We open at the Brooding Hotel. Wes, Cordy and her new terrible hair style are worried about Angel. Apparently he's been down in the basement for like forever, and is back to being the King of Broodsville. Plus, Wes keeps hearing a "chucka-chucka sound." Cordy gives Wes crap because he was supposed to do the male bonding thing and get Angel to talk about his feelings, but the English version of that apparently boils down to asking about tea preferences. They squabble a bit before realising that the noise from the cellar has stopped. They sprint for the front desk, and try to look like they've been there the whole time as Angel appears. He was doing his laundry, and says that he loves it when things are still warm from the drier.
Lorraine: Two cops are looking into an interrogation room. One of them is taller than the other, so you're officially being introduced to Tall Cop and Short Cop. All of our nicknames can't be instant classics, okay? Also, the closed captioning has them designated as White Cop and Black Cop. Ha. Helpful.
Sweeney: The closed captioning people should really ask us to name peripheral characters like that.
Kirsti: Closed captioning is the best. ESPECIALLY Youtube's closed captioning. That shit is hilar.
Sweeney: The closed captioning people should really ask us to name peripheral characters like that.
Kirsti: Closed captioning is the best. ESPECIALLY Youtube's closed captioning. That shit is hilar.
Between today's Buffy crossover magic and the fact that six episodes of Angel have already taught me that I knew nothing of Darla's excellence from watching Buffy, this episode title has me legit excited already. It begins with Angel sketching Darla (hooray for the Angel/art ship!) and while I know a title like this will earn someone a proper gold star eventually, I give Angel's sketch pad an honorable mention.
Lorraine: I think "Angel's sketch pad" is the best almost gold star we've ever given. Good job.
Kirsti: A+. Also, Angel/art OTP.
Sweeney: Angel/Art is my OTP too. Look at us, agreeing on the important issues!
Lorraine: I think "Angel's sketch pad" is the best almost gold star we've ever given. Good job.
Kirsti: A+. Also, Angel/art OTP.
Sweeney: Angel/Art is my OTP too. Look at us, agreeing on the important issues!
Kirsti: Wes, his nose in a file, wanders across the foyer of the Hyperion. Behind the desk, he goes to open a filing cabinet but finds it jammed. He yanks on it until the entire drawer comes out of the filing cabinet, scattering papers all over the room. Of course this would be the moment when a potential client walks in.
The dude says he's looking for Angel, who Wes says is out. Wes wants to know if he can help. The guy says that it needs to be Angel, on account of his "special abilities". But then he asks if Wes has "special abilities" too, and Wes is all "Oh, totally, on account of that one time I was a rogue demon hunter." Then he slips on a piece of paper and lands on his arse. Oh, honey. You tried.
Lorraine: Slapstick comedy Wes is my least favorite Wes. I can be a fan of physical comedy but it really doesn't do him any favors. Pass.
The dude says he's looking for Angel, who Wes says is out. Wes wants to know if he can help. The guy says that it needs to be Angel, on account of his "special abilities". But then he asks if Wes has "special abilities" too, and Wes is all "Oh, totally, on account of that one time I was a rogue demon hunter." Then he slips on a piece of paper and lands on his arse. Oh, honey. You tried.
Lorraine: Slapstick comedy Wes is my least favorite Wes. I can be a fan of physical comedy but it really doesn't do him any favors. Pass.
Lorraine: Today's episode starts with a flash!bang and a series of fast moving shots through LA. It managed to scare the shit out of me and threatened to give me a seizure. Thanks, show!
Sweeney: This show definitely needs to come with an epilepsy warning of some sort.
K: A+. Like, seriously.
Sweeney: This show definitely needs to come with an epilepsy warning of some sort.
K: A+. Like, seriously.
Sweeney: The episode begins with Lilah snooping around Lindsey's office. Darla appears and creeps about how powerful it feels to rummage through other people's shit. Darla's playing with some bright purple powder that Lilah assumes is how she keeps Angel asleep.
Kirsti: Either that, or Darla's been raiding Cordy's eyeshadow collection.
Lorraine: 1430.
Kirsti: Either that, or Darla's been raiding Cordy's eyeshadow collection.
Lorraine: 1430.
We open with a hilarious scene between Lorne and Angel. Apparently Broody McBroodsalot has been singing karaoke again, this time clown themed. Lorne asks if Angel's been practicing, and yes - in the shower. Personally, I sing while blowdrying my hair because then no one can hear me, but to each their own. Lorne tells Angel that he's reached a bend in the road and needs to work out what to do now, then heads on stage for some singing. Angel, meanwhile, heads over to the bar where Darla is waiting for him. They're schmoopy and Angel is grinning like an idiot, and it makes me very uncomfortable because that's a trait I associate exclusively with Seeley Booth.
