angelicTHREAD STARTER
Adios Angel: Our Favorite Episodes
Fangs for the memories!
By EG Staff
May 19, 2004
As Angel prepares to brood off into the sunset, we recall some of our favorite moments. And yes, we finally gave in and used that "fangs for the memories" joke. Sorry.
"I Will Remember You," Season 1
The best sci-fi, fantasy or horror usually wraps whatever fancy FX-lade mumbojumbo it's concocting around some kind of intellectual or emotional core. One of the most powerful can be luuuuuv, baby. It worked for Kirk et al in "The City on the Edge of Forever," and it works for Angel et al in "I Will Remember You," which is basically Angel's chance to do its own "City"-esque ep of wistful romantic longing, while juicing the show's debut season with a well-timed sweeps cameo from Sarah Michelle Skeletor, aka Buffy Summers herself. "Remember" works because it gives Buffy/Angel shippers exactly what they've always wanted, in the form of a human Angel who can love his Slayer long time without that pesky soul-losing-evil-becoming thing...then it takes that very thing away with a gut-wrenching yet totally believable twist. Classic Whedon. It's one of the Whedonverse's great stand-alones, and one of the Buffy/Angel relationship's most devastating moments. Matt Springer
"Hero," Season 1
This isn't my favorite episode. It's a stand-out episode, don't get me wrong, but I enjoyed others far more. From Spike dubbing Angel's back alley dialogue to Faith's mental breakdown while fighting Angel, not to mention Puppet Angel, there's a lot to the series to remember and love. But the sudden loss of the likeable Doyle still gets to me. This is the episode that's stuck in my brain. While Buffy had lost characters to the afterlife pre-Angel, the loss of Doyle was far more painful to watch his actual death was about what you'd expect, very sad, very heroic, all in service to a rather tame demon racism storyline. But it was ending the show with his videotaped commercial, now taking on new meaning, that really kicked me in the gut. All this after only knowing the character for nine episodes. There would be a lot more death and a lot more gut-wrenching moments to come some, I would argue, even greater than the loss of Doyle but there's something about that ending that just makes you choke up. I think it has to do with the way Glenn Quinn played it. What you first find funny and amusing watching him stammer and bumble through Cordy's horrible dialogue turns into an affirmation of what Angel Investigations is all about and gives us a glimpse at the heroic resolve inside the group's Cowardly Lion, capped with his tragic epitaph. "Is that it? Am I done?" Chris Stewart
"Darla," Season 2
When I first heard that Angel was being spun off into his own series, my first thought was, "Well, THAT'S a mistake." I didn't think he was strong enough to carry his own series. I didn't think it would last. And Cordy too? Puh-leaze. I was wrong. Angel turned out to be one of the ass-kickingest shows ever on TV, surpassing even Buffy in many ways. Yeah, I know blasphemy. But I liked Deep Space Nine over TNG, so as the suicidal guy said to the vampire, "Bite me." I ended up liking Angel and Cordy and the rest. I even laughed when that Verizon "Can you hear me?" guy did his little Angel cross-promotion. Hell, any show where karaoke becomes a major plot point wins in my book. But I've always been a sucker for crossovers. Marvel/DC? Got every one. How about the night of the "blackout" on Must See TV? Yeah, they got me. I sat through the Ally McBeal/Practice crossover, even though I hated both shows. So when Angel and Buffy crossed over with "Darla" and "Fool For Love," I was had. It also helped that watching both shows paid off in ways that watching just one or the other wouldn't have. It saddens me that, because neither show has a home together, that sort of continuity can't really happen outside of a DVD player. It saddens me more, though, that after Wednesday, we won't have an Angel at all. Thanks for a killer five years, guys. Ivan Sian
"Billy," Season 3
