@Btvs fan I haven't rewatched
Orpheus in a few months so my opinions may change but see below;
It's a mixed bag for me.
Angelus is my favourite Buffyverse villain but the way he was written here was really obnoxious and OTT and completely takes away from his more subtle, menacing personality that made him such an effective villain in BtVS S2 and earlier flashbacks. This has been true ever since he was freed from the cage (it's bizarre how differently he was written from that moment onwards) but I think
Orpheus is the biggest example of this. Truthfully, I find him really irritating to watch in this episode, which is a shame as I usually crave his scenes.
The flashbacks themselves are just ok. I liked seeing the moment Angel migrated to America and he seems to have relapsed into a pretty sorry and unhygienic state, presumably after having fled from Darla again in the Boxer Rebellion. This comes full circle with the later flashback of 1990's Angel in the NYC alley after he punished himself and wallowed in guilt after having fed from the dead shopkeeper. I did appreciate that they finally bridged the gap between all of the AtS flashbacks and how Angel ended up a weakened, homeless mess as we originally saw in
Becoming. But other than that I don't find anything truly memorable about the flashbacks themselves and whilst Faith is there I don't walk away from the episode feeling that she understands Angel any better or learnt anything unique to the Angel/Faith relationship.
The Angel VS Angelus fight was pretty ho-hum. A battle of Angel's split personalities sounds good on paper but oddly it didn't really interest me all that much. And no, I don't think that this proves that they are two entirely separate entities. If that were the case, then "Angel" wouldn't even be in the body as "Angel" is the soul which, as stated in this very episode, was first in the jar and then released into the ether. So "Angel", if he really were a different entity all together/the soul, cannot currently be in Angelus' mind because he's floating around somewhere. It's clear to me that this just symbolic - even more so by the fact that 1990's Angel is pulled out of a flashback from pre-Sunnydale but knows who Faith is.
They set up an interesting ethical debate between Lorne and Wes over Faith drugging herself to capture Angelus but strangely it doesn't actually go anywhere.
I also have mixed feelings about Willow's appearance. A part of me is always excited to see a crossover and Willow appears to have more life in her again than practically the entirety of S7 where she's written to be gloomy and flat. I can justify that on the account of Willow being happy to leave Sunnydale for a while, the natural way we alter our personality depending on who we're interacting with, and Willow's excitement at seeing Wesley and "Cordy" again. But it really makes no sense whatsoever that she's so confident in using magic given that her entire arc in S7 has been the exact opposite. She's performing some serious mojo here and whilst it's fun to see her be such a BAMF, it also clashes completely with BtVS.
I do like that she mentions that she can't go down to see Angelus in the basement because "too many memories." Angelus really did leave such a terrorising mark on the characters in a way other Big Bads never did. I loved the Willow/Angel hug at the end, though. I've always loved their bond.
I always feel it's a bit of a shame that Willow wasn't talking to the real Cordelia here. It's a missed opportunity for the two characters reunite and whilst I like the brief glimpse of them gossiping like old high school buddies ("You hear about Faith?" "Coma again" pfft) it's muted by the fact that it's Jasmine putting on an act. I also have to say that Charisma's acting during their magic battle was pretty terrible.
The Willow/Wesley scene felt a little odd seeing as how they had so little to do with each other in BtVS S3. It was obviously just an excuse to pair Ally/Alexis off together which is fine. And I can rationalise them talking so much even if they weren't close in Sunnydale because they still know one another and nostalgia makes the heart grow fonder. What I wasn't so keen on was the jokey way they bring up Willow's dark past and how she and Wesley compare their darkness as if it's some kind of badge of honour which trivialises the whole thing. I know it's meant to be humorous but BtVS S7 does this a lot as well ("Well, confidentially, a lot of her people are murderers"/"I don't know why any of you trust each other. You've all been evil at some point") and I really dislike it because it's like the writers are pretty much making a mockery of the fact that the show has gotten kind of ridiculous with the endless redemption stories/characters turning evil etc. It certainly lessens the power of those stories in comparison to how seriously Faith's arc was taken back in the earlier seasons when it every man and their dog hadn't went through an "evil phase" yet.
And Willow being interested in Fred? I mean, it's a little eye-rolly that even Willow can't resist the charms of Fred but given their matching interests and personalities I begrudgingly admit that it makes sense. But I have a hard time believing that the writers seriously want me to be invested in Willow/Kennedy after the way they write Willow/Fred in this episode. Willow shows more interest in Fred and seems genuinely happier in their brief scenes together than in the entirety of the Willow/Kennedy scenes in S7. And I don't believe for one moment that if Willow/Tara were still a thing that they'd have ever went there with Willow/Fred in this episode.
And I have to say - soooooo over the Connor fights by this point in AtS S4. Whilst I get satisfaction out of Faith beating the shit out of him just how many scenes are we going to have of Connor screwing up and fighting Angel or Faith? It's beyond repetitive at this point and it seems like a fight for the sake of a fight. I can completely understand why Vincent K was so bored with the character even if I think he expressed those opinions in a jerk way.
So yeah, a really mixed bag for me. Definitely not the worst episode of AtS but I'm sad that I have so many issues with it considering that it contains Angelus, Faith, and Willow, and should be, like, my favourite episode ever. It's the weakest of the Faith episodes or of the S4 Angelus arc in general.
