Season 4 of Angel is a tricky affair. Arguably the weakest season of Angel, this season too often got bogged down in some of the more corny plot twists and melodramatic moments. However, one of the best episodes of the season comes in the very beginning, with "Spin the Bottle", written & directed by series creator Joss Whedon. Not only is it a terrific showcase of comedy and character work, none of the principal characters ever leave the Hyperion Hotel. In this episode, Whedon returns to a favored gimmick of his: Amnesia. Told in flashback by Lorne, this episode uses magic to reverse all of the main cast into their teenage selves (except Conner, who makes a relatively small appearance), which means Cordelia is back to shallow High School Bimbo mode, Wesley is a hopeless ponce again, Gunn is a street-smart thug, Fred is a nerdy hipster, and Angel is the cowed Irish peasant from before he was a Vampire (though they smarty choose to drop David Boreanaz's weak Irish Accent from the previous seasons). This is all very funny stuff, and the actors pull the switch off with great confidence and comedic timing, but what makes this gimmick great is how the immature personalities of the main cast are in such stark contrast with the jaded characters they have become (specifically Alexis Denisof's Wesley, who couldn't be more different from his original incarnation in Season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). All the comedy works on its own, but it also makes us appreciate how far these people have come.
Self-evidently a man who writes for the Internet, Robert also writes films, plays, teleplays, and short stories when he's not working on a movie set somewhere. He lives somewhere behind the Hollywood sign.
