“Five by Five”

 

Episode 18 of Season 1

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“I'm evil! I'm bad! I'm evil! Do you hear me? I'm bad! Angel, I'm bad! I'm bad. Do you hear me? I'm bad! I'm bad! I'm bad. Please. Angel, please, just do it. Angel please, just do it. Just do it. Just kill me. Just kill me!”

 

Original US airdate: April 25th, 2000 (aired directly after Buffy episode "Where the Wild Things Are”)

Rewatched: August 29th, 2022

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• Writer: Jim Kouf

• Director: James A. Contner

• Guests: Julie Benz, Christian Kane, Thomas Burr, Tyler Christopher, Stephanie Romanov, Eliza Dushku

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Faith, after waking up from her coma and wreaking havoc in Sunnydale, arrives in LA and things are not five by five. Faith is loudly and violently living it up in LA when she is approached by Wolfram & Hart. Angel helped a gang member find his conscience and testify, causing a Wolfram & Hart client to be found guilty. Wolfram & Hart thinks sending a rogue Slayer after Angel is a good plan (and they strangely did not know the two had a history with each other…)

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Angel, Wesley and Cordelia first learn Faith is in town when she tries to shoot him with a crossbow (she fails). At first, Wesley is adamant that Faith can be saved. What he says about the gang member having a soul and therefore an urge to do what’s right applies to Faith as well. As Wes says to Angel, “She’s not a demon, Angel, she’s a sick girl and if there’s a chance she can be reasoned with...”

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However, Angel rightly points out that he was nearly able to save Faith previously in Sunnydale. But Wesley, still a Watcher and more inexperienced than now, took Faith and she escaped and turned fully evil. Angel also reaches out to Giles in Sunnydale and learns some of what Faith did after she woke up. While Faith seemed to be making some steps towards redemption in Sunnydale, her arrival in LA seems to have wiped these out. The end of the episode will show, however, that her progress is not gone.

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When Faith feels Angel is not in the game, she attacks Cordelia and kidnaps Wesley, who she tortures for hours. Angel finally manages to track her down (as an aside, the apartment owner was in the hospital so how did Angel get in? Did he detour to the hospital to get permission?) and they fight. It’s an epic fight, ending in an alley in the rain (rain is a strong image for Faith, and rain in alleys is for Angel (losing his soul happened in a rainy alley; as did Angel's ephiphany in season 2, Connor's birth in season 3 and the final scene of the series). What’s interesting is that there was no budget for fake rain, but LA granted them the start of a rainstorm during the filming. At the end of the fight, Faith begs Angel to kill her, but he doesn’t. He hugs her instead. Faith is finally fully willing to be helped. She will later return to both Angel and Buffy as a rehabilitated Slayer.

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The whole episode is interlaced with Angel’s life in 1898 Romania, where we see Darla giving him the gypsy girl as a present and Angel killing her (this seems to differ a bit from Enyos’s telling in “Surprise”, where he mentions that Angel killed everyone who touched her life, but not from Angel’s initial telling in “Angel”, where he says he killed her and was cursed, only omitting the part that Darla gave her to him, and the events shown in “Becoming, Part One”. Later, in “Darla”, it seems that Angel killed the gypsy girl as shown here and then Darla, Spike and Dru killed everyone else, perhaps something that got lost in time in Enyos’s telling, or that he considered Angel’s fault). Angel was able to gain a soul and find redemption eventually. The gang member at the beginning was, too. And so is Faith able to.

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As a final note, despite Angel’s own rocky path to redemption and his ultimate understanding of this, he can be hard on his friends, as he is to Wesley, throwing his failure with Faith in his face. Angel does sometimes seem to forget how hard it is, or rather think it should be easier for others (especially someone like Wesley who needs to grow, but doesn’t actually need redemption), but it may also be that Angel knows forgiveness and redemption can only be found by facing what you’ve done and he doesn’t want Wesley, in this case, to forget his past missteps too easily.

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So, Faith came, made a pact with Wolfram & Hart, tortured her former Watcher, and finally found someone who won’t let her off easy. Faith has a lot to come back from, but she will show that she can be a good and powerful Slayer in the coming seasons.

 

 

“Sanctuary”

 

Episode 19 of Season 1

 

“We’re not in the business of giving up on people.”

