Saturday 15 February 2014

Angel, "City Of" Review (1x01)

Brief Synopsis: “Having left Sunnydale and his true love behind, Angel is searching for a place to call his own and a means to redeem himself for his past sins. Doyle, a half-human/half-demon, is sent to him by "The Powers That Be" to help him on his path. Doyle has a vision of a young girl in trouble, Tina, prompting Angel to go on his first mission to help the helpless.”


                                                                                                                                                                                                                 "Lonely Hearts" (1x02) quick link here



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With that being said, let’s get started, shall we?



I have a confession to make and I know it’s not a popular opinion. I prefer “Angel” to “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. There, I said it. Don’t get me wrong, both shows are my favourite televisions shows ever (by some margin) and both shows hold a very special place in my heart, but I slightly prefer “Angel”. Perhaps it’s because of the smaller cast, allowing each character to get more screen time. Perhaps it’s because Angel’s target audience is a little older, so the show has a darker, grittier theme overall (the torture scene in “Five By Five” is the perfect example of this). Perhaps it’s because I’m in my mid-20s now, so I can identify more with the adult themes that Angel addresses. I did prefer “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” in my childhood and teens after all. Whatever the reason is, I find myself gravitating towards this show slightly more.

As some of you may be aware, I didn’t watch “Angel” season one when it first aired. My 10-year-old self was so furious with Angel for leaving Buffy that I flat-out refused to watch “Angel” in protest. By the time season two rolled around, enough time had elapsed so that I could forgive Angel. I started watching from the season two opener, “Judgment”, and soon thereafter went back and watched season one. In watching the beginning of season two first, I knew that Doyle was going to disappear. I figured that he left Los Angeles for some reason. I didn’t see the truth! Oh, sweet M’Fashnik, I have to watch “I Will Remember You” and “Hero” again! This season will be the death of me. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed that season one isn’t very well liked overall, which is a shame. While the season lacks a strong story arc, a ‘Big Bad’, and direction sometimes, I don’t feel that it makes season one a bad season. Like season four of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” (which I will be watching alongside this season), the superb standalone episodes make up for this. Sure, the season took six or seven episodes to really find its feet, but so did “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” in its first season!  We have to wade through some mediocre episodes such as “The Bachelor Party”, “Expecting”, and “She”, but it’s worth it to arrive in the promise land that is “Rm w/a Vu”, “I Will Remember You”, “Hero”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “The Ring” , “Eternity”, “Five By Five” , “Sanctuary”, and “To Shanshu In L.A.”, amongst others.

Before diving into the episode itself, it’s worth asking why the show exists in the first place. Why does the broody, sometimes boring character of Angel deserve his own show? If you’re a “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” fan, but have never seen “Angel”, why should you watch it?

After seeing David Boreanaz’s terrific acting in Buffy season two’s “I Only Have Eyes For You”, Joss came to the conclusion that David should have his own show. Hence, “Angel” was created, pitched, and picked up for television. What “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” is for teenage years and young adult life, “Angel” is for adult life. “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” goes on to explore more adult themes in its last few seasons, but “Angel” does that throughout its run. It’s about the loneliness and problems that accompany people as they enter their 20s or 30s, especially in the city atmosphere of Los Angeles. Life doesn’t get magically better once you leave education; most of the time it gets much harder. The characters of Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley get the chance to not only evolve, but to become more interesting and complex than they were ever able to on “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. While “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” focuses on identity and finding your place in the world, “Angel” focuses on redemption. Angel is 246 years old. He knows who he is. He knows the damage that he’s caused as a soulless vampire and as a re-ensoulled vampire. Now is his time to make amends.

