Wolfram & Cast
This is not your grandsire’s podcast! In Wolfram and Cast, long time Angel fan Steven Youngkin host an Angel Podcast geared toward Buffy and Angel fans who have seen the entirety of both shows and want a more in depth discussion than a simple recap and review. Each episode of Wolfram and Cast will focus on one episode of Angel, but we will touch on greater themes and character arcs from the entire series, so a spoiler warning is in effect.
Wolfram & Cast
From Dark Alleys to Emotional Depth, The Journey of Angel's First Chapter
Have you ever wondered how a show like "Angel" matures from its monster-of-the-week roots into a richly woven masterpiece of serialized drama? Join me, Steven Youngkin, as we navigate the fascinating seas of change that define "Angel's" first season. From its darker, detective noir beginnings, we trace the series as it carves its own path, spotlighting the extraordinary growth of characters Wesley and Cordelia, and examining the complex landscape of heroes and villains within the Buffyverse.
Venture with us through the highs and lows of character arcs that challenge the boundaries of good and evil, particularly through the likes of Doyle and Whistler, and the soulfulness of demons. We celebrate the narrative finesse of Joss Whedon's storytelling, acknowledging the carefully crafted developments that lay the foundation for future seasons. Emotions run high as we discuss the art of character deaths, and how these moments not only tug at our heartstrings but pivot the series in new, thrilling directions.
To cap off our journey, we reminisce about the lines and scenes that have indelibly imprinted themselves upon the hearts of fans, from poignant goodbyes to moments of levity that showcase the show's dexterity. Our episode is a heartfelt ode to "Angel's" inaugural season—a retrospective collage of the moments that make us laugh, cry, and yearn for more. So, if your heart longs for Angel's broody charm and the nostalgia of the show's early days, our episode is your gateway to reliving the magic.
Hello, welcome to Wolfram and Cass. An angel retrospective. I have longtime fan, stephen Yonkin, who admits that his love of the series also began with a girl. I am Britten Blonde Slayer.
Speaker 2:In this podcast I'll be doing a deep dive discussion on the Buffy spin-off show, angel, one episode at a time, with spoilers for both series. I have chosen to focus on Angel because, as a fan of the show, I feel that even 20 plus years after the show premiered, it still has themes and ideas that are worth discussing. Thus, for each episode, I will go over what worked, doesn't work and all of the ideas and themes that the show puts forth. In this week's episode, I will be reviewing the first season of Angel. Like the series it was spun off from, angel also took a while in the first season to find its footing. In this case, it was because it wasn't sure what type of series it wanted to be.
Speaker 2:It started off as an episodic detective noir show with the main character in his quest to atone for his past sins, helping a different victim, usually a cute young woman, each week. The concept was simple. Doyle would have a vision. He would give Angel his weekly assignment. Angel, working as a detective, would find the victim and help them through their problems. This was a concept the main character helping out a different person each week. That is a form that has been long practiced in television, from the fugitive to have Gunwild travel to the Incredible Hall, to Quantum Leap and so on. In all of these shows, while there might be an underlying arc, it was more of an excuse to justify the series and there was rarely any forward momentum in the arc. Each episode was separate and few built upon previous stories and that was how Angel began, with him helping each victim. But approximately halfway through the first season it changed and became more serialized, not as much as it would become in the second season and beyond, but the episodes did expand upon previous stories and it got more away from victims of the week to the plot centering around Angel and his team and, unlike episodic shows for characters rarely chained in Star Trek, there was no growth in the characters of Kurt Bach or McCoy and they ended the series the same way they began it.
Speaker 2:Angel did start to alter the team Just in the first season. Wesley went from bumbling, weakling who got knocked down in every fight, to trusted, confidant who could hold his own in a battle, and Cordelia went from a vain, shallow princess who made airheaded comments to a more mature woman at the end of the season who understood her plagues in the universe and what her role was, and the show also moved away from relying heavily upon its parent show. At the beginning it was dependent upon guest stars such as Bach, oz and Buffy to keep interest in the stories and doing a number of crossovers with Buffy, sometimes forming a two hour event when the shows were originally aired back back on the WB network. But by the end, while it might make references to Buffy, they created their own universe of characters with the heavier use of its main antagonist, wolfram and Hart. And it's Wolfram and Hart that also changed the most in the first season. Originally it was a faceless law firm used to represent the prevalence of evil in the world. The attorneys would routine each episode, all of them remaining nameless and being replaced with a new one each time the firm appeared. But soon the show gave the attorneys name Lila, lee, lindsay, holland, and it also had them returning to give them distinct personalities Lila was confident in conniving, lee was ultra creepy and self-serving, and Holland was the calm, quiet but very dangerous and cold father figure. And Lindsay especially, was given complexity. In the first episode, where he had no name, not even on his business card, he was charming and intelligent, but at the end of the season, where he was given a bit of a background, he became the chief antagonist for Angel, and someone we knew we would be seeing much more of in the seasons to come. So with all of that in mind, there is one and only one question With the changes the show had over the season, did it improve or decline in quality?
Speaker 2:Well, before I get into my general comments about the season as a whole, I just want to read a few comments that were made by listeners on Facebook in regards to previous episodes. First of all, one from Fred Shoemaker, who asked where did you find Angel? I can't find it at all. And to Fred, just one comment that the show is available on Hulu, a streaming service similar to Netflix, and can be subscribed to by going to wwwhulucom. And for Hulu it also has a wide variety of movies, old and new, as well as their Fred TV series. Now, for me, I watched it on Hulu a lot of times, but also I have watched it on my DVDs that I have, because, nicely, with the DVDs you have additional commentaries on the number of the episodes, so you can find out a little bit more background about each of the episodes. So if you're a person who wants to get more information on the show, I recommend getting the DVDs, which you can buy on any DVD selling site or nowadays that use DVD stores for a very reasonable price.
