I would say that for most people (including me, I think it's one of the best episodes of the series), that episode seems to play exactly as ME intended it: a huge morass of black and grey morality where nobody's in the right but most act the way you'd expect them to act in that situation. - The victims... well, some of them (the CEO of Wolfram & Hart in particular) were definitely Very Bad People who'd been playing with fire for a long time. Others are explicitly said to be there simply as dates or spouses of W&H employees, so, y'know. Vampires are evil. - Darla? There's definitely a moment of triumph and revenge for what they did to her, and I love the idea of a soulless vampire avenging her human self. So I won't pretend I don't love to see her take control, especially considering how much Darla's entire arc has been about being used by other people. That said, she's not right by any definition of the word, and she (and Dru) definitely murder a whole bunch of people whose morals may be questionable, but... There's an interesting question: is Darla, as a soulless monster, capable of making the decision to kill them, or is she simply being used once again? In other words, is Angel (because it's his show, so it's always about him in the end, urgh) throwing the lawyers to two beasts who can't not do what they do, or is he letting Darla make the (not entirely unjustified) decision to kill or not kill them? - That said, Angel definitely isn't meant to come across as heroic here; there's a reason the writers immediately and unquestioningly have his friends condemn him for it (and him reacting by throwing them out of his life). It's not Angel doing the right thing, or even the wrong thing for the greater good, it's an act of despair and giving up on the notion of doing the right thing. Of course, opinions differ on how well it's followed up on. Though as shaky as the next few episodes are, and as much as I'm wary about sudden epiphanies teaching protagonists how their morally questionable actions make them better persons in the end, I do rather love the little moment he has at the end of the arc.
ANGEL: In the greater scheme or the big picture, nothing we do matters. There's no grand plan, no big win.
KATE: You seem kind of chipper about that.
ANGEL: Well, I guess I kinda worked it out. If there is no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters... then all that matters is what we do. 'Cause that's all there is. What we do, now, today.
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- The victims... well, some of them (the CEO of Wolfram & Hart in particular) were definitely Very Bad People who'd been playing with fire for a long time. Others are explicitly said to be there simply as dates or spouses of W&H employees, so, y'know. Vampires are evil.
- Darla? There's definitely a moment of triumph and revenge for what they did to her, and I love the idea of a soulless vampire avenging her human self. So I won't pretend I don't love to see her take control, especially considering how much Darla's entire arc has been about being used by other people. That said, she's not right by any definition of the word, and she (and Dru) definitely murder a whole bunch of people whose morals may be questionable, but... There's an interesting question: is Darla, as a soulless monster, capable of making the decision to kill them, or is she simply being used once again? In other words, is Angel (because it's his show, so it's always about him in the end, urgh) throwing the lawyers to two beasts who can't not do what they do, or is he letting Darla make the (not entirely unjustified) decision to kill or not kill them?
- That said, Angel definitely isn't meant to come across as heroic here; there's a reason the writers immediately and unquestioningly have his friends condemn him for it (and him reacting by throwing them out of his life). It's not Angel doing the right thing, or even the wrong thing for the greater good, it's an act of despair and giving up on the notion of doing the right thing. Of course, opinions differ on how well it's followed up on. Though as shaky as the next few episodes are, and as much as I'm wary about sudden epiphanies teaching protagonists how their morally questionable actions make them better persons in the end, I do rather love the little moment he has at the end of the arc.
ANGEL: In the greater scheme or the big picture, nothing we do matters. There's no grand plan, no big win.
KATE: You seem kind of chipper about that.
ANGEL: Well, I guess I kinda worked it out. If there is no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters... then all that matters is what we do. 'Cause that's all there is. What we do, now, today.