Heartthrob

Angel Episode Review

In which Angel needs new friends and there is Darla.

What Happened

Angel's welcome back party is wrecked when Cordelia's vision leads him, Wesley and Gunn to a frat party that was crashed by vampires. During the fight, Angel stakes a blonde vampire wearing a locket he recognizes.

Two hundred years ago, Angelus and Darla were being chased across Europe by a vampire hunter named Holtz, who bitterly hated them for murdering his family. They had collected from somewhere a pair of sidekicks, schmoopy-in-love James and Elizabeth (maybe they missed Spike and Dru). On the way out of town, James impulsively broke into a jewelry store and grabbed the locket for Elizabeth.

Back from the flashback, James is seriously pissed when he finds out what happened to his beloved and gets "a cure" from a Slog demon before going in search of Angel. The fight scene is quickly over... only not so much: when Angel stakes James, it has absolutely no effect. Sunlight doesn't work either, so Angel and Cordi escape into the tunnels.

The good news is that James' invincibility has a time limit. The bad news is that he keeps catching up to them. James is thrilled when he realizes that Angel has changed and might care if he kills Cordelia. It all becomes a discussion of Buffy and whether Angel really loves her, and Angel keeps him talking long enough for James to poof.

Later, Angel confesses that he feels a little guilty that he didn't fall apart over Buffy's death and become Self-Destructive Boy, like James. Cordelia tells him that surviving and continuing his work isn't a betrayal. Which is good, because they have to go clear out a nest of demons in Hancock Park...

Off in South America, Darla goes in search of a shaman to explain what's happened to her: she's pregnant.

What We Learned

• If you're Prince of the Underworld, take a jacuzzi once in a while.
• They aren't going to humor Wesley even a little bit.
• Fred is not exactly making giant strides toward mental health.
• Angel should have got hammered and gone to Vegas like Gunn told him.
• The universe has rules. Fred is a big believer in rules, theorems, and formulas. Aphorisms leave her a little dry.
• Angelus knows neither poetry or love, but he know other things, marvelously vile and ripping things.
• Life's full of surprises.
• Life's boring. Darla is full of surprises.
• Angelus isn't a bad bloke. Not once you get to know him.
• It's what they do. They come after you when you're home alone.
• Cordelia doesn't think. She knows.

Best Lines

Gunn: "Who's got time for love, when you're out there doing it with the demons? ... Didn't that come out wrong?"

James: "I would need a thousand years to name the color of your eyes."
Angelus: "They're green. But take your time."

James: "Let's give them a round, what do you say Angelus?"
Angelus: "I'd say you're an idiot, but I'd only be repeating myself."

Angel: "Where's my hurling axe? This is all different."
Cordelia: "I moved some things to the basement while you were gone. ... They were dust catchers!"

What Did I Think?

Goodish season opener. I liked the look back at Angelus and Darla. I'm shallow that way.