Notes: Angel Season One Disc One

Angel sitting at the bar talking to the guy about Buffy at the beginning of the episode is hilarious. I love that bit about "Girls are nice" at the end, before you find out that Angel is faking. Wow. Angel has stakes in his sleeves. That's gotta be pretty dangerous. What if he actually stakes himself? I wonder if they got the approval for the show before the pilot, or if they actually had to shoot the pilot. Looking at the credits, I guess Cordelia is on the show. It looks like Angel has a pretty large place. Very industrial. Pigs blood in the fridge? Gross. What's a Billy D? I wonder what Doyle needs to atone for? "Have you looked in the mirror lately? I guess not." I love that line. It's awesome. I guess no one thinks it's weird that Angel drives a classic car convertible with the roof down at night in downtown LA? For a vampire, Angel has the worst skills at picking up women. It's a wonder he didn't die of starvation a long time ago, but I guess as bad Angel, he just goes in, snatches up the women and drinks their blood. "During the depression... my depression" -- good recovery, Angel! But really, shouldn't he be better at hiding the fact that he's a couple hundred years old? I wonder if Angel shows up on video? For someone as good looking as Angel, he isn't getting a lot of action at a party. Maybe he's just too intimidating? A guy named Stacy? That's gotta be tough growing up. Cordelia just leaves the closet light on, even after drawing the curtain? Why not just turn off the closet light? No milk and sugar? Milk I can understand, but sugar? Does he just drink pig's blood? Angel's lucky she didn't look in the fridge. "He likes pain" -- is Russell a guy into S&M? Angel broke into the public library in the middle of the night to use the internet? Angel could have totally covered for having the note Shoot Russell already, Tina. Why haven't you shot him already? Outside the box? If he's a vampire, how did he manage to go outside, and how did Angel get outside? Maybe it's night now? But it looked like light outside the window. How'd he get in touch with Doyle? What's the deal with Margo? Is she another vampire/demon or is she just a throwaway character? Oh Cordelia... thinking outloud just isn't good for you. Russell's face is all greenish... I wonder why that is? Really, Doyle's going to run away at the sound of gunshots? Oh, I guess not. Wow, how hard did Angel have to kick to break that glass with a $30 chair from Office Depot? How come the ominous music is playing when that Wolfram and Hart lawyer is on the phone?

"Lonely Hearts" We all barely know Doyle. Batsignal joke. That's awesome. Did they shoot inside an actual bar or is it just the Bronze set redone? I love the idea of Cordelia going from table to table handing out cards in a bar. Is the reason Angel said veterinarian is because he's got pig's blood sitting in the fridge. Is Kate the monster of the week? The bartender took a hit by one of the guys, of course he's going to throw them out. Monster of the week is that guy. If he experiences true happiness, he becomes evil again? Really? The girl is the monster of the week? Wow. Threw me for a loop. Angel has a computer now, so he doesn't need to sneak into the library at night now, that's a good thing. How come the internet looks so much better on TV? The high school spaz isn't that good looking, he wouldn't be able to pick her up if she wasn't the monster of the week. Doing it the old fashioned way with a phone book? Gross! What the hell was that bloody thing? Wait, the girl's dead now? Angel getting beat up, that's different. Kate's packing heat... and a badge! The burrower can't be that tough to kill; there's only 13 minutes left in the episode. But if Angel knew what it was, did he just forget what it's weaknesses were? A dawn of time kind of parasite? If he's been doing this every day since the dawn of time, or even since the dawn of the human race of this planet, and he's killed every night since then, how come he didn't die out 30,000 years ago in Africa? I'm assuming that jumping from different species just isn't going to happen all that much... The bartender? Seriously? Jumped from the Asian chick into the bartender? Why didn't the burrower just take off somewhere else? It's obvious that there's too many people looking for him here. Angel saves Kate just in time, but doesn't that mean that the burrower already raped Kate, and how come Kate is okay with that? Yeah, he's going to strike out as long as his forehead is peeling and there's blood on his shirt. That "Who are you?" moment with the grappling hook is very reminiscent of the first Batman movie. This is the second Batman joke in this episode. Homeless guys near a barrel of fire... if you show the gun, you've got to use it. I bet the burrower falls into it somehow. Boy, it's a good thing Kate shot the demon to death. She searched his place? That means she probably saw the pig's blood in the fridge. And when did she have time to search his place when Doyle and Cordelia were there most of the day writing down demon names?

