This review features episode spoilers and minor foreshadowing of later seasons
Near the beginning of "City of...", Doyle warns Angel that "high school's over", a direct message to the audience that "Angel" will go to territory that "Buffy" dared not go. Where "Buffy" was about the difficulties of high school, and the burden of adult responsibilities, "Angel" is about the ordeals that one faces during adulthood. Darker and grittier than its parent show, "City of..." perfectly encapsulates the overall tone and purpose of "Angel". Where "Buffy" was forced to endure a dreadfully poor first season, "Angel" is instantly captivating. The pilot, "City of..." is not just one of the season's best episodes, not just one of the show's best episodes but it is a near perfect pilot to an excellent show.
After the events of "Graduation Day Pt. 2", Angel leaves Sunnydale and moves to L.A. He is met by half demon Doyle, who guides him on his quest to do good. Doyle brings to Angel's attention a girl named Tina, working at a café, who seems deeply troubled.
From the opening scene to this episode, which is both hilarious when Angel "drunkenly" says to a man that he reminds him of Buffy, or the badassery with which he dispatches a group of vampires, "City of..." is full of scenes that are awe strikingly excellent and dialogue that zips and captivates. The sudden change in tone of the opening scene, from classic Whedon humour to darkness is a comforting thought for "Buffy" fans. "Angel" will cover dark territory, but it will not shy away from the charm that helped "Buffy" reach global success. Yet, "City of..." provides such minute details that are unique to the Buffyverse, that make the world that much richer. One of the most primary examples of "Angel" being uniquely excellent was the idea to have Angel using wrist mounted stakes to dispatch two vampires in the opening scene. This added some more variety to the very standard means of vampire staking as represented in "Buffy".
In this scene we also see Angel's lust for human blood, after the events of "Graduation Day Pt. 1" and his fierce desires to avoid human contact. When one of the near victims attempts to thank him, Angel notices blood on her forehead and warns her, frighteningly, "Get away from me!". This moment, in short, represents how Angel now attempts to ostracize himself from those around him and strives to do good. Doyle's presence will change Angel's viewpoint of his own quest.
"City of..." brings forth two quintessential players into "Angel" in Glenn Quinn's delightful half demon, Doyle, and Charisma Carpenter's returning Cordelia Chase. Although Doyle's credits on "Angel" is sadly, very short lived, his presence is immortalized. This is proved in Season 5's "You're Welcome", where Angel and Cordelia react quite emotionally to Doyle's name being used as a puppet by Lindsey. In this episode, we do not see much depth to Doyle but he does utter to Angel, "We all have something to atone for", which implies hidden motivations to help Angel in his quest for atonement.
Cordelia goes from the very typical high school antagonist, a self centered and vain individual, to ultimately a heroine later in "Angel". Cordelia has gone through subtle changes on "Buffy" but "Angel" takes this character to greater depth. One moment I loved from "City of..." is when Cordelia, having just met with Angel and exchanged a casual conversation, accurately and sharply states to Angel, "I really should be talking to people that are somebody...but it was fun!" There is an innocence, an almost blissful obliviousness to the fact that what she is saying can be labeled as a hurtful insult. Yet, this is who Cordelia is. She is someone who is as honest as honest can get, although this is not necessarily always a positive quality. In "Buffy's" "Earshot", she literally states that which is on her mind. And here in "City of...", she hurtfully states the truth that Angel is a nobody, but does it with a childlike mindlessness that becomes fun.
The episode itself is a fairly basic plot, with general character introductions and in some cases, re-introductions. When Angel meets Tina, the troubled girl who works at the café, he grows a mutual connection to her. As she is hunted and haunted by Russel Winters, Angel is by haunted by his past. Both characters, despite the people around them, feel very different and as a result, feel isolated. And yet, "City of..." does not resort to a cliché as Angel ultimately cannot save Tina from her dreaded fate. By the end of "City of...", Angel realizes there is no big defeat in his achievement, no party and no celebration to be had. This is the message in "Angel" and it is what makes the character's personal journey throughout the series fascinating. "Angel" also is capable of killing any significant players during the course of the show, whilst "Buffy" did not often dare to.
Much like Tina, Russel Winters also leaves an impression behind. Although he only features in this episode, and is rarely mentioned in later seasons, Winters is quite an interesting character. He revels in the pains of others, like Angelus, but he is also quite disconnected and seemingly discontent with the world, like Angel. Vyto Ruginis does an excellent job of playing the character, making him both intimidating and slightly sympathetic as a character. He provides just the ever so slight depth to the character, where we sense that Russel is a very isolated person. Unfortunately, Ruginis had arguably the most horrendous and most aesthetically repelling vampire effects on either show to work with. That there, is arguably the episode's only sin.