Seriously, if you’ve never seen “Angel”, you don’t know what you’re missing. Angel develops a personality and a sense of humour, and Wesley and Cordelia are almost unrecognisable by the end of the show! I beg you, if you’ve never seen “Angel”, go and watch it! You won’t be disappointed! Finally, the opening theme is my favourite one ever (closely followed by “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Game of Thrones”). It’s beautiful and inspiring, yet haunting at the same time. Speaking of the opening theme, something has bothered me for the past 14 years and did so for all 110 episodes of the show. At the end of the opening credits, it shows Angel walking away from the camera down a dark alley...HE HAS A REFLECTION IN THE PUDDLES ON THE FLOOR! HE’S A VAMPIRE! HE HAS NO REFLECTION! You’d think that someone would have picked that up before the show aired!



Now that my fanboying is out of the way, let’s get into the episode itself, shall we?

In some ways, “City Of” is like being back to season one of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. The show’s budget is smaller than Buffy’s is by this point, so it’s much more darkly lit. The vampire make-up is extremely season one-esque and absolutely terrifying. I think that having “Angel” take place in Los Angeles was a fantastic choice. Everyone has heard of Los Angeles and knows a certain amount about it through the media. Also, Los Angeles isn’t new to the Buffyverse, as Buffy ran away from Sunnydale to L.A. at the end of Buffy season two after killing Angel. It’s not entirely new territory.

While I mentioned above that Angel knows who he is and is now at a point to make amends for all the atrocities that he committed as Angel and Angelus, it doesn’t come easy for him. In typical Angel fashion, we first discover him brooding. He ordered the brooding salad with a cup of brooding to wash it down. Before the brooding, we get to see Angel pretend to be drunk. In that scene he shows more personality that he did in three years in Sunnydale. Suddenly he’s the cult of personality...before going back to brooding. Sawyer from LOST (Josh Holloway) is a vampire with short hair. In an epic moment, Angel’s face goes from fake drunk to focused, and the audience sees that the star of the show isn’t just a depressed drunk, but a very convincing fake drunk instead. Much better. Those extendable forearm stakes that he uses to dust two vampires are amazing.

Angel is clearly having trouble adjusting to the human world again since leaving Buffy and Sunnydale behind him. Let’s not forget, before Whistler found Angel living in an alley and took Angel to watch Buffy being called as the Slayer, Angel had disassociated himself from the rest of the world. He was cut off from civilisation and no longer wanted to be a part of it. It’s natural that after he and Buffy fell apart that he would regress back to the person he was before he met her. For many years that was the only life he knew. Plus, a few months earlier Angel drank Buffy’s blood in order to save his life (at Buffy’s request). It seems to have re-awoken his bloodlust to a certain extent. We see him pushing away the woman he saved in the alleyway because the temptation to drink the blood from her bleeding head was too much for him to bear. His apartment reflects his desire to disappear from the world around him. It’s a dark, dank office-type apartment and he seems to spend most of his time in the underground section of it. He’s lost his place in the world again. Bless Joss Whedon for not mentioning Buffy much in this episode. He doesn’t mention her by name at all as far as I can remember. Even though their breakup is the cause of a lot of this depression and moping, it wouldn’t be a good start to the show to have the first episode revolve around Buffy. It revolves around Angel and Angel’s mental state, which it should.

Enter Doyle, a link between Angel and the ‘Powers That Be’, who has visions of people in trouble and has been sent to Angel to help him save souls and guide him on his path to redemption. Originally, Whistler from Buffy season two’s “Becoming” was supposed to be Angel’s guide again, but Max Perlich was unavailable, so the character of Doyle was created. As much as I enjoyed Whistler, Doyle is vastly superior in my eyes. He made such a huge impact on the show in just nine episodes. So much so that they’re still talking about him and referencing him over four years later. Plus, he’s Irish. Being a quarter Irish myself and incredibly proud of that side of my heritage, it made me instantly like Doyle. Doyle is also unique in that he’s the first demon (or part demon) who is a main character of the Buffyverse. Remember, Anya isn’t a main character until later on in Buffy season four, so Doyle is the very first.

