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Post by Clare on Sept 21, 2008 18:21:58 GMT -5
1.07 Angel - Episode #007
Buffy discovers the truth about Angel
Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.
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Post by cyclica on Sept 26, 2008 7:10:27 GMT -5
This episode is great because it changes the show for ever. We find out angel is really a vampire. How many of us saw it coming a mile away? ;D Darla gets killed, but thats ok because she comes back later, over and over again. And that end scene with darla trying to gun buffy down was great.
I gave it a 6/10.
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Post by jennf10 on Nov 25, 2008 18:44:27 GMT -5
This show is a definite "must see" from season 1. After the first two episodes, it was the next one really worth seeing.
I gave it 7/10.
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Post by partcynic on Sept 14, 2009 11:28:23 GMT -5
1x07 “Angel”
Episode Rating = 7
By its very nature, season one is a year of firsts, and “Angel” is the first episode that can truly be called continuity-based. Marking the debut of the (eventually ever-present) previously on recap, it devotes a lot of time to adding an interesting extra layer to the Buffyverse. Placing some slight blur on the "all vampires are evil monsters" rule, it manages to avoid invalidating what we’ve heard before via its clever soul clause. Like much of the season, it’s written and paced well, with strong character development and one of the year’s best action sequences making up for some contrived plotting.
What I Liked about “Angel”:
- The opening scene is great, establishing the episode’s Buffy/Angel focus and including some strong humour moments (the fumigation party; Willow stomping on the cockroach and asking if anyone wanted a free drink; Xander’s hilariously bad dancing). I also appreciated how the Bronze’s abandoned state was explained in advance, instead of it just turning out that way when the plot required it.
- The Three weren’t amazing, but they were fine as anonymous semi-villains. Their dress and behaviour fitted well with previous vampires portrayed in the show, and their honour concept flowed nicely from what we heard about Claw in “Teacher’s Pet”. It was also entertaining seeing Darla dust them, and the Master’s quip about “a little joy” was funny.
- Buffy’s awkwardness around Angel at the start was fitting and believable, and her reactions to seeing him shirtless and then having to share a room felt real. The follow-up scene was also enjoyable; with her upset at thinking he’d read her diary and her quick back-pedalling about the subject of her fantasy being amusing.
- The Buffy/Giles training scene is a classic, and watching her destroy him with the quarterstaff is comedy gold. It’s also noteworthy for establishing Buffy’s fondness for the crossbow (and she looks so cool using it).
- Darla is excellent in this episode, and comes across as being more nuanced than the Master. She’s unnerving, funny and sexy, and her emotional tie to Angel ups the stakes a little during their final confrontation. I enjoyed seeing her scheme play out, and loved how much glee she took in the big shootout (also, a big plus for a vampire being smart enough to use guns. Why they insist on taking on Slayers hand-to-hand instead of just filling them with lead escapes me). It’s a shame she had to be killed off, but I’m glad that we would get to see more of the character over on the “Angel” series.
- Joyce’s lines at the hospital are pretty humorous – I always like it when the show acknowledges how strange Giles’ relationship with the other Scoobs would look to outsiders, and her assumption that he must just be a very caring member of staff made me laugh.
- All of the character insight and explanation is top-notch, and quite riveting even on repeat viewing. It’s interesting to finally hear about Angel’s true nature, and to see the multiple layers in Buffy’s response, from her initial hatred of him to burgeoning understanding, and then to being tearfully stunned when he kills Darla to save her and silently disappears. David Boreanaz is progressing slowly but steadily in his acting, and he and Sarah Michelle Gellar are beginning to develop some chemistry (they’re obviously not up to their later standards, but you can definitely see the roots here).
- The episode ends well, with Buffy and Angel’s ‘final’ kiss and her cross burning into him – a clever visual metaphor for the nature of their relationship.
What I found to be a mixed bag about “Angel”:
- Was Cordelia’s inclusion in this episode primarily due to contractual obligations, or something else? I enjoyed her repartee with Xander at the Bronze and the later dress mix-up, but her material felt gratuitous and more than a little out of place. It’s a good thing that she would be further integrated into the series by the end of the season, as she risked becoming a dead weight otherwise.
- It’s good that the Bronze’s emptiness is explained at the start, but why wasn’t the building actually being fumigated? Was it supposed to be shut for several days for the process to happen?
- Parts of the plot are too reliant on coincidence. The first few bits are fine – Darla tracks down Buffy at the school (makes sense, since she’s a student there) and overhears her discussion about Angel, learning that Buffy is hesitant to kill him and that she’ll be heading home fairly soon. She then goes to the Summers house, tricks her way in and attacks Joyce, with the intention of Buffy returning to find the body (and assuming that Angel is responsible, leading to a confrontation and Angel having to kill her to save himself). This is also problem-free, but the next few bits push it. Angel happens to be approaching the house when Joyce screams (okay – Darla had jokingly suggested that he talk to Buffy about the curse, and he was taking his time due to hesitancy), and barges in. Darla then leaves, and Buffy returns at just the right moment to see Joyce in Angel’s arms, before Willow and Xander appear for no reason whatsoever (wouldn’t their evening have concluded once the studying was over? A line mentioning a later meet-up would have been nice). I get why the writers had it happen this way, as Angel had to show up to stop Darla (else there’d be no explanation for Joyce staying alive), but those last two things are just too conveniently timed for me.
What I Disliked about “Angel”:
- I’m really glad they switched Tony Head in as the ‘previously on Buffy’ guy halfway through season two – the original one says everything in the corniest, mock-horror voice imaginable.
- Why didn’t the Three just torch Buffy’s house to drive she and Angel back outside? I get why the show can’t have that happen, but weren’t these guys supposed to be tough? Instead, they give up at a relatively minor roadblock.
