"Five by Five" (Angel 1.18): You gotta have Faith

Well, you might not "gotta" have her, but she sure brings some definition and direction to the second half of the season. Faith's darkness is the catalyst for the most thorough and rigorous investigation into what evil looks like in the Buffyverse so far. So let's take a walk on the dark side with the Angel guide to reining in a rogue Slayer.

Despite her hair-flip dancing, this is a girl who ain't five-by-five.

DO define your terms. The 'verse's reliance on the soul/no-soul dichotomy of morality has been the cause of many conversations amongst me and my fellow Whedonites. This episode, for good or ill, gives us a practical definition: Wesley, referring to some random thug Angel is trying to manipulate, says that since he has a soul, "Somewhere, deep down, he wants to do what's right." The philosophers amongst us can parse the efficacy of this articulation, but at least it gives us a starting place for debate.

DO remember that when discussing the soul-less, lawyers will always be involved. Lindsey is finally stepping up be a major player!

Hey, handsome.

He hires Faith to take Angel out, obviously operating on the "it takes a Sunnydale-ite to kill one" principle.

Though a lazy "crossbow in the courthouse" attack ain't gonna cut it with this vampire.

DO beware fighting monsters, lest you become a monster yourself. Though Faith is ensouled, she's doing her best impression of someone who doesn't want to do what's right deep down. In classic villain style, she hits Angel where it hurts--Wesley and Cordelia. Wesley's willingness to bring the pain on Faith, as my intrepid co-watcher Jenn notes, is a hint of the darkness he harbors within.

In case you can't tell, this is Wesley clocking his former Watch-ee.

Of course he's ultimately no match for her in the hand-to-hand combat department, which brings us to . . .

DON'T let the sadist get bored. Another point from Jenn--Faith's complaint that torturing Wesley is "boring" is deeply resonant with vamp Willow's "bored now" and some Dark Willow dialogue to come.

When I get bored, I just eat tortilla chips and watch reruns of Friday Night Lights.

She does a bang-up reading of this pattern, so I'll just hand the analysis over to her:

"What is it with these girls losing attention so quickly? I imagine there's something to be explored there about these girls who have gone to the extreme of badness turning the tables on wanting to be entertained rather than willingly serving as the objects of entertainment. Maybe the puppets becoming the puppet master? But, what does this say about their having to become evil? Or is it more that their desire to control people makes them just as bad as the traditional male figure that often tries to be the dominant one? Hell...all three also have a fondness for black leather aka dominatrix wear."

Something to think about as we meet more Girls Behaving Badly in the seasons to come.

DO rely on the principle of "it takes one to know one." Faith's acting out is twinned with a flashback to the commencement of Angel's gypsy curse. (An aside: no matter how many times I watch these series or write on these shows, I always assume that Drusilla is the source of the curse. I am radically wrong, but it's a misreading my brain will not surrender.)

Pictured: NOT Drusilla

Angel's willingness to be a masochist, to let Faith punch herself out, is a repetition with a difference of Faith-in-Buffy's beatdown in "Who Are You?" Rather than calling herself worthless and dirty, now she's begging Angel to kill her.

This is not the face of an assassin completely sold on her vocation.

Faith is on the death-drive spiral, and we're left to wonder whether Angel will be able to pull her back out.

Though it's hard to imagine anything tender cradling from Angel can't cure.

So what have we learned about evil amongst the en-souled? It is intimately tied up with boredom and a self-loathing that might connect to the desire of the "soul" to do good. This definition will become further complicated (and by "complicated" I mean "a big old mess") with Spike's development in Buffy season 6. But that's still on the horizon.

Exciting news on the Buffyverse Rewatch front! My intrepid co-watcher Jenn is coming to my neck of the woods for a few days, and we plan to get some major Whedon watching under our belts in the days to come. Stay tuned for our joint (and wine-soaked) take on the conclusion of Buffy 4 and Angel 1!