Season One Episode Reviews

1X1    City Of 
Plot:  Angel moves to L.A., hooks up with Doyle and Cordelia, and fights a vampire.

A pretty decent series premiere is hampered with a pretty lame plot but the story of how the trio comes together is interesting.  Hell, even the long-winded exposition of Angel's origan is handled beautifully by Doyle, who keeps the delivery interesting.  I like Doyle!  And that brief demon sneeze was hilarious.  I also like how Cordy ended up joining them, particularly her babbling then realizing he's a vampire without pause.  I also liked Angel kicking the vamp out a window at day, and the idea of Wolfram & Hart.  Some nice action sequences like Angel's "Taxi Driver" impersonation with stakes, but the plot of helping this girl and the L.A. morals was really annoying.  I was surprized the chick got killed though.

1X2    Lonely Hearts 
Plot:  A body-jumping demon kills the lonely; Angel meets Kate the cop and is framed for murder.

This was a pretty lame episode, just very uninteresting.  About the only good stuff was the early hijinks at the bar stuff and Angel n' Kate.  The demon was lame, the plot was lame and slow, and so on.  Even a potentially interesting concept like Angel being hunted by the cops goes absolutely nowhere.  Cordy and Doyle have some great interaction/bickering here, and the Batman parody with Angel was pretty funny, when he does the grappling gun shot and Kate says "Who are you?!" but then the beam he attached to breaks.

1X3    In the Dark 
Plot: Oz gives Angel a vampire-invincibility ring from Buffy, but Spike comes after it.

My first Angel episode; One of the better early Angel episodes and about as good as the Buffy part of this pseudo-crossover, but compared to the shows on a whole very average.  Spike makes for an extremely entertaining villain (the best one this show has had 12 eps in!) and a very funny one.  Best scene was the teaser where Spikes gives his hilarious narration of Angel helping an abused girlfriend (which was a really lameo subplot but thankfully short).  Too bad Spike didn't figure into the ending but the brief fight between him and Angel was pretty cool.  Angel getting tourtured was... vaguely good.  But this vamp interrogator running off with the ring was really stupid (made for an unexpected plot twist at least).  The fight under a pier at day with the interrogator was pretty neat, but once again this 'invincibility' ring is pretty worthless.  Oz gets just about nothing to do in this episode but it's neat having the mini-crossover.  Cordelia and Doyle are a funny pairing.  Angel destroying the ring just seemed silly and sado-machositic, since using the ring would make him twice as more able to help other people.

1X4    I Fall to Pieces 
Plot:  Angel helps a woman stalked by a body part seperating doctor.

Pretty stupid uninvolving episode, though the body part detaching doctor made for an interesting villain.  Once again we get these horrible 'help the woman' plots like in the pilot which I just despise.  Also again the pacing is very slow because of the lack of interesting plot.  There isn't even a lot of good humor for this ep, though there is some nice Cordy/Doyle bickering.

1X5    Rm w/ a Vu 
Plot:  Cordy gets a great new haunted apartment; some demons go after Doyle for money.

My second Angel episode; A pretty good comedy with an adequate ending.  The ole' haunted apartment was played for laughs very well with Cordy, like when she was trying to hide it from Angel and Doyle.  The ending worked well with Cordy returning to her past bitchy-ness and exposing the truth about the ghost mother and 'Phantom Dennis'.  Also funny: Cordy staying at Angel's apartment and driving him crazy, and Cordy and Doyle going apartment hunting.  The Doyle subplot was nice and I really liked how the demons ended up at the apartment and got killed by the ghost, nice tying together of plots.  Doyle works great as the 'rascal' character.  Angel was a good straight-man.  The last twist about the ghost was nice, and that final scene of Cordy with her new roommate 'Phantom Dennis' was funny, plus it's nice to see this will be a recurring thing.  Does anyone think 'Phantom Dennis' sounds a lot like 'Phantom Menace'...?

1X6    Sense and Sensibility 
Plot:  Wolfram and Hart makes Kate's police station go all sensitive while a gangster plots her murder.

In the tradition of "Band Candy" and "Gingerbread" is an episode makes normal characters act stupid, something which could be funny but just annoys me.  The sensitive cops, especially Kate, was a really dumb thing, but sensitive Angel managed to only be vaguely annoying.  Nice inclusion of Wolfram & Hart and an estranged cop father for Kate.  I like the brief opening snake demon fight scene.

1X7    The Bachelor Party 
Plot:  Doyle's estranged wife is engaged to a demon.