Doyle is a lot like Angel. Both characters are on the path of redemption due to their past, both are Irish, both have led a troubled life, and both are loners. It’s great to see two characters that are fundamentally so similar being played so differently. Doyle is what Angel could become if he had more personality and charisma...and less sex appeal. I feel like Doyle (and Cordelia) is the biggest catalyst in Angel developing a sense of humour and personality over the next few episodes. Doyle also allows Joss to tell the audience who don’t watch “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” about Angel’s past. He explains how Angel became a vampire, how he became re-ensoulled, how he lost his soul again, and why Angel left Sunnydale.

Doyle gives Angel a reality check and tells him that in order to make amends and help people, he should be out there on the streets making connections instead of distancing himself from the world. By distancing himself he’s making himself less able to empathise and identify with people. How long will it be before Angel sees people as food again if he continues down this path?

Doyle: “It’s about reaching out to people. Showing them that there’s still love and hope left in this world.”
Homeless Lady: “Have you got any spare change?”
Doyle: “What? Get a job you lazy sow.”

...Way to lead by example, Doyle.

Doyle receives his first vision. A woman called ‘Tina’ is in trouble and needs help from Angel. In order to help her, Angel needs to communicate with her. The problem is, Angel is a tad rusty at making connections. For a hundred years pre-Sunnydale, he barely spoke to anyone. Even after moving to Sunnydale he didn’t really integrate with the Scoobies except for Buffy. Buffy is the only real connection he’s made in a hundred years. His “so...are you...happy?” to Tina is so amusing that I could die.

I really enjoyed the Tina aspect of this episode. Like a lot of people, Tina moved to Los Angeles with dreams of superstardom, but ended up working in a diner trying to make ends meet. She stumbled across a charming, manipulative, slightly cold and pale man called Russell Winters. Russell offered to make all of her dreams come true. What a prince. There’s nothing suspicious about that at all in Los Angeles, right? Los Angeles has broken Tina. She wants nothing more than to go home. I feel sorry for her in this episode. She must have been surrounded by so many horrible people previously to think that Angel would want sex as a reward for saving her. That’s heartbreaking. Not only is this used as a moment to get the audience to feel empathy and love for Tina, but it establishes to the new viewers that Angel is a stand-up guy. He won’t take advantage of her. He’ll give her a place to stay and will help as much as he can, but he wants nothing in return. He’s a genuine hero.

All of this leads to Angel bumping into Cordelia at a party. It seems like Cordelia has landed on her feet after her parents lost all of their money. She’s happy, smiley, and her career is going great!...or so we think. In reality, Cordelia’s life is going terribly. The girl who once had everything she wanted is now living in squalor. She’s living alone in a crappy motel room with almost no clothes or food. Her only company are the gigantic cockroaches that are living in her motel room with her. As sad as this is to see, it’s fantastic to experience Cordelia living like this! Her downward spiral in lifestyle is half of the catalyst that prompts Cordelia to grow empathetic and caring (the other half being inheriting the visions from Doyle). She needed to be broken down in order to be rebuilt as a better person. The dynamic between Angel and Cordelia in this episode is also wonderful. These two characters had little to do with each other in Sunnydale. Now here they are making small talk at a Hollywood party. It’s alien watching these two interact without their amazing friendship in place. Angel and Cordelia’s friendship is one of the most pure, realistic, incredible things to ever happen on “Angel”. Even now there’s a spark of friendship between them! Do my eyes detect Angel smiling at Cordelia? It looks like a smile. This is rare and unnatural. I’m assuming that it’s wind until further proof can be established.

Oliver deserves his own paragraph as well. He’s amazing. He hits on Angel. He’s so amusing and memorable that they bring him back later in the season for “Eternity”.

Another thing I love about this episode is that Angel is established as a flawed hero. It’s so rare to see a ‘big hunk of hero sandwich’ (as Lorne would say) doing such ridiculous things. After Tina has been kidnapped, Angel dives into his car to chase after them...except it’s not his car, it’s another one the same as his. Oops. I love the usually suave Angel being such a klutz. Of course, this is the Whedonverse, so Tina discovers that Angel is a vampire and runs straight into Russell Winters.

