Pollo Loco written by Doris Egan marks a turning point in Dark Angel for me. I think I now like this show more than BUFFY!! I watch a lot of TV, too much TV in fact, but I only have 4 shows which I cannot miss, 4 shows I record when I'm not home and just can't live without. They are ROSWELL, BUFFY, DARK ANGEL, and FARSCAPE. As you can see, I tend to favor the sci-fi genre. My favorite by far is ROSWELL, I'm not sure why, it's not the best show of the four, I think I'm just more attached to the characters in ROSWELL than the other shows. Also, ROSWELL was how I got introduced to fandom on the Internet and FanForum. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for my ROSWELL obsession, and even though it hasn't been perfect this season; I still love every minute of it and will never be able to forgive WB if they cancel it.

Okay enough of that, the amazing thing is that, with this episode, DARK ANGEL has surpassed BUFFY in my eyes. This was one amazing piece of story telling! And that is what it's really all about. Stories like this make television interesting to watch. DARK ANGEL is probably the most innovative television show on network television right now. The writer's have created this world that we get to visit once a week and when I watch it, it seems almost real. The only show that surpasses it in my eyes is FARSCAPE, which is in its third season, and seems to be only getting better. I got sidetracked again, sorry. Its just FARSACPE is so good!! Anyway, there are a lot of things to say about Pollo Loco so forgive me if this review is a little long.

First off, Max can now cook? Hanging out with Logan has taught her something I suppose. I loved how they started the episode. Max bringing in a live chicken to cook. The things these writers come up with!!

Well, a lot of things happened this episode. We meet another X-5, Ben, played the scrumptious Jensen Ankles. And with the introduction of Ben, we see a little more of Max’s past at Manticore. The flashes help us understand Max and where she comes from. This time the flashbacks were particularly disturbing. How could the government create kids like that then raise them from day one to be soldiers? We learned they had been doing it for some time, and that they attempts to ‘create’ the perfect soldier were not always successful, example, the X-2's in particular taught us this. The X-2’s were an anomaly according to Lydecker. The X-5’s knew them as ‘nomalies’ that dwelled in the bad place, and the blue lady would protect them from the ‘nomalies’ if they were good soldiers.

This idea of the blue lady was interesting because we see that the X-5’s created their own religion. These kids were a family, a somewhat dysfunctional family, but still a family. They protected one another as much as they could. No one ever taught them what family was, they discovered this on their own. I think that was part of their strength, and maybe why the X-5’s are such good soldiers.

When Max sees the first victim, she recognized how he died. It was somehow familiar to her. We didn't know why it was familiar to her until later in the show. Max knew she had to stop Ben and help him if she could, he was family after all. I can understand why Max kept the truth from Logan, even though I didn't like it. She's ashamed of that part of her past and wanted to forget it. It was natural for her to hide it from him. Of course Logan didn't like being kept in the dark so he goes about finding his own answers.

The meet with Lydecker surprised me, what surprised me the most was that Logan actually started to doubt Max. He listened to what Lydecker had to say. I thought Logan was smarter than that, but maybe the fact that Max was pulling away made him doubt her. It didn't help at the end when Lydecker sent Logan the photo's of Max and the other Manticore kids after they had killed the prisoner, but Logan should have really known better than to listen to Lydecker whose only goal was to get Max back to Manticore. Lydecker knew that 'Eyes Only' was protecting Max and if he could get to 'Eyes Only', he could get to Max.

Max was too preoccupied with Ben to notice what was happening with Logan. She had to stop him. The observation that by putting the barcode on the victim's necks, Ben was killing himself over and over again was a good one by Max. Ben hated what he was. He was a soldier without a fight, a mission or purpose. He was raised to be disciplined, but that discipline didn't mean a lot without some sort of direction and he couldn't find a direction. He resorted to creating his own fight and started up killing people in the name of the blue lady, the only religion he ever knew. The other X-5's blended in and created a life of sorts. Ben was an anomaly. There's no blending in when your serial killer that leaves a distinct signature. Zack knew where most of the X-5's were, but did he know where Ben was? If he did, how could he let Ben continue to kill?

Jessica Alba was amazing in this episode. Her scene at the end when she killed Ben was very touching and sad. You could really see her pain and indecision. Max didn't want to fight him, but he gave her little choice. She couldn't let him kill any more. Max dominated the entire fight. I think partly because Ben's heart probably wasn't in it. I think part of him wanted to die, wanted the pain to end.

Max had to face some demons in this episode. She was created to be a killing machine. Max forgets that in her day to day life, but seeing Ben brought it all back to her. Ben couldn't get past what he was created to be, now Max is afraid that she may never be able to get past it either. I think her decision to go to the church at the end of the episode was because of this fear. She hasn't necessarily found God, but she needs to find a purpose for her life other than killing. She needs to be something more than a soldier.

Some interesting tidbits of this episode which I forgot to mention earlier was the introduction of Madame X. We finally see the person who Lydecker has to report to. She certainly is a piece of work, played superbly by Nana Visitor, best know for her portrayal of Major Kira Nerys on STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE 9. I can't wait to see more of her, and to see exactly what she is up to. There is definitely more to her than meets the eye.

Next week, it seems we will be reintroduced to Logan's family.