Though the friendly demon family and bachelor party stuff was funny, this episode suffers from a very slow pace like most Angel episodes.  There's some nice humor particularly from Doyle.  While its nice to learn more about Doyle's past, particularly about discovering his demon heritiage, I really can't see Doyle as a polite elementry school teacher who helps the homeless.  This is just pushing it!  Meanwhile I like the brief bit of Angel and Doyle fighting a vampire nest, its a cool way to open the episode.  I also like Doyle saving Cordy from a vamp and she gets just a little respect, along with realizing she is only attracted to demon fighters now.  This is a good and logical devealopment.

1X8    I Will Remember You 
Plot:  Buffy visits to confront Angel until he turns human thanks to demon's blood.

This is the best "Angel" yet out of the first 16 episodes because it manages to create an important event, not to mention the substantial Buffy appearance.  This was the big finale to the Buffy/Angel romance, and it was great.  This episode boasts some of the most touching/painful scenes in either series: human Angel relishing food (this really got to me, I mean he hasn't really had food in 200 years y'know?), Buffy and Angel eating food in bed after wild monkey love, and of course the big topper, their last scene together before time turns back.  Their holding each and crying, and Buffy is saying "I'll never forget" and Angel is squeezing his eyes shut, man that gets to me.  This was like the ultimate what-if story, Angel is human so he can be with Buffy, I'm glad to get a glimpse of it (and of course Angel finally gets laid again!  yay!).  On more mundane matters, the solider of darkness guy was pretty cool and there were some neat fight scenes between him and Buffy/Angel.  The Oracles look REALLY stupid but I am intrigued by hints of future storylines: soliders of darkness are coming and Angel must protect Buffy from them: season finale time?  Also, the Oracles say the TPTB will restore Angel's humanity if he averts an apocalypse and saves humanity.  Interesting.  Another tiny bit: Cordy gives some of the most blatant exposition she's ever given, very annoying.

1X9    Heroes 
Plot:  Pureblood demons are eradicating half-breed demons; Doyle has a personal connection to them.

Kind of a lame and blatant Nazi-parallel plot is helped tremendously by Doyle's sacrifice.  The Scourge made for pretty lame villains considering the big build-up to them, if Angel is the weakest of all 'half-breeds' how come he can defeat them so freakin' easily?!  Shouldn't they be a hundred times stronger than him?!  And how does this new demon mythology tie in with previously established Buffy lore, like The Mayor being a big deal because he's the FIRST true demon in the age of man.  The whole hiding the half-breeds plot was just really blatant Nazi moralizing stuff, not too hot.  Doyle was a tour de force though;  his origan flashback with his first vision and meeting the Scourge, his later tragically ironic speech for an Angel commercial, and of course his incredibly bloody sacrifice.  It was really stirring, especially when Angel and Cordy watch his ad at the end and he ends saying "Is that it?  Am I done?".  Oh, and Cordy's opening narration for an overly dramatic superhero commerical for Angel as the "Dark Avenger" was hilarious!  Plus there's Cordy's immediate acceptance of Doyle's demon nature.

1X10    Parting Gifts 
Plot:  Wesley shows up as a rogue demon hunter hunting a demon-hunting demon.  Hunting ensues.

Pretty decent episode, Wesley makes a fine addition to the series to replace Doyle.  I like Angel and Cordy's moping about Doyle, most of all Cordy breaking into tears while doing  a stain-remover commerical (then she screams her lines through a vision!  Very funny scene).  I like the plot twist of Barney being the bad guy after all, the demon auction idea is relatively interesting, nice to see Wolfram and Hart.  And how funny was Cordy advertising herself for more money at the auction!  I'm glad they remembered the time-bending Oracles and the possibility of ressurecting Doyle, but man are those Oracles ridiculous.  Nice to see Wesley account for himself in battle and stick around at the end.

1X11    Somnambulist 
Plot:  A vampire sired by Angel returns to enact revenge.

My third Angel episode; This was one of the better Angel episodes, featured a nice villain, a glimpse of Angel's past, and marked a big turning point with the only recurring character, Kate the cop.  Angel's dreams were an interesting mystery, and I liked how immeadiate he was to have himself chained up.  My first glimpse of Wesley was positive but he didn't have much to do.  Delving into Angel's dark and dirty past is one of the big things this series should do, so it's good that it finally did.  Now that a vamp has roughed up a police station and kidnapped a police officer, there should be some official word on vamps in the police.  And Kate learns Angel is a vamp, big plot turn.  The fights with Penn were pretty cool, I liked how Kate was the one to stake Penn (through Angel no less!).  Looking further back on it, this was a pretty kick ass episode with a kick ass villain, amazing fight scenes, great stuff with Kate and Angel angst, wow!