Russell Winters. What a terrific first ‘monster-of-the-week’. He’s your typical vampire villain. Middle-aged, charming, manipulative, and he has a widow’s peak hairline. On top of all that, Russell represents something that we’ve never seen before in the Buffyverse. Russell is wealthy and successful. He has the contacts and wealth to do anything he wants. He can abuse anyone he wants and has no fear of repercussions. He’s the type of villain that establishes the difference between “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”. Without the Los Angeles setting, this story wouldn’t work so well. Russell is just so creepy and disturbing!

At this point in the episode, I thought I had the rest of the story figured out. Angel will save the day, dust Russell, send Tina home safely, and the show will be set up as a vampire with a soul on a mission of redemption, saving people along the way. Wrong. So wrong. I was convinced that Angel was going to save Tina. What kind of TV show would make their leading character fail during the first episode?! That just doesn’t happen normally. This choice worked perfectly in the context of what the episode was trying to say. Angel can’t save everyone. His story of redemption isn’t about being perfect; it’s about fighting and trying to make amends regardless of the circumstances. The message that this episode exemplifies ends up being the message of the entire show down the line. Plus, Tina’s death did lead to cranky Angel, which is always a treat.

Angel: “I don’t want to share my feelings, I don’t want to open up. I want to find the guy that killed Tina and I want to look him in the eye.”
Doyle: “Then what?”
Angel: “Then I’m gonna share my feelings.”

All that brooding and angst! I love it! Now we get to see the real Angel. Not the depressed loner, not the guy trying to hide from the world, but the most notorious vampire in history. I’m wet...with perspiration at the prospect of Angel doing something other than brood.

It’s at this point in the episode that we’re introduced to Lindsey. Lindsey is a rising star of Wolfram & Hart - a mysterious law firm that is aware of demons and vampires and represents some of them. I’m a little biased, as I’ve met Christian Kane twice, but I adore Lindsey. He’s one of my very favourite Angel characters. His journey is fascinating. I first met Christian in a bar in London, England. His band, ‘Kane’, was playing and I got the opportunity to hang out with him for a while after the show. The second time was at ‘Vampire Ball 4’. Full details of that convention - including what it was like meeting Christian and some rare “Angel” facts -  are located here.

Having a law firm as the show’s ‘Big Bad’ was another great choice. It works so well in the Los Angeles setting. Plus, it’s another way to differentiate the show. While “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” has a new ‘Big Bad’ every season, “Angel” will have one major recurring villain throughout its run.

The last 10 minutes of this episode really pick up the pace. Cordelia goes to Russell Winters, hoping that he can help her with her career. After having a little breakdown and needing to look in a mirror, Cordelia realises that there are no mirrors in the house. That’s a red flag for someone that lived in Sunnydale.

Cordelia: “Hey, you’re a vampire!”
Russell: “What?! No I’m not…”
Cordelia: “Are too!”

I love how defensive and child-like Russell looks at Cordelia knowing that he’s a vampire. Cordelia has a habit of making vampires break under her gaze. She does the same thing to Lyle Gorch in Buffy’s “Homecoming”. This scene is perfection! Cordelia is getting all sassy with a vampire, even though she’s in his home alone with him. A wiser person might have pretended that they didn’t know, asked to go to the bathroom, and escaped. Not our Cordy. Her foot lives in her mouth. As we discovered in “Earshot”, when Cordelia said all of her thoughts, she has no off switch. In the interim, Angel has broken into Russell’s house and sets out of the darkness to fight Russell. It’s easily the best moment of the whole episode. I love the metaphor that as Angel steps out of the darkness, he’s also stepping out of the darkness he’s been feeling since leaving Sunnydale. All that moping and brooding will be put behind him now and he’ll start on his path to redemption...well, mostly. Cordelia sums it up best with her “you’re about to get your ass kicked” to Russell. He fights Russell, saves Cordelia (does that make up for him failing to save Tina?), and escapes.

