Soul Purpose

Angel Episode Review

In which Machiavelli doesn't come in a can.

What Happened

Spike is approached by a man who calls himself Doyle (but we know he's Lindsey), who tells Spike that the Powers That Be have chosen him to continue Angel's destiny. Spike's skeptical, but willing to go along with it... eventually.

Angel, meanwhile, is feeling under the weather. He keeps hallucinating about his friends picking on him. Wesley tries to kill him. Fred opens him up with a scalpel and surgically removes his soul, a dead goldfish. Gunn pretty much just growls at him.

The worst comes when he imagines that he's been busted to the mail-room while Spike prevents the apocalypse and becomes "a real boy!" As Angel is considering whether to give up, Spike burst in.

Warned by one of Lindsey's visions, Spike removes the parasite that is prompting the fever dreams and crunches it.

Afterwards, Angel realizes that Eve had something to do with his predicament: he remembers her standing over him, holding the parasite. As she leaves, Eve covers by suggesting that Angel is blaming her because he can't stand the thought of being betrayed by his friends.

What We Learned

• Spike knows exactly where he is: a place called the Peppermint Stick. The prima ballerina up there is Sunshine, though he's fairly certain that's not her real name.
• Spike gets really violent when he's being played.
• Lindsey is barking up the wrong vampire.
• Can't throw a stone in LA without hitting some bimbo in trouble.
• Harmony is not allowed to go to accounting without Angel's approval.
• Any business with the senior partners, Harmony is supposed to tell Angel immediately.
• Anything that comes in with runes on it, Harmony is supposed to tell Angel immediately. And also not try to read them, because that could cause a fire.
• Spike sees everything in terms of sex.
• Anyone who saves the universe from eternal bloodshed and misery deserves to get what they always wanted.
• Angel looks like he just had to kill his last puppy.
• Elevator doors are often psychic. They know when the scene is over.

Best Lines

Fred: "We didn't sell out, we're changing the system from the inside."
Gunn: "You know, when you say it out loud, it sounds really naive."

What Did I Think?

Fun in its own right, but also a great set-up for what's coming.