"Sense and Sensitivity"
Airdate: November 9, 1999

If there is one grossly underutilized asset on Angel, it is a Los Angeles police officer named Kate.

The character really has potential: She's smart, she's tough, she doesn't take shit and she kicks some serious criminal ass. Given a little development, she could stand proudly with Space: Above & Beyond's Vansen, Alien's Ripley, Babylon 5's Ivanova, and Terminator 2's Sarah Connor. She could be a shining example of strong women in scifi and horror.

"Sense and Sensitivity" just goes to show what the character could be, and how well actress Elisabeth Rohm can render the role in living color. It's a fine showcase of the actress' talent, and allows her to draw on two very different sides of her character: the strong cop that we usually see, and the more vulnerable person underneath.

After Wolfram and Hart get involved in some of Kate's cases, she's accused of using excessive force, and her superiors force her and her fellow officers into sensitivity training. Unfortunately the training's a bit more than meets the eye, and everyone in the police station becomes overly sensitive (spawning such classic lines as "I don't think you're listening to your mugger's feelings at all"). Angel tries to help, but ends up getting suddenly sensitive himself.

Doyle and Cordelia are forced to lead their reluctant boss into the police station, where the prisoners have been set free, and one of them has it out for Kate. Angel asserts his personhood just in time to save the day, but the journey there shows us softer side of Angel that's frankly... well, it's kinda scary.

In the end, "Sense and Sensitivity" delivers it all: it's full of laughs, but at the same time shows some amazing character development both through Kate's words and actions and through her interaction with her father. It's a tantalizing glimpse into a character that remains woefully unexplored, to the point where I can't wait to see Kate show up again, even if I have the feeling that she'll remain underused.

-- Lisa Kincaid

Angel airs Tuesday nights on the WB.

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