 

Original US airdate: May 2nd, 2000 (aired directly after Buffy episode "New Moon Rising”)

Rewatched: September 3rd, 2022

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• Writer: Tim Minear, Josh Whedon

• Director: Michael Lange

• Guests: Elisabeth Rohm, Christian Kane, Thomas Burr, Stephanie Romanov, Alastair Duncan, Eliza Dushku, Sarah Michelle Gellar

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Angel is cutting ties with Buffy and saving Faith. Regarding Faith, Angel brings her back to his apartment, although this prompts Cordelia to take paid vacation and Wesley is not fully on board with coddling the person who tortured him. Wesley is now convinced there is no saving Faith. Angel, however, is going to give it his all, and he manages to make progress. He tells Faith that: “I once told you that you didn’t have to go out in that darkness, remember? That it was your choice, well you chose. You thought you could just touch it, that you’d be okay … but it swallowed you whole.” He tells Faith to deal with the pain and maybe she’ll be free one day, encouraging her to apologize, although Faith may be right in claiming that “There are some things you can’t take back no mater how sorry you are, right?”

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The progress is somewhat interrupted by the arrival of Buffy, set on vengeance. Buffy claims she came to help Angel but is not willing to accept that he has the situation under control. Like Wesley, Buffy is skeptical Faith can be helped. They come to blows, Buffy hitting Angel and Angel hitting her back. Angel also underlines that LA is his city and Buffy isn’t part of his life there. They’d agreed to stay away from each other earlier in the season (although Angel was the one who decided to leave Buffy and Sunnydale). This represents a huge step for both and coming seasons will have fewer interactions, as Buffy seems to accept here that LA is indeed Angel’s city.

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Events come to a head when Wesley warns Angel that the Watcher’s Council is on their way. Wesley initially seems to be going along with the Council’s plan to capture Faith, but even though he disagrees with Angel, he trusts Angel enough not to let the Council take Faith. Buffy, Faith, Angel and Wesley end up facing off with the guys from the Council (and there’s a helicopter). Some anger begins to settle through banding together to save themselves. But, meanwhile, Wolfram & Hart have let Kate know that Angel is harboring Faith. At the end of the fight, Kate arrests Angel, who is unwilling to give up Faith. Buffy is very upset that Angel is willing to die (Kate threatens him with a east-facing cell). It turns out, however, that Faith is already there, turning herself in to face the consequences of her actions. She will remain in prison until season 4 of Angel (season 7 of Buffy). Faith is finally, truly, on the right path.

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In fun facts, Angel learns about Riley. He will meet Riley in the next Buffy episode, when he follows Buffy to Sunnydale to apologize for his anger in this episode. We also see Angel without his shirt in this episode, and he seems to be missing his signature necklace.

 

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“War Zone”

 

Episode 20 of Season 1

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“What am I gonna tell you that you haven’t already learned?"

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Original US airdate: May 9th, 2000 (aired directly after Buffy episode "The Yoko Factor”)

Rewatched: September 9th, 2022

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• Writer: Gary Campbell

• Director: David Staiton

• Guests: Michele Kelly, Maurice Compte, Mick Murray, Joe Basile, David Herman, J. August Richards

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Gunn and David Nabbit get their first appearance in this episode. David Nabbit will have two additional episodes. He’s a billionaire tech guy who hires Angel to get rid of blackmail photos showing him at a demon brothel. Angel is successful. The world is good. But, in finding the photos, Angel comes across Gunn and his gang, who are fighting vampires to survive the mean streets. As David says, “There’s a whole world here that no one ever sees.”

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Gunn and his sister Alonna are living on the streets and fighting the vampire nest which, in turn, is very upset that street trash is taking over their neighborhood. The gang is taking losses, but generally surviving, and when they see Angel, they think he is like all other vampires. As Gunn says, “I don’t need advice from some middle-class white dude that’s dead.” But despite the hostility, Angel wants to help. Unfortunately, neither can stop the nest from taking Alonna and turning her. Gunn later faces off with her and stakes her. When Gunn and his gang and the vampire nest are ready to fight, Angel shows up and calls a truce, staking the leader of the nest and getting everyone else to leave.

