The sixteenth episode of the third season of ANGEL, "Sleep Tight," might be the most important episode in the entire series. The episode rarely receives a place in any Best of ANGEL or the Whedonverse list though it should because the events of "Sleep Tight" have a ripple effect until the end of the series. "Sleep Tight" one of the darkest and saddest hours in the series. In fact, the episode is even darker and sadder when watched with the knowledge of the entire series.
In the third season of the show, Angel had a son through a divine gift from the Powers-That-Be. In season two, ANGEL fought for the life of Darla in a trial. While he failed to win Darla's human life, he earned another life--the life of his son. Soon after the birth of his son, a prophecy is unearthed that states "The Father Will Kill The Son." Wesley becomes increasingly concerned about the prophecy, and the arrival of Holtz (Holtz, in a sentence, hates Angel for killing his family in the 1700s) only creates problems for Wesley as he struggles to accept what the prophecy foretells. Meanwhile, Wolfram & Hart wants the baby in their possession, and Sahjahn (a demon) wants the child murdered. Holtz, of course, wants revenge. By episode's end, Holtz has successfully kidnapped Connor and taken him into a demon dimension. Wesley betrayed his closest friends and lays on the ground with his throat slit. Angel lays on the ground, unable to move after his son's taken from him and into hell dimension.
It's a a terrific script from co-creator David Greenwalt but I'm not interested in writing about only "Sleep Tight." "Sleep Tight" sets in motion so many things for the final two years of the series. Many fans think of "Inside Out" as the example of brilliance from the ANGEL writing team as they weaved 3.5 seasons of story into an explanation about why Jasmine's happening. But "Sleep Tight" and everything that happens after should be the defining example of what makes Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt, Tim Minear, Jeff Bell and the rest of the ANGEL writers who made up the writing staff during the final two years of the show brilliant.
The prophecy represents something fundamental about ANGEL. Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt embraced the existentialism in ANGEL. In "Epiphany," Angel tells Kate that, "if nothing we do matters then all that matters is what we do." Regardless of the statement, Angel and his gang feel like pawns of the Powers-That-Be. The battle between free will and destiny looms large throughout the series. In season four, Gunn comforts Fred, after Skip the Demon tries to strip everyone of their free-will, by saying that he knows he has the power to do things as he wants. Prophecies pop up throughout ANGEL. The Shanshu Prophecy promises that a vampire with a soul will become human if the ensouled vampire atones for his past sins. There's a religious element to that idea--the promise of resurrection, essentially. Angel, to a certain extent, takes comfort in the Shanshu because the Shanshu promise--he smiles. But prophecies are rarely what they appear to be upon introduction. The Shanshu's relatively meaningless by the end of the series. Angel signs away the Shanshu because he knows that the fight will never stop, and that if nothing we do matters then all that matters is what we do.
"The Father Will Kill The Son" prophecy gets mis-interpreted and manipulated by those who desire a certain fate for Angel and Connor--sort of like how fundamentalists use holy texts to justify horrific behavior. But, as we know from that poor so-and-so Oedipus, a prophecy cannot be avoided. The characters in ANGEL get played by some evil characters. Wesley's the tragic figure of the show because he gets played the most by Holtz but, of course, Holtz gets played by Sahjhan (who wants to get rid of Connor because a prophecy exists that foretells Connor killing Sahjhan). Of course, lost in the misinterpretations and manipulation is the fact that the prophecy is actually true--the father WILL kill the son--except no one can possibly know exactly how the prophecy will happen. In the season four finale, Angel kills Connor in a department store to give him a new life (and hey Tim Minear says it in the "Home" commentary). ANGEL never took shortcuts to Big Moments. When Wolfram & Hart spike Angel's blood with some Connor's, maybe the audience should've wondered if it'd be so easy to make a prophecy happen. Could humans manipulate an ancient prophecy? Not at all. The "Father Will Kill The Son" takes 25 episodes to actually happen once Connor returns from the hell dimension as a teenager. Season four becomes more special when one is aware of the progression to that damn prophecy that changed everything.
"Sleep Tight" is responsible the entirety of season five. I refer to the mind wipe specifically. The episode changes the dynamics between Angel and Wesley forever. The trust and loyalty disappears when Wes betrays Angel. Most importantly, the father and son relationship between Angel and Connor will never be the same. Holtz will brainwash Connor to hate his father. The saddest scene in ANGEL is Angel's goodbye to baby Connor in "Sleep Tight" because everything will change between father and son but change exists everywhere in the episode. The birth of Connor will eventually result in Cordelia's death during season five. She dies because Jasmine used her as a vessel, and her body couldn't recover. Connor bears responsibility for Jasmine because he and "Cordelia" slept together as fire fell from the sky.
Thus far, this has been a rather long-winded way to highlight the strength of Joss Whedon and his writers. Shawn Ryan tells fans that the most important thing he learned about storytelling from Joss Whedon and Tim Minear is, story comes from character and not plot. The major personal arcs for the rest of the series, as well as the apocalypse Big Bad arcs, begin with "Sleep Tight." The origins of the arcs stem from the characters--Angel, Wesley, Connor, Cordelia, Holtz, Sahjhan. And everything in ANGEL, Buffy, Dollhouse and Firefly comes from characters.
And "Sleep Tight" is a tour-de-force in storytelling and in arc-building--a classic episode of television.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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