"Hero"
Airdate: November 30, 1999
I'm not a big sissy pansy-girl. I feel I should make that clear before we get going, here. I wouldn't want my ass-kicker reputation to suffer.
That said, I'll get in touch with my inner child, assert my personhood, and admit it.
"Hero" made me cry.
Okay, so maybe I am a sissy. But a single moment of "Hero" managed to be more powerful than any whole episode of Angel previous to this, so it's worthy of note that it made me weep like a little girl.
The story seemed more ominous in the previews, actually, and disappointed when it came to the real deal. An army of pure-blood demons called The Scourge arrives in Los Angeles, trying to root out demons who are of mixed blood (human and demon... much like our own Doyle). The premise is an interesting one and there are lots of historical parallels to be explores, like that of the Nazis and Jews, which the episode overuses as much as possible.
I wouldn't have a problem with the episode recognizing the parallels and using them to get the point across. But I have this thing about subtlety (in that I crave it like a junkie craves the smack), and lack of it really gets to me. I could've done without the sequences of demons marching neatly down the street and ransacking buildings looking for the half-breeds. I could've done without the Nazi-esque uniforms, the "I'm unholier than thou" demons, and Angel infiltrating the ranks just in time to find out the Evil PlanTM. And I know it's probably due to budget constraints, but... the "army" was only like thirty guys! I coulda taken 'em, man!
But of course, the big news about the episode -- and the reason for the crying -- is that it was Glenn Quinn's last on the series. Yeah, Doyle's dead. I can admit it. I can even say it without tearing up. Just don't get me thinking about Doyle's last line of the episode, because then I'll start crying again.
And this, too, is the worst news I could possibly impart about "Hero". Not just that the demise of Doyle is a serious blow to a show that I don't think will be half as good without him, but also the way they killed him. Sure, he got his first and last kiss with Cordelia, he got to deck Angel, and he got to save not just his friends but a bunch of Jewish -- er, semi-demonic refugees. But then they had him killed by a thing that looked like the ancient ancestor of a disco ball. And it doesn't end there. Oh no. No, he doesn't just die. First his face disintegrates, layer by layer, in a completely frickin' gratuitous way. It makes me wonder who the poor guy pissed off that he had to spend his last week on the show in the make-up trailer, covered in latex.
I can forgive this show a lot of things. I can even forgive it the regular application of bluish spines to Quinn's face and coloring him all green. But I can't forgive anyone for melting that face off. That's just wrong.
-- Lisa Kincaid
Angel airs Tuesday nights on the WB. For more on Doyle's death, read Getting Their Irish Up.
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