Angel
"Guise Will Be Guise"

Airdate: November 7, 2000

I've never liked Wesley. I feel I should make that clear right up front. When he was on Buffy, he annoyed me. When he came on Angel... well, I'll admit it, I resented him a little just for being Doyle's replacement, and he very much needed to move beyond the slapstick comedy to become an interesting character. It took him a while to do it, but I'm proud to say that our little boy has finally grown up into a lickable man.

When Angel goes off to see a swami about his assorted issues, Cordelia's held at gunpoint by a thug looking for the absent boss. To save her, Wesley dons Angel's flowy black coat and pretends to be the ensouled vampire, though he doesn't initially do a very good job of it. He's taken to a very rich fellow who runs a wizardry business; this guy insists that "Angel" act as a bodyguard for his daughter, who's in serious danger from wizard-y competitors.

Having absolutely no choice, Wesley accepts the job, and to his surprise, finds himself doing pretty well at it. He also begins to feel an attraction to the girl he's supposed to protect, and they end up getting pelvic, despite her worries about his -- or, more appropriately, Angel's -- soul. The scenes between Wesley and his young charge are a good display of Alexis Denisof's acting abilities, which have been previously limited mostly to doing things that'll get him laughed at, as the sort of up-tight and English version of Buffy's Xander.

Angel, meanwhile, is getting to know himself and apparently making progress with the swami, but it's revealed that the guy he's met isn't the swami at all; he's an impostor who killed the real deal and took his place. When Gunn shows up to get Angel's help with saving Wesley, the so-called swami clocks the other man, revealing himself as the tool of evil that he really is. When Angel witnesses that, he gets in touch with his inner demon and a nice bit of off-screen mayhem ensues.

As it turns out, the girl's wizard father is the bad guy, and he intends to use his daughter as a sacrifice to a powerful demon. The Angel Investigations team charges to the rescue, but they needn't have bothered: the demon won't accept the sacrifice, anyway, as she only eats virgins. And after Wesley, this girl isn't anymore... in fact, she hasn't been since she was sixteen and did the deed with her personal driver.

It feels almost strange to say it, but this episode made me like Wesley. Really like him. He's finally getting out of that helpless geek phase and taking a little control of his life, but they don't sacrifice the comedy for it; I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at an Angel episode. Kudos to Alexis Denisof for delivering a brilliant performance. And he doesn't look bad in that billowy coat, either.

-- Lisa Kincaid

Angel airs at 9/8c, Tuesdays on the WB.

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