Speaker 2:And also, in regards to the episode warzone that I did a few episodes back, douglas Massari wrote simply great episode, and Buffy and the Art of the Story left a comment saying I thought Angel showed a lot of growth as well, as I read is not calling Cordelia and Wesley when he was trapped as his desire to be the lone hero and do it all himself, at least not to admit he needed anyone. But at the end he tells God he might need him. Maybe he was influenced by the community he didn't belong to and, you're right, he does hate cell phones. Now my response to that one, just very briefly, is the fact that I did read that scene differently. As the Wike he didn't call them, and it wasn't so much that he wanted to be on his own, because that came across more in season two, where he did purposely distance himself from the team in order, to quote protect them from Darwin Drizella. Here it was more of a oh yeah, I forgot you were there because when they did limb out he wasn't upset that they were there or I don't need your help. It was more oh yeah, I did forget that. I could have just called you, especially when he started making the different excuses about the phone after Wesley had pointed out that could have just as easily had called them and saved a lot of time and effort. As shown at this point in the season and in the series, he had no trouble turning to Wesley and Cordelia for assistance on research or fighting or however needed to help. And same thing with Gunn in later episodes, as we saw, like in Blind Date, he had no problem turning to Gunn very quickly for assistance in terms of breaking into Wolfram and Hart.
Speaker 2:Another comment made by Buffing the Art of the Story was Gunn mentions Alana in a future episode that I can't recall, which my best member is. He calls someone else by her name and for audience members who recall the backstory, it signals the guilt he still feels over not saving her from becoming a vampire. Now I will admit, when I was discussing the episode I had made the mention that he never talked about her ever again. I'll have to keep an eye out because, I will confess, I haven't had a chance to go and see which episode he referred to her later on. And I'll have to keep an eye out, or an ear out, for when he does bring up his sister in a later episode and see how it's being used, if it's reference to a past guilt or just a reference side reference or however, because at this moment I didn't recall him ever mentioning so. If any listeners out there do know what episode he did bring her up again, please feel free to leave that on Facebook.
Speaker 2:And last thought, it never occurred to me that angels' demons, have souls. I read them as more nuanced than in Buffy, but we get at least one demon in her world who seems like a good person, so to speak, spike's friend Clem. But you make a good point, as there are a lot shown in the angel that don't appear to be evil at all. What a soul does or why it matters varies so much in the Buffy verse and that's the thing I've mentioned a couple of times when discussing the episodes is the fact that we do see a number of demons in the angel universe who are not evil. They're not outkill. In fact, that was established very quickly in the episode becoming on Buffy, when Whistler even said not all was out for world domination or whatever, where he was just a demon.
Speaker 2:Yes, and same thing with Doyle. Doyle was a demon, but he was not out to cause any harm to anyone, just out to make a fast buck. And then even others, like Barney, yeah, he was evil in the sense that he was willing to sacrifice Cordelia's eyes. We found out they were valuable, but that was more amoral than it was evil, I would perceive, as compared to the demons that we see in Buffy or, of course, the vampires who have no souls, and I think that is the main difference here is a lot of the demons that we see in the angel universe do have souls and, as you notice, when even the two vampires that we know and love got souls, they switched from being evil to being good. And in the case of Spike, yeah, he still did starkey things, but it was with a more good motive. Probably the most evil thing he did after gaining a soul was just anointing the tears out of Angel, which he did that one just for share fun in season 5. As we saw in the angel universe, though, the ones who have no souls end up being pure evil and cold hearted. The biggest example of that is in the episode I've Got you Under my Skin, where Ryan the sun is shown to be without a soul, but he's not a demon, but he is still very evil. And one last comment was from listener Lamont Brown, who wrote about Warzone, saying yeah, the way they use the soul in Buffyverse is all over the place, but then again, in the real world, religion and our sense of humanity can at times be all over the place. Well, it is interesting to dissect in care of heart, though it just tends to be this endless pit where there seems to be no end.
Speaker 2:Now for the general comments in regards to the season as a whole. The question I asked was did it improve when it got away from being episodic and became more serialized and focusing less on victims of the week and more on the team itself? Easy answer yes, it became a lot better. As you'll be able to see when I do my various segments here favorite lines, favorite kills, favorite episodes, so on of the season. Most of them actually come from the latter half of the season, because that is when the show figured out exactly what it was and the common thread here with Buffy as well as Angel and, as a side reference to the TV series Dollhouse, a lot of the Joss Whedon shows for Dollhouse, buffy and Angel all three of those shows took about half of the first season to figure out what it was doing and to better establish the characters, even though in all three shows they had good characters from the beginning and very good writing at times. So that's not saying those episodes were bad, but the focus of the show or the overall tone they wanted to take with the show took a few episodes to work out the king, as it were, and with Angel that was most definitely that. Once it started getting less reliant on a standard victim of the week, film noir type show and all the Batman references and became more.
Speaker 2:Let's focus on the characters themselves, because that was always Joss's strength is characters. That man knew how to create complicated and interesting, yet likable and funny characters. He did in Buffy, with Oz, spike, giles, willow, solar, drizella, etc. Well, an Angel, once he got into his groove. He also gave us good characters by expanding upon characters like Wesley and Cordelia, and then giving us characters like Holland, manners, doyle and then also Lindsay and, as we'll see in the second season, fred and Lauren also being introduced as well, and then basically the entire team being mixed together in ways that were interesting and by making it more serialized and less episodic, as I mentioned in my general comments in my intro, that, as great of a show as Star Trek is and before fans start writing in and say Star Trek is one of the greatest shows ever, it is a beloved show of mine. I absolutely love the series. Kirk, spock, mccoy are iconic characters, so my comment about them was not criticizing the show in any way. I absolutely love it Because those three especially are classics of television and movies.