In the Dark Lenny brought a gun and planned premeditated murder? I love Spike's improvised dialog, but he lays out everything we can expect; so there probably aren't going to be too many surprises in this episode. Spoke too soon, it's Oz! I guess that makes sense, that's how the ring can get to Angel from Sunnydale. But how far is Sunnydale from Los Angeles anyhow? Why is Cordelia so happy about Oz being there? Isn't she afraid he's going to go back and tell her what a loser she's become? How come Oz didn't join the cast? Vampire + Werewolf detective show would rock! An unkillable Angel? Well, why not? He's the star of the show anyway, we all know he isn't going to die. Damn! Angel's got a lot of space. An underground tunnel? What the hell is Angel doing? Vampire Taichi? I wonder if Spike followed that girl home and got her to call Angel? Angel had that big wooden stick, how come he didn't just stake Spike? And it seems like Angel has forgotten about the stalker chasing that girl... Oh, I guess he didn't forget about the girl. It's still daylight outside though. Arm in the box? I don't remember that episode of Buffy. Probably need to watch again. Angel's put on the stake bracelets! Angel has such great timing. Stake him already, Angel! Oh Angel... taken out from behind... and hanging helplessly in a warehouse. Wow, hot poker through the belly... Spike's awfully impatient. I bet he's paying the torturer by the hour. The torturer is a vampire? Yeah, I see the torturer running off with the ring. That's pretty mean, blowing holes into the ceiling... Has Spike been chipped at this point? Why isn't he killing Cordy and Doyle? Oh, so that's how he gets around! In the rat-infested sewer tunnels! Doesn't he smell pretty grotesque then? So Doyle can see through walls or something when his face goes all spiky? Or maybe it's just a "Detect enchantments" kind of thing... Oz to the rescue! I was wondering if he was going to ever appear again. The torturer has the ring! I thought so. Yeah, if I was Spike, I'd be pissed too. Marcus the torturer should have tried to get where Angel couldn't get to him. Now he's staked, and all Angel has to do is take the ring from him... Angel destroyed the ring... I guess if he considers himself being the only good vampire, if he isn't using it, it can only do harm. Doyle is human on his mother's side, so how does Angel know Doyle's mom?

"I Fall to Pieces"

Angel drinks coffee?

Creepy. The music is ominous... Whoever this Ronald is, can't be good. Those pills she's popping can't be good either. Music still creepy. Even with Angel around? Wow, Doyle is smart, I totally didn't see his reasoning heading there. This guy Ronald is pretty creepy. Especially after one date. One date, and been chasing her for 7 months? Surgery that saved her sight, and she felt obligated to date him? This is before or afer she saw the hospital bill? Suddenly Doyle's speech makes sense, as it helps set up the motivations for Melissa. Someone watching me for months would creep me out too. She seemed accepting of the police department line; but did she report it? If not, why isn't there a restraining order against Ronald? Eww! Flying eyeball watching his not-girlfriend getting undressed! Kate returns... I wonder if she's a recurring character? Wolfram and Hart I guess handles all the supernaturals in L.A. And that explains the restraining order. "He took this girl's power away and nobody can get it back for her but her" is a very Joss Whedon line. That whole 80% of the brain is untapped is purely a fantasy line. If he can detach his eye, I guess it makes sense he can detach his hands too. That's really creepy. Yeah, I'd freak out too if I found two severed but still moving hands in my bed. The doctor calls, hoping to trap Angel, that's interesting. A paralytic agent, that's a good way of taking down people. He figured out where Angel's hideout is? How'd he do that? That whole eye thing is really creepy. Even the hand attachment thing is creepy. Flying teeth? Eww! His ear fell off? So creepy. They don't have enough money for coffee filters, but they have a fresh can of coffee. This woman must have a ton of plants. She gave them to her co-worker, and now she's giving one to Angel. Cordelia is so funny... "If I hit you in the head, would you have a vision?"