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Later, Angel finds Gunn mourning his sister. Gunn tells Angel that he doesn’t need help and he’s going to keep fighting. He’s surprised when Angel only responds that he knows this. Gunn was expecting Angel to try to get him to stop fighting. But Angel knows that the good fight is worth it. Even when you lose people. Angel tries to ease Gunn’s guilt, but doesn’t dissuade him from his path, saying “What else are we gonna do?” He does also mention that he’ll be around and may need Gunn’s help, setting up a partnership that will lead to Gunn joining Angel Investigations.

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Gunn’s role in Angel Investigations (see especially season 5) is not unproblematic. He is introduced in this episode as very much like Angel. He’s a leader and a warrior. Also, he is a POC and has a very different background to Angel, Cordelia and Wesley. While he will become a member of Angel Investigations, he will never be fully clear on his role (he’s a leader and warrior, but Angel is his leader and much stronger than him) and will never fully feel like family. So, while it is wonderful that through Gunn, the Buffyverse gets a main POC character, ultimately Gunn’s presence makes the family metaphor of Angel problematic. Gunn know enough to know he’s not family.

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“Blind Date”

 

Episode 21 of Season 1

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“How am I expected to do battle if I can't even get into the ring? "

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Original US airdate: May 16th, 2000 (aired directly after Buffy episode "Primeval”)

Rewatched: September 19th, 2022

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• Writer: Jeannine Renshaw

• Director: Thomas J. Wright

• Guests: Christian Kane, Thomas Burr, Stephanie Romanov, Sam Anderson, J. August Richards

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Lindsay has a crisis of conscience and decides to leave Wolfram & Hart. He managed to get a blind assassin, Vanessa Brewer, acquitted, but is then told by Holland Manners, a new Wolfram & Hart player, that they need to start creating a traumatic past for Vanessa as she will next be told to kill some kids. Lindsay seeks out Angel, who is skeptical of his motives but willing to help. With Lindsay’s help, Angel steals files (and a scroll that spoke to him) from Wolfram & Hart, saves the kids and kills Vanessa. Although Wolfram & Hart had mind readers do a sweep and they know Lindsay went to Angel (on a side note – Lee is ordered shot dead by Holland for being in talks with a rival firm), ultimately, Lindsay is offered a promotion at the end of this episode. Angel’s initial skepticism is warranted. Lindsay long ago made his choice to value power and money over right, and while he couldn’t let the kids get killed, he isn’t quite ready to turn his back on the power and money of Wolfram & Hart. Lindsay makes the choice to stay. 

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For Angel, this episode presents a turning point. After Vanessa is acquitted, Angel feels powerless. The court failed. He failed, because while he didn’t cause the problem, he couldn’t fix it. He feels his limits. He can’t be part of their world, but he’s also not evil and powerful anymore. The good fight is hard. As Angel says, being evil was easier, “there’s no torment, no consequences. It’s pure. I remember what that was like. Sometimes I miss that clarity.” Because Angel is powerful and old, it’s hard to remember that he is fairly new to fighting evil. While Angel will eventually give the vampire with a soul a more nuanced background, we know already that he got his soul in 1898 and was living on the streets before Buffy was called as the Slayer. Angel only starting fighting evil with Buffy and at first, he was reluctant to fight, only helping Buffy with intel. Even once he fully joined the Scoobies, with Buffy, his limits were less limiting. Buffy could do what he couldn’t, and while Angel has Cordelia and Wesley in LA, he doesn’t have the Slayer. He needs to step up, be the leader and decider, and navigate the hard road of fighting evil. This episode underlines this burden.

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However, the scroll Angel saw turns out to be the Aberjian prophecies, which were thought lost. Although Wesley is not done translating, there seems to be a passage about Angel (or the vampire with a soul), which will be the all-important Shanshu Prophecy. Angel will soon know what he’s fighting for. This will not make it any easier.

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As a final note, the episode has a bit of a crossover, with Cordelia calling Willow to help with decrypting files, although Willow is neither seen nor heard.

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“To Shanshu in L.A.”

 

Episode 22 of Season 1

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“He helps the helpless.”

