Angel was seeming a little directionless? Scratch all that: after this episode I don't think I could have been more wrong. Once again we see characters switching position, changing attitude, adapting to altering circumstances, and we see an apocalypse rising. Nothing on this show or Buffy has ever been this terrifying; we're talking a disaster of biblical proportions, and it looks like LA is seriously out of luck. And who's to say it'll just be one city?

Whoever or whatever The Beast is, he's tough, resilient, has the cloven hooves off to a fine art, and can wipe the floor with Connor easily. It originally seems as if the episode is going to be all build-up, but far from it. This is why it's so impressive: the start of the episode moves the characters around once more and deals with some emotional issues, with Fred confronting Gunn about what he's done and Angel and Cordelia discussing their future while the portents build up.

Everything is really gelling here. The dramatic characterization is excellent, Wesley is finally welcomed back into the fold, Gunn demonstrates just why he's a useful addition to the team, and there's Lorne for some comedy, mainly thanks to some hilarious-sounding phone calls from people experiencing all manner of paranormal weirdness. The Cordy/Connor relationship steps up a notch, with a surprise ending that makes perfect sense under the circumstances and Cordelia explains to Angel that she's seen everything he's ever done in a poignant scene that makes the Angel/Cordy love seem a lot more realistic than it has up until now.

Maybe the reason why I love this episode so much is that it reminds me of Ghostbusters as one city is the centre of a dimensional cross-rip of biblical proportions, but the main reasons are the imagery and portents, especially the line of bodies forming a mystical symbol, and the way this event seems somehow tied to Connor's birth. But what really got me going was the incredible air of doom tied into some of the coolest things ever seen on the show in one incredible fight sequence that sees Angel, Gunn, Lorne and Wesley taking on The Beast and hitting it with everything they've got, only to watch it shrug it all off, and them, stab Angel in the neck, and pitch him over the side of a building. Excellent use of slo-mo, really phenomenal work all round. And I really have no idea how they can a) get out of or b) top this. Seriously scary.

*****

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