Angel:
Angel:
Anne; Dead Man's Party; Faith, Hope & Trick; All Men Are Beasts; Homecoming; Band Candy; Revelations; Lovers Walk; The Wish; Amends; Gingerbread; Helpless; The Zeppo; Bad Girls; Consequences; Doppelgangland; Enemies; Earshot; Choices; The Prom; Graduation Part I; Graduation Part II
Note: Season 3 is Angel's last season on BtVS; this character now has his own show, airing in fall 1999.
In Anne, Angel appears in a dream sequence of Buffy's -- which probably explains why he's in a daytime scene. In the scene, Angel tells Buffy that he'll always be able to find her, and that basically he'll be connected to her forever. He tells her that forever is the whole point. Good to know that he's still semi-cryptic or wise-man or whatever. As far as we know, he's still in Hell.
Angel makes another dream-sequence appearance in DMP. I have to say it's a change seeing him in sunlight. Anyway, he appears at Buffy's school, where she seems to be the only person around. She's confused, saying she "thought they'd be here." Angel says a few deep, meaningful, cryptic things -- I suppose -- about how everyone is there. And then he just sort of hovers and watches her walk away. You know, this to me says, "spinoff."
Featured in Faith, Hope & Trick are more Angel appearances in the form of Buffy's flashbacks and dreams. But..the biggest surprise comes at the end of the episode, when he's released from Hell -- shaking, utterly distressed, and sort of not-really clothed -- back into the Garden Mansion, at the spot where he was sucked into Acathla's vortex. I guess this means fewer dream sequences and more real-life (real-dead?) Angel to come.
Okay, this is nifty...in AMAB, Angel runs around like an untamed beast, snarling and shirtless. When he runs into Buffy, he just keeps growling and snarling, and she takes him and chains him up in the old Garden Mansion. We learn that Angel may never fully recover his sense of self since he spent his summer in hell..but just when you think there's no hope for his salvation/redemption, he busts in to kill demon Pete. After doing this, he clutches Buffy and says her name twice, so we're left to think that yes, Virginia, he is a vampire of unsurmountable strength, in terms of character, and heck, okay, he's strong in the physical sense too. The following episodes should reveal more of Angel's turmoil, should be fun!
In Homecoming, Angel is pretty much in angst mode. It's probably safe to say that Buffy's the only person who's seen him and talked to him since he dropped back into Sunnydale....Anyhoo, although Buffy's trying to "nurse" him back to life (or undead life?), Angel's probably being assaulted by the memories of the deeds he did as Angelus. When Buffy tells him that she hasn't told Giles or the gang about his return and that she doesn't plan to, all he can say is "Giles..". Angel also looks upset when Buffy tells him that she needs someone solid, someone she can count on...better start packing your bag, Angel. I say "bag" because Angel just strikes me as a light packer.
In BC, Angel's practicing his ballet/martial arts stuff, topless as usual. Buffy appears to bring him some fresh blood from the butcher --not the guy, the butcher shop..I think-- and he tells Buffy that he's getting better, stronger. He asks about her boyfriend, not knowing that that relationship is *pffft. And he tells her that it'll be better when he doesn't need her at all, when he's up to his top physical prowess again. Angel also tells Buffy that he worries about her when he asks about her slaying. Oh yeah, this is quite the build-up for his spinoff...
Revelations brings Angel a step closer to redemption, I think. At least in the eyes of the Scooby Gang -- or, maybe just in Willow's eyes? -- who have just found out that Angel's alive. Basically in this episode, Angel and Buffy do the T'ai Chi thing, then he assists Buffy by getting the glove of Myhnegon before a demon can get to it. Here, Angel gets smacked around some, by Faith, by Gwendolyn Post..and..that's about it. Angel steps in to save Willow from the wacked-out, glove-wearing Post. And he also smooches Buffy a bit. So the gang knows he's back, fun times ahead with this group dynamic. Maybe he'll even show up at the Bronze now before the season is over? Yikes...he's gotta be feeling weird. Also noteworthy, this is the first time that Angel's ever done a spell; he gets ready to do the flaming fire spell thing to get rid of the glove. All in all, an Angel-heavy ep.
Lovers Walk reunites Angel with Spike...sorta. Anyhoo, when Angel finds out that Buffy did well on her SATs, he agrees with her mom and Giles that she should consider leaving Sunnydale to get a good education. When she tells him that there's stuff to stay for, he asks her what, prompting her to gather her stuff and leave. Anyhoo, this episode marks the first time that Angel is seen around Buffy's house since he's gotten his soul back, and the first time he's seen Joyce, as well. Joyce freaks out, which is funny, considering she's with Spike. Anyhoo, Angel's invited back in by Buffy, and he helps Buffy and Spike fight off some vamps. Probably the most interesting thing that happens to him during the fight is that he's felled to the floor by the magic shop door. (Admit it, that was fun to read. Wasn't it? Oh well.)
