Angel S1-01: The Short Review

'City Of...'

'Written by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt'

Directed by Joss Whedon

"It's not about saving lives; it's about saving souls. Hey, possibly your own in the process." - Doyle

'City Of...' is probably the best series premiere that I've ever seen. It's not perfect, but it does the job it has to do in a far more than adequate fashion, and is just so much damn fun to watch that what flaws it does have seem irrelevant. The episode has to introduce us to our protagonists in a convincing yet economical fashion. It has to tell a story that exemplifies what the series will be about, and it has to make us care about characters we haven't necessarily ever seen before. As a spin-off, 'Angel' started with a certain guaranteed audience, but to keep that audience it needed to set out its stall early on. It needed to justify its existence; what can it offer that 'Buffy' doesn't? 'City Of...' does all this with style.

Indeed, 'stylish' defines much of 'City Of...'From the opening voiceover to Russell Winters' dramatic fall from grace, this is an episode that is slick and, well, cool. The writers, however, are careful to keep this tendency in check; they aren't reluctant to make a joke at Angel's expense, and that's good. The agent Oliver Simon's appearance at Margo's party still makes me laugh ('you are a beautiful, beautiful man'), and several times Angel is deliberately set up to look a fool - the dramatic jump into the wrong car being the most obvious example.

It isn't enough, however, to just tell us Angel is cool. We need to know about him as a character. I have mixed feelings about the method used to achieve this. On the one hand, Doyle's 'bedtime story' is a shameless info-dump. On the other, Glenn Quinn's delivery means I can still enjoy watching it, even now. It also contains perhaps the most crucial line ever delivered in the series, quoted above - Angel's mission statement in sixteen words. As the season develops, the emphasis shifts from the first part of Doyle's statement to the last, but they remain apt nevertheless.

Cordelia's introduction is better handled than Angel's, but is still flawed. Her early scenes are very effective, highlighting the contrast between the reality of her life in LA and the glamorous front she puts on for others. Unfortunately, her willingness to recap her life story for Russell seems a little forced. In some ways, it would have been better to bring attention to the reason for her situation in a later episode, rather than attempt to fill in all the important blanks at once.

Doyle, despite being the only brand-new regular character, gets the least introduction here. However, in many ways I think this works in his favour - we get to see what he's like, rather than be told what he's like. We know he has 'something to atone for'; we know he has a fondness for gambling, and a penchant for alcohol. But none of these are pointed out to us in a 'look-here's-Doyle' way. Yes, in many respects, the character is a walking cliche. However, Glenn Quinn's likeable performance endows the character with enough heart to overlook this. It's also hardly unknown for Mutant Enemy to play with cliches.

A series premiere, however, must do more than