1X12    Expecting 
Plot:  After sex Cordelia wakes up pregnant with demon babies.

My fourth Angel episode; Another good Angel, a good mix of comedy (Cordy's demon pregnancy) and demon action. I particularly enjoyed the unfortunately comedic fight between Angel, Wesley, and some tentacled monster.  Pregnant Cordelia was hilarious at times (chugging blood bag) but also really moving when she laying in bed in tears at first.  Too bad she went demon-possessed.  Angel tracking down the guys responsible was unfortunately heavy on the morals; the dark side of acting in LA etc.  The big demon looked a tad fake but the sheer size of it was cool, as was the way they killed it.  I like the bonding between Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley here, like when the guys cover for when she gets a vision.

1X13    She 
Plot: Angel helps a woman from another dimension free women from neutering.

A pretty good action episode, but an incredibly hokey premise that sounds like its some from porno movie; other dimensional women come to Earth for love, and they're HOT!  Please.  We never got this 'other dimension' crap on Buffy aside from Hell (and that's a demon thing).  Still Jhiera was pretty cool fighting with that ultra-super strength thing, but that doesn't really excuse the lameo plot.  And I also don't appreciate the heavy handed morals about women's lib either!  There were a few really funny bits with Angel; his hijinks with a cellphone and his bizzarly hilarious vision of himself doing the crazy dance then sulking with Phantom Dennis, playing tourguide at an art museum to ditch the cops and doing a damn good job at it.  Phantom Dennis kicks ass!

1X14    I've Got You Under My Skin 
Plot:  Angel and Wesley must exorcise a demon from a little boy.

Just a little bit down in quality from recent episodes.  The episode felt really padded, not enough story to go around.  The 'exorcist' crap was very cliched and unoriginal, and that mother acting like an idiot was really corny.  Angel trying to make friendly with a family was funny, Cordelia was full of funny comments (and getting a cheaper demon box which doesn't work!), we finally got some backstory on Wesley (he has a controlling father).  We got some grieving over Doyle.  While the twist that the boy was evil was nice, the ending was just really stupid with this boy trying  to torch his sister and Angel saving the day by valiantly defeating... a little boy.  Wow.  A wierd little cameo by Kate which seems practically pointless aside from showing she's still uncomfortable around Angel.  Hints of the future: Wesley is willing to kill Angel.

1X15    Prodigal 
Plot:  Angel investigates demon drugs and Kate's father; Angel's expanded origan with his father and Darla turning him.

This is one of the top episodes, but still nothing stellar.  I really liked the Angel origan story, though it doesn't carry the dramatic weight it did in "Becoming I".  We find out Angel's real name, Liam, and I like the thematic relation between Angel/his dad and Kate/her dad.  Great to see Darla again, and how Angel got his name.  The main plot was a tad lame with the demon drug dealer thing (stupid!) but I really like the use of Kate, her father, and Angel.  This is my first real look at Kate, and I like her, she's a tad humorless though.  Killing Kate's dad was a neat plot twist.  I really liked Angel having to watch Kate's dad get killed by vamps before his eyes because he wasn't invited in.  Good scene, nice to see vamps again.  I also really liked the final fight, short as it was.  First, Kate shows up shoots 'em all and stakes her dad's killer.  All right!  Then Angel shows up, does his "Taxi Driver" two stake wrist pop-out move then decapitates the big demon.  Cool!  Then again, after the build up of a super strong demon he gets killed in a one second fight for god's sake!  I look forward to Angel having an inside friend with the cops who knows all about him.  Cordy following people in a cheap blonde wig and sunglasses was funny (and she looks completely different!).

1X16    The Ring 
Plot:  Angel is captured and forced to fight in a demon gladiator ring.

The plot is terribly unoriginal and cliched, yet despite all that this episode manages to be pretty damn exciting.  Maybe it's just Angel fighting for his life against interesting demons.  There were some really cool little bits.  I really like Wesley and Cordy rescuing Angel, particularly when Wesley shoots the stoodge with a crossbow then whips out a gun.  Godamn Wesley was kicking ass there!  I also loved them impersonating cops, particularly Cordy she was good.  Nice inclusion of Wolfram and Heart, after being gone for almost half a season.  I really liked the concept of an internet demon database, problem is if Buffy doesn't use it then it'll be a big inconsistancy.  Thankfully the kidnapped brother thing was all fake, cause the episode was sounding pretty lame at that point!  Maybe it's just the action that makes this episode good...

