BBC Cult - Printer Friendly Version
Angel - Season One Episode Guide - Season One Guide
City Of
A new start in a new city for Angel
"Once upon a time there was a vampire. And he was the meanest vampire in all the land." That vampire was Angel, also known as Angelus. Having fought alongside Slayer Buffy Summers for three years, Angel left his former love to hone his brooding skills, fight evil and pretend to be a bit like Batman in Los Angeles.
Enter mysterious god-like beings, The Powers That Be. They want to give our hero a focus in life, sending him on specific missions to help the hopeless and redeem himself in the process.
They send him a guide, half demon Doyle, a creature who can receive their visions of people in peril and send Angel to save the day.
Along with old friend and aspiring actress Cordelia Chase, Angel and Doyle face the monsters that roam the dark alleys and sewers of L.A.
The trio swiftly make enemies of Wolfram and Hart, lawyers to the demon world, by killing one of their top clients.
se;">Quiz - ten quick questions.
Trivia: Angel's mentor for the series wasn't initially intended to be Doyle. The original scripts featured Whistler, the benign demon who appeared in the Buffy episodes Becoming Parts one and two.
Lonely Heart
A serial killer stalks the L.A. singles scene
Angel Investigations' next mission finds them tracking a demon serial killer who preys on the city’s singles population. It's a burrower demon, a creature that possesses a host, finds its next prey then jumps to the new body - killing the previous host in the process.
During the investigation, Angel encounters undercover cop Kate Lockley. Kate, although sceptical of Angel’s vague credentials, becomes an essential source of information for the vampire. She’s pretty hot, too.
Trivia: The episode originally intended to follow City Of was called Corrupt. Although Lonely Heart features many of the same ideas, Corrupt was a much darker tale - particularly in its depiction of Kate. The network suits wanted a slighter fluffier show, however, and the script was reworked.
In The Dark
It's torture for Angel as Spike pays a visit
Temptation comes Angel’s way next, when a visit from werewolf Oz brings the Ring of Amarra into his possession. The magical jewel can make a vampire invunerable, even to sunlight.
Following a battle with Spike and his evil torturer pal, Angel passes up the chance to top up his tan and destroys the ring. He feels that it’s his destiny to fight the creatures of the night.
Trivia: In America, the episode was screened directly after the Buffy episode The Harsh Light of Day, where Spike discovers the Ring of Amarra in Sunnydale, accompanied by new girlfriend Harmony. In Britain, it won't be.
I Fall to Pieces
Angel encounters a creepy Doctor who can detach parts of his body
Following a vision from Doyle, Angel comes to the rescue of a woman stalked by an infatuated Doctor.
What makes the man extra creepy is his ability to detach parts of his body to spy on or attack her.
When the doctor pays a visit to Angel's apartment, the vampire separates his bits permanently.
Trivia: I fall to pieces was originally a Buffy script that really didn't fit with the style of that show. It could probably have been slipped into The X-Files without anyone noticing, too.
Rm w/a Vu
House hunting for Cordelia lands her with a ghostly flatmate
Deciding her cockroach-infested apartment, Cordelia looks for a new place to rent. Unwisely, she takes Doyle's advice and winds up sharing with a demented ghost.
The scary old hag has been bumping off the previous female tenants, believing they would steal away her darling son. She'd already killed him in the fifties, anyway.
Trivia: Cordy's ghostly flatmate is nicknamed Phantom Dennis after the first Star Wars film. Writer Jane Espenson jokingly bemoans the fact that when a new character is created by a writer, they receive a small payment each time they are currently used. Sadly, as Dennis is never actually seen on screen after this episode, Jane doesn't get anything.
Sense and Sensitivity
Angel and Kate explore their softer sides
When Kate and her fellow officers get sent on a sensitivity course, little do they know that its part of a cunning Wolfram and Hart plan to break a notorious gangster out of jail.
Kate's precinct turns to chaos - and only a touchy-feely Angel can prevent the the criminal from escaping.
We also learn that Angel once ate his own parents. They tasted a lot like chicken apparently.
Trivia: This is the first episode to feature John Mahon as Kate's dad Trevor. He crops up later in the season in The Prodigal.
Bachelor Party
A night on the town could mean death for Doyle
When Doyle's ex-wife shows up at Angel Investigations, it's not for a reconcilliation. She wants to remarry - this time to a full demon.
At least Doyle and Angel are invited to the stag night. Pity that Doyle is actually on the menu - as part of an ancient demon tradition.
Trivia: Richard is played by Carlos Jacott. Carlos previously appeared in Buffy's season three opener, Anne, as the demonic Ken.
I Will Remember You
Angel discovers once more what it's like to be human
Buffy arrives in Los Angeles, angry that Angel has been spying on her. When a demon attacks the pair, Angel is infected with its blood and finds that he has become human.
Fun, frolics and ice cream with Buffy ensue, until Angel realises that he's no good in the fight against evil whilst he remains mortal.
