"Parting Gifts"
Airdate: December 14, 1999

I'll admit right up front that my reaction to "Parting Gifts" could have something to do with the fact that I'm still smarting over the loss of Doyle. It could be that to me, it feels like the lack of my favorite Irishman throws off the entire dynamic of the show and leaves a gaping hole in the middle where an essential piece is supposed to fit.

Or it could just be that I have an aversion to laughing at the pathetic, even when said pathetic-ness is meant to be funny.

"Parting Gifts" is all about that blue glowy thing that passed between Cordelia and Doyle during their "Hero" kiss. Well, okay, not directly about a blue glowy thing, but about the result of it: Cordelia now gets Doyle's visions. Because she got them from a kiss, she goes around kissing everyone trying to pass them off onto some other unsuspecting sucker... after all, they do come accompanied by horrible pain and splitting migraines. So she lays one on Angel, and then on their new client, who just happens to be an empathic demon.

Many an antic and mix-up later, it turns out that Barney, the new client, is a demon who steals the powers of others to auction them off to the highest bidder, and he's after Cordy's eyes, seeing as they have visions now. And the "rogue demon hunter" he's hired Angel to protect him from is actually Wesley, formerly Buffy and Faith's Watcher on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but not to be confused with the original and superior Watcher, Giles. Because Faith's in a coma and Buffy's quit the Watcher's Council, Wesley got his ass fired, so he's got nothing better to do than run around after demons, wearing leather and pretending to be a bad-ass.

I don't have anything against Wesley, really, just that he's a one-dimensional comic foil with no depth. And he's boring. And he annoys the hell out of me. But other than that, I'm perfectly fine with the guy. Unfortunately his gig in "Parting Gifts" is mainly just dueling attitudes; he goes from "I'm a tough demon hunter, respect me!" to "I'm a nancyboy at heart, feel sorry for me!" I have this thing where I simply can't tolerate characters so pathetic that you keep picturing them as a mangy kicked dog, so naturally I'm not overly enthusiastic about the guy. But I do harbor a secret hope that one day, in the not-so-distant future, he'll become a sympathetic, rich, detailed character... rather than a character you want to put out of his misery.

"Parting Gifts" just bored me overall, and whatever investment I'd felt in the lives and emotions of the characters disappeared a bit in the light of their annoying characterization and a pervading lack of depth, making for an episode that was completely forgettable.

-- Lisa Kincaid

Angel airs Tuesdays on the WB.

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