Angel - S1E22

To Shanshu in L.A.
First Aired: Tuesday May 23, 2000

In the season finale of Angel, Wolfram and Hart bring forth the demon Voka, who is enraged they let Angel get the Scroll. Vowing to retrieve it in order to complete the ritual, he targets Cordelia, Wesley, and the Powers That Be.

As this season finale begins, Wesley is hard at work translating the Scrolls that Angel obtained from the WR&H vault in the previous episode. In particular, he finds the word Shanshu, which he translates to mean that after Angel fulfills his duties, he will die. Elsewhere in the city, Lindsay, Holland, and Lila welcome the Warrior of the Underworld, Voka, who is angered that Angel has the Scroll. He needs it for a ritual that specifically targets Angel, so he vows to retrieve the scroll himself and cut off his communication with the Powers That Be. He first goes to the Oracles and slays them before putting a curse on Cordelia that makes he power of clairvoyance increase astronomically. Angel gets word she is in the hospital and rushes to her side, locking the scrolls in his office. Wesley returns minutes before Angel does again and the office is blown up by a bomb left by Voka after he had taken the Scroll. With Wesley now also in the hospital, Angel is confronted by Kate who he finally loses patience with and tells her to stay out of his way. Going to the Oracles, Angel discovers their bodies and the ghost of the female who is able to tell him that he must retrieve the Scroll in order to save Cordelia. He takes Voka's scythe and tails Lindsay and the other WR&H lawyers to the ritual area. Angel breaks into the party and engages Voka in battle. Lindsay continues the ceremony himself and is able to complete it, allowing the WR&H people to get the box out before Angel is able to kill Voka. Though he tries to burn the Scroll before Angel can do anything, Angel throws the scythe at Lindsay and cuts off his hand. He takes the Scroll to Wesley, who then does the spell and releases Cordelia. On the mend at Cordelia's home, Wesley realizes that his translation of Shanshu was wrong, and that Angel will actually become human once he fulfills his destiny. This makes Angel happy and he smiles. The season ends with Holland, Lila, and Lindsay all talking about the box before we see that inside of it is none other that a frightened Darla.

A wonderful episode, it is just a notch below stellar. We get to see the really coming together of Angel's "family", of his loving bond between Wesley and Cordelia (and the eventual others in coming seasons). I really liked the demon Voka and kind of wish that he would have survived a bit longer; I could have seen him teaming up with Darla. However, Angel was very determined, so it made sense that he was able to kill it. I also enjoyed Angel finally telling off Kate, because while she may have started out as great character, she has become too much of a bitch. As far as a season finale, the two twists at the end with Shanshu and with Darla were good vehicles to push for the next season. Buffy's pushes for season five were a bit more subtle and mysterious instead of Angel's straightforward "Here's Darla". Overall, a great season ender.

Score: 4 / 5

Angel - S1E21

Blind Date
First Aired: Tuesday May 16, 2000

While fighting a group of vampires, Angel encounters a blind woman with amazing powers. He eventually finds out she is a client of Wolfram and Hart. This leads down a crazy path that includes Lindsay coming to Angel for help.

This episode begins with Angel fighting some vampires and being drawn into a fight with what appears to be a blind person. She kicks his ass and gets away. The next day, Wesley and Cordelia do research, find out the womans name, and find out she is on trial for murder, being represented by Lindsay of Wolfram and Hart. Lindsay is able to get her off all charges, which thrills the Senior Partners. His mentor, Holland Manners, informs him that they will be sending her after some children and that Lindsay should prepare a defense for the possible court proceedings. Angel is enraged to find out the woman walks, but is surprised when Lindsay comes to his office asking for help to get out of Wolfram and Hart. He wants to save the children. Angel, though skeptical at first, agrees to do it by getting into the files vault at WR&H. They enlist the help of Gunn and are able make it into the building. Angel grabs the files as well as a strange scroll, but doing that sets off an alarm. Angel gets out and takes the disks to Cordelia, who tries to decrypt them with Willow's help over the phone. Lindsay, on the other hand, gets trapped in WR&H and mind readers let his mentor know what Lindsay had done. The man chastises Lindsay, but ultimately lets him go. He arrives at Angel's in time to prepare their surprise attack on the blind woman. They are able to save the children and Lindsay returns to WR&H to gloat. His mentor is moving up the corporate ladder and he still offers Lindsay a job ... his job, with more power and money. In the end, despite his conflict, he takes the office.