Speaker 2:But the thing is, though, those characters, at least in the series itself, never grew, they never expanded, and that was the same thing with other episodic shows. For example, the characters on Law and Order never truly change over the seasons, even though that show was on the air for 20 years. And those characters never alter and once again, that's not disparaging the show, dick Wolf would probably say. I don't intend for them to change or to grow. It was meant to be the case of the week A dead body is found. We have to figure out who did it and what crime was, and will they be evicted or acquitted? That is the focus of that show. It wasn't on giving us deep, long character arcs. Well, with Angel, that's how it started and it looked like in the first several episodes that was going to go. It was basically going to be Law and Order, as it were, of the Buffy Universe, with no one episode truly building upon any prior one. But once it got into a serialized show it did allow the characters to grow and breathe and to make the plots more involving and interesting and to give us something like a Shanshu prophecy which will come into play for the next four years after that final episode.
Speaker 2:Now the next comment I want to make is about Wesley vs Doyle. Now, it's very clear that Wesley probably would not have been introduced into the show had Glen Quinn remained with the series, simply because both of the characters serve a similar purpose to provide information to Angel, background information and to act as his hunch to guide and give him advice. He wouldn't have needed two characters to do it and two characters to act as friends. So the question is, who was better Wesley or Doyle, at least in the first season, because Wesley of course has the advantage of a huge long arc expanding over seasons 2 through 5. Now one comment about Doyle. As listeners who have heard my previous episodes discuss, I love Doyle. Doyle was a great character.
Speaker 2:The late Glenn Quinn brought a nice self-effacing humor to his character, where he was never over the top, he never pushed any lines, and the wonderful thing about him was he was honest about himself, because one of the great examples of that was early on when was revealed to be very proficient at using the computer and Cordelia makes a snarky comment about oh yeah, it's probably from all the time he's been surfing porn and Doyle without Lincoln, and I says you wouldn't be wrong, and it was one of those. Yeah, I admit it, I surf porn on the computer. And that was how honest he was about himself. He's not ashamed, he's not proud, he just hates except me for who I am. Love me, hate me, whatever. And that's what made his character so interesting, so charming, so warm and wonderful, why it's understandable why fans liked him so much, always from the very beginning, from his first time he appears in City of and the tragic thing is because of Glenn's problems behind the scenes, behind the camera, with his alcohol problems and other personal problems he was going through.
Speaker 2:They had to rush his storylines and, as I comment, when I had reviewed the episode of Hero, it felt almost like they're shoving together five seasons of Doyle, or sorry, shoving together years of a character or growth of him into one episode, one or two episodes. It would have been interesting to see, if he had remained with the show, how his character would have turned out, because one rumor or thing that people have commented a lot of times online was that he was originally supposed to come back in season four as the evil More was serving the role that Cordelia did. It would have been interesting. I'm not sure how much I would have liked it, because, in fact, we still had so much affection for Doyle I'm thinking. Well, he would have done a better job than Charisma did playing evil, and it would have been a very interesting approach to see him now, maybe possibly guiding Angel. It's the same way he guided Angel More, I think about the more interesting that would have been. That would have been a nice hutch. So we'll never, unfortunately, ever see that, and that is a tragic loss.
Speaker 2:That being said, though, his departure did allow for the introduction of Wesley and that I have stated many times. Wesley's character arc is the single best one in either show, even outdoing Willows. His character growth from ineffectual weakling to strong, confident friend is so wonderful to watch. It is so subtle. They never rush anything with him. Everything builds upon each other. As I mentioned, throughout the episodes, and as I mentioned, with a couple of the best ofs for this season, wesley's name will come up again.
Speaker 2:Another strong thing that they did very well was the retooling of Wolfram and Hart. As I mentioned the intro. Originally it was going to be this faceless law firm that was going to represent the prevalence of evil, sort of the equivalent of the first, as it were, and this one just showing how evil has seeped into all corners of society, corruption, etc. And by bringing out a new attorney each episode, who was nameless, would make threats against angel, and when angel one, the attorney would disappear into the bowels of Wolfram and Hart. Who knows what would happen to them? But a new one would be cranked out in episode or two later, also nameless. I'm not sure if that could have lasted for five years, because that would have just gotten boring and we wouldn't have gotten to know any of these attorneys. Well, it wouldn't have made the firm any more interesting because it would have been this vague, amorphous piece of evil that we wouldn't have truly understood, and I'm not sure if that could have been sustained for five seasons.
Speaker 2:So the smart move that they did was, with the episode the Ring, where they gave an attorney a name, we met Lila and she introduced herself as Lila and we got to see more of her. We got to see her have a personality, as opposed to me, who was creepier, or any of the other attorneys who well, with the exception of Lindsay, who I'll get to in just a moment, with Lila we got to see her have charm in danger and we wanted to see a little bit more of her. And then, by bringing back Lee in five by five, bringing back Lindsay in the same episode and then, at the end, introducing Holland Manners, now we got to see more of the firm. Now we wanted to see more of the inside, the machinations of the firm as a story explained to us, more of how it worked, with the shamans who were vampire detectors, the fact that they had mind readers and Lila just making the for a way comment about the one attorney who had to eat his liver when he disappointed the senior partners. By learning more and more facts about the firm A, they became more interesting and B, they became more dangerous, because we could see how truly powerful they were.
Speaker 2:And then also, by giving the attorneys, in particular Lila and Lindsay, personalities, we could allow for almost a little mini subplots going on in later episodes, with the two of them just working against each other, or later on when they bring in Gavin, who's not as interesting. But at least it provided for some other subplots. It allowed the show to vary itself more and not be entirely victim of the week. But overall, what the first season did correctly in the second half, as a good first season should do, it's at the stage for season two, exactly in the final episodes, where it reintroduced Darla in the final shot. So now, as I'll mention later when I discuss her in the future section, it made the fans wonder what impact is she going to have on the series and on Angel? Also, it gave us Lindsay's vow of revenge and also Leia's see, a little bit of his obsession that he was going to have with Angel, where it wasn't so much. Oh well, angel is my opponent. I must defeat him.