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Original US airdate: May 23rd, 2000 (aired directly after Buffy episode "Restless”)

Rewatched: September 24th, 2022

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• Writer: David Greenwalt

• Director: David Greenwalt

• Guests: Elisabeth Rohm, Christian Kane, Stephanie Romanov, Sam Anderson, Todd Stashwick, Carey Cannon, Randall Slavin, David Herman, J. August Richards

 

This is the episode of Angel where the all important Shanshu Prophecy is translated by Wesley and Angel figures out what he’s destined to do. It’s also an episode where Cordelia begins choosing helping the helpless, starting the process of her truly choosing the good fight out of empathy rather than convenience. And David Nabbit makes his 2nd appearance, although it doesn’t do much plot-wise to have him there (evidently, he was supposed to become a regular guest character, but that didn’t work out), and Gunn helps Angel again. Kate is still out there hunting the supernatural and angry with Angel. Also, Angel’s apartment and office get blown up. Finally, Darla returns. An exciting end to the season.

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Let’s look at Wolfram & Hart first. The demon Vocah comes to LA and is very upset that the Scrolls of Aberjian have been stolen by Angel. Vocah is upset that Angel has the scroll, claiming his connection to the Powers That Be is complete. It is very heavily hinted at in the Buffy episode “Amends” that’s Angel’s return from the demon dimension he was sent to by Buffy was due to the Powers That Be, or at least in part, and that they have a plan for him, as they sent miracle snow so he couldn’t commit suicide by sun. This is the first overt mention of Angel being important to the Powers. Vocah sets out to severe Angel’s connection by killing the Oracles, stealing the scroll back (although he also needs this to raise Darla), and trying to take Angel’s friends out. Vocah gives Cordelia non-stop visions that lead to her being hospitalized and nearly catatonic and Wesley is hurt when the bomb Vocah left in Angel’s apartment explodes. Angel is able to figure out what’s going on with the help of the ghost of the female Oracle, and he gets the scroll back from Wolfram & Hart – but not before they complete the raising. Angel ends up cutting off Lindsay’s hand to get the scroll and then uses it to cure Cordelia, who wakes up with her new mission to help all the people she saw in her visions. Angel never sees what Wolfram & Hart raised. Only the viewers learn it is a very scared and confused Darla.

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While Darla being raised, plus Cordelia’s passion for helping and Gunn’s continued role in helping Angel Investigations, will continue to be important in coming seasons, more important is the prophecy. Wesley first translates the verb “shanshu” as to die, which seems to indicate that the vampire with a soul will face a lot and play a crucial role in the final battle only to die. This news does not seem to upset Angel and Wesley is worried. He thinks that Angel is so cut off from the world that death doesn’t bother him. As Wesley says, “he’s got a soul but he’s not part of the world.” Both Wesley and Cordy want to help Angel feel connected. However, as has been mentioned a few times this season, most notably in “In the Dark” and “I Will Remember You”, Angel is good at what he does because he’s not part of the world. He helps those that can’t be helped by the normal systems. Although, perhaps as this season progressed and Kate stopped helping Angel and Wolfram & Hart used the legal system for evil, Angel realized more that he also needed to be part of the world – like in the previous episode where Wolfram & Hart used the system to their advantage and Angel couldn’t stop them. So maybe the point is balance – Angel needs to be a bit apart and a bit in to be of help and now, he’s fully detached and not afraid of death. However, as the episode progresses, it’s clear he is connected, especially to Cordelia. He is very upset when she is in the hospital and stresses that they are family. So clearly, Angel has Cordelia to live for. So not all is lost. And, at the end of the episode Wesley realizes he has translated shanshu a bit wrong. It does mean “die” but also “live”, so it means that Angel will become human, to live and die as a normal, if he fulfills his destiny. Now, Angel really has something to live for. He can be human after the final show down of good and evil, when he is, hopefully, no longer needed as a helper of the helpless.

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Additionally, last episode’s theme of choices is revisited, with Angel realizing Lindsay has made his choice. Lindsay losing a hand feels a bit like karma.

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On a final note, I have always been a bit skeptical of Angel’s theme of family. Wesley and Angel have a distance to them, Gunn also never feels truly integrated, nor does Fred. They are friends who depend on each other and work well together, but not a fully cemented family. It felt different with Doyle; he and Angel had truly connected, and it always feel different with Cordy. She and Angel are truly family to each other. Even before Cordelia fully chooses fighting the good fight for herself, she chooses Angel. This episode really emphasizes how much the two care for each other. It is also Cordelia who helps keep Angel Investigations together, bridging the gap between Angel and the others, and once she is no longer there in season 5, the group nearly falls apart.

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Thus, season 1 ends in an episode packed with actions and themes that will keep coming up throughout the next four seasons.

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