Now back to another episode I don't remember seeing. It was good to see this one because it showed how/why Angle got the prophecy scroll that tells of his exploits for the coming years. It was also an interesting episode in that is focused at least half of its story on Lindsay, which is a character I enjoy. While still not leading up to a big season one ending, this was a very good next to last episode and showed more of Lindsay's character, as well as the character of WR&H.

Score: 4 / 5

Angel - S1E20

Warzone
First Aired: Tuesday May 9, 2000

Angel is hired by a rich computer person to stop him from being blackmailed. When Angel strays into a certain neighborhood, he is confronted by a rag-tag team of street kids who hunt vampires.

The opening segment of the episode shows a girl being chased by some vampires, but when they turn to see who has come to stop them, it is a young black man (instead of Angel). He and his group take on the vampires, dusting a few, but when they return to their home, one of the group dies. Charles Gunn, the leader, shows little remorse since the guy died for a cause. Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley are attending a party elsewhere. The man running the party is a computer nerd who has made millions and is now being blackmailed with pictures of him at a demon brothel. Investigating the case, Angel is lead back to a man in a seedy part of town. When he confronts the man there, Gunn sees Angel vamp-out and sees him as a target. Angel returns the next night, but the blackmailer has brought a demon, which Angel is able to kill after a taxing battle. That isn't the end of the night for him, however, since Gunn's crew then shows up and hunts him. They corner Angel, who has Gunn's sister hostage, but he saves her life and the crew lets him go. Angel worries for their wellbeing and returns the next night to aid them. They aren't interested in that, since they had been ambushed by the vampires in the area and Gun's sister was taken, so they look him in a meat locker and they go to confront the vamps. Gun wishes to enter alone and is confronted by a horrifying sight; his sister has been turned. She tries to convince him to join her, but in the end he does the hardest thing and stakes her. Back at the locker, Cordelia and Wesley show up to let Angel out. Angel arrives at the warehouse in time to kill the vampire leader and scares off the rest. Cordelia and Wesley talk the next day about how the people survive with Charles Gunn before Cordelia starts talking about selling herself out to the geek. The episode ends with Angel meeting up with Gunn in an abandoned building and Angel saying he may need his help in the future, giving him reassurance that what he is doing is right.

I enjoyed this episode, if for nothing more than it introduced Gunn. It was an above average episode where two separate story lines converged into one. My favorite moment was at the end when Angel sort of confirmed to Gunn that he was on the right path and that Angel would be glad to have him as an ally.

Score: 3 / 5

Angel - S1E19

Sanctuary
First Aired: Tuesday May 2, 2000

Angel is now harboring Faith and begins to try to reason with her. Wolfram and Hart learn about this situation and send another assassin to kill both, but the biggest surprise is when Buffy shows up.

Continuing where the previous episode ended, Angel has brought Faith back to his offices and lets her stay in his bed. The next morning, Angel tries to act a bit nonchalant about it, but Wesley becomes enraged because Faith had just tortured him the previous evening. He storms out and Cordelia goes paid vacation to stay away from Faith. Wolfram and Hart learn about this curious situation and employ another demon to kill both targets now. As Angel starts to get through to Faith, the creature attacks and they kill it. While he is consoling Faith afterwards, Buffy shows up and begins to make matters worse. Elsewhere, Wesley has been propositioned by the Council Elite to bring Faith back to England. His reward would be that he would be reinstated. Wesley seemingly agrees, but shows up to Angels to let them know about the trap. Faith bolts for the roof and, with Buffy following her, begin to take the men on. Meanwhile, Kate is brought information by Lindsay about how Angel is harboring Faith. The group is able to take care of the Council men, but Angel is immediately arrested by Kate. At the station, Buffy is surprised to learn that Kate knows about him being a vampire, but before they can send him to his cell, they notice Faith. She had arrived earlier at the station to turn herself in. With her in custody, Angel is free to go. He and Buffy have a heated discussion that leads with each other hurting themselves emotionally. The episode ends with Angel and Wesley discussing their hopes that Faith will survive and find some sort of peace.