Speaker 2:The way the firm viewed Angel at the beginning no, even in Shanshu you could sense there was something personal there, especially in that final scene where Haaland said don't worry, we'll get back at him for you. And you can see the look in Lindsay's eyes of oh yeah, this is personal now, not just because of his hand, but because he felt humiliated by Angel and he would do anything to get back at him, and that would lead to some very good episodes. And then, of course, the MacGuffin of the entire series, the Shanshu prophecy the vampire with a soul will become human again. That is going to become the driving force for the next four years, all whip until the final episode. And that allowed for a reason for the show to exist, because before that it was just more a vague. Well, you were a bad guy before, so now you should be good. But there was anger motive other than just being good, for goodness sake. But now there was an actual goal hey, if you do these tests, if you pass these tests, if you stop these apocalypses, then you will get your reward. At the end, you will become human. And so it gave an overall arc to the series will Angel become human. So it was equivalent almost to the fugitive. Where we had a reason for watching that show when that was on was would Richard Kimball ever find the one? Our man in clear's name in the incredible hall? Would Bruce Bader ever find the cure for his situation? So on and so forth. Series like these, even if they want to do episodic shows, should have an overall arc driving it forward, because the ectfiles did the same thing Mulder trying to find the truth of what happened to his sister, etc. And the Shanshu prophecy is now the arc that will give Angel its forward momentum. And then the final thing that it's at the stage for in the final scene is Cordelia's maturation.
Speaker 2:As I mentioned the intro at the beginning of the season and the beginning of the series, she wasn't that far removed from Queen C in Buffy, vayne Blunt, borderline, tactless at times and also occasionally making air headed comments, and that's not a character I think I could have put up with, especially as a main character. It's one thing to give us a very much of a side character, like Harmony in season five, where, yes, she never really changed that much and she was everything I just described, but she was very much of a guest character show up for one scene or two, make some air headed comment and then move along. She was not a principal character in the show. Cordelia was a principal character and in fact for Angel it only had three principal characters for them in the first season, angel Doyle, cordelia, and then later Angel West, cordelia that's all they had. Everyone else were guest stars. So if you made somebody like that, just an air headed bimbo who would say whatever she was thinking, that wouldn't have worked. She blended in well on Buffy because they had a larger cast of characters, so she wasn't as front and center. On Angel she was very much front and center and so the smart move they did was by giving her the visions and then, in Shanshu, by making her realize her place in the world, that what she had was not too much a curse but a gift, and also realizing there are others out there who are much worse situation than she is, and to see that her purpose for having these visions isn't as a way to make money. Which is how Cordelia viewed their goal, their mission statement in the first half of the season, which was oh, we need to help these people so that we can get rich. No, now she's saying we need to help these people because they need to be helped, and it's the right thing to do. So that made for a more interesting character and even though, as I've mentioned many times and as I'll mention over the next few seasons, they made many mistakes with her, but this was a good step in the right direction for and it allowed us to have a character who we wouldn't mind seeing as a prominent character in the future episodes.
Speaker 2:Now, the next thing that I want to discuss are my favorite lines of the season. Now, for each of these favorites, what I want to do is list the top 5, from 5 to 1, and give brief comments about each one of these. So, for favorite lines of the season, this one, just like with some of the others, I won't deny was tough at times because a number of the episodes, especially in the dark, when I had first reviewed that episode with my co-host, carrie, I had told her when we were doing the favorite line no, you're not allowed to just say everything Spike says in that episode. It had to be one line, and so I won't deny, I could have done top 5 just from that episode alone and still have to fight with myself in terms of what were the 5 best lines from that episode. So this was not an easy list to put together by any means. And then also, as listeners might have been able to discern when I was picking favorite lines, it wasn't as much oh, these are the funniest lines, these are the coolest lines.
Speaker 2:Now I was looking for lines that furthered a character, that furthered a theme of the episode or of the show as a whole, because that was one of the strengths of the show as well. As Buffy, his dialogue wasn't just cool flottable lines. No, these were lines that were written specifically to further a character, to further a concept. The really good lines had that impact and these were the top 5 lines I felt in the first season had that impact. And the first one is from the episode Rune With A View.
Speaker 2:Now this line from that episode.
Speaker 2:This was near the end of the episode where she was having her confrontation with Maude and first time she had the confrontation with Maude, maude was able to verbally beat her down and make her feel bad about herself and make her feel like a loser, but now with this one where she outright called her a loser and that she's no good whatever and was trying to convince her to commit suicide.
Speaker 2:The way Maude managed to do with the other women who had moved into that apartment Well, with this line where she stood up and just looked at her and said I'm not a snibly oney little cry Buffy One. That was a nice little throwaway comment about her opinion of Buffy, but also is the fact that it showed her to be stronger woman, that this is a woman that, yes, may have had her flaws, she may be tackled. She may say exactly what she's thinking at times, but she does have an internal strength and it was the first step forward of that character in the series I was saying later in Shanshu came across even stronger, but now, in this case here, she was not going to let any woman beat her down. She is not going to let anyone make her feel bad about herself or feel like a loser, and that was a good step forward. Number four is from the episode I've Got you Under my Skin.
Speaker 3:Father doesn't have to be possessed to terrorize his children. He's his sister.