Angel has always had what I consider to be the greatest mix of highs and lows on TV. Whether it be moments that are so shockingly funny that you can only sit and gape (Angel's "I don't dance" flashes in "Room With a View") or episodes that are so heart-rending that you stare blankly at the TV long after they've ended ("I Will Remember You"), Angel's got it. What it also has, and has excelled at, are scenes that are so deeply unsettling that you'll wonder if you can ever sleep with the lights off again. While this season's "Smile Time" had a doozy (Angel's first foray into the studio and that creepy, high pitched laugh still gives me the wiggins), my all-time favorite fright fest was the season 3 Halloween episode, "Billy." It was the first really good look we got at how black Wesley Wyndam-Pryce could be. His misogynistic taunting of Fred, the way that he so deliberately stalks her, his horror at his own actions at the end of the episode, at what was ripped out of him, made me change the way I looked at Wes from then on. And anytime a show can do that, something very good is happening. The fact that it freaked the living daylights out of me while doing it was even better. Very few shows achieve that magic mix of horror, comedy, and drama; but somehow Angel has been able to do it with style week after week for five years. Thanks guys, it's been a blast. Anthony Karcz
"Smile Time," Season 5
Choosing my favorite hour of Angel is tough I tend to remember story arcs on this show better than individual eppies (yay, Darla and Dru! Boo, Connor!). "Smile Time," however, will forever be burned into my mind because...well, because I, quite frankly, am a sucker for puppet humor. I'm also a big fan of creative chance-taking that doesn't turn gimmicky, and "Smile Time" is a perfect example of this. On any other show, turning the main character into a pile of felt would have surely resulted in one of The Worst Hours of Television Ever. (I mean, c'mon, Jack Bauer as a puppet? You can't picture it, can you?) But somehow, on Angel, a show that takes you to strange, twisted corners of storytelling and makes it work, it makes perfect sense. And the idea of evil puppets taking over a children's show and using humans as their own puppets...well, the whole thing is damn brilliant. When Puppet Angel woos werewolf Nina, the results are visually amusing, but they're also surprisingly touching. In short, this isn't just That Puppet Episode of Angel it's A Great Episode, period. I also must make special runner-up mention of season 3's "Birthday" and season 5's "You're Welcome," both of which showcased the wonderful Cordelia to fine effect. Cordy is still one of my favorite Jossverse gals of all time, and these two eps show her at her sassy-yet-heroic best. Rest in peace, Ms. Chase. Sarah Kuhn
http://www.entertainment-geekly.com/web/general/may2004/angel_episodes
Fangs for the memories!
By EG Staff
May 19, 2004
As Angel prepares to brood off into the sunset, we recall some of our favorite moments. And yes, we finally gave in and used that "fangs for the memories" joke. Sorry.
"I Will Remember You," Season 1
The best sci-fi, fantasy or horror usually wraps whatever fancy FX-lade mumbojumbo it's concocting around some kind of intellectual or emotional core. One of the most powerful can be luuuuuv, baby. It worked for Kirk et al in "The City on the Edge of Forever," and it works for Angel et al in "I Will Remember You," which is basically Angel's chance to do its own "City"-esque ep of wistful romantic longing, while juicing the show's debut season with a well-timed sweeps cameo from Sarah Michelle Skeletor, aka Buffy Summers herself. "Remember" works because it gives Buffy/Angel shippers exactly what they've always wanted, in the form of a human Angel who can love his Slayer long time without that pesky soul-losing-evil-becoming thing...then it takes that very thing away with a gut-wrenching yet totally believable twist. Classic Whedon. It's one of the Whedonverse's great stand-alones, and one of the Buffy/Angel relationship's most devastating moments. Matt Springer
"Hero," Season 1
This isn't my favorite episode. It's a stand-out episode, don't get me wrong, but I enjoyed others far more. From Spike dubbing Angel's back alley dialogue to Faith's mental breakdown while fighting Angel, not to mention Puppet Angel, there's a lot to the series to remember and love. But the sudden loss of the likeable Doyle still gets to me. This is the episode that's stuck in my brain. While Buffy had lost characters to the afterlife pre-Angel, the loss of Doyle was far more painful to watch his actual death was about what you'd expect, very sad, very heroic, all in service to a rather tame demon racism storyline. But it was ending the show with his videotaped commercial, now taking on new meaning, that really kicked me in the gut. All this after only knowing the character for nine episodes. There would be a lot more death and a lot more gut-wrenching moments to come some, I would argue, even greater than the loss of Doyle but there's something about that ending that just makes you choke up. I think it has to do with the way Glenn Quinn played it. What you first find funny and amusing watching him stammer and bumble through Cordy's horrible dialogue turns into an affirmation of what Angel Investigations is all about and gives us a glimpse at the heroic resolve inside the group's Cowardly Lion, capped with his tragic epitaph. "Is that it? Am I done?" Chris Stewart