The next day, Angel disturbs a meeting between Wolfram & Hart and Russell. This is where I realised just how much promise the show had. Russell tells Angel that he can do anything he wants because he’s wealthy and doesn’t make waves. Angel asks Russell if he can fly, before kicking him out of the window into the sunlight. Sheer perfection. It’s the exclamation mark that this episode was missing. It’s an emphatic point to end the episode on. Angel gets revenge for Tina’s death and there’s no evidence because Russell turned to dust before he hit the floor. Take that, douchebag!

We get a very brief scene where Angel calls Buffy, but hangs up before saying anything. We get to see Buffy receive this call in “The Freshman”. It was a wonderful moment to include in the episode. He loves Buffy and misses her, but he’s trying to move on without her and give her the opportunity to have a ‘normal’ life. It’s time to start the next chapter. It’s at this moment that the team is established. Angel is going to open a detective agency with Cordelia and Doyle, and he will help the hopeless. The episode ends on a fittingly broody note, with Angel answering Doyle’s question by saying “I’m game.” So. Cheesy.



Some other thoughts on “City Of”...

I’m surprised that Angel knows how to use a computer. He’s nearly 250 years old. Having spent most of his life sitting for oil paintings, it can’t have been an easy transition for him.
Doyle almost had a brave moment trying to knock down Russell’s gate. I laughed so hard when the gate didn’t break! “…Good gate….” 
I can’t believe they got away with Doyle calling Cordelia a “stiffener”. Naughty, naughty.


Quote Of The Episode

Russell: “Angel, we do things a certain way in L.A.”

Angel: “Well, I’m new here.”

Russell: “But you’re a civilised man. We don’t have to go around attacking each other. Look at me, I pay my taxes, I keep my name out of the paper, and I don’t make waves. And In return, I can do anything I want.”

Angel: “Really? Can you fly?”

*Angel kicks his chair out of the window into the daylight, Russell turns to dust on the fall, and Angel casually puts the Wolfram & Hart business card back into Lindsey’s pocket.*


FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10


What are your thoughts on "City Of"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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10 comments:

  1. First comment!
    Well, I have to say I love this show as much I hate it. I don't think AtS is as good as Buffy but I think the Buffyverse isn't complete without it. Anyway, I like this episode, I think is a really solid pilot. I like how the wirters weren't afraid of taking risks and make our brooding hero failed in saving the damsel in distress.
    I also like the Angel-Cordy interaction and Angel's reaction when he sees Cordy it's very "human"??? everyone feels happy when you see a familiar face in a new city and you're alone even Cordy seems happy when he talks to Angel, well the first 10 seconds xD.

    Doyle is one of my favorite characters of the show, Glenn Quinn was a really charismatic actor, a shame he was just in nine episodes. I like his chemestry with Boreanaz and it was nice that Angel had a friend because I don't consider the scoobies his friends. And Cordy, I love her until season four, I've always believed the dynamic of Angel Investigations (at the beginning) and the kick ass song were one of the highligts of the show.

    I'm glad you're reviewing Angel, many people First comment!
    Well, I have to say I love this show as much I hate it. I don't think AtS is as good as Buffy but I think the Buffyverse isn't complete without it. Anyway, I like this episode, I think is a really solid pilot. I like how the wirters weren't afraid of taking risks and make our brooding hero failed in saving the damsel in distress.
    I also like the Angel-Cordy interaction and Angel's reaction when he sees Cordy it's very "human"??? everyone feels happy when you see a familiar face in a new city and you're alone even Cordy seems happy when he talks to Angel, well the first 10 seconds xD.

    Doyle is one of my favorite characters of the show, Glenn Quinn was a really charismatic actor, a shame he was just in nine episodes. I like his chemestry with Boreanaz and it was nice that Angel had a friend because I don't consider the scoobies his friends. And Cordy, I love her until season four, I've always believed the dynamic of Angel Investigations (at the beginning) and the kick ass song were one of the highligts of the show.