Speaker 2:This one, for that episode was my easy pick for their best line of episode. And this was an easy pick for the top five list because, as I stated earlier, wesley had the best arc of the series and, like Hordelia, if he had stayed the way he was at the beginning in a factual, plumsy, goofy, sometimes whiny at times I would not have been able to put up with him for five years. It was one thing to keep him once again as a supporting character on Buffy, where he was brought in mostly to make Giles look cool. That was his main job to elevate the Giles character so that Giles looked a lot better compared to Wesley, because Wesley is the one who is wrong at every turn, is the one who will make the stupid comments, like by trying to hide his evidence. He's now told us where it is or something like that, spelling out what everyone already knows. I would not have been able to put up with that for five years because that would have been a boring, annoying character. With the episode I've Got you Under my Skin and that he lied about his father, it made us suddenly rethink the character, just with one line, that this character was probably the way it was because his father verbally and possibly physically abused him, that this was a father who was cold towards him, who did terrorize his children. Because that's why I like the use of the word terrorize, because that was the first thought that comes in the Wesley's head and that tells gives us a lot of backstory that we could fill in our minds about him and as a result, he became less comic relief and someone who was far more sympathetic and interesting.
Speaker 2:Number 3. This line come from near the end of the episode states the underlying theme of the series, which is that Angel, and well as all of us, has a place in this world, that we all serve a purpose. We might not know what it is, it might be unknown and we might feel useless, but we do serve a purpose, we do have a place in this universe, for good or bad. That our existence affects somebody else in some way, affects events in other people's lives, and so there is a design. It may be chaotic, we might not understand it, but it does exist and that is a powerful message and that is a thing that all of us need to remember that, no matter what, we do serve a purpose, and I can't criticize any show that has that as its sincere message for the audience Number 2.
Speaker 2:From the episode hero If I had a pick most touching moment of the series, it would have to be that line, especially at the end. And I would say of all the episodes of the series, with the possible exception of a hole in the world with Fred's death. And when we get into that episode I'll have a deep discussion which one was the more powerful death or more heartbreaking death, doyles or Fred's, because there is arguments that can be made for either one and I will say right now the series handled both of them superbly. And for this one, that final line where at the beginning of the episode, when he is saying that is that it am I done, it's done in a comical vein, as he is reading that commercial, doing the commercial for angel investigation, our rats are low, and so on, in which it's done just to make you smile, and once again Glenn Quinn sells it.
Speaker 2:But at the end of the episode, after he has died, and we hear that line again is that it am I done? It now has a different meaning. It's not. Am I done with this commercial? Can I go to the bar now? Is am I done with my mission? Life is that it? Is that all I have to accomplish? Have I achieved what I meant to achieve and, once again, very powerful message that most shows don't have the guts to go for, or something a little bit deeper or something a little more powerful. And while I like about it was, it's essentially the same clip we saw at the beginning, slightly different but not much. But now that he has died, we as an audience just like angel and Cordelia who are watching it now have a different view of it, and it goes funny to heartbreaking and that easily makes it number two. And it would have been number one except of the number one line that I had to go with, which is from the episode city of look at me.
Speaker 3:I pay my taxes, I keep my name out of the paper and I don't make waves in return. I can do anything I want really as heartbreaking as is that it am.
Speaker 2:I done is and once again, absolutely love that line and the delivery of it. If I had to think of any one line from the series, and especially from season one, that sticks with you the most, and it's the one that is shown in almost every montage of clips from the first season. It is angel strolling into Wolfram and heart Russell sitting confidently and making comments about oh, I can do whatever I want. An angel pause for one beat, puts his foot on the chair, on Russell's chair and just leans in slightly and says quietly, can you fly? And kicks him out of the window. The episode self had its issues, I mean as all pilot episodes do, but that was not one of them. That is easily one of the top moments of the series because that is a great tough guy lying. As I had mentioned throughout the season, some of the tough guy lines work better than others. That one was four stars. That is something almost Humphrey Bogartish, very, almost cold, and I'm not putting up with it anymore. And, as I said, there is a reason why. When they show recaps of season one, it is almost always always in there.
Speaker 2:Now my next section is favorite kills of the season. Now, just before I get into the top five kills, just as a kill total for the season, we have 34 and a half deaths for angel, one half of a death for Wesley. As a reminder to fans, I gave half a death because there is the one episode where we see in the one episode where they are both fighting a demon and we hear them in the house battling the demon, but we don't actually see who got the kill. So they might have done it jointly. One of them might have started it, the other finish it. We don't know. We just see them both covered in demon guts when they walk out and they don't really make it clear who did the actual kill. So that's why I'm giving them both credit for it. Anyways, done got one person and then other characters got 59 deaths, so there was a total of 95 kills throughout the season.
Speaker 2:And for my top five number five is in the episode blind date, the death of Lee Mercer. Mr Bazinga, as Triumph of the Nerd, referred to him as now what I like about it was one. It wasn't a annoying character, so it was fun to watch him die because once again he's not a character I think I could have put up with for too long. He was well used in the brief episodes he was in, but it was nice to see him die. But also, what this did was it raised the state, because it made it clear that even characters that we knew could die suddenly, and also it made it very clear how truly dangerous Wolfram and Hart was.
Speaker 2:That Lee was as hard as we can tell a loyal attorney, though Holland was met you right before you got shot. The fact that he was sung to another firm. The impression we got, though, was that Lee was loyal to Wolfram and Hart and he was wanting to do whatever they asked, but all the same, he was killed, and it wasn't even so much. He was disloyal and you're sunk to another firm. As we see in that scene, he was killed by Holland simply to make a point to Lindsay. He was just a sacrificial lamb. Because it wasn't for Lindsay, lee probably would have lived, maybe just got a chewing out, either figuratively or literally, by the firm, but otherwise would have lived. But because Holland wanted to send a point to Lindsay about this is what will happen to you if you are disloyal to us. Lee had to pay the price for it. It did send that message because that's when Lindsay became much more loyal to the firm, willing to do whatever they asked.