Much to Buffy's horror, he finds a way to change history and remain a vampire.
Trivia: The episode gets its title from a track by Canadian sing/songwriter Sarah McLachlan. Angel is a big fan of Cookie dough fudge mint chip ice cream.
Hero
Doyle makes the ultimate sacrifice to save a clan of demons
A group of half-breed demons come to Angel for help. They learn that a racist group of demons,The Scourge, are in town and are out for impure demon blood.
Angel attempts to secure safe passage to a demon-friendly island for the group and discovers the Scourge plan to eliminate the half-demon breed population with a machine whose rays can wipe out any human within a quarter mile radius.
Angel and Doyle argue over who should disarm the device, with certain death the reward. Angel and Doyle realise that one of them will have to die in order to disconnect the beams. Doyle knocks Angel out, kisses Cordy and makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Trivia: Doyle's departure came as a surprise to fans, many of whom couldn't believe Doyle was gone for good. Angel creator Joss Whedon maintains to this day that it was all part of a cunning plan to shock viewers with the death of a regular character. Actor Glenn Quinn remained strangely silent, however.
Parting Gifts
Cordy has new powers - and is up for auction to the highest demon bidder
Cordelia discovers that Doyle has left her with an unwanted gift - his visions from the Powers That Be.
She soon finds that she's much in demand by the demon underworld. Angel and rogue demon hunter Wesley Wyndam-Pryce race to prevent her being auctioned of to the highest bidder.
Wesley, who plays a major role in Cordy's rescue, decides to stay on in L.A.
Trivia: Alexis Denisof takes over as the new third member of Angel Investigations with this episode. He'd previously played Wesley in the second half of Buffy's third season.
Somnambulist
Angel's prodigy arrives in L.A.
Angel fears he may be killing innocent girls in his sleep. The victims are being found marked in the same way as Angelus used to disfigure his victims.
The vampire soon realises that Penn, Angelus's prodigy from his early days, is responsible. Kate, having discovered that Angel is a vampire, is initially horrified. She battles the two vampires - ultimately staking Penn through Angel.
Trivia: How does Kate manage to read up on Angelus so easily? In Buffy, the only references Giles could find were in the top secret Watcher Diaries.
Expecting
A one night stand leaves Cordelia pregnant with demon babies
After spending the night with William Christopher, a prominent L.A. photographer, Cordelia awakes to find herself massively pregnant. Angel and Wesly soon discover the seven babies she's carrying are demon spawn.
The demons inside Cordy control her mind and, fully under their influence, she heads to a local industrial park to prepare for the birth.
Thanks to Angel, Wesley and a large canister of liquid nitrogen, the demon's daddy is destroyed and the babies disappear - freeing Cordelia.
Trivia: Music for the episode is provided by Splashdown (Games You Play) and Shayrna NuDelman's Deeper Than a Milkshake.
She
An demon princess cross paths with Angel
When Cordelia receives a vision of a murder in an ice factory, Angel investigates and encounters a demon named Tay, on a mission to stop the bringer of chaos.
He's referring to Jheira, a princess who is attempting to help females from Tay's world escape their dimension via a portal.
Discovering that Tay's people enslave the females of his species, Angel aids Jheria to help the women she has rescued so far escape.
Trivia: A lot of publicity before the episode aired suggested that Jheira - played by actreass Bai Ling - was to become a regular character in the series. We're still waiting for her to show up again...
I've Got You Under My Skin
Angel becomes an exorcist in a bid to save a possessed child.
Cordelia's vision of a young family, Angel pays a visit and deduces that the family's son, Ryan, is possessed by a demon.
Wesley, discovering that they are dealing with an Ethros Demon, decides he will perform an exorcism. It's is a success, but the demon escapes. Tracking it to a cave, Angel and Wesley learn that Ryan was evil before he was possessed.
Ryan tries to burn his own house down is taken into custody as a result.
Trivia: The episode is an obvious homage to classic 70's horror film The Exorcist, with a possessed child and talk of spinning heads.
The Prodigal
Kate's father is dealing with demons as Angel remembers his own father
Trevor Lockley has been receiving suspicious deliveries - he's in with a gang of demon drug traffikers.
Angel tries to help Kate's dad get out of the mess he's in but his help is refused.
The vampire recalls his own stormy relationship with his father, and how he killed his entire family back in the eighteenth century.
Lockley senior is eventually killed by the demons. Even though Angel tried to help, he finds himself further distanced from Kate.
Trivia: Angel's human name was Liam. He had a younger sister named Kathy but no sign of a brother called Noel...
The Ring
Angel battles for his life in a fight club
Angel Investigations is visited by a man claiming his brother Jack was kidnapped by demons. The vampire investigates and learns that an underground fight club is involved.
However, it turns out that the man with the missing brother is the organiser of the fight club, and that he's led Angel into a trap.
