Buffy and Angel - Angel episode discussion 1x03: In The Dark

lunas_borednow · 05-02-2009, 11:04 PM

Oz (guest star Seth Green) pays a visit to Angel (David Boreanaz) and gives him the Gem of Amarra, the vampire's holy grail that grants eternal protection. Doyle (Glenn Quinn) wants Angel to wear it with pride, but Angel opts to play it safe and hidesit in the underground tunnels. He is soon kidnapped by Spike (guest star James Marsters) and tortured by a child-eating vampire named Marcus. While Angel is enduring the torture, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) and Doyle locate the gem in the tunnels and quickly conspire Angel's rescue. The rescue goes almost according to plan, but in the scuffle, Marcus manages to obtain the gem and heads for the beach. The group follows him and Angel battles with him to the death. Deciding that no vampire deserves to see the light of day, Angel smashes the ring with a brick.

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Summary from BuffyWorld.com

tootyfnfrooty · 05-02-2009, 11:07 PM

Thanx Bri
. i really loved this episodedefinately one of my favorites in season 1

lunas_borednow · 05-02-2009, 11:17 PM

Spike dubbing Angel was awesome!

Quick to the Angel Mobile!

tootyfnfrooty · 05-02-2009, 11:25 PM

omg i know that was absolutely hilarious there are so many things i love about this episode and that is just one of them and i loved how happy cordy was to see oz, of course the spordy interactions were fabulous, and i have to admit i loved seeing how much cordy already was growing to care for angel and that scene where they get to him and angel says her nams

love that and who can forget poor spikey screwed over once again *pets spike*

kitsune · 05-03-2009, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tootyfnfrooty (View Post)

loved seeing how much cordy already was growing to care for angel and that scene where they get to him and angel says her nams

I loved that. Doyle and Cordy come rushing in and the only thing he says is "Cordelia..."; and that look on her face!

This episode also has one of my favorite lines ever: "He'd celebrate the opening of a mailbox with a drink down at the pub."

~♥~My Lonely Angel~♥~ · 05-03-2009, 11:42 AM

Thanks for starting this one up

One of my favorite episodes. I absolutely love the beginning where Spike is mocking Angel.

tootyfnfrooty · 05-06-2009, 12:10 PM

that is hilarious

saturn5 · 09-30-2009, 03:37 PM

In the dark

The Good;
Spike mocking Angel is excellent, lovely to see Oz and a great rescue and final battle at the pier. Nice end coda too. The Cordy/Oz/Angel scenes are hysterical, as Willow observes both she and Buffy know the love of 2 taciturn men.
The Bad;
Very little, strong ep. Boy Spike is dumb but funnily so. Everyone at the pier seems to take the 2 guys jumping off the end on fire very calmly.

Best line:
Doyle (to Angel); Long time between sunsets huh?

Jeez, how did they get away with that?
Well, Angel get's tortured to nearly death for the majority of the episode. Spike also hints that Marcus has an interest in the kids beyond just eating them. Reputedly this is the ep that got the Angel season 1 dvd boxset an 18 rating in the UK. I don't disagree but what makes this worse than 'Hellbound' which only got a 15 rating?

Apocalypses: 4
Angel Cliches
Damsel in distress; yep, that makes 2
Inverting the Hollywood cliche; rather than play the unbreakable tough guy Angel admits that with a little more torture he'd have told Marcus everything. Cordy notes the Gem isn't in the freezer or toilet tank as it would be in the movies.
In disguise; no
DB get's his shirt off; no but we get some torso action, Marcus commenting he has 'little external damage'.

Fang Gang in bondage: yep, Angel for virtually the whole ep
Cordy: 5
Angel: 5
Wes: 1

Fang gang knocked out:
Cordy: 6
Angel: 6
Wes: 1

Kills:
Cordy: none this ep. 3 vamps, ½ a demon from her time in Sunnydale
Angel: Another vamp for Angel. So that gives Angel 8 vamps, 2 demons, 1 human.

Fang Gang go evil:
Cordy: 1
Angel: 1

Alternate Fang Gang:
Cordy: 1
Angel: 3

Characters killed: only Marcus
9;

Total number of Angel Investigations:
3, Angel, Doyle and Cordy

Angel Investigations shot: no
Angel: 4,

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost:
Cordy: 1?
Angel: 1;Buffy

Kinky dinky:
Spike refers to Buffy as '****ty the vampire slayer' and teases Angel over Buffy's affair with Parker.
Captain Subtext;
Spike's speech on Angel is full of homophobia. He also asks if Angel and Marcus would like to be alone when running his hands over Angel's naked torso. Spike comments that Buffy is 'cute when she's hurting', you wonder did he always have a thing for her? Such a shame we never get to meet Doyle's wonderfully named friend 'Frankie Tripod'.
Buffy characters appearing in Angel; (unless someone can correct me no original Angel character ever appears on Buffy?)
4; Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike
Questions and observations;
Why does Angel grab his neck when Marcus puts the chain around it? Surely he doesn't breathe? Marcus wears glasses which presumably like Dalton in Buffy are for sentimental reasons. Doyle has read Angela's Ashes and it reduces him to tears (the novel focuses on the shiftless father so it may appeal to Doyle who never knew his). Angel once again beats his way to what he wants, without Buffy's influence he tends to be a lot more brutal. It's a great performance from Kevin West who is a very familar face on TV (although I thought he was in Scrubs and Ally McBeal but he isn't, that's Robert Clendenin another actor with a similar look). Marcus wears a Bond style Nehru jacket. Angel knows Doyle's mother. This is Angel investigations first walk-in client and her problem for once is just a very human jerk ex-boyfriend rather than anything Supernatural. Ok so the ring makes vamps unkillable, even if you cut their heads' off?
Marks out of 10; 6/10

Charmed Slayer Angel · 07-12-2013, 10:31 AM

I'm gonna give this episode 4/5

I thought it was great to see Oz again, especially considering that this would be one of his last appearences in either Buffy or Angel before he left the show. Overall the episode really isn't anything all that special, and it fills a little bit like filler.