Speaker 2:4. Is in the episode the Prodigal Trevor's Death, kate's Father. Up to that point Kate was Angel's comrade, his connection to the police force, and also she had a not so secret crush on him, you know somewhat stammering around him at times and the impression was the fact that probably down the road there would be a will-there-walty relationship and probably they would hook up romantically in some fashion. But with Trevor's death that all changed and it was done in a very powerful fashion, where Angel is outside of Trevor's apartment and where all Trevor had to do was say you're invited, can come in, or please save me, or whatever, something that would be an invitation of some form. And then Angel could have dove in there. He would have dusted the two vampires within seconds, because we know how good the fighter Angel is. Those two vampires wouldn't have lasted a heartbeat time, no pun intended.
Speaker 2:But because Trevor never invited him in, angel had to literally stand outside the doorway, helpless, unable to do anything, and as a result it's not his fault, but because of being a vampire and because of Trevor's death, kate is now drawn into this world. She is no longer blind to the demons and other creatures that live within the world, that are hidden from her. She now knows what's going on and she can never go back to denying it. And it also changed her view of Angel, because now she viewed him as one of the creatures that killed Trevor. Yes, intellectually she knows Angel didn't do it, but because he failed to save Trevor, she still holds him responsible for it and, as we saw in that episode later on, yes, she did kill one of the vampires that killed Trevor, but there was no joy or satisfaction that came from that death. It was just something she had to do, unlike when she lay on Kill Pen, where there was a little bit more of a satisfaction there. And this also now changed how she was as a character. Before she was someone on the outside of Angel's world where she did provide information that he would need, but it was almost like she didn't realize the type of information she was providing. But now, from his death forward, she was obsessed with the occult. She was obsessed with demons and vampires and other creatures and as a result, she would never be able to relate to what I would refer to as the daytime world and she was as confined to the darkness as Angel.
Speaker 2:The number three death, first death that we ever see in the episode City of, and it's the one where he dusts two vampires with sleeve stakes. Now, unlike the others where I mentioned, they have a story impact. This one, I have to admit, I did include just because it was so cool to watch where he starts off the fight and then all of a sudden both vampires come flying at him from either side, opens up, just widens his arms a little bit, flicks his wrists and out comes stakes from his duster. I'd be dusting both of them at the same time. It is such a fun, awesome moment that as a viewer you do go yes on it and it established him as a more action oriented character, which he never really was in Buff here's the romantic interest, the brooder, but in this one it is more action oriented, it is more tough guy oriented. So it serves that purpose there as well, but I won't deny I had to put it in because it was just such a cool death.
Speaker 2:Number two in the episode to Shanshu in LA, the death of the oracles. This one, for the episode itself, was a great death because it established how dangerous the Volka demon was, the fact that these were immortal creatures, and the impression we get is he walked in there with the scythe swipes wiped, they're dead. There was no real difficulty for him at all and so that established him to be a very powerful creature and somebody who would be more than angels equal in the final fight which we saw later. He was. And then also it went with the blowing up of angels apartment, cordelia's visions and then also Wesley nearly getting blown up in that same explosion. What it did was it raised a stake overall for that episode and it put Angel into a position he never was prior to that point, which was he's come from defense.
Speaker 2:He's trying to catch up to what's going on because, remember, at that point he still had no idea what the heck he was fighting against. All he knows is all of this is happening to him and it's scaring him even more because he doesn't have an idea. Oh, it's this type of demon. You just do this, this and this. Now he has no idea what's going on or why it's happening. He just knows it is, and the deaths of the oracles is so brutal that it established how bad he's got it for this episode, which now leads us to the number one death of the season, and this one I don't think anyone can dispute me on it's in the episode hero, it's Doyle's sacrifice and, as I stated before, the only death that I would say is more heartbreaking than Doyle's is Fred in a whole in the world. And for the same reason, which is it gave the character a resolution, in this case it did wrap up the character because he started off as, once again, comic relief, someone of a kind, because in the episode city of he was where he did desert angel at Russell's apartment.
Speaker 2:He came back reluctantly but as the season went along he became braver and braver because, just as a reminder of his arc in the flashback we had in hero, he refused to help someone in need because he was afraid of the harm being brought upon him. So he was essentially a coward, a self-serving coward. In the beginning of the series he assisted angel, but he wouldn't get involved in any of the fights. No, that's your job. I'm just here to provide advice, I'm staying back. And in fact, as I mentioned, the end of city of he was where he definitely the scene, but he only reluctantly got involved. And then over the next several episodes he became more of a lead and lonely heart. He defended Cordelia's honor in the episode in the dark. He was scared of Spike, but he did help out in a fight. In I fall to pieces he helped out Melissa but was not directly involved with the fight in room with a view.
Speaker 2:He fled the build collector demon at the beginning and needed angel to do the fight for him at first, but he did end up fighting near the end in the final fight with Griff. Then sense and sensitivity became more directly involved in the fight at the end with the other cops and then finally in bachelor party he openly attacked the vampire in the alleyway in order to defend and save Cordelia from the vampire. And in this episode of hero he started off by saying the fact that he would stand by angel as angel's hero, but he would not make any sacrifice himself, which was nice before shadowing, because at the very end he truly did realize what a hero was and he realized, yes, I will make the sacrifice. But he did without hesitation. He knocked out angel, knocking him down a couple of flights so that he could go in there, and his death was made to appear very painful and not at all pleasant death, as the skin is literally ripped off of him or melted off of him, which made his death that all the more noble and brave and powerful. And so, for the number one death, I cannot think of any that would have raked more, especially in this season, than Doyle's sacrifice. Now, that being said, there is just I will just mention, without getting into any real explanations, just two honorable mentions I did want to bring up, which was in the episode some Nambulist, kate's staking of pen that I referred to earlier, and then in the prodigal, once again just for coolness, angels killing of the drug demon, the flipping up of his battle axe and then killing them as he catches it. Once again, I can't deny the co-owns of the death.