Again, Eliza Dushku does an amazing job and, surprisingly, SMG does an even better job of acting in this episode then she does on her own show. It must have something to do with the writing team dealing with more "sophisticated" themes. The rooftop action scene was bar-none the best fighting scene I have seen so far since the beginning of this first season. Also, I started to like Lindsay more in this episode then that others. His bravado didn't see as over the top. In the end, this was a nice complimentary episode to the previous one.

Score: 4 / 5

Angel - S1E18

Five by Five
First Aired: Tuesday April 25, 2000

When Faith comes to Los Angeles, Angel has to deal with her after Wolfram and Hart contract her to kill Angel.

This episode begins with Angel killing some demons in order to save a latino gang member. At the same time, Faith is shown getting off of a bus in Los Angeles and mugging a mugger. Angel uses his *ahem* persusive manners to get the gang member to testify in a pivotal Wolfram and Hart case, headed by Lindsay. The senior partners are unhappy with Lindsay's results and he tries to figure out a way to kill Angel. It is brought to the attenion of Lyla and him that Faith, the rogue vampire slayer was in town. The make contact with her and offer her safe haven, as well as money, if she kill Angel, which she gladly accepts. She shows up and her first attempt is foiled, but Angel, Wesley, and Cordelia are shaken by the encounter. As the story progresses, Angel goes to Wolfram and Hart and confronts Lindsay, but leaves intact. Elsewhere, Faith is waiting in Cordelia's home and kidnaps Wesley. She tortures him until Angel shows up and they proceed to fight. In the closing scene, Angel isn't fighting back as he doesn't want to make it "easy" for Faith. She begins to lose composure and cry, begging Angel to kill her. It ends with him holding her as she cries and Wesley dropping a knife he brought with intent to kill her.

While I commented highly on Sara Michelle Gellar's acting in the two-parter where she "became" Faith, I was totally blow away by Eliza Dushku's acting in this. Going from the extreme pyschopath torturing Wesley to the broken woman begging to be killed, this was the best I could ever remember Dushku being Faith. I know that Faith comes back briefly in season four and then for the rest of season seven of Buffy, but I really wish she would have gotten her own series. Boreanz's acting, as well, can't be discounted. Overall, one of the best Fatih-centric episodes.

Overall: 5 / 5

Angel - S1E17

Eternity
First Aired: Tuesday April 4, 2000

Angel takes on a case to protect a famous actress after he saves her life. She becomes enamored with him, even after finding out he is a vampire, because he doesn't know who she is and how much of a star she is.

The episode begins with Angel and Wesley trying to devise an exit strategy ... from Cordelia play. They try to reassure her about her acting afterwards, but Angel is distracted when he saves the life of Rebecca Lowell, a famous television star. The next day, she visits Angel's office because she can't believe there is someone who doesn't know who she is or care. Angel refuses to help her with her stalker problem, which Wesley postulates is because Angel is attracted to her and is afraid to get close. That evening after a party at Rebecca's house, Angel stops another attempt on her life. She notices that Angel doesn't have a reflection after the fight and she isn't freaked out by it. The next day, she wishes Angel to accompany her to a movie premiere, but as they are leaving the mystery man tries to shoot them. Angel again stops the guy and this time he is captured by the police. Rebecca's agent reveals to her that he was a stunt man he hired to make publicity for the woman, since she didn't get her latest role. She becomes distraught because the character Raven she played will be forever young while she continues to age. She then devises a plan to have Angel sire her. Angel becomes wise to her plan, as does Cordelia, but it is a little late because she had drugged Angel with a drug that induces euphoria. This in turn brings out Angelus, who confronts Rebecca, Wesley and Cordelia. Ultimately, Wesley is able to knock Angelus out a window and they chain him up. When Angel returns, he tries to apologize and while Cordelia and Wesley understand, they know he meant what he said.

