Angel (TV Series) She (2000) User Reviews

It's all worth it to see Angel dance

[katierose295 · 6/10 · 19 September 2006]

"She" is not the show's best episode, but it does have some of season one's funniest moments. Seeing Wes and Angel at Cordy's party is reason enough to put up with the slow parts of "She." The episode has a theme of female genital mutilation, which-- granted-- does effect women in cultures around the world. But the message of the episode gets a little heavy handed and, since none of the issues raised here will be brought up again, it just seems like a wasted opportunity. Like maybe they planned to bring Jhiera and the problems of her people up again, and then changed their minds. I don't get it. Anyway, you could probably skip "She" and not miss much story wise, but it some really great moments that you really should see.

"She" revolves around a group of demon from another dimension arriving in LA. In their dimension women are virtual slaves. These ridge things on their necks, which allow them to feel passion and have minds of their own, have been ripped off by the men. A princess form the dimension, Jhiera, has escaped and is smuggling women to earth. The men of her dimension are after her. Also, the women are so hot when the enter this dimension that they need to be put in tubs of ice to cool them down. If anyone touches them, that person flash fries. Angel gets involved when Cordy has a vision of burnt bodies. Angel tires to help Jhiera, but she insists that she can handle things on her own. When the men from her dimension attack though, Angel, Cordy and Wes have to help rescue the women and save the day.

There are some really funny moments in this episode. I love Angel trying to crush the coffee beans with his bare hands. Cordy forgot to have them ground and she suggests that Angel could just "smoosh the bag with his vampire strength." He winds up sending coffee beans flying all over the office. Poor Wes almost breaks his neck on them. And speaking of Wes, this is the episode where he joins Angel Inc. I love Wes. From unsuccessfully flirting with women at Cordy's party, to trying to jump out of Angel's convertible, to assuring Angel that he's hardly ever held hostage... He's just a great addition o the show. It's really sweet of Angel to take him in so Wes won't end up starving or something. And you just have to laugh when Angel gives an impromptu art lecture on Manet's "Music in the Tuileres Garden" at the art gallery. Complete with a quote from Baudelaire's poem, "Le Vampire," which Angel insinuates was written about himself. I wonder if Spike knows that? (Honestly, reading the entire poem, it seems pretty clear that Baudelaire isn't writing about an actual vampire. The poem is about a doomed relationship, but I'm willing to just go with the art gallery scene and enjoy it anyway.) Finally, Angel's on-going, epic struggle with his cell-phone really starts in this episode. It's not charged so he has to plug it in to the cigarette lighter, but then he can't get a good signal, he and Cordy have to yell, and all the words get garbled... it's hilarious.

On the down side, we never see any of these "other dimension" people again, so what's the point of introducing all this? Like I said, it seems like a waste of time. And I really don't like Jhiera. She almost got Wes and Cordy killed, for crying out loud. I'm glad she's never heard from again.

My favorite part of the episode: Angel dancing at Cordy's party. Cordy's friend Laura asks him to dance, Angel gets this strange look on his face. He flashes to a mental image of himself flailing around the room to techno- music as everyone stares at him in horror. Angel looks at Laura and says with a perfectly deadpan expression, "I don't dance." It's probably the funniest 30 seconds of the entire season.

One of my favorite episodes from the series

[mitsubishizero · 8/10 · 23 September 2020]

This was a pretty good episode. The story was pretty interesting. Angel finds himself caught between a demonic battle of the sexes. He ends up helping an arrogant demon princess named Jhiera (Bai Ling) trying to rescue her kind from the males who mutilate them when they come of age. Not only does he have to help her but he also has to get through to her that he's on her side.

The story's pretty well written in my opinion. It has some decent commentary on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the form of a metaphor. Guest star Bai Ling does a good job as the strong yet haughty demoness trying to save her people. It's a shame they didn't do any more episodes with her because I feel like she would've been a great foil to Angel, even another love interest.

The dance scenes are hilarious. It's like a bonus seeing them play during the credits. The demonesses themselves are pretty. I wish they played a bigger role in the show. They only made a few cameos here and there which's also a shame.

