"The Bachelor Party"
Airdate: November 16, 1999

After being given hints in past episodes that there was something more to Doyle's past, I was prepared for a harrowing story. What I wasn't prepared for was "The Bachelor Party".

Just when Doyle's finally hitting it off with Cordelia, a ghost from the past returns to haunt him in the form of his ex-wife, Harriet. But... she's not actually a ghost. That's just a figure of speech. Actually she's a demonologist these days, and we find that Doyle and Harry are still married, though they've been estranged for years. Harry's come to LA to ask her husband to sign divorce papers so she can marry her new beau.

Doyle agonizes over the decision, and reveals quite a chunk of his past in the process. Turns out he was a third-grade teacher and all-around good guy, happily married until he discovered his demon roots at age twenty-one. His inability to accept his origins and Harry's enthusiasm for helping him discover his demonic side put a strain on the marriage to the point where the couple split up. And it turns out that Harry's new guy, nice as he seems, isn't human himself. But Doyle signs the papers and is even invited to the groom's bachelor party, where he's more of a guest of honor than he thinks: the groom believes that, in accordance with his people's traditions, he must eat Doyle's brain to make the new marriage a successful one.

The main thing that I came away from "The Bachelor Party" with was a sense of dissatisfaction. Though the episode provided a good opportunity for Glenn Quinn to explore his character more than the show has previously allowed, the backstory they gave for Doyle wasn't anything I could've expected, and it actually felt a bit clumsy, like they had to put some sort of story there and were going for anything that'd be the exact opposite of fan expectations. While I'm all for surprise, the math on Doyle's previous life didn't seem to add up very well, and I felt a bit like I was being manipulated.

"The Bachelor Party" somehow remained entertaining throughout, though, and gave more dimension to a character that sorely needed it, even if I was left wondering where it all came from.

-- Lisa Kincaid

Angel airs Tuesday nights on the WB.

We welcome your comments on The 11th Hour and this review. Please send letters to: letters@the11thhour.com