    I'm glad you're reviewing Angel, many people review BtVS but skip AtS, so it's nice you didn't.

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  2. I'm so excited, I've been looking forward to Angel reviews, hooray!!! :D

    Shangel, as you know, I slightly prefer Angel to BTVS too :)

    "While the season lacks a strong story arc, a ‘Big Bad’, and direction sometimes, I don’t feel that it makes season one a bad season." I agree; I think season 1 is pretty great and it's a shame it's not very well liked overall. You mention 'Bachelor Party' as one of the mediocre episodes, but I actually really like that one :) I do agree with you on 'Expecting' and 'She' though.

    "Seriously, if you’ve never seen “Angel”, you don’t know what you’re missing." That's what I keep saying.

    Oh wow, never noticed he has a reflection in the puddles! Let me go check. Yeah, you're right. Plus his shadow on the ground...should be he having a shadow? Can't remember if they ever bring that up.

    "He ordered the brooding salad with a cup of brooding to wash it down." hahaha

    I remember the first time I watched the episode, when I saw Angel drunk I thought oh my god this is going to be terrible...thankfully he was only pretend drunk.

    I love how smiley Angel is when he bumps into Cordy :) It is really nice to see a familiar face in such a big city where you don't know anyone.

    "Angel and Cordelia’s friendship is one of the most pure, realistic, incredible things to ever happen on “Angel”." Completely agree! :D

    Cordy: I really should be talking to people that are somebody.
    Angel: It's nice that she's grown as a person.
    haha!

    Doyle: "She's got a very humanizing influence." Very true :)

    I think in hindsight this episode works well as a pilot - but only because I've seen the whole show I feel I can appreciate this episode better. To be honest, the first time I watched it I really didn't enjoy it, and I don't think it conveys the potential the show has. Thankfully I continued watching but only because I had actually seen two other later episodes before this one (guess which ones!) so I knew the show was gonna get SO MUCH BETTER.

    Thanks for the review Shangel it was grrrrrrrate :P :P

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  3. yayyy!! Angel reviews are here!! :D :D :D ok, now, back to reading, I just finished the introduction part and the first paragraph of The City Of :P THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING SHANGEL!! You're the best!! :D

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  4. So happy to finally be able to read your Angel reviews Shane!! And I also prefer Angel to Buffy :p

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  5. I too was heartbroken when Angel left Buffy. I also admit I watched Angel only to get hints as to what was going to happen on Buffy. At the time in America at least in my little corner of it, Angel was on a day before Buffy. I had NO idea Cordy was going to be on the show but was glad for the continuity she provided. It also seemed like a natural progression since she always seemed like a big fish in a small pond in Sunnydale. The only one who could rival her WAS Buffy and she was secret identity chick well kinda sorta since everyone knew she could kick ass but didn't acknowledge it. Anywho I get that Angel was depressed after leaving Buffy and was in danger of isolating himself and it was Doyle that led him down the path of redemption for his own good and for the good of many ppl in LA who were being picked off by various demons. I do so wish Whistler would have been the guide. As much as I loved Doyle the continuity would have been so much better with the Whistler character, even if they had to recast him. I wonder why Whistler (Max Prelich) never showed up in the series at all. Anywho this was a strong start to a spin off series from a wildly popular show. Doyle got our hero on a path, Cordy was the link to the past, a little and big, big bad was established and Angel had a purpose by the end of the ep. I realize the differences in Ats and the parent show and think overall BTVS is the superior of the two. Better character development, follow through, various big bads to represent the stages of development of the characters. Note: human development does not end at the end of adolescence, it is a lifelong process. Now on to the ep. Loved Tina as the damsel and the fact that she wasn't saved from distress or death as it were. That was new for any show. To kill the person who was supposed to be saved BEFORE the ep ends. I love how we get to see bad ass Angel with these lines: Angel: “I don’t want to share my feelings, I don’t want to open up. I want to find the guy that killed Tina and I want to look him in the eye.”
    Doyle: “Then what?”
    Angel: “Then I’m gonna share my feelings.”
    and of course....
    Russell: “Angel, we do things a certain way in L.A.”