1X17    Eternity 
Plot:  Angel falls for a washed up actress who wants to be a vampire.

Cool ending which has nothing to do with the rest of the episode, and the rest of the episode was pretty lame.  I for one didn't believe Angel could be attracted to Rebecca for a second, so this whole romance thing didn't work for me.  Not to mention they ripped off the movie The Bodyguard.  Angel wore his flat-hair Nazi look from "Hero" again, he looks pretty ridiculous.  If this Rebecca cared for Angel at all she wouldn't have slipped him a mickey 'to loosen him up' so I fail to see what the point of this episode was really.  Giving us Angelus for a temporary time is just an incredibly cheesy tactic.  Have him come back for a long time if you'll do it all!  If Angel goes evil everytime he's given a mickey this opens up a HUGE can of worms.  If say Wolfram and Hart knew this they could just shoot him with a mickey every day or something!  Once Angelus turns, this episode has NOTHING to do with the Rebecca romance, she becomes an afterthought given one line to explain her absence.  This is just stupid, a very schizophrenic episode.  But despite all this, that Angelus sequence was pretty damn cool.  I especially like Cordy's bluff to him and Wesley taking him out, and all his jibes at them.  Now, Angelus was more... frenic than last time but I assume this  is because it was a fake drugging and not bad writing.  Cordy trying to butter up Rebecca was pretty funny, as was the opening play sequence.

1X18    Five by Five (part 1 of 2) 
Plot:  Faith is hired by Wolfram and Hart to kill Angel.

Easily the best Angel yet, this was a moving story with some amazing action scenes and some great past revelations.  What more could you ask for?  It is of course wonderful to see Faith again, though I would think after "Who Are You" she would not be so violent and murderous- in fact I would have to see this is the most brutal we have ever seen her.  However this seems to be because she was in denial about what happened to her, as evidense by her breakdown at the end.  The entire second half of this episode is just spectacular.  Faith torturing Wesley really shocked me, and she got some good points in, and I have never seen Wesley so strong before, he really demonstrated his worth here.  The fight scene between Faith and Angel was absolutely amazing, one of the best fight scenes in either show.  Two superhumans not afraid to lash out at each other equals some amazing stunts; both of them were sent flying around the room and out the window and down three floors, amazing!  And that final bit in a rain-soaked alley was incredibly beautiful, especially when Faith breaks down to Angel and Wesley is standing there with the knife ready to kill her- wow.  There are several more spectacular scenes though; the Teaser scene where Angel and Wesley do a drive-by decapation of some demons (and Wesley gets splattered with some blood, hah!).  The past sequences with Darla and Angel when he was first cursed- first of all I had no idea Darla or the past would be in the episode but it made a nice thematic tie-in to Faith's redemption.  Also, it was interesting to see that Angel went to Darla after he was cursed; like Faith he was hoping to be killed.  Also interesting is that he tried to feed on a woman but couldn't; I didn't expect he would sink to that!  I also love Faith trying to shoot Angel in the middle of an office building, him catching the arrow, and the look on Angel's and Wesley's face.  Wow!  And Faith shooting Angel in his office then running.  And the scene where Faith does the sexy-dance while starting a bar fight had some great cinematography.  Also nice to see the past three Wolfram & Hart lawyers working together against Angel and hiring Faith, we got a lot of W&F setup here.  Their building has mystical barriers, high-tech security, and so on.  Also funny was Angel bluffing his way in as a lawyer.  And I loved how Phantom Dennis tried to kick Cordy and Wesley out of the apartment because he knew Faith was in there, but what would have been really cool was Dennis trying to fight Faith!  In any case this was a true classic in every sense, and I can't wait to see what Angel and Wesley do with Faith.

1X19    Sanctuary (part 2 of 2) 
Plot:  Angel tries to help Faith- but the Watcher Coucil, Wolfram and Hart, the police, and Buffy get in the way.