- The episode tosses the word ‘love’ around too easily. I can buy Buffy and Angel being strongly attracted to each other, but that’s not the same as love (at least to me). I get that it’s basically a TV convention, but I don’t believe it when remembering that prior to this episode, the characters had about five brief moments together.
- One of Buffy’s lines at the hospital is pretty bizarre (“Even after I knew what he was, I let him into my home”). Given that she didn’t find out he was a vampire until after he’d received an invitation, that dialogue makes no sense.
- I wouldn’t have minded a shot showing Angel luring Buffy towards the Bronze. They got the idea across by showing her reacting to noise from inside the building, but a more concrete example would have been better. Also, how did Darla know they were there (and get in through the skylight without either one noticing)? Did she keep track of Angel after the incident with Joyce?
- Why the cheesy effects on the Anointed One’s voice? He’d probably sound creepier if they left his original one intact and went for the ‘evil child’ angle.
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?
As per usual, I feel the same. I wish that the story annoyances with the mass congregation at Buffy’s house could have been ironed out, but since they don’t really alter the direction of the plot, it’s not a huge issue. “Angel” does a fantastic job in being the series’ first real continuity episode (I’m not counting “The Harvest” since it was the second half of a two-parter), and gives lots of development to a character and relationship that would turn out to be crucial for the series. Therefore, I’m sticking with a rating of seven out of ten.
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Post by cyclica on Sept 16, 2009 5:43:17 GMT -5
This episode seems to be filled with misleads. You see three big guys in the street, you'd think they are 'the three', but Bam! three vamps in armour walk by. Buffy and angel take them on and win, and the master says punishing them will give him little joy, but Bam! he kills them anyway. Buffy takes angel back to her home, joyce walks in, so buffy makes angel leave, but Bam! it turns out he's still there. Later buffy walks in to find he's read her diary, and Bam! it turns out he didn't read it. The she kisses him and Bam! it turns out he's a vampire (and why did kissing him make him vamp out anyway?). So he's evil right... Bam! it turns out he's good. But still he and buffy are destined to be apart Bam! they're back together! Upon rewatching I discovered some nice scenes (buffy kicking giles's arse at training; angel's line about him last seeing darla in kimonos, nice tie-in with the angel episode 'darla', wow joss must have really had foresight there), but the fact that this episode seems to rely on surprises, specifically discovering angel is a vampire, means that unfortunately this episode really loses something the second (or hundreth in my case) time you watch it. Still we did get to discover that angel is 204 years old (which it turns out is not long for a vampire, according to giles, even outside of s1 and kakistos he's the oldest vamp we ever see), we got darla and her annoying voice off the show (for a while) and we get the start of the bangel romance. I stand by my 6 rating, maybe making it a high 6. Nitpicking mode! - I loved the concept of a vampire with a gun, so consequently I loved the end scene with darla, but still it feels like it could have been so much better. I'd like to think darla was such a terrible shot because she was just toying with buffy, although if I was darla I wouldn't toy with someone who has killed so many of my friends. - Buffy is looking for angel... so she goes to the bronze? Why? It turns out that was a really lucky guess, because he was just hanging out there, in the dark on his own. - Cordy has just two scene, pointless comic relief scenes. Why is she being so underused? She's not in the episodes before or after this one, and if you're a cordy fan all you have to hold you over is two stupid little scenes which have nothing to do with anything.  |
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Post by cyclica on Sept 16, 2009 5:57:00 GMT -5
- Angel happens to be approaching the house when Joyce screams (okay – Darla had jokingly suggested that he talk to Buffy about the curse, and he was taking his time due to hesitancy), and barges in. Darla then leaves, and Buffy returns at just the right moment to see Joyce in Angel’s arms, before Willow and Xander appear for no reason whatsoever (wouldn’t their evening have concluded once the studying was over? A line mentioning a later meet-up would have been nice). I get why the writers had it happen this way, as Angel had to show up to stop Darla (else there’d be no explanation for Joyce staying alive), but those last two things are just too conveniently timed for me. Agreed. Xander wasn't even there when buffy and willow were studying in the library. Are we suppsoed to beleive that buffy left willow at the library alone, went home, then willow and xander met up and decided to go to buffy's house for some reason? - Why didn’t the Three just torch Buffy’s house to drive she and Angel back outside? I get why the show can’t have that happen, but weren’t these guys supposed to be tough? Instead, they give up at a relatively minor roadblock. The three were made out to be so badass, yet they turned out to be some of the wussiest villains on the show. They get into one fight, loose, and give up and go home. Even harmony has posed more of a threat than them. - One of Buffy’s lines at the hospital is pretty bizarre (“Even after I knew what he was, I let him into my home”). Given that she didn’t find out he was a vampire until after he’d received an invitation, that dialogue makes no sense. Agreed. Perhaps she means after she found out he was a vamp, she didn't un-invite him, although there's no mention of uninvitation spells until much later in the show. |
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Post by partcynic on Sept 16, 2009 7:37:16 GMT -5
I agree 100% about the guns (so refreshing to see a bad guy approach the Slayer situation like someone might do in reality). I wasn't too bothered by Darla's shots though - it's actually a common TV error to have people be improbably good with firearms. If you're not trained/experienced with a certain weapon, it can be very hard to hit even stationary targets, let alone moving ones (plus having two guns simultaneously would have compromised her aim).
I found that odd, too. I think that at the hospital, Buffy said she'd start near the Bronze since she thought that Angel lived nearby. As I said in my review, I think it would have been beneficial to show a shot of Angel luring her to the Bronze, making it seem like less of a coincidence.
Haha! Yeah - when Harmony can own you, you know you're a poor excuse for a villain.
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