Forgiving

Season 3, Episode 17, Aired

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9.2
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Wesley lies alone, bleeding to death, and waiting for help which may not come. While Fred and Gunn try to solve the mystery of Wesley's disappearance, Angel searches feverishly for a way to rescue Connor from the Quortoth.
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  • Rent asunder

    8.0
    "Great"
    By joxerlives, Jan 21, 2012
    FORGIVING

    The Good;
    Some great acting from Amy Acker as Fred is horrified that Connor has been lost to a portal, just as she was. The little girl in the White Room is a really creepy little moppet.

    The Bad;
    Gunn and the orderlies seem to overpower Angel at the hospital very easily (although I guess that settles the whole question of Angelus' confrontation with Xander in 'Killed by death'. Thinking back on the cops/security guards in that scene would probably have had tasers which is weapon that seems to affect vamps a lot. Although bullets are no joke to them either)

    Best line:
    Angel; (heartbroken) "Cordy will be back soon, with presents for Connor"

    Jeez, how did they get away with that?
    Lilah cutting her hand just like Darla, the whole 'women cope better with pain' idea certainly gets a lot of mileage in Joss's shows. Angel meanwhile prepares to stick a needle in Linwood's eye. Angel attempts to smother Wes and is quite prepared to kill Lilah to get his son back. Justine is beaten to a pulp, so much so that even Gunn feels sorry for her. Fred using the hot coals against Sahjhan is pretty damn ruthless.

    Apocalypses: 5

    Angel Cliches
    Inverting the Hollywood cliche; we think Angel will forgive Wes after he's so compassionate to the poor guy at the accident but oh boy he doesn't! Sahjahn mocks the standard Hollywood buddy-cop thriller. AI are getting hammered by Sahjahn but get saved by Justine?

    In disguise; 8

    DB get's his shirt off; 12

    Cheap Angel; 9

    Fang Gang in bondage:
    Cordy: 5
    Angel: 11
    Wes: 6
    Gunn; 4
    Lorne; 3
    Fred; 2

    Fang gang knocked out:
    Cordy: 11
    Angel: 14
    Wes: 5
    Doyle; 1
    Gunn; 1
    Lorne; 4

    Kills:
    Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons
    Angel; 39 vamps, 57 and 1/2 demons, 7 humans
    Doyle; 1 vamp
    Wes; 12 demons+3 vamps, 2 humans
    Kate; 3 vamps
    Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans.
    Gunn; 10 vamps+ 10 demons.
    Groo; 1 demon
    Fred; 1 vamp

    Fang Gang go evil:
    Cordy: 2
    Angel: 2
    Gunn; 1
    Wes; 1

    Alternate Fang Gang:
    Cordy: 2
    Angel: 8

    Characters killed:
    46

    Recurring characters killed;
    8;

    Total number of Angel Investigations:
    7, Angel, Cordy, Wes, Gunn, Fred, Lorne and Groo

    Angel Investigations shot:
    Angel: 11
    Wes; 1

    Packing heat; Gunn refers to the shotgun Wes keeps that we saw in Epiphany
    Wes; 6
    Doyle; 1
    Angel; 2
    Gunn; 1

    Notches on Fang Gang bedpost:
    Cordy: 4 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo
    Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies
    Wes; 2; Virginia and the bleached blonde
    Gunn; 1 Fred
    Fred; 1 Gunn
    Groo; 1Cordy

    Kinky dinky:
    Angel tell Justine he isn't her boyfriend and she should find someone else to smack her around.

    Captain Subtext;
    Sahjhan once again demonstrates his insecurity about his masculinity, insisting he flitted in a 'manly way'

    Know the face, different character; 4

    Parking garages;
    5,

    Guantanamo Bay;
    Linwood get's kidnapped and threatened with torture

    Buffy characters on Angel; 16
    Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony

    Questions and observations;
    Shouldn't Linwood know who Lorne is? Surely Lorne's concern for humans and disregard for 'slimy demons' is hypocritical. Like any good Watcher Wes keeps comprehensive diaries. Why do people always cut the palm of their hands in films? Surely that's one of the most sensitive parts?
    Marks out of 10; 8/10 here comes the emotional pain but it's SUPREMELY well done.moreless

  • Maybe Best Episode of Season 3!