Anyway, Buffy helps him up and he suggests using holy water bottles to throw at the vamps, which works. Later, Buffy comes by to tell him she won't be around anymore since he doesn't need her and since, as Spike informed them, they can't be friends. Angel doesn't answer Buffy when she asks if he loves her. So I guess this means that Angel's on his own for a while...LA is looking better and better, isn't it? No offense to Angel, but I think Spike should get his own show instead.
The Wish shows what Angel's undead life would've been like had Buffy never shown her face in Sunnydale...basically he'd be the puppy of The Master and his minions. Sure, he'd have no Drusilla to torture him, but Willow fits the bill quite nicely herself. The one thing that remains the same within both worlds is that Angel's destiny is to fight the undead, and aid the Slayer. He tells Buffy when she arrives that he wants nothing more than to kill the Master. Alter-Angel gets dusted when he tries to save Buffy from being killed. It looks like he's getting between her and Xander, but I'd haveta check. Anyhoo...yikes. This guy seems to have the worst karma around.
Amends is another look into the tormented vamp that is Angel. Lately, Angel's been haunted by nightmares of his past, and he is visited by the spirit forms of some of his victims, including Jenny Calendar, Margaret, and Daniel. In order to find out why he's not suffering in some hell dimension, Angel goes to Giles to ask for help. He receives less than a warm welcome, but Giles does agree to help when Buffy asks him to. Anyhoo, Angel sees how ruthless and evil he's been, and he's told by the spirit forms, who are actually these weird high priest spirit bringers for The First, that his destiny is to kill Buffy. He's told that he's worthless, has always been worthless, and that he should kill Buffy. This pretty much drives him over the edge.
Basically, instead of giving in to hurting Buffy, he decides to meet the sun and end his undead life. Buffy shows up to talk him out of it, sorta, and the two scuffle. Angel thinks that dying is sort of his one chance to redeem himself and be strong, but Buffy tells him that that's the coward's way out. It's sort of decided for them when the sun doesn't rise, and a heavy snow covers Sunnydale. Angel leaves with Buffy, and he's kind of smiling.
Okay, so it finally dawned (pun!) on me that Angel is like, everyman. Bear with me, I don't often spout these things on the site, okay? So..it's like, he's this instrument, and he can be used (or use himself?) for good or evil. Okay, so Whistler told him that he could go either way back in Becoming part 1, but it's like he's being reminded of it again here. And pretty much, it's conceivable that that's representative of all of us...yada yada, be evil or "..use your powers for good,", as Buffy told Willow in Ted. Anyhoo, I was just thinking about that while I was watching the end of this ep., that's all. "Friends like to share."
So I guess what Buffy said hit home for Angel...In Gingerbread, Angel appears at the park or wherever that place outside that Buffy is..to tell her that he heard about the dead kids thing. I bet he didn't so much "hear" it as he "lurked" and found out, but that's just me. Anyhoo, Angel does the sympathetic, support-o-vamp thing for Buffy. When she starts to talk about how her frustration in fighting but never winning, about how the evil is always there, he gives her the same speech she usually gives others. Basically the gist is to keep going, -- hey! like the Energizer Rabbit...and come to think of it, Willow's mom did keep calling her Bunny..hmm...I wonder if...jk. Y'know, there's such a thing as reading too much into these things and oops, this is Angel's page, not Buffy's. Anyhoo, Angel manages to convince Buffy that basically she's doing a good by "fighting the fight."
Helpless has Angel asking Buffy about her birthday plans for this year. Yeah, that's what I'd do too if I totally helped make the world suck as a result of the last birthday. But whatever. Anyway, Angel and Buffy do some training, he gives her a birthday present, he outs that he saw her in L.A., and he helps her maybe try to come to terms with the fact that she may not ever get her powers back. Well, I mean, he tries to help her when she freaks about just being "normal" after all that she's seen. He's a good vampy. But it makes me wonder what Angelus might have said that would have totally destroyed Buffy or been heinously evil. But..that's just an aside.
In The Zeppo, Angel reverts to first-season Angel, going to the Bronze to warn Buffy about something. Snicker. He runs into Xander, who asks if he can help, and Angel tells Xander no. It's great. Later Angel and Buffy are having their famous "love you, world ending" chat, which Xander busts in on. Nothing else much really as far as Angel is concerned in this episode.
In Bad Girls, Angel seems to return to the role he created in season 1...namely, hunting Buffy down at the Bronze to tell her what's what. He also seems to incorporate some of that season 2 When She Was Bad mojo...when he sees Buffy "dancing" around millions of guys on the dance floor. Anyhoo, he takes the amulet from Buffy's New Watcher Wesley, and takes off. Later he shows up to tell Buffy that Giles & Wesley are at Jabba the Hutt's place. He goes into vamp mode and does the fighting thing. Fortunately for him, he didn't die by Jabba's Fat Consumption. But if he had died, then no spinoff would happen. Right?