Otherwise, she's a pretty solid episode and is one of my favorites. If you like Angel, I highly recommend watching this episode.

Lightwieght but funny

[Joxerlives · 7/10 · 9 January 2012]

SHE

The Good;

Angel and Wesley dancing at Cordy's party is possibly the funniest thing you've ever seen. A laudable if slightly heavy-handed rant against female circumcision. Also love the scene where Angel pretends to be an art guide and Angel and Phantom Dennis.

The Bad;

The scene where Wes tries to chat-up the girl at the party is cringeworthy, he's pretty much treated as the comic relief for this ep. The scene where the camera wheels around whilst Angel and Jiera talk, growing increasingly worked up carries on for so long and is so over the top it's almost parody.

Best line:

Mars; "The little sisters are chilling"

Also like Cordy's;

"I'm so glad you came. You know how parties are, you're always worried that no one is going to suck the energy out of the room like a giant black hole of boring despair but there you were in a cinch"

Jeez, how did they get away with that?

The whole 'unmaking' scene is just unwatchable. The contrast between it and the obvious affection between the submissive 'unmade' girl and her captors when they send her back is incredibly creepy, especially her 'dead behind the eyes' expression and the way she refers to herself in third person.

Apocalypses: 4

Angel Clichés

Damsel in distress; 15, a whole bevy of them

Inverting the Hollywood cliché; Wes and CC snooping at the garden centre amazingly don't get caught.

In disguise; 3

DB get's his shirt off; yep, he feels the need for a shower

4

Cordy's tattoo;3

Cheap Angel; 2

Fang Gang in bondage: Cordy: 5 Angel: 5 Wes: 1

Fang gang knocked out: Cordy: 8 Angel: 7 Wes: 2 Doyle; 1

Kills: Cordy: I'll give this one to Cordy. 3 vamps, 1½ demons Angel: half a demon so 8 vamps, 4 and 1/2 demons, 2 humans. Doyle; 1 vamp

Wes; 1/2 a demon

Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 2 Angel: 1

Alternate Fang Gang: Cordy: 2 Angel: 5

Characters killed: 5, the poor guys burned to death by the demonbabes

25

Recurring characters killed;

1;

Total number of Angel Investigations: 3, Angel and Cordy and Wes officially joins the firm for the first time

Angel Investigations shot: Angel: 6,

Packing heat;

Wes; 1

Doyle; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Cordy: 2 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast Angel: 1;Buffy

Kinky dinky:

I'd say that Bai Ling is lovely but that seems quite redundant even with the ridges and violet eyes (she's also in Southland Tales with SMG). Cordy's friend Laura also sounds like a fun girl as is her friend 'Pants on' Diego. Naked hotties on ice who seems to have a strong effect on both Wes and Angel. Mars says his Shaman could never turn away 'Scantily clad women in distress'. Wes refers to the girls at the party as 'fillies'.

Captain Subtext;

Obviously this is an allegory against female circumcision (once watched a documentary on it and afterwards went and got drunk for the first time in my life to try to blank the memory). Although you wonder if the males' fear of the females is more to do with them burning people to death rather than just simple chauvinism? Note that the male demons don't hurt any humans, it's Jhira and co who killing and she's quite prepared to let Wes and Cordy die for her cause. Not to stereotype but Wes has a knowledge of flowers in addition to the occult.

Know the face, different character; 2

Parking garages;

3,

Guantanamo Bay;

Angel once again beats his way to the truth

Buffy characters on Angel;

6; Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes

Questions and observations;

Angel refers to his time in Hell again where he remarks he knew many of the people. AI use their mobile phones to good effect. It'll take the Sunnydale Scoobies another 3 years to get theirs. Great performance from Sean Gunn as the spa manager, always thought he was in Desperate Housewives but he's not. Wes handles himself well in a fight for the first time. One of only 2 eps of Angel with a sequence over the end titles (Buffy does it in The Puppet Show). It seems unlikely that Angel actually knew Manet or Baudelaire as he would actually have been Angelus at the time?