Angel soon finds himself fighting for his life in a ring whilst bets are placed on his survival. Only a well-timed jailbreak by Wesley and Cordelia can save Angel and the other doomed contestants.
Trivia: Assistant Fight Co-ordinator James E Mitchell, who worked extensively on this episode, is also George Clooney's stand-in. Angel's stunt double Mike Massa recently doubled for Keanu Reeves filming the next two Matrix films.
Eternity
Angel becomes a celebrity bodyguard, and briefly a monster.
Saving a famous actress from being run over by a car, Angel is hired as her bodyguard to protect her from an unseen stalker.
It turns out that the stalker is merely a publicity stunt dreamt up by the actress's agent. However, she discovers that Angel is a vampire - and her ticket to eternal youth.
She drugs Angel, hoping to exchange blood with him. Unfortunately, this awakens Angelus inside Angel and he has to be restrained until the effects wear off.
Trivia: Watch out for the scene where Wesley pushes Angelus into the lift shaft. His trousers start off as slacks, turn into jeans and then back to slacks again. He must be one hell of a quick-change artist.
Five by Five
Wolfram and Hart target Angel - and Faith is the weapon
Angel's meddling in an important court case upsets the lawyers at Wolfram and Hart. In an attempt at revenge, they hire vampire slayer Faith to kill him.
Faith has recently fled from Sunnydale, on the run from the Watcher's Council after a bizarre body-swapping incident with Buffy.
After several failed attempts, Faith kidnaps Wesley and tortures him in an attempt to lure Angel into a trap. After a spectacular fight between vampire and Slayer, Faith breaks down, crying "I'm bad, please just kill me".
Trivia: Eliza Dushku played vampire slayer Faith in season three of Buffy. The character went into a coma and didn't wake up until late in season four. Five by Five directly follows on from events in the Buffy episodes This Year's Girl and Who Are You.
Sanctuary
Angel tries to redeem Faith - but the Watcher's Council and Buffy are on her trail
Unhappy that Angel has taken Faith in and is trying to help her, Buffy travels to L.A. for a confrontation. Tensions between the two ex-lovers become frayed as a result. Meanwhile, a Watcher's Council Special Operations Unit tries to entice Wesley to help them capture the rogue slayer with promises of his reinstatement.
Wesley plays along just long enough to warn Angel. As Faith escapes, Angel takes on a fully armed helicopter crewed by the special unit.
When the dust has settled, Angel and Buffy discover that Faith has turned herself in to the police and is prepared to pay for her past crimes.
Trivia: Sanctuary marks the second - and final, so far - guest appearance by Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy. David Boreanaz has appeared in a couple of Buffy episodes since then, however.
War Zone
Angel encounters a gang of streetwise vampire-killing vigilantes
Hired by a geeky software magnate to prevent a seedy blackmail case, Angel has a run-in with Charles Gunn and his gang of vigilante vampire killers.
Angel tries to persuade the gang that they are taking on more they can handle, but Gunn ignores the advice. Soon after, his sister is killed and turned into a vampire.
Gunn's sister offers him immortality, but he kills her out of kindness.
Later, Angel tells Gunn that he may need his help some day.
Trivia: David Nabbit, geeky software billionaire is introduced in this episode, and was intended to become a recurring character on the show. Unfortunately, scheduling didn't really work out with actor David Herman and the Nabbitt disappeared soon after.
Blind Date
One of Wolfram and Hart's key players switches sides - or does he?
Angel encounters a blind woman who is currently on trial for murder. Wolfram and Hart are involved - which means the woman is up to no good. When she is acquited, Wolfram and Hart lawyer Lindsey McDonald begins to feel uncomfortable with all the evil he has been involved with.
Discovering that the woman is due to kill three children, Lindsey switches sides and helps Angel break into Wolfram and Hart's offices. During the raid, Angel steals a scroll containing an ancient prophecy.
Angel prevents the children's deaths but Lindsey is made an offer he can't refuse by his bosses and switches sides once more.
Trivia: The credits for the episode state the blind assassin is named Vannessa Weeks. Strange that everyone calls her Vanessa Brewer throughout...
To Shanshu in L.A.
Angel discovers that The Powers That Be have great plans for his future
Wolfram and Hart send Vocah, warrior of the underworld, to destroy Angel. The creature kills the Oracles, blows up Angel's offices and drives Cordelia out of her mind.
Angel discovers that the Vocah is preparing a mysterious ritual but fails to prevent it. He does chop off one of Lindsey's hands in the attempt, though.
Wesley has translated the scroll Angel stole from Wolfram and Hart and discovers that Angel is going to be made human by the Powers That Be as a reward for his good deeds.
The mysterious ceremony reaches its conclusion - with the resurrection of Darla!
Trivia: Producer David Greenwalt revealed that Angel Investigations was blown up during the episode because the sets were too cramped to film in. The crew opted for a much roomier hotel set in season two.