Wesley is looking over a photograph of the Hyperion Hotel. He tag-teams with Angel to provide us with the relevant back-story. Essentially, it's big, impressive and has been abandoned for a long time. Cordelia comes in and serves Wesley tea, has a cup of coffee for herself and hands Angel a cup of blood Angel inspects it for a bit before telling Cordelia that it appears to be coagulating. She replies that it's just a little cinnamon and she was experimenting. As one does.
Kirsti: He should consider himself lucky - she could have added crumbled up Weetbix to it like Spike does!
Kirsti: He should consider himself lucky - she could have added crumbled up Weetbix to it like Spike does!
Sweeney: Beginnings are almost as exciting as endings! I just need to insert the requisite number of YAY NEW SEASON exclamation points! There, that's good. We start the first episode of the season with a demon who is green with red eyes and little red horns who is on the long list of faces I recognize from Tumblr. He looks very menacing, but then he starts belting out "I Will Survive" taking a break to tell the audience (at this show, but also us, the viewing audience) about all the nasty things in LA.
K: LOOOOOOOORNE!!!
K: LOOOOOOOORNE!!!
Know what's better for the Snark Ladies than celebrating one end of something? CELEBRATING TWO ENDS OF SOMETHING. WE DID IT!
Season 1 of Angel took some time trying to find its footing, though very little of it was worse than boring. We were reluctant to take on this new project and long commitment, but all said and done, I'm super glad we did.
If the first seasons of Buffy were about using about using the supernatural to metaphorically represent high school, the beginning episodes of Angel were all, "by the way, graduating high school is hell too."
Season 1 of Angel took some time trying to find its footing, though very little of it was worse than boring. We were reluctant to take on this new project and long commitment, but all said and done, I'm super glad we did.
If the first seasons of Buffy were about using about using the supernatural to metaphorically represent high school, the beginning episodes of Angel were all, "by the way, graduating high school is hell too."
Previously: Angel broke into Wolfram & Hart to steal files that would rescue some kids, and The Powers That Be Contriving encouraged him to grab an ancient prophecy about himself...
Kirsti: We open in a dark street, where a shady looking guy is selling a couple of way-too-young-to-be-out-alone-after-dark kids some crappy looking toys. A young blind woman in a VERY unflattering outfit is walking down the street with a cane. (L: K, girl, she's blind.) The shady guy stops her so that he can move his crappy looking toys out of her way. This scene apparently serves almost no purpose because we seizure cut - LESS THAN A MINUTE IN - to Angel fighting some vampires.
Lorraine: I'm pretty sure the point of the scene was to bash us over the head with how completely blind this woman is.
Lorraine: I'm pretty sure the point of the scene was to bash us over the head with how completely blind this woman is.
If fighting in a cemetery is Buffy's go-to opening (with dream sequences being a not-too-far second place) a woman worriedly walking down a street at night is Angel's go-to. That's how we start our episode today. Worried Walking Woman is being followed by three nefarious looking guys and she soon breaks out into a worried jog. She reaches a dead end, and we see the nefarious guys are in fact vampires. She looks pretty SOL until we hear footsteps approaching. One vamp is all, "YOU!" and the music swells and the lying camera zooms in on the YOU!'s feet, so we know it isn't who we expect it to be, despite the black and billowy coat. It is not Angel. It's a black male wearing a bandana. He asks if the vamp was expecting someone else, just as a jeep full of back-up rolls into the shot.
Roll credits.
Roll credits.
The episode begins more or less right after the last, as it's a two-parter. Angel is returning to the Brooding Basement with a very beat up Faith. He gives her a towel and puts her to bed. She says nothing until he starts to walk away. She says his name and we see her beating him up, but it was just in her head. He asks her what she wants. "Nothing," she says. Roll electric cellos.
Lorraine: Dude, if she has those murdery scenes playing in her head all the time, it's a wonder she doesn't kill more people.
K: A+
Lorraine: Dude, if she has those murdery scenes playing in her head all the time, it's a wonder she doesn't kill more people.
K: A+
We start under a freeway bridge. A dude in a beanie approaches some guys and asks what they're burning because EW STINKY. The answer? A human arm. And the guys doing the burning aren't so much homeless guys as they are demons with lopsided faces. I'm going to call them the Crooked Smile demons, because if I have to read about ONE MORE YA love interest with a crooked smile, I will scream and I'm secretly hoping this stops all authors from adding it to their stories.
Lorraine: High hopes, my friend, but I approve.
Lorraine: High hopes, my friend, but I approve.