Marks out of 10; 7/10, Keith Topping loathes this ep but I think it's quite good

Goof

[Alreadyt · 7/10 · 23 August 2022]

Wesley says: "Look, Nancy's petticoat" when he and Cordelia are in the flower market. But it is actually a rose, and definitely not Nancy's petticoat.

All About Bai Ling

[Johnny_West · 3/10 · 1 February 2021]

Bai Ling was something of a rising star for about a year back in the late 1990s. She was all about intensity and attitude, and that is what she delivers in this episode of "She." She is Jira (Bai Ling), who brings women from an alternate dimension to the U.S.A. so they can live a normal life. The problem is that they are capable of burning men to death if they get too close. That is how Angel got involved.

After reading about a private investigator that was found burned to a crisp, Angel checks and discovers that there have been other similar deaths. Upon investigation, he finds Jira and a group of law enforcement from another dimension who are hunting her and the escaped women. There is a fair amount of action in this episode, but not much common sense. Nobody really explains how they come across dimensions, or what the other world is like. It is just bits and pieces.

Most of the scenes involving Bai Ling are just her being angry and sounding arrogant, and glaring at Angel. When the raised spinal chips on her back light up red, it is because she is sexually aroused, and that happens a lot around Angel. For his part, Angel just looks dumbfounded that he is also turned on. On screen there is zero chemistry or sexual tension between the two actors. Glaring and snarling is supposed to be romance for Bai Ling.

The actual story is really boring. Angel TV series often tried to throw a lot of stuff at you so it seemed like it was engaging. Like Angel mentions Doyle and everyone remembers he died (because Joss Whedon wanted him fired). At least this first season was mostly about action, adventure, and fun.

I got two modes with people: bite and avoid

[SleepTight666 · 5/10 · 14 April 2007]

I got two modes with people: bite and avoid - I personally do not think it's nearly as poor as some people make it out to be, but unlike other bashed episodes like 'I Fall To Pieces' and 'The Cautionary Tale', I do find it to be one of my least favorites of the show. I do think that the comedy works, the teaser was hilarious with 'Angel' dancing and 'Wesley' being a complete moron. I also loved the dynamic between the three in this episode, it gave us some really hilarious moments. I also liked the 'Jhiera' storyline, she's a woman that came through a portal and is trying to save other females from her dimension, where they are all enslaved by males. I also liked the heat between 'Jhiera' and 'Angel', I think it worked and I also think those two characters actually had a good chemistry. This episode also reminds me of the television show Sliders, which isn't exactly a good thing but it's not a bad thing either. The problem was that the storyline got dragged a bit and sometimes it felt as if the episode was never going to end, but still, I did quite enjoy it, mostly because of the Wes/Angel/Cordy scenes. ANGEL: The quiet, reserved thing... don't you think that makes me kind of, I don't know, cool? CORDELIA: He was cooler. WESLEY: Good morning! ANGEL: Now I'm depressed. (6.0 out of 10)

Angel: I got two modes with people: bite and avoid.

[bombersflyup · 4/10 · 23 January 2020]

She is about a war among demons of another dimension and Angel caught in the middle.

Not a lot going on here, the only memorable scene's the party scene. It's easily the weakest and most skippable episode of the entire series. Only thing to know is, Wesley's now on the payroll. There are annoying characters present and the plot's just never relevant again outside of this episode. I don't like that Angel helped Jhiera, after she left Cordy and Wes to die.

Interesting story given Charisma Carpenter's claims

[Jackbv123 · 18 March 2022]

There are too many people who have backed Carpenter's claims not to take them seriously. If you aren't familiar with them, look them up. They are easy to find.

In this episode, Angel helps women from another dimension escaping men who are trying to take away their will to resist male domination. That is a very laudable story line. It just seems strange from the man who would ..., well, like I said. Look it up. You can decide for yourself.

As counterpoint to the main story line, Wesley once again demonstrates his misogyny.