    Angel: “Well, I’m new here.”

    Russell: “But you’re a civilised man. We don’t have to go around attacking each other. Look at me, I pay my taxes, I keep my name out of the paper, and I don’t make waves. And In return, I can do anything I want.”

    Angel: “Really? Can you fly?”

    *Angel kicks his chair out of the window into the daylight, Russell turns to dust on the fall, and Angel casually puts the Wolfram & Hart business card back into Lindsey’s pocket.*
    I think this is where W&H decides they want Angel "dark" as in on their side but semi controllable. Notice they never tried to to invoke Angelus... I never liked W&H being the permanent big bad even when they were behind the scenes as the big bad. I would have liked to see Lindsey become The Head Honcho of W&H eventually. Anywho this was one of the best season openers I've seen on the series. The others being Conviction and Deep Down.

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  6. I had no idea that Josh Holloway was the vampire in this episode!! I'm going to have to rewatch it. I love all the little things Joss added in this episode to take the piss out of cliched movies. Like the thing with Doyle speeding into the gate with Angels car, and with Angel getting into the wrong car, so funny!

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  7. So I am really glad you are now reviewing Angel. I like to see what other people think, and see what things I probably have missed or not noticed. I just recently finished re-watching Angel. I was not as familiar with Angel and had avoided it forever. It was my ex's favorite show and Buffy was mine. He passed away and I just couldn't get myself to watch it without breaking down into a ball of mush. Well. Some time has passed so I gave Angel a chance again. Every time the stupid theme came on, mush! Love that theme! Took me an entire season to de-mush this go round. Can't watch "I will remember you" without bawling like a sissy girl though (love me some freaking Bangel!!!!)... but baby steps.

    But I must agree. Now that I have given it some time and am older and re-watched it, I think I may prefer Angel to Buffy. I still love both shows a ton, but I agree, the themes and content are semi more adult. I love Angel on his route to redemption and everything. I really liked Doyle and thought the him and Cordy relationship was fun/cute.

    I do think my fav. part of this episode was when Angel jumped into the wrong car. I cracked up. That or when he kicked the guy through the window...

    Thus concludes my random thoughts on the matter.

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  8. I love both shows equally! I can’t choose, but I don’t like how Buffy is portrayed in Angel as people who only watch Angel only ever see Buffy being that way she is… but that is a story for another day.

    I love season 1 of Angel because it gives me Doyle. He is my Angel version of Oz and it broke my heart into tiny pieces when he died. :(

    The Angel theme is my ringtone! Although I have never noticed Angel’s reflection.

    So happy to see Cordy! Another familiar face! “So are you still all “grr”?” hehehe

    “I’m going to share my feelings.” Bahahahahaha!!!

    It is like Winter’s is shocked that Cordy knows about vampires! And he can’t fly that well which is quite funny when you think about how vampires are usually portrayed with their close association with bats!

    QOTE: Absolutely awesome!

    Not my longest comment, but I have shortened them. I really need to type them up straight away. Still have another 3 to go!

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  9. I'm real happy you're covering Angel, and even MORE happy you are doing it in the proper order: an episode of Buffy, then an episode of Angel, and so on. Otherwise, some things happen (crossover magic!) that don't really make sense unless you're watching both shows. Not often, but sometimes. Also, there are some truly awesome moments and characters in Angel that just... they are completely awesome. I think my two favorites are introduced in the first season.

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  10. From some points of view, I prefer Angel to Buffy, as shows. It is more mature, darker and less goofy at times :). Buffy is better though. Season 4 in both shows is awful :D
    I am happy you are reviewing Angel, as I like it very much!

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