This was a decent enough filler episode, helped immensely by the great acting of David Boreanz as Angelus. I have to check, but this might have been the last appearance of Angelus until season four when they tried to have him help kill the Big Bad. I found the character of Rebecca Lowell to be wholly un-interesting and bothersome. It was funny to actually see Cordelia trying to act ("line?") and this is perhaps a natural progression towards her realizing she can't act.

Score: 3 / 5

Angel - S1E16

The Ring
First Aired: Tuesday February 29, 2000

Angel investigates the kidnapping of a brother, but finds himself fighting other demons to the death for sport.

This epsiode begins with Angel and the gang investigating a man's brother, who had disappeared due to some gambling debts. Angel follows a trail that leads him to an underground death match between demons. The twist is that the brothers are the ones who run it and they set Angel up so that we would be part of the captives. Trying to be the noble warrior, Angel vows he won't fight and tries to befriend the other demons. They want nothing to do with him. Elsewhere, Wesley and Cordelia investigate Angels disappearance and also find out about the underground death matches. As the infiltrate the match, they see Angel fighting and ultimately killing another demon. They retreat with one of the arm bands to try and figure out what to do while Angel tries to stir up the demons again. He succeeds in capturing one of the brothers on his side of the forcefield, but the other brother shoots and kills him to Angel's surprise. When Angel awakens from the tazer blasts, he is now in the office of Lyla Morgan (first appearance), who is an associate of Wolfram & Hart. They had apparently bought his contract, but Angel wants nothing to do with them and returns to the arena. Wesley, with Cordelia's help, is able to figure out a way to open the cuffs and return to the arena as Angel has to face off against the most powerful demon. The demon also happens to be one kill away from freedom. Wesley's key is taken by one of the pompious demons, but instead of just leaving , he helps release the others. In the arena, Angel and the demon fight each other both to the point where they could kill the other but decide against it. Before the men could excute them, though, the freed demons storm the arena. Cordelia pushes the brother into the arena and the powerful demon kills him. As a badly injured Angel is lead out of the place by Wesley and Cordelia, they appear happy until they realize they had just released all of the demons in Los Angeles.

This is an episode I rememeber and it is a fun one. The self-rightous Angel is left to deal with demons he would normally kill, but needs in order to lead the revolt. It was interesting to see the first appearance of Lyla, who would become a central character through season four. Again, Cordelia and Wesley playing off of each other is spot on, even more so than Cordelia and Doyle was. Though sad, it is good to see this pair together instead of with Doyle. I also enjoed all of the demon types that demoniated this episode, something Angel had always focused on.

Score: 8.5 / 10

Angel - S1E15

The Prodigal
First Aired: Tuesday February 22, 2000

After battling a passive demon, Angel follows a trail that leads back to Kate's father. As his corrupt nature is brought to light, Kate's understanding of Angels world reaches a breaking point.

The episode begins with Angel fighting a demon in a subway tunnel. As Kate Lockley shows up, she finds out that the demon was accosting a delivery boy when Angel plucked it out of the train. Angel kills the demon as Kate shows up. Back on the platform, Kate's father shows up unexpectedly. Angel investigates the type of demon and Wesley lets him know the demon was part of a passive group, so it had become highly enraged for some strange reason. Angel goes with the hunch that someone or something on the train sparked this and decides it may have to do with the delivery guy. He seeks Kate's help, but she refuses. Through his own methods, he tracks the guy down and follows him to Kate's fathers apartment where he hands off a small brown package. Angel tries to confront him about what he may be doing that how it might affect Kate, but her father doesn't want to talk. The next day, he goes to visit Kate and grills her on who Angel is and what he does. Angel eventually figures out that the delivery guys is working with a demon drug trafficker that is transporting a serum that increases toughness and aggression. These drug dealers figure Angel is on to them, so they order him and Kate's father to be killed. Angel thwarts the demons that were sent for him and then tries to save Kate's father, who is killed by vampires before Angel can do anything. One of them escapes just as Kate shows up, but she tells Angel to leave as she grieves over her father. On separate paths, both of them show up at the drug dealers hideout and take on the remaining thugs, with Angel decapitating the leader. The episode ends with Kate paying respects at her father grave while Angel looks on for a distance.