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By deucemyke415, Sep 30, 2011
    I love "Angel" episodes that show just how far Angel is willing to go to get something done. He really goes all out in this one; first, he kidnaps Linwood from W&H, and forces Lilah to invoke black magic in the hotel to make Sahjhan corporeal, followed by a great fight between Angel and Sahjhan. Excellent all around. The ending scene is one of the best in the series in my opinion. Angel visits Wesley in the hospitalwith everyone, including myself, thinking he is going to make peace with Wesley kidnapping Connor. However, Angel instead takes a pillow and attempts to smother Wesley, while screaming that he'll never forgive him for what he did. This is great acting from David Boreanaz. Just watch the spit flying from his mouth as he screams "You're dead!! Dead!!". Awesome.moreless

  • Forgiving

    10
    "Perfect"
    By TrueTvWatcher, Dec 15, 2010
    Forgiving was a perfect and classic episode of Angel. This episode had a few interesting turn of events. I really enjoyed watching this episode because we were introduced to Wolfram & Hart's conduit to the Senior Partners. I loved the whole white room concept and the conduit was a great idea! I also enjoyed watching Fred and Gunn together looking for evidence by means of good old dumpster diving. Angel was torn and pushing everyone around him to the limit to find a way to get Connor back, and he made some difficult decisions. I can't wait to watch the next episode!!!!!!!moreless

  • Excellent!

    9.6
    "Superb"
    By TwistedConverse, Jul 24, 2008
    Forgiving is an excellent follow-up to the incredible Sleep Tight and the entire episode deals with the repurcussions of last episode's events and how our characters deal with Wesley missing and Connor lost to the Quor'toth and these consequences are almost as shocking as the events they stem from.

    Angel almost reverted back to S2 Angel here- a dark, hollow shell of a man with no other reason to live except vengeance. Angel almost seems to give up on Connor so early on- some small part of him knows that his son is forever lost. He doesn't seem shocked by any of Lorne's words that finding Connor is nigh on impossible- even if he could get into Quor'toth, it was still be next to impossible to rescue his child. Several of his acts here are incredibly shocking- threatening to torture Linwood, about to kill Lilah just to get at Sahjhan and not least his attempting to murder Wesley in the hospital room. However, from some of his actions we can see all is not gone from him- his telling of the car-driver it wasn't his fault he knocked down Sahjhan proves he still cares, however small. I'm extremely glad Sahjhan is effectively dead after this episode- I'm not a fan of his and although his and Angel's fight was brutal, you still never doubted that Angel wouldn't die- there was such a big loss last episode, that another one would be pointless. Even though Sahjhan eventually does reappear for one episode in Season 5, it's a short role and I am definitely not going to miss him the rest of this season. Linwood was proved to be a coward here- he so readily betrayed his job and his very dangerous bosses just to save his own skin. Even Lilah would have put up more of a struggle! Speaking of Lilah, I loved her here- no matter how evil she is I can't help but like her- she's so completely ruthless that it makes her a great character.

    Justine has a lot of parallels with Angel here- she has lost the one person she cares about most and has no means of getting him back. However, her situation is worse as she has no one else whereas Angel has friends- Justine is completely alone. She proved she wasn't entirely villainous here and felt remorse for killing Wesley (well at this stage she though she had). Her trapping of Sahjhan is the jar was her shining moment though, ridding us of him and Jack Conley who simply isn't scary.

    David Boreanaz put in a stunning performance here and brought Angel's grief and loss to life, making it believable and effective. Amy Acker was excellent too, as was Laurel Holloman. Forgiving is an outstanding episode that shapes our characters into who they become in later seasons. Unmissable.moreless

  • Showdown Sahjhan!

    9.8
    "Superb"
    By lenzinoH20, Sep 25, 2007
    Forgiving-Wesley lies alone, bleeding to death, and waiting for help which may not come. While Fred and Gunn try to solve the mystery of Wesley's disappearance, Angel searches feverishly for a way to rescue Connor from the Quortoth.

    A wonderful follow-up to the events of last episode. Angel is in a very angry mind state and is relentless in getting his son back. This episode is filled with amazing scenes like Angel taking Leenwood hostage and almost torturing him for information. David was amazing this hour as well as the rest of the cast. Also, the use of the dark magics to get his son back brings some stunning special effects! The best part is the finally realizing why Sahjhan mysteriously hates Angel is shocking, not to mention he was behind the whole father kill the son prophecy which was false all along. The fight scene between Angel and Sahjhan is excellent and Justine does the only good thing while on her run on the series by helping defeat Sahjhan. But she was still an annoyance just getting in the way with the rest of the useless avenging humans. But the ending is what makes this episode so powerful as Wesley is in the hospital and Angel goes into an emotional rage and almost sufficates him to death. The whole scene is just so unbelieveable and played flawlessly by the whole cast. You now at this point that the gang won't be the same again and it's dark times from here on out. All and All, a top notch episode with a unforseen ending that makes this episode a true stand out of the series.moreless
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  • TRIVIA (10)

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    • When Angel visits Wesley in the hospital, during their conversation, the x-rays on the lightboard behind him change in the middle of the scene and then change back as Angel is dragged off Wesley.