Speaker 2:My next section is favorite moments. Now, my fifth favorite moment is from the episode 5 by 5, and that is the final fight between angel and faith. Now, first of all, this is one of the best choreographed fights, especially in the first season, and that is the one thing they got very well, that Albiance was never quite as good in Buffy. I think it's because Buffy was less focused on the action and more focused on the romance, the characters, so on, that the fights were occasionally good, but that was never the thing they were going for was the action. It was more of the characters and, as I said, because the main character is a teenage girl, the romance Whereas in Angel, because it was more noirish, it was more adult oriented and the lead character was an action lead they had up the game on the action, on the fight, and in 5 by 5 they had a superbly well choreographed fight between he and faith. And also what was good about that fight is the fact that it was less about the actual stunt work and it was more about the characters, because it was faith trying to get Angel to kill her because she felt she deserved to die, because she felt she was evil, she deserved to be punished. And Angel thought the entire fight, refusing to give her what she wanted and in fact fighting on defense, not because he had to, because he couldn't be offensive towards her, but because he knew that's not the right thing to do here with her. It was to wear her down until the final moment where she just collapses in his arms in the rain, which is also one of the I would say almost a sub great moment is that shot of him hugging her in the rain as she's crying 4. From the episode she Angels Dancing Once again.
Speaker 2:If you're going to go for a favorite moment of the series, most fans will always turn to Angels Dancing. The episode as I had reviewed it was very forgettable and very flawed, not one I was impressed with, but I could not deny how much fun that scene was. Just his goofiness, his letting it loose for a few brief seconds and then coming back quickly to in present day, as it were. Him saying I don't dance. And we see why he doesn't dance. And I won't deny it as possibly one of the single funniest moments until season 5 when we get the classic episode Smile Time, because what it does is it allows us to see a different side of Angel and, as we'll see in later episodes, the episodes where he just let loose and relaxes are some of the most charming, lighthearted moments, because we're used to seeing this dark, grouting, batman-esque character that when he lets loose with a big, silly, goofy grin on his face, we as an audience grin along with him, because it's refreshing to see this side of him and it's obvious I wasn't the only one who felt strongly about this, because it is the only episode where we get a clip over the closing credits because, just like with Buffy, where the closing credits are with a black screen and nothing else, it Angel was that way for all the episodes as well, with the exception of this episode where we got an even longer version of him and Wesley dancing Number 3, tushan Shu in LA.
Speaker 2:The very last shot with the reintroduction of Darla. Thing that the show did right was throughout the first season in episodes like the Prodigal and other episodes where we got to see Darla in flashbacks so that even if you didn't see Buffy and so you didn't already know Darla was and how much of a threat she was, you got to see enough of her so that you could tell that she was a major influence on Angel's life, that this was a woman that not just turned him into a vampire, she wasn't just his sire, as I had mentioned in previous episodes. She was his mentor, she was his lover and this was a very important character. So that, as a result, when we see her in the box at the end shaking and scared, we know, oh, this is going to have a major impact on the series and on Angel. We don't know where they're going to go with this. We don't know what Wolfram and Hart has planned for her or for Angel using her, but we do know it's not going to be a throwaway thing. They're not going to introduce her in the final shot of the first season and then in the season premiere. Okay, we're done, she's gone by the end of the episode. No, that she is going to have a major impact and, as we see, she does in many ways.
Speaker 2:And also just as a side comment for people who are watching it for the first time now, as a reminder, when the episode first aired, this was pre-internet, so it was tough for rumors to leak out and stuff like that. So those of us who are watching the episode, the very first time it premiered we had no idea she was going to be in the episode. In fact, when you watch it, you notice she's not in the opening credits. It's after that shot, before they go into the main closing credits, that they say guest starring Julie Benz, because they wanted to keep that as a surprise for the fans. And that is why, throughout the episode, we see this box, but we don't know what it is. Is it some insane creature, some major demon? No, it's something even more fascinating, darla, and that's why that has to be number three.
Speaker 2:Number two I'll just repeat again, because it was in my previous list my number two favorite moment Death of Doyle. Without echoing everything that I had just said before in terms of favorite death, it still applies here and why it's my favorite. My second favorite moment it was just a noble exit for the character and the scene leading up to it between he and David wonderfully acted. And as a rule, this is how you do an exit episode for a character you make him the main character. You allow the others, even the title character, to play a supporting role, focus on him, get the audience to really like him in the episode and wrap things up in a definitive way that makes sense and is true to the character. And they did everything right with that. Which as good and powerful of a moment that is. But if I had to pick my favorite moment and the one that if I had to think of the first season, it's the one I keep on going back to my head. The number one moment is this model log from In the Dark.
Speaker 3:How can I thank you, you mysterious black clad hunk of a night thing? No need little lady. Your tears of gratitude are enough for me. You see, I was once a badass vampire, but love and a pesky curse defanged me and now I'm just a big, fluffy puppy with bad teeth. No, not the hair, never the hair. But there must be some way I can show my appreciation. No, helping those in needs, my job and working up a load of sexual tension and prancing away like a magnificent poof is truly thanks enough. I understand I have a nephew who's gay, but say no more evil still afford, and I'm almost out of that. Nancy Boy hair gel I like so much. Quickly to the angel mobile away.