Another great episode, better than part one, but my high expectations were not met.  I was hoping for a huge battle between Angel, Faith, Buffy, the Watchers, Wolfram Hart, AND the police; instead the cops and Wolfram Hart didn't figure into the final battle.  And what a final battle it was!  Helicopters, guns, rooftops, knives, syringes, and Buffy, wow!  Angel helping Faith was really stellar, and Faith was great as someone wanting to redeem herself, especially in her reactions to Buffy and Wesley.  I also loved seeing the "Who Are You" Watchers return after Faith; it makes perfect sense but I didn't expect it.  Also great was Kate now investigating all wierd crimes, and Wesley contemplating betraying Angel (I thought he should of!).  I also really liked the Buffy-Angel heated arguements about Faith, this was great material!  I couldn't believe Faith went to jail at the end, it makes wonder when and how they'll bring her back now.  Also Wolfram Hart should still be after Angel in revenge.  Can't wait to see Angel meet the 'new' Kate.  Why do the Watchers hate Angel so much when he's so helpful?!  While I know it was necessary to have Cordy out of the episode, things felt pretty empty without her at times.

1X20    Warzone 
Plot: Angel gets caught in a gang war between vampires and the homeless; the trio helps an eccentric billionaire.

An entertaining episode but nothing particularly special.  Nice to see vampires as adversaries again, and I like the big gang war concept between the homeless gang and the vampires.  It seems a bit silly that this heavially armed gang can't afford to eat when they have all these fancy souped weapons and humvees though; why couldn't they be rich adventure seekers or something?  In any case there's some nice action sequences, particularly when Angel is first pursued by the gang.  I was shocked that Angel let the vamp gang live at the end though; he just condemned dozens if not hundreds of future victims at their hands!  So what if some of the gang members are killed, they'll prevent so many more deaths!  Sigh...  The comedic subplot was mildly entertaining, I like the idea of a rich guy helping them out (but isn't Angel rich?).  And the demon brothel thing was a hoot (notice the appearance of the "She" Vigorie demons).

1X21    Blind Date (part 1 of 2) 
Plot:  A blind assassain after children makes MacDonald defect to Angel's side and betray Wolfram and Hart.

A surprizingly good episode!  The extended sequence of breaking into the Wolfram Hart building was perfectly done, it's certainly one of the better action sequences in either series.  For a full ten minutes I was on the edge of my seat, kudos.  It's great that MacDonald gets all this screentime and texture, but I think making him defect so quickly in this episode is a bit out of the blue given his total evilness in his previous appearances.  Still I look forward to seeing him in the future as a top WFer with a sympathetic side to Angel.  I am also intrigued by this Angel prophecy scroll, more to come on this I'm sure.  I like seeing the brief return of Gunn though I wish "Warzone" aired earlier; as is it looks like a conveinent that he is needed the episode after he's introduced.  The blind assassin was also extremely cool, particularly in Angel's final fight with her when he freezes all the time.  Then again she didn't much devealopment or even any lines so she seems a bit wasted after being so cool.  Would also have nice to see more on the three seer children.  This episode was a very pleasant surprize for me; I expected demon of the week with a WF side-plot, instead it was a major WF episode with a demon sideplot.  And Lee's murder was pretty damn shocking!  Of the three lawyers he seemed the least disloyal since the girl looks to have doubts in her business.  I really love the elaborate mystical security systems that WF has, and Angel's elaborate break-in was damn cool.  And how cool was the mini-crossover with Willow on the phone!

1X22    To Shanshu In L.A. 
Plot:  Wolfram & Hart summon a Warrior of the Underworld to take out Angel as per prophecy.

Surprizingly excellent!  I was surprized how this episode combined so many of the haphazard plots of the season.  In particular the Oracles to the Powers That Be returned to get killed off, and there were more hints to a war of darkness that Angel will soon fight.  I also liked Cordy being attacked by her visions and afterwards getting a little philantropic.  The destruction of Angel's Office was pretty cool and shocking.  I really liked this Vocah demon, but his death was extremely anticlimatic; he can kill the Oracles but Angel defeats him with a sword?  Please!  I did like the final act with hints of raising some horrible hell beast though, with some bits like Angel chopping off MacDonald's hand, thus cementing his role as villain.  As for the revelation that Angel will become human after he fullfills his destiny, it seems we already were told this by the Oracles in "I Will Remember You" but it's still nice.  I really like how close Angel, Cordy, and Wesley were at the end, particularly with the theme of Angel having nothing to live for and then smiling at the end.  The plot twist of Darla being ressuricted absolutely blew me away!  I couldn't believe it, and I can't wait till Season Two!  Wow!  I wonder if she has super-hell powers or something, because if they think Angel won't kill her he already did in Buffy Season One "Angel".  Very interesting twist.  Great to see the (brief) return of Kate, Gunn, and David Nabitt, though the Gunn and Nabitt appearances seemed completely useless.