Connor is torn between his true father and Holtz while Wesley is tempted by Lilah, Groo wonders about his future with Cordelia and Justine discovers that her father figure is back.

I'm not quite sure where all this is leading to. A fair proportion of this episode is taken up with Angel waiting for his son to return to him and Gunn and Fred tracking whatever else escaped from the hell dimension and turning up Holtz. I still can't see why Wesley would join Wolfram & Hart, although the scene where he gets the chance to see Justine attacked by vampires is well played by Alexis Denisof, as you're not entirely sure which way he will jump. In a way it's a shame the decision is taken out of his hands as it would have been more telling without the interruption of Angel and Connor.

There is a great fight scene, the one with Angel and his son fighting back to back against the vampires showing some incredible moves. This leads to some nice moments of bonding between the two of them that show there may be hope for their relationship yet. The character of Holtz is better drawn this episode, seeing how Angel interacts with his son and finally letting his rage towards the vampire die away now that he is old. His scene with Angel where he explains that the vengeance of making Connor his son for his childhood is enough is excellent, and makes Holtz into a more sympathetic character, which he should essentially have been all season bearing in mind what Angelus and Darla did to him. The only puzzle that leaves is the ending of the story, which sees Justine killing Holtz at the old man's request. It's not clear whether it's Holtz or Justine that wants Angel to take the blame for Holtz's death; earlier scenes suggest it's all of Justine's doing, especially given Holtz's letter to Connor that Angel has. However, it may be one last form of revenge. We'll just have to wait and see.

In the end, there are some great moments and individual scenes here, from Connor's reaction to both Lorne and Cordelia to Angel's encounter with Holtz. However, the episode itself could have with a stronger focus and more coherency than it reaches. I suspect the season finale still has a trick or two to pull, but this could have been better than it is.

***

Would you like to go to the Angel Season Three guide, head back to the main TV reviews page, read older reviews in the Reviews Archive or return to the front page?