Angel returns to his lurking skills in Consequences. He basically pieces together what happened, and realizes that Faith is kind of having a problem with the killing thing. Interestingly enough, it's Angel who saves Xander from Faith's wicked ways, and it's Angel who tries to help Faith come to terms with what she's done and talk to her about the repercussions. Maybe he coulda made some progress...but he got netted by Wesley's folks when they came to take Faith away. That's pretty much it...I mean the vamp tried to help.
Doppelgangland is a pretty amusing Angel outing. Not only do we get to see him interact with Oz one-on-one for the first time, I believe, but we also get to see him kind of freak a little when he realizes that Willow's not a vamp. Also amusing is when Willow expresses concern about herself as a vamp, Buffy assures her that the vamp doesn't really have any of the person's personality...Angel begins to tell the gang otherwise, but sees that that would be a mistake. Heh. Angel helps in sacking the vamps at the Bronze. One thing I kind of didn't get at first was why he sent Giles and Xander to cover the back door of the Bronze. Because if you think about it, Angel and Buffy are the strongest of the four, so wouldn't it have maybe made more sense to have Angel cover the back door with Xander or Giles? I mean I guess you could make an argument for why they did it this way, but it made me wonder.
Enemies is a fun Angel outing, not only because we learn that it's been a long time since Angel's been to the movies -- say, does anyone else wonder if he saw Interview with the Vampire? -- but also because he loses his soul again, thereby unleashing Angelus! Okay so he didn't really lose his soul, but I'll get to that in a second. Angel successfully warded off Faith's advances after she came to him supposedly freaking about killing a demon. Next thing you know, he's the victim of some kind of spell administered by a hooded guy, with Faith's help. This is probably the first episode in which Angel is called a "chump."
Anyhoo, as Angelus, he makes more witty remarks -- such as the ones we all came to know and love from season 2 -- and he kicks Faith. Oh, don't tell me that wasn't fun! I admit that because I don't read heavily into plot devices or crafting of an episode that I did buy into the loss of the soul. And frankly, it was fun! Although upon second viewing, it's actually fairly easy to see that the Angelus thing was a sham. I say this because of a few instances, for example, the look on his face when he learned that the Mayor was invincible. It looked more like an "Angel's surprised" look than an "Angelus is surprised" look. Also, when he and Faith go to Buffy's house and he compliments Joyce on her hair...it didn't sound that much like Angelus's intonation, really. If you recall when he met her outside the car in Passion, his voice still had the Angelus intonation, even though he was pretending to be Angel. And okay, even on the first viewing when they're doing the chain-up thing, that's when I figured it was a sham. The look he gave Buffy as he "chained" her up just did not say, "Hey, lover, I'm going to enjoy torturing you."
That's pretty much it for Angel; he outs himself as faking it to Faith, and then later when Buffy comes back to say that she wants to cool off, he asks her if she's still his girl. It reminded me of when he and Buffy were housing the spirits of James Stanley and Grace Newman...it was just a very '50s-ish or okay even '60s-ish thing to say.
Earshot info. is on hold for now.
Choices has Angel helping Buffy out yet again. How many guys can say they've strapped their gals into a harness and lowered them into the City Hall? Not many, I bet. Basic fighting of vamps for Angel this time out...also he mouths off to the Mayor during the exchange (the "give us Willow and we'll give you your box of spiders" exchange). When The Mayor gets on Angel's back about how he's dragging Buffy down into some sick relationship that isn't fair to her, he just makes smart remarks until Oz reminds him that hey, they still have Willow at knifepoint. Still, I have to say I liked it when Angel told the Mayor, "You're not my elder, I got a lotta years on you." (Must check quote.) But it seems as though the Mayor's message struck a...nerve with Angel. Later when he and Buffy are in the cemetery doing that couple thing (yeesh), he looks kind of somber. Hey, then again, when doesn't he??
The Prom puts Angel in the position of dumping Buffy for her own good. Partly spurred on by Joyce's speech, and probably partly by the whole "we're as different as night and day" sort of thing, Angel tells Buffy that he'll be leaving town after the Ascension. But he does do the nice thing of showing up for her Prom, after all....plus we get to see him buying some blood from the butchery meat plant place.
Graduation Part 1 shows Angel still trying to be helpful vamp, but Buffy gives him lip because she can't deal with the whole thing about their relationship. Apparently, he'd been MIA since the Prom. In the midst of their fighting, Angel takes a crossbow dart thing, and is felled by the poison. For the rest of the episode he pretty much sweats and looks sick. I'd look sick too if I had to succeed with my spinoff...
Graduation Part 2 puts Angel on the mend. He reluctantly drinks Buffy and then rushes her to the hospital. While there, he has a face-off with the Mayor. Yikes. This ep. features Angel doing battle with the Slayerettes for the last time...he helps out during the Ascension and then he and Buffy look at each other from a distance before he turns his back and walks away from Buffy..from Sunnydale...from, um, I don't have a third thing right now, but just trust me, he's gone. So long, Angel.
NOTE: Although I won't be doing an Angel site, if for any reason he appears in a crossover episode or if a member of the gang pays him a visit, I'll update this page with some news of his character.
Previous Angel Character Page (Seasons 1 and 2).