I vaguely remember this episode and it was enjoyable. I know for a fact that Kate eventually leaves, but I couldn't remember how/why and I thought that this was the episode where it happened. I have always personally liked the Angel flashbacks and I think this was the first one that really delved a lot into his "birth". These were the high points of the episode for me. Personally, I think Angel should give Kate a harder time, that she either needs to come to terms with the things in the dark or she should leave and forget all about it. The comic relief in this episode comes Wesley and Cordelia trying to get a security system to work. It does eventually, though after the demons already have infiltrated the offices and the warnings are futile.

Score: 8.4 / 10

Angel - S1E13

She
First Aired: February 8, 2000

When confronted with a mysterious extra-dimensional woman, he gets pulled into helping oppressed women from her world.

After an intro of Cordelia's house warming and of a man opening a burning box, this episode begins with Angel formally asking Wesley to join him and Cordelia. Cordelia ends up having a vision shortly thereafter. Angel investigates the warehouse where the man was burning alive and Angel is confronted with the demon Tae. Shortly, he meets Jheira, a woman from the Odin Tal dimension. Women in that dimension are "nurtured" by the men to make them subservient, but Jheira has found a way to bring them over to this world.

This was a somewhat interesting story that I feel I missed the first time around (as has been the case with most of the first season of Angel). The best part, I believe, was at the beginning where Angel pictures himself dancing and then near the end when Angel tries to crush the coffee beans. It was a nice, little one-off story, but I was expecting to see something from Wolfram and Hart having dealings with the men. The action sequences were the other high point.

Score: 7.8 / 10

Angel - S1E12

Expecting
First Aired: Tuesday January 25, 2000

When Cordelia goes out on the town with her friends, an unexpected surprise awaits her in the morning.

In the evening time, Wesley stops by to see if there is anything that he could help with. Angel tells him that things are slow and that Cordelia is going out with her friends. When her friends show up, Cordelia has a vision that she sends Angel and Wesley on while she still goes out. The guys destroy the creature that was hatched before it gets unleashed on the city. Elsewhere, Cordelia is having a deep conversation with her new boyfriend. At the end of the night, she asks him to stay the night, though Dennis the ghost protests at first. In the morning, Cordelia wakes to find her stomach has swollen to pregnancy proportions. Angel and Wesley coming calling when she has failed to show up for work and find her still in her bedroom. Angel starts to track down the guy while Wesley takes Cordelia to the doctors. From the ultrasound, they find out that there are seven heartbeats in Cordelia's womb and the two go back to Angel's place so Wesley can investigate. Shortly, Angel finds another of Cordelia's friends and sees she is pregnant as well. Tracking the group of guys to a gun club, he finds out that they are human and are working for a very large demon. Wesley, after being knocked out by Cordelia, says that he will meet Angel at the warehouse where the demon resides. They get there and see all of the women are in a bath awaiting birth. Angel ends up through a cryogenic canister, which the creature catches and Wesley shoots. With the demon frozen, Cordelia and the others revert back to normal.

This was a very good episode, especially the touching mini-speech at the end where Cordelia says she trusts Angel and Wesley completely. Being an episode I never remember watching, it was intriguing to find out exactly what was going on. It is a fun little precursor to the season 4 story arc where Cordelia becomes pregnant with Jasmine. I really like the way Angel and Wesley play off of each other and the way that Wesley continues to try sneaking into Angel Investigations.