"Darla," Season 2
When I first heard that Angel was being spun off into his own series, my first thought was, "Well, THAT'S a mistake." I didn't think he was strong enough to carry his own series. I didn't think it would last. And Cordy too? Puh-leaze. I was wrong. Angel turned out to be one of the ass-kickingest shows ever on TV, surpassing even Buffy in many ways. Yeah, I know blasphemy. But I liked Deep Space Nine over TNG, so as the suicidal guy said to the vampire, "Bite me." I ended up liking Angel and Cordy and the rest. I even laughed when that Verizon "Can you hear me?" guy did his little Angel cross-promotion. Hell, any show where karaoke becomes a major plot point wins in my book. But I've always been a sucker for crossovers. Marvel/DC? Got every one. How about the night of the "blackout" on Must See TV? Yeah, they got me. I sat through the Ally McBeal/Practice crossover, even though I hated both shows. So when Angel and Buffy crossed over with "Darla" and "Fool For Love," I was had. It also helped that watching both shows paid off in ways that watching just one or the other wouldn't have. It saddens me that, because neither show has a home together, that sort of continuity can't really happen outside of a DVD player. It saddens me more, though, that after Wednesday, we won't have an Angel at all. Thanks for a killer five years, guys. Ivan Sian
"Billy," Season 3
Angel has always had what I consider to be the greatest mix of highs and lows on TV. Whether it be moments that are so shockingly funny that you can only sit and gape (Angel's "I don't dance" flashes in "Room With a View") or episodes that are so heart-rending that you stare blankly at the TV long after they've ended ("I Will Remember You"), Angel's got it. What it also has, and has excelled at, are scenes that are so deeply unsettling that you'll wonder if you can ever sleep with the lights off again. While this season's "Smile Time" had a doozy (Angel's first foray into the studio and that creepy, high pitched laugh still gives me the wiggins), my all-time favorite fright fest was the season 3 Halloween episode, "Billy." It was the first really good look we got at how black Wesley Wyndam-Pryce could be. His misogynistic taunting of Fred, the way that he so deliberately stalks her, his horror at his own actions at the end of the episode, at what was ripped out of him, made me change the way I looked at Wes from then on. And anytime a show can do that, something very good is happening. The fact that it freaked the living daylights out of me while doing it was even better. Very few shows achieve that magic mix of horror, comedy, and drama; but somehow Angel has been able to do it with style week after week for five years. Thanks guys, it's been a blast. Anthony Karcz
"Smile Time," Season 5
Choosing my favorite hour of Angel is tough I tend to remember story arcs on this show better than individual eppies (yay, Darla and Dru! Boo, Connor!). "Smile Time," however, will forever be burned into my mind because...well, because I, quite frankly, am a sucker for puppet humor. I'm also a big fan of creative chance-taking that doesn't turn gimmicky, and "Smile Time" is a perfect example of this. On any other show, turning the main character into a pile of felt would have surely resulted in one of The Worst Hours of Television Ever. (I mean, c'mon, Jack Bauer as a puppet? You can't picture it, can you?) But somehow, on Angel, a show that takes you to strange, twisted corners of storytelling and makes it work, it makes perfect sense. And the idea of evil puppets taking over a children's show and using humans as their own puppets...well, the whole thing is damn brilliant. When Puppet Angel woos werewolf Nina, the results are visually amusing, but they're also surprisingly touching. In short, this isn't just That Puppet Episode of Angel it's A Great Episode, period. I also must make special runner-up mention of season 3's "Birthday" and season 5's "You're Welcome," both of which showcased the wonderful Cordelia to fine effect. Cordy is still one of my favorite Jossverse gals of all time, and these two eps show her at her sassy-yet-heroic best. Rest in peace, Ms. Chase. Sarah Kuhn
http://www.entertainment-geekly.com/web/general/may2004/angel_episodes