Speaker 2:I couldn't praise this monologue enough. The only time spike was ever better was it is only monologue in school hard on Buffy, the you were there. If every vampire say was at the crucifixion was actually there, would have been like Woodstock, that entire speech, which I'm not going to bore the listeners with, but I know it worked for work because it was such a great opening dialogue or sorry, opening monologue. This one was almost as good. It was just as funny, just as charming and charismatic and James sold every single line of it with a self mockery that was appropriate for the character, not the hair, never the hair, or into the angel will be a way you know. And I have to fight the urge right now not to just recite the entire monologue again because every single line work. It was funny, it made you really look forward to the episode and at the very beginning, when I was listing my favorite lines, I had said that I had told my co-host said you can't just say every single line. James said in that episode it would have been fair, but to pick a favorite line, too many pieces of gold, this one for favorite moment, it's just the one that maybe truly enjoyed the series and say I want to see more of this was with that monologue alone, which now leads us to our final section, which is favorite episodes. Now, before I list my picture of the five favorite episodes, I looked on IMDb and, based on the ratings put in by fans, the top five on there, going from five to one, and was first of all to Shenzhen, la, which had a out of 10, 8.7, hero 8.8, five by five, a score of nine, also sanctuary score of nine and finally, the number one episode, according to the fans for the first season, I will remember you, which had an average rating of 9.1 in the lowest rated episodes of the first season was she, which had a rating of 6.6, not even the dance scene, save that one. And then also which and that was the lowest rated episode of the season and, I believe, of the series, and then also almost as well, was the episode I fall to pieces which had a rating of 6.9.
Speaker 2:And now for me for my top five episodes. I agreed with the fans on a couple of the episodes, but maybe in a slightly different order. For me, my number five favorite episode of the season was some Nambulist, which, that one. I just love the character of Penn a lot and, as I had mentioned in my review of that episode, my only regret was Jeremy Ryder never came back. I wish that found a way to bring Penn back because he was such a great character and it would have been wonderful to see him as an occasional antagonist. He didn't have to be a regular but just like trying to play every four to five episodes whatever to show up and cause some danger for Angel. And so major credit to Jeremy Renner for that.
Speaker 2:Number four, which I gave a grade of an A2, blind date. In fact the top four episodes I all gave A's. To some nambulus I gave an A minus two. But for number four it would be blind date. That one just set up the season finale so well and it made me really see the potential that was in Lindsay and so many things done right there. And, as I comment, it made me actually wonder what the series would have been like had they actually been reluctant partners. Not sure how well that would have worked, but it was a fun, fast-paced episode and good use of the entire group.
Speaker 2:And number three, the prodigal Great use of flashback with Angeles so that we see him as Liam. It was one of the few times we actually see him in pre-Angeles form and we see how he became the way he was and see that Angeles wasn't that far removed from Liam. It was just a more evil version of Liam and it lived for some very powerful scenes, as was also paralleling it with Kate and her father and seeing what happens between a relationship between a father and their child and how things go wrong even when they're not intended to be, even when the fathers are not bad people per se but just don't know how to reach out to their children in the right way, and in both cases it can lead to tragic ends. So that was an easy A Number two, five by five. I have to go with this one and my girl, faith. That was just such such a great episode, even though it's not in my list of my favorite moments, but the scene in the courthouse where Faith shoots a crossbow bolt at Angel and he spins around immediately and catches a midair. I have to go with Faith on that one and say that was cool and just everything about.
Speaker 2:Once again, everything about that episode worked so well and her, christian Kane and me and Terry cast did a superb job. And, once again, the final shot of the episode with her in the rain and Wesley and I don't want to dismiss Alexis's performance in that episode because we got to see another improvement in his character as he became a lot tougher, not cowardly at all, not backing down from her even as she was torturing him, and his bit at the end of dropping the knife that he was going to stab her with, and at the end that was a great moment. That made it number two, which then leads us into my favorite episode of the season the Shanshu and LA. It brought back all the characters Kate, lindsay, lila, lee, holly and the oracles that brought them all back in one way or the other, and also, of course, darla, as I mentioned before. It matched the shoehorn them all in a way that didn't feel too overstuffed.
Speaker 2:But what it did was there was no fat in that episode at all. There was no slow time. Every single scene mattered, every single line mattered, and it did exactly what a season finale should do. It was at a cliffhanger per se, because introduction of Darla was not really a cliffhanger in the way like later sees with Angel at the bottom of the ocean. In this case. Here it did sort of wrap up the episode.
Speaker 2:The Book of Demon was defeated, but it set it up, as I mentioned before, about making us wonder what the upcoming season would be and where they're going to go within. As I said before, that's exactly how you're supposed to end this season Tease the audience and leave us wanting more. And then for the least two episodes those I have to go with the fans on, I follow the pieces and she both of those I gave a D plus to I follow the piece and a D to she and for she, as I said, the dancing as good as much as I had with that. That's all recently dinged at lower grade. The entire episode was just not good. And then I follow pieces was just exceedingly silly, not even in a good way. It was just very cartoonish, very goofy and, as I discussed in the episode, the characters were just not well done. Well, that's it for this week's episode. In the next show I will discuss the following episode Beginning September 26th.
Speaker 3:The one who led him to the underworld has returned.
Speaker 2:I will continue my retrospective with the discussion of the season two premiere Judgment, where Angel discovers that achieving the Shanshu prophecy doesn't come without some difficulty. In addition, we get to meet one of the favorite members of the Angel investigation team and learn why Joss Whedon chose not to do a musical episode of Angel. So join me as I discuss what Angel's love of a certain musical artist says about him and whether I do agree that Mandy is pretty. So join me, steven, for the next episode of Wolfram and Cast. If you wish to reach out to me with any questions or comments, you can reach me on Facebook, instagram or Twitter, at wolframcast, or email me at wolframcast at gmailcom. Feel free to write me and I might read your comments or emails on the air. Please leave me a rating and a review and be sure to press subscribe on iTunes, spotify or wherever you get your podcast entertainment. But for now….
Speaker 1:I know it's a bit confusing, but it's going to be better soon. A lot better. Girl, that's a joy. Like me, I hope I don't hurt myself. Starlight, that's a little better. Well done, and that blowing集 Çok.
