Has Angel become power-crazed?

Written by: David Fury

Directed by: James A. Contner

Angel seemingly gate-crashes a ritual sacrifice - only to kill the victim himself. Flash back 19 hours to find Angel making holiday plans with girlfriend Nina, and getting into bed with corrupt government officials.

The rest of Team Angel are concerned - it seems the boss is ignoring the fate of the little people in a sudden thirst for power. When Spike and Illyria encounter old ally Drogyn during a demon hunt, they are horrified to learn that Angel had sent a team out to kill him.

As Angel becomes more ruthless and dimissive, Wesley calls upon Lindsey to identify an occult symbol sent to him anonymously. Lindsey recognises the symbol as the mark of the Circle of the Black Thorn - a kind of demonic version of the Masons, and the Senior Partners' true representatives on Earth.

The reasons behind the ritual sacrifice are revealed - it's an initiation ceremony to welcome Angel into the Circle. Old enemies Cyvus Vail and Sebassis are members too.

Back at Wolfram and Hart, Angel is confronted by the rest of the team and, watched from outside by Hamilton, appears to threaten Lorne's life. Casting a glamour to mask what's really happening inside his office, Angel reveals, however, that it's all been a ruse to infiltrate the Circle and destroy it from within. Angel asks his team if they will join him in the final battle - one that few are likely to survive. To a man, they agree to help.

Quiz: - ten quick questions.

Trivia

Something Blue: This week, Spike refers to Illyria as a Blue Meanie. He's probably refering to the villains in animated Beatles adventure Yellow Submarine. Either that or the cocktail, made up of Blue Curacao, Vodka and Sour mix.

Seeing Red : Izzy, the red-skinned, devil-like demon who plays raquetball with Angel, returns after first appearing in the show's 100th episode, You're Welcome. Seeing as he set up a raquetball game with Angel in that episode too, it would seem that they are regular patners.

Queen of Mean: Lorne comments that Angel is channelling Leona Helmsley.

The widow and heir of New York real estate tycoon Harry Helmsley, Leona was one of the richest women in the United States. In the early 1990s she was convicted of mail fraud and tax evasion. Dubbed "the Queen of Mean" by the media, Helmsley's apparent lack of contrition was summed up in a quote attributed to her by a former housekeeper: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."

Review

With Power Play, David Fury has the unenviable task of setting up not only the season, but the series finale - something he achieves with mixed results.

Fury employs the fashionable trick of starting an episode with a shocking 'ending', then taking us back in time to see how the characters arrived there. Angel has seemingly turned evil, and most of the episode does little to convince us otherwise. Fury's logic and motivation for our hero is so utterly believable and well-written, that it almost comes as a surprise when the vampire reveals that it's all been a scam.

That said, the episode may be clever, but it lacks some of the sparkle of recent scripts to make way for the info-dumping. Lindsey is thrown into the mix in a rather casual way too. That said, I'm absolutely dying to find out how it all ends, which is all that really matters.