lunas_borednow

Cordelia has a vision that leads Angel to a nasty looking demon. Angel kills it only to find that it was protecting a pregnant woman whose baby is supposed to be something great- a seer or a fighter, they don't say. Turns out the demon was like Angel- his breed was something that was evil, but he wasn't- instead he fought for good. To make a long story short- there is this Tribunal. If a champion goes before the Tribunal & defeats another fighter, the person the champion is representing is granted asylum- protection. Angel killed the pregnant woman's champion so Angel has to take his place. Of course, Angel defeats the other guy, & the woman and her baby are granted asylum. In this episode Angel is feeling cocky about one day becoming human. He's lost sight of his mission. This case brings him back to reality. Also, Cordelia tells Angel that she's going to be there to fight with him until he is human- even if she does become internationally famous in the meantime. & Gunn meets Cordelia and Wesley as he helps Angel with this latest case. Darla is briefly in this episode- she's recovering & interested in paying Angel a visit. &, at the end, Angel makes a visit to a Los Angeles jail to see Faith, who is dealing with redemption one day at a time- just like Angel.

eternalfate

The end of this episode was just so amazing

saturn5

JUDGEMENT
The Good;
Jousting in LA, even in Tinseltown that must be a rare enough sight.
The Bad;
A fairly slow opener for a season that will eventually start firing on all cylinders
Best line:
Jeez, how did they get away with that?
The demon who sings at Caritas is 'Gorshak the Child-eater'? His pick is 'Achy breaky heart' (I'm not sure which is worse?)
Apocalypses: 4
Angel Cliches
Damsel in distress; 16, yep, she sure is
Inverting the Hollywood cliche;
Angel the hero actually kills the damsel in distress' protector by accident
In disguise; 4
DB get's his shirt off; 7
Cordy's tattoo;3
Cheap Angel;
4
Fang Gang in bondage:
Cordy: 5
Angel: 8
Wes: 2

Fang gang knocked out:
Cordy: 9
Angel: 10
Wes: 5
Doyle; 1
Kills:
Cordy: 3 vamps, 1½ demons
Angel; 4 demons for Angel so 16 vamps, 16 and 1/2 demons, 3 humans
Doyle; 1 vamp
Wes; 1/2 a demon
Kate; 3 vamps
Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans.
Gunn; one more vamp so 4 in all.
Fang Gang go evil:
Cordy: 2
Angel: 2

Alternate Fang Gang:
Cordy: 2
Angel: 6

Characters killed:
25
Recurring characters killed;
4;
Total number of Angel Investigations:
3, Angel and Cordy and Wes

Angel Investigations shot:
Angel: 8,
Packing heat;
Wes; 2
Doyle; 1
Angel; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost:
Cordy: 2 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast
Angel: 1;Buffy

Kinky dinky:
Wes seems to attract the attention of a beautiful girl in a bar. The first hints of the love affair between Lindsey and Darla.
Captain Subtext;
From the beginning a very flirtatious relationship between Lorne and Angel. Gunn comments that he's seen Wes before in bed which Wes takes a lot of exception to. Cordy points out that if Angel joins a gym he'll have to shower with naked men but he says he'll always be a loner.
Know the face, different character; 2
Parking garages;
4,
Guantanamo Bay;
Angel beats up Merl and kills an innocent
Buffy characters on Angel; 11
Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla
Questions and observations;
The Introduction of Lorne for the first time, no sign yet that he'll become such an important character. Pretty obvious he's inspired by Barney from Parting Gifts. Angel Investigations have been busy over the summer with at least 6 cases according the whiteboard. First appearance of Merl and first meeting of Gunn, Cordy and Wes. Wonderful to see Angel visit Faith, such a lovely touch. So what happens to the mother and child? When Angel meets Gunn he inquires after his health as Gunn said he should in Blind Date. Jo is played by Justina Machado who played Rico's wife in the wonderful Six Foot Under, a show that not only guest starred Michelle Tractenberg and Eric Balfour (Jesse) but at one point her characters' actress sister appears to be guest-starring on Angel (or possibly Charmed?)
Marks out of 10; 6/10, the opening and ending are probably better than the rest of the ep.

BlackWhiteRose

Nice episode.
I laughed so much about Angel singing It was so bad but it was also amusing And at the endcredits on the DVD he sang again

starryeyesxx

Angel singing is one of my alltime fave moments of the series!

BlackWhiteRose

Yeah it really was

starryeyesxx

& when you watch the credits it's impossible to not love DB!

I don't think that alone, the ep is that great, but for setting up for the second season, I think it was perfect

☆♥~Buffyverse_Lover16~♥☆

Barstool Prophet

I love the Faith/Angel scenes.

starryeyesxx

That ending scene was really sweet & I was glad that it showed that both the writers & Angel's character hadn't just forgotten about Faith after she was in jail, Angel was still trying to help her save her soul

livstevi21

Fabulous season opener!

Cody's coming along with her acting career. Hope she got that part despite needing to leave the audition. I like the beginning with them saving those innocents at the gym.

Poor Angel he didn't realise that demon he killed was a good demon. He felt so guilty afterwards. Glad he was able to help the pregnant girl.

Angel singing Mandy was hilarious He looked horrified at having to sing in public especially when he was adamant he would never sing lol. But he'd do anything to save an innocent, even sing lol. I loved the credits with more of his singing.

Aww and the end scene with Angel visiting Faith in prison was so sweet. He's still there for her, to save her soul. She seemed to be getting somewhere.

BlackWhiteRose

Oh yes his singing

sum1

I found this episode pretty weak. It was a big drop in quality from season 1.

Arlius

One thing they never explained was where was Angel sleeping? On Cordelia's couch? Or maybe at Wesley's place? At a hotel? Of course they didn't really have to show anything because they were going to be moving into the Hyperion after the next episode.