    • The buttons, in order, that Angel presses in the elevator to get to the white room are sequenced up, 18, 23, 20, 28, 27, emergency button, and the magic white room button.

    • When Lorne picks up the phone to discover where Wesley is, you can see at his wrist, where the green makeup starts, and flesh of the actor begins.

    • When Sahjhan is summoned by Angel, he gets hit by a truck. If you look closely at the sequence when Sahjhan gets hit, the grill falls off the truck. However, when the truck collides with the car, the grill magically sprouted back onto the truck again and Sahjhan is nowhere to be seen.

    • The X-Ray in Wesley's hospital room is up-side-down.

    • John Rubinstein is not listed in the credits when the episode originally aired. When the episode reaired in August on the Wb, John Rubinstein's name is added to the opening credits

    • When Justine strolls into the manor in the teaser, her hands are empty as she walks up to the chained-up vampires. There's a quick cut to Holtz's minions, then back to Justine and she now has the stake in her hands with which she stakes them.

    • Earlier, in the flashback we see it takes three chanting monks and a ritual to put a Sahjahn-type demon into a jar. At the end of this episode, Justine pulls it off just by opening it.

    • Who told Gunn and Fred where Justine was located? Or about how she lost Holtz? They've never even seen her before, and Angel walked out on them earlier without much explanation (not that he knew where Justine was anyway).

    • Fred picks up a metal bowl of flaming coals with no handles with her bare hands, but doesn't seem hurt or particularly bothered by what must be excruciating pain.

  • QUOTES (9)

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    • Sahjhan: (after Fred throws a bowl of flaming coals at him) Do I look like I need more skin problems?

    • Fred: I just don't believe it. Lorne: Well, it's true. Fred No, it can't be. The baby's not gone. Lorne: I'm sorry, sweetie, but he is. Fred: Not like that. Not a portal. There's pulling, and there's noise, and there's nothing to hold on to. Nothing at all. Gunn: Baby... Fred: He must've been so scared. (Gunn hugs her)

    • Lorne: (to Lilah) Not saying anything would look really good on you.

    • Little girl: (to Angel about Lilah) Kill her. (Angel quickly goes to snap her neck and the Little girl giggles) That's enough for now.

    • Angel: (to a defenseless Wesley) I want you to know that I understand why you did it. I know about the Prophecies, and I know how hard it must have been for you to... do what you did. You thought I was going to turn evil and kill my son. I didn't. It's important that you know that. This isn't Angelus talking, it's me, Angel. You know that right? Good. (Angel attacks Wesley) You son of a bitch, you're gonna pay for what you did! You took my son! You son of a bitch! You bastard! You think I'd forgive you?! Never! You're gonna die! You hear me? You're gonna pay! (Orderlies come in, pulling Angel away) You took my son! You took my son! You took my son. Never! Never! Never! I'll kill you! You're dead! You're a dead man, Pryce! You're dead! I'll kill you, I'll kill you! You're a dead man! Dead! Dead!

    • Angel: Did we check the files? Gunn: They're in English. Cordelia's filing system isn't. Angel: I know she was keeping some kind of list of Time, Space and shifting Entities. Gunn: Okay, so is that under Time, Space, Shifting, or Entities? Angel: Let's just check them all.

    • Sahjhan: Yeah. I flitted back and forth in time, changed the one that threatened me, polished some others. Flitted in a manly way - just so we're clear.

    • Angel: I tell you what, you take me to the Quortoth world, help me find my son, we'll call it even. Sahjhan: Really? You and me, buddy cops, summer release? We iron out our wacky differences and bond? Don't think so.

    • The Little Girl: (talking about Sahjhan's kind) They caused a lot of trouble. Don't get me wrong - I like trouble. But I hate chaos. So we changed them.

  • NOTES (7)

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  • ALLUSIONS (1)

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    • The scene in the White Room where the Girl tests Angel by telling him to kill Lilah and then stops him reflects the story of Abraham and Isaac in the Bible. In Genesis 22 God tests the faith of Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac. At the last moment God spares Isaac.

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