ANGEL
SEASON 1 EPISODE 7
Here's the first episode that fleshes out...you guessed it: Angel. But it opens up on the Master, Darla, and the Anointed One plotting against Buffy. You really get to see the Anointed One's awful acting in action here. Don't worry, he's written out pretty quickly. At the Bronze, it's a normal night for the gang. Buffy and Willow are talking about guys, Xander is dancing goofily, and Cordy's being annoying. Buffy realizes the night is dead once Xander gives some words of wisdom.
"Let's stop this crazy whirligig of fun. I'm dizzy."
As Buffy heads home, she's jumped by The Three, another order hired by the Master to kill that meddling Buffy. And they get the upper hand (likely due to their cool hair) but Angel shows up and fights them off. They get back to Buffy's house and hide out from the vamps. Her mom gets home and finds Angel there, and Buffy sneaks him up to her room. They talk about Angel's dead family and whether he snores, and there's definite sparks flying. And the very next moment is Xander's jealousy and need to boast ringing out.
"I once drank an entire gallon of Gatorade without taking a breath!"
Meanwhile at the creepy underground church, Darla kills The Three as punishment. And ooh, hacky sack establishing shot for the school again! Giles decides to train Buffy in other weapons, and she beats the crap out of him, a running gag. When Buffy arrives home she makes some more smalltalk with Angel, who apparently hid in the closet the whole day. Then they kiss...and then...he's a vampire! It's a good twist, but in retrospect pretty obvious. Buffy screams her head off and Angel bolts out the window, sliding pretty comedically off the roof.
As Angel returns to his apartment, Darla is there waiting for him, and it's obvious that they know each other. And it's clear that although he's a vampire, there's definitely something different about him. Giles finds old Watcher diaries about Angel, revealing that he's at least 240 years old and was one of the most fearsome vampires on record.
Later that night, Darla tricks Buffy's mother into letting her in (and there's a great shot of Darla appearing in vamp face at the door) before biting her. Then Angel rushes in to help. Conveniently, Buffy gets home, and thinking Angel bit her mom, threatens to kill him and he bolts again. Buffy gets her mom to the hospital (interesting fact, she lives at 1630 Revello Drive, this might be the only time that's mentioned). Everybody visits Joyce at the hospital, and they all agree to watch over her while Buffy goes to kill Angel.
Cue the Buffy getting ready to kill montage! This marks her first use of the crossbow, which later becomes as often used as the stake. She sneaks into the Bronze, knowing he'll find her, as Joyce and Giles talk at the hospital. Joyce lets it slip that Darla was there at the house when she had her accident, and Giles realizes Angel is not to blame. But the two are already squaring off at the club, and Angel reveals his backstory: he's a vampire who was cursed with his human soul after he fed on a gypsy girl, meaning he has the conscience of a human.
"You have no idea what it's like to have done the things I've done, and to care."
Seeming like they've arrived at an understanding, Darla busts in with two pistols, shooting all over the place. So there's a pretty cool shootout at the Bronze (which is never brought up...surely the owners would realize a bunch of bullet holes in everything? No? Ok...) which ends in Angel sneaking up behind Darla and putting an arrow right through her. But don't think this is the end of Darla...not even close! Although the Master's breakdown after Darla's death is an interesting turn of events; rarely do the villains show emotion over a death.
The episode concludes the next night at the Bronze when Angel shows up. And Buffy really hammers home the thesis of their relationship.
"You're like 224 years older than I am."
They share a kiss and Buffy walks away, revealing Angel's chest burned in the shape of Buffy's cross necklace. It's probably one of my favorite episode endings ever, and it really shows both the passion and hopelessness of the relationship. A very beautiful ending, I must say. In a manly way.
This is a weird episode to watch in retrospect because it sets up some big things for the rest of the series. There's a big twist in this episode that has become common knowledge. Sort of an Empire Strikes Back scenario; I'm sure at the time, the revelation that Darth Vader is Luke's father was a huge thing, but now it's widely known. That, and the contents of this episode are more thoroughly fleshed out later, so that admittedly makes this one lose a bit of it's punch. But, taken at face value, it's a very solid episode.
***1/2
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