av Mr Chase » tis mar 09, 2004 22:19
Mr Chases änglalika recension:
7. Angel
This is the "Buffy" we've come to expect. One of the best episodes of season one, we get to learn who Angel is. In retrospect it's maybe hard to comprehend the significance of this revelation, but boy it was good. Angel is of course a vampire, cursed with a soul and helplessly in love with the one who should be his great nemesis -- the slayer. And his feelings are reciprocated.
It is all very tragic of course, and romantic. I'm not that big a fan of the Angel character but this is exactly what they (meaning the show's creators) should do with him. The poor guy must be terribly lonely not belonging anywhere. And as he said, to know the horrible things he did and to care. The pain from having Buffy's cross burned into his skin is nothing compared to the torment of his soul. He didn't even flinch, great scene!
The logical thing to do, as Xander correctly points out, is to waste him. He's a vampire -- she's the slayer! But Xander's opinion must be tainted by the fact that he's got a thing for Buffy. Even Giles seems a bit reluctant at that possibility, and he is her watcher for God's sake! But the mutual distrust evaporates as Angel kills Darla, the vampire girl (who by the way was the one who turned Angel into the fearsome Angelus back in Ireland some 241 years ago) to save Buffy.
Spoiler s2 "Surprise/Innocence":
And the gypsy curse which eventually restored Angel's soul is going to come back and haunt them all big time in later episodes.
Darla is way more assertive and clever in this episode than when we first saw her. But if you're four hundred years old you're bound to pick up a thing or two. To bad she was dusted. At first it seemed a bit silly for the vamp girl to wield guns in typical John Woo style but hey, this is Joss playing with our expectations as usual.
Some nitpicking includes the Three -- they weren't that fearsome and why waste them -- and Darla was way too clever in framing Angel for feeding on Buffy's mom -- how did she know that Angel would show up and that Buffy would come home right after? But I'm willing to let those slide. This was an awesome episode.
Rupert Giles: "I'll be back in the Middle Ages."
Miss Calendar: "Did you ever leave?"