Season 1, Episode 7

Yes, the next episode is supposed to be "The Pack". No, Kali doesn't know how to count. The DVD is very confusing. DON'T JUDGE ME. Sarah will post "The Pack" tomorrow then everything will be right with the world again.

"Angel"

We start off this episode with the Master teaching the child “Anointed One”. I really wish we got more Master back story because while he is my least favorite Big Bad, I’m very curious as to why he is the way he is. He takes on a father/mentor type role with the “Anointed One”, but it’s not really explained why this is necessary. Later in the episode he teaches about taking another vampires life, which is the dumbest thing ever. Seriously dude, how about instead of killing your minions after they make one little mistake, you send like 50 vampires after her. Oh wait, because the villains are always dumb I forgot.

Let’s move on to the crux of this episode: Angel. We first see him here acting like that other vampire who shall not be named, creepily following and watching Buffy. At least this time instead of giving her a cryptic message, he actually steps in to save her from “The Three” (which by the way is the least scary name ever, even “The Trio” is better). In the process, Angel gets injured and Buffy takes him home to touch his sweet body bandage his wounds. This scene is filled with sexual tension galore.

This brings me to a tie-in from “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”. In that episode, when Buffy is changing, Xander purposely tries to angle the mirror in order to get a look at her. When Angel is in the room, he looks out the window the entire time and doesn’t even glance a tiny bit. First, Buffy, why can’t you just change in the bathroom or are you some sort of exhibitionist? Second, I don’t mean to imply that Xander is a pervert or anything. He’s a 16-year-old boy and Angel is a 240-year-old vampire. It’s just an interesting contrast in the two characters and helps to show why Buffy would choose Angel over someone like Xander.

During this scene, we learn a lot more about Angel, but much of it is misleading. I do love the part where Buffy asks Angel why he fights vampires and his response is simply “Somebody has to”. In Season 2 and in many episodes of Angel, we come to learn more about what led Angel to do what he does. But from this episode we learn that being cursed with a soul only gave him a conscious. He felt bad for what he did and could now choose to fight against his nature and not kill people. What shows that he is also a hero is that he chooses to prevent others from being harmed. It took him quite awhile to come to this conclusion, and it’s really because of Buffy that he starts to do this. We’ll get into greater detail about Angel in Season 2 “Becoming”.

Angel sleeps like a gentleman on the floor. Buffy goes to school, there is another library conversation, this time about Angel. Funny Buffy and Giles training scene, blah blah blah, let’s get back to Buffy and Angel.

Back into Buffy’s room where she inadvertently spills her guts about her feelings towards Angel. While she is ranting Edward Angel says, "I can't be around you because all I think about is how badly I want to kiss you". (Seriously though, how can Stephanie Meyer say she never watched Buffy when this is almost exactly what Edward says to Bella?) Now it’s time for some hot HOT kissage. I love the metaphor here where things start to get a little too heated and Angel’s “face” changes. Very great way to imply that when teenage boys start making out with a girl they get an unwanted erection.



Angel: "Must think about puppies... delicious puppies..." *looks down* "Uh-oh"



Two important things happen after this, both Buffy and Angel have to make a decision about what to do next. Buffy knows that he is a vampire, but tries to rationalize a way that would mean she doesn’t have to kill him. Willow tries to be supportive, Xander tries to get the competition out of the way, and Giles tries to find an answer in his books. Buffy however has her own battle inside of her of mind vs. heart. She knows in her head that he is a vampire and vampires must be killed. Her heart however is telling her that she can’t kill the person that she loves no matter what he is. Later on, even after she believes that he attacked her mother she can’t pull the trigger.

Angel on the other hand is battling who he is. In the scene between him and Darla, she points out how he isn’t a human, but he also points out how he isn’t one of them either. Question: why is there human blood in his fridge? I thought he's supposed to live off animal blood. Anyway, he doesn’t really fit in anywhere, but he is still driven to do what is right. So he goes after Buffy. A little bit of a fight ensues and finally Buffy learns what the audience already knows: Angel is innocent (well, at least of attacking Joyce) and that Darla is to blame. Some more Angel back-story is unveiled and we learn that Darla was not only Angel’s lover, but his sire also.

Even though Darla is evil, Angel obviously cares for her. She was his world for over a century. She created him. They were in love as much as two vampires without souls could be. Yet when she is about to kill Buffy, Angel puts a stake through Darla’s heart without hesitation. At this point we know this is a big thing, but looking back after watching the whole series plus all of Angel, this is monumental. Angel was ready to sacrifice his life for Darla later on so obviously killing her to save Buffy here just goes to prove how much he really loves her. I also want to point out that Spike tries this same logic later on, but this kind of sacrifice only really works when the person you are doing it for gives a crap about you, just sayin’.

To finish up, Buffy and Angel talk about how although they are madly in love with each other, it can never work because he’s a vampire and she’s a vampire slayer. Oh Buffy, you are quite fickle aren’t you? Anyways, the show ends with some great imagery that just says so much about their relationship:

Favorite line: Angel: (speaking of killing his family and friends) "And I did it with a song in my heart".

Sarah's Notes
These are a bit late because I've had irritating stuff get in the way, like work and studying, but here are a few thoughts I had while watching Angel (the episode, not the series):

-I just want to point out how gross it is that this place is covered with cockroaches and you get a free drink if you catch one. Why would you go there when it’s covered with bugs?!

-Buffy really should make a note of not telling people to come in. By actually saying it, she has no idea that Angel is a vampire. It seems like a good test that a Slayer should use to make sure they aren’t being tricked by any vampires.

-I agree with Kali, why can’t Buffy just change in the bathroom or something?

-The library has huge ass windows in the doors that face the hallway of a high school. Are they seriously using weapons in front of said doors? How did no one notice this; it’s so stupid of them! I really don’t know what they should have done, but this just seems to be in such plain sight.

-Vampire Question: Darla sired Angel and they both had a relationship. Then with Drusilla, Angel sired her and from what they’ve alluded to the three of them were intimate. Then Dru sired Spike and they both shared a relationship. Then within Angel, they again alluded to Darla and Dru sharing intimate relationships at times yet Spike and Angel did not. How does sexual orientation work among vampires? Were Dru and Darla both bisexual or did their relations come from their sexual natures and the fact that women view sexuality as more fluid than men? And also, the Master sired Darla and yet they don’t have any sort of intimate relationship. Instead it seems more like father/daughter. Is what makes their [Darla and Angel/Spike and Dru] relationships intimate the fact that they were sired when they were in their early twenties and, therefore, in a more sexual phase of their lives?

Favorite Line: “No, I was sleeping” – Willow (I still love her very much.)

-Sarah!