"City of..." is a quintessential example of a how to make a pilot episode.
Near the beginning of "City of...", Doyle warns Angel that "high school's over", a direct message to the audience that "Angel" will go to territory that "Buffy" dared not go. Where "Buffy" was about the difficulties of high school, and the burden of adult responsibilities, "Angel" is about the ordeals that one faces during adulthood. Darker and grittier than its parent show, "City of..." perfectly encapsulates the overall tone and purpose of "Angel". Where "Buffy" was forced to endure a dreadfully poor first season, "Angel" is instantly captivating. The pilot, "City of..." is not just one of the season's best episodes, not just one of the show's best episodes but it is a near perfect pilot to an excellent show.
After the events of "Graduation Day Pt. 2", Angel leaves Sunnydale and moves to L.A. He is met by half demon Doyle, who guides him on his quest to do good. Doyle brings to Angel's attention a girl named Tina, working at a café, who seems deeply troubled.
From the opening scene to this episode, which is both hilarious when Angel "drunkenly" says to a man that he reminds him of Buffy, or the badassery with which he dispatches a group of vampires, "City of..." is full of scenes that are awe strikingly excellent and dialogue that zips and captivates. The sudden change in tone of the opening scene, from classic Whedon humour to darkness is a comforting thought for "Buffy" fans. "Angel" will cover dark territory, but it will not shy away from the charm that helped "Buffy" reach global success. Yet, "City of..." provides such minute details that are unique to the Buffyverse, that make the world that much richer. One of the most primary examples of "Angel" being uniquely excellent was the idea to have Angel using wrist mounted stakes to dispatch two vampires in the opening scene. This added some more variety to the very standard means of vampire staking as represented in "Buffy".
In this scene we also see Angel's lust for human blood, after the events of "Graduation Day Pt. 1" and his fierce desires to avoid human contact. When one of the near victims attempts to thank him, Angel notices blood on her forehead and warns her, frighteningly, "Get away from me!". This moment, in short, represents how Angel now attempts to ostracize himself from those around him and strives to do good. Doyle's presence will change Angel's viewpoint of his own quest.
"City of..." brings forth two quintessential players into "Angel" in Glenn Quinn's delightful half demon, Doyle, and Charisma Carpenter's returning Cordelia Chase. Although Doyle's credits on "Angel" is sadly, very short lived, his presence is immortalized. This is proved in Season 5's "You're Welcome", where Angel and Cordelia react quite emotionally to Doyle's name being used as a puppet by Lindsey. In this episode, we do not see much depth to Doyle but he does utter to Angel, "We all have something to atone for", which implies hidden motivations to help Angel in his quest for atonement.
Cordelia goes from the very typical high school antagonist, a self centered and vain individual, to ultimately a heroine later in "Angel". Cordelia has gone through subtle changes on "Buffy" but "Angel" takes this character to greater depth. One moment I loved from "City of..." is when Cordelia, having just met with Angel and exchanged a casual conversation, accurately and sharply states to Angel, "I really should be talking to people that are somebody...but it was fun!" There is an innocence, an almost blissful obliviousness to the fact that what she is saying can be labeled as a hurtful insult. Yet, this is who Cordelia is. She is someone who is as honest as honest can get, although this is not necessarily always a positive quality. In "Buffy's" "Earshot", she literally states that which is on her mind. And here in "City of...", she hurtfully states the truth that Angel is a nobody, but does it with a childlike mindlessness that becomes fun.
The episode itself is a fairly basic plot, with general character introductions and in some cases, re-introductions. When Angel meets Tina, the troubled girl who works at the café, he grows a mutual connection to her. As she is hunted and haunted by Russel Winters, Angel is by haunted by his past. Both characters, despite the people around them, feel very different and as a result, feel isolated. And yet, "City of..." does not resort to a cliché as Angel ultimately cannot save Tina from her dreaded fate. By the end of "City of...", Angel realizes there is no big defeat in his achievement, no party and no celebration to be had. This is the message in "Angel" and it is what makes the character's personal journey throughout the series fascinating. "Angel" also is capable of killing any significant players during the course of the show, whilst "Buffy" did not often dare to.
Much like Tina, Russel Winters also leaves an impression behind. Although he only features in this episode, and is rarely mentioned in later seasons, Winters is quite an interesting character. He revels in the pains of others, like Angelus, but he is also quite disconnected and seemingly discontent with the world, like Angel. Vyto Ruginis does an excellent job of playing the character, making him both intimidating and slightly sympathetic as a character. He provides just the ever so slight depth to the character, where we sense that Russel is a very isolated person. Unfortunately, Ruginis had arguably the most horrendous and most aesthetically repelling vampire effects on either show to work with. That there, is arguably the episode's only sin.
"City of..." is a quintessential example of a how to make a pilot episode.