City Of...
Angel Episode Review
In which Angel moves to Los Angeles.
That should go well.
What Happened
New pal Doyle directs Angel to a waitress at a local coffee house, Tina, who is trying to raise enough money for a ticket home after seeing her Hollywood dreams go nowhere. At a party thrown by one of Tina's friends, Angel spots Cordelia, fresh from Sunnydale, but is distracted by the sight of a couple of thugs trying to drag Tina away.
Post-rescue, Tina tells him that the thugs work for a businessman named Russell Winters, who has been stalking her. When Tina sees her name on the note Doyle gave Angel, she accuses him of being one of Russell's goons and runs out.Russell finds her at her apartment, reveals himself as a vampire and kills her. By the time Angel gets there, it is too late.
Unknown to Angel, Winters has noticed Cordelia and marked her down as his next target. He arranges it through his law firm, Wolfram & Hart, and is chasing Cordi through his home when Angel arrives to avenge Tina's death. Angel helps Cordi escape and goes to Winters' office the next day. In spite of objections from Winter's lawyer, Angel dumps the vampire out a window, incinerating him.
What We Learned
- It's no surprise Angel's reason for coming to LA started with a girl.
- Girls are nice.
- Doyle's very much human... on his mother's side.
- Exposition is only vaguely more interesting when it's done in an Irish accent.
- Any conversation that includes the phrase "get fleshy with one another" or "young miss puppy thighs" probably includes too much information.
- Angel hasn't looked in a mirror lately.
- When making a run for it, never go home to pack.
- There will always be a building nearby convenient for brooding, with a good view of whatever crime scene needs to be spied on.
- Angel doesn't want to share his feelings.
- Wolfram and Hart is a full service law firm.
- If someone needs to be put in danger at the end of the show, it will most likely be someone with their name in the credits.
- Cordelia is someone. She matters. People will be attracted to her positive energy and help her achieve her goals. She is right where she is supposed to be and... not dying for something to eat.
- Cordelia's from Sunnydale. They have their own Hellmouth.
- Good guys always have mini-explosives lying around to blow fuse boxes. Simply flipping the little switches apparently never occurs to people.
- Russell? Cannot fly.
What Did I Think?
Basic Damsel in Distress. Angel's favorite story-line, showing up time after time, like the whole "Buffy wants a normal life" over on BtVS. So what's different here? Well... Tina does wind up kind of dead.
Of course, Angel manages to save Cordelia, but it is significant that Tina dies. It sets Angel up as a hero, but not a perfect one. He makes mistakes, and his triumphs will be tinged with sadness. His rescue of Cordelia also sets up the central relationship in the series, even more important than the one with Doyle.
As far as Reluctant Heroes go, Angel is kind of unique for two reasons: first, he's not exactly normal and is pretty much not thinking that he'll ever get a normal life. Second, he is more comfortable when his heroics are in the services of total strangers. And that, according to Doyle, is the whole problem.
The point of Doyle's argument is that Angel needs to get out more and engage more with the people he's helping. It's ironic that Doyle asks him, "Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Angel has been playing the image game of being the "hero." He's got the looks (flaring black trench-coat), the moves (bashing heads, jumping into convertibles) and the accessories (hidden stakes on a wrist release). He looks the part of the brooding hero. What's the result? Tina winds up dead.
In the end, Angel doesn't get it done until Cordelia is in danger. It isn't until Angel is faced with Russell's continued threat to her, a person he knows and cares for, that he takes the steps he needs to really take out Winters. This, then, fits back into the Reluctant Hero mold that specifies that the Hero will not take action until one of the sidekicks has been captured.
To be fair, Doyle is right that Angel being loner boy wouldn't be healthy (or very interesting), but it is so cliche that there has to be a personal stake for the Hero in fighting whatever evil is threatening. It seems that for every time someone says they're doing it because it's the right thing to do, nothing ever actually gets done until someone the audience is familiar with is tied to the railroad tracks.