Original Air Date: October 5, 1999

Written by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt
Directed by Joss Whedon

Summary

A supposedly drunken Angel is in a bar telling his story of how he got to LA to a completely disinterested man at the bar beside him. Angel gets up from the bar when he notices two couples leaving the building. Outside, the two guys are now in their vamp faces and are about to bite into the fearful girls when Angel drops by and dispatches of the vamps. The girls thank him but he just walks off into the night. He returns home, which is an underground apartment, extremely secluded. While removing his street clothes and weaponry, a strangeman drops in and introduces himself as Doyle, human on his mother's side and not on his father's. As he sneezes, his face turns green with blue spiny needles sticking out. Doyle explains that he's been sent 'by the powers that be' to help Angel atone for his crimes. Doyle gets blinding, painful visions which tell him what to do. Doyle explains that Angel can't just save people, he has to give them hope as well. He then gives Angel a piece of paper that reads; TINA, COFFEE SPOT S.M. Angel later encounters Tina and asks her if she's happy. She agrees to meet him at ten o'clock when her shift at the Coffee Spot ends. Angel is waiting outside by his car at ten when suddenly Tina comes out holding a can of mace to Angel's face. She thinks he's part of Russell's gang, he explains that he has no idea who Russell is and she believes him. Angel gives her a lift toa Hollywood party where she is hoping to get an acting job. At the party, Tina goes off with someones leaving Angel by himself. He suddenly spots Cordelia and they chat for a bit, Cordelia has come to LA to act, she breaks off the converationg saying she needs to speak to people who are important. Angel then spots Tina getting into a heated argument with some guy, she pushes away from him and asks Angel if they can leave. While getting off the elevator, Tina and Angel are assaulted by some guys who work for Rusell. They try to kidnap Tina but Angel fends them off.

Back at Angel's apartment, Angel tries to get Russell's last name from Tina but she won't give it. She does tell him that Russell murders people and that he loves pain. Tina's afraid that she'll be killed by Russell, just like a friend of hers, Denise Perkins, was. Tina suddently spots the piece of paper with her name on it and she believes that Angel is working for Russell. She rushes out of his apartment, he tries to stop her but she drags him into the sun and he vamps out. Horrified, Tina runs to her own apartment and begins to pack everything. Russell suddenly appears in her apartment, vamps out and kills her; sucking her dry. Angel appears a few minutes later and finds her lifeless body, he alerts the police then returns home.

Back at Russell's spacious mansion, a lawyer, who is obviously aware of Russell's vampirism, from the Wolfram & Hart law firm, informs Russell that he hasn't seen Tina in a while and he has an alibi for the night he killed Tina. While watching a video of the party that Tina attended, Russell spots Cordelia and decides that she'd be great for a snack.

Over at Cordelia's shoddy apartment, she receives a phone call telling her that Russell Winters has taken an interest in her and would like to see her. A limo will be sent to pick her up tonight. Cordelia is elated. Angel, having found out where Russell lives from on of his goons, packs up his weaponry and heads over. Meanwhile, Cordelia has arrived at Russell's and after making small talk, she figures out that he's a vampire. Just as Cordelia's about to get bit, Angel appears and fights it out with Russell. Russell's bodyguards eventually show up and start firing at Angel. Angel scoops up Cordelia and runs out of the mansion, they make their getaway in Angel's car with Doyle driving.

The next day, during a meeting between Russell Winters and his lawyers, Angel barges in. He plants his foot on Russell's chair and ask him if he can fly. Angel then kicks then kicks Russell and his chair through the window. Russell melts into ash in the daylight sun while dropping 35 stories. Back at his apartment, Angel makes a call to Buffy but hangs up as soon as he hears her voice. Doyle and Cordelia join him and Cordelia suggests starting a business where they charge people for saving their lives. Well, not all of them.

Quote of the Week

Angel: I don't want to share my feelings, I don't want to open up. I want to find the guy that killed Tina and I want to look him in the eye.
Doyle: Then what?
Angel: Then I'm gonna share my feelings.

My Rating

4.5/5

My Comments

Wow! I'm suitably impressed! I was expecting Angel not to be that great because I felt it needed the other characters from Buffy but I was really impressed! Angel and Cordelia really clicked, they have great chemistry on screen. I'm only noticing it more now because they didn't have too many scenes together in Buffy. Doyle seemed a bit strange at first but he's part of the gang now. Despite what a lot of people have told me, I really like the theme song, I really do. For me it suited the theme of Angel perfectly. FYI, the theme song is by Darling Violetta (a band that has played at The Bronze, back in Sunnydale). I really like Angel's change in humor, he pulled off some great lines and it's nice to see him acting on his own and notas Buffy's sidekick. Don't get me wrong, I'm still gung-ho on the Buffy and Angel romance but it was nice to see him a little light-hearted. After seeing him jump into the wrong car and say "Dammit!", I couldn't help but laugh. It was also interesting to see that Cordelia's living in a REALLY shoddy place, and her meditating sequence was hysterical. Thinsg that I did not like were the new vampire makeup; what is up with that? I know vampires are ugly but that was just horrible! Also, the fact that Angel seems to be walking out in plain sunlight a lot, very bizarre. I don't mind seeing Angel in the sunlight but it just doesn't fit with the storyline! I did like the way they tied in Buffy and Angel with the phone call from Angel to Buffy's house. Too bad they didn't talk.

Niki's Comments

I like the premiere of Angel. I didn't love it, but I liked it. I'd have to say my favourite part was when Cordy realises that the evil guy is a vampire, priceless Cordelia Chase moment. The one thing I was frusterated with was the slow start and the recap. I realise this was because the new spin-off had to show everyone who doesn't watch Buffy what was going on, but frankly, it bored me. Also, the new set-up with Angel and his "job" annoyed me, because I already knew what he was going to do, mostly because I had read it all, in one magazine or another. It was worth watching the episode just to see Angel with a real smile on his face in the theme, he looked so sweet. He's also getting a bigger humor role in this series, which I always like to see. Yeah Angel, with the sarcasm! My biggest beef is how Angel is sometimes affected by sunlight, but also at the other times is fine. Think about the last scene when he shoves what's-his-name out the window, it was sunlight outside, and Angel was standing directly across from the broken window with sunlight streaming directly inside, yet he's totally unaffected. Oh, and one last thought; does anyone else think that lawyer guy is totally hot?

Cast

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