Score: 8.5 / 10

Angel - S1E11

Somnambulist
First Aired: Tuesday January 18, 2000

Angel has been having dreams of killing people, which seem to have been coming true. As he, Cordelia, and Wesley investigate, they find that the actually perpetrator of the crimes is a former sire of Angelus.

Another fine episode that I do not remember seeing. I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding Angelus' sire and the anguish that Angel now feels for having created him in the first place.

The past couple of nights of sleep, Angel has been having very lucid dreams of killing. Wesley shows up to compare information about the goings on in the city, but leaves abruptly when he sees a newspaper article about a series of murders. Angel goes to see Kate for some help with a case, but ends up seeing crime scene photos from the murders. When he returns to his office, Cordelia and Wesley are waiting with accusations, which he doesn't deny. They chain him up for the night and, after another murder happens, they figure out that the real killer is a former sire of Angelus'. Angel then goes and tells Kate the identity of the killer without giving away his secret. That evening during a pursuit, Angel fights Ben in front of Kate, revealing his vamp face. After Ben escapes and taunts Angel the next morning, Kate researches who both of them are and warns Angel to stay away. As Kate briefs her officers about Ben, it turns out that Ben is right in the room and takes Kate to the sewers. Here, Angel and Ben fight again. This comes to a climax when Kate takes a small beam of wood and stabs through Angel to kill Ben. The episode ends with Angel on the roof being consoled by Cordelia that he is now Angel and not Angelus, which the PTB are able to distinguish.

Like I said this was a really good episode and an inevitable one where Kate finds out Angel's true nature. I think it is good that he tells her, because once she comes to terms with this revelation, she may be able to help Angel more be sending him the "weird" cases. As always, David Boreanz's acting is top notch, as well as the guest star who plays Ben.

Score: 8.5 / 10

Angel S1E10

Parting Gifts
First Aired: Tuesday December 14, 1999

A little background information: I recently collected the final seasons I had been missing from my Angel and Buffy DVD collection. I have decided to watch both series through again in tandem from season 4 of Buffy and season 1 of Angel on through to the end of each. For some reason, which I think was because I was just starting college at the time, I don't remember much from the first two seasons of Angel, so it is nice to go through it again. I had already watched up until this episode before I decided to start reviewing them, so here we are.

It is apparent that the death of Doyle is hitting Angel and Cordelia both very hard, but it is a bit lightened by the fact that it was his sacrifice to save lives. While brooding, an empath demon named Barney comes looking for help from Angel because he is being pursued by an unknown force. Angel takes the case and, in the process of searching Barney's apartment, meets up with Wesley, of all people. It turns out that he is now a rogue demon hunter after being fired from the Watcher's Council for failing so badly with Faith and Buffy. It is quite fun to see the indifference that Angel holds for Wesley, but he allows him to help with the case after it turns out they are searching for the same demon, a Kungai. Upon finding the creature, Angel and Wesley find out that the demon was actually a victim of Barney, who has been harvesting demon powers and selling them at auction. Cordelia is taken by Barney as a result of her having "seers' eyes" and is sold at auction to a representative of Wolfram and Hart for $30,000. Wesley and Angel show up in time, however, and stop the sale from being finished. The episode ends with the three of the them having breakfast with, what appears to be, the unspoken resolution to have Wesley join Angel Investigations.

I really enjoyed the dynamic of the show with Glenn Quinn, but I understand now why he and his character removed from the series. Still, one can only wonder where things may have gone in regards to storylines. I think his giving of the "gift" to Cordelia is sweet in a way but horrible in another. Now she can't be too much of a slouch for Angel Investigations. At the time this episode and the subsequent ones appeared on television, I don't believe I was very receptive about Wesley joining the group. However, I now know where it will lead and look forward to the coming episodes again. The humor in this is top-notch, with such zingers from Cordelia as "what's a Rogue Demon" and her kissing all of the male characters in hope she can pass on the visions.

This episode was a good starting point for the new group, though not as riveting as the previous episode. I am happy with the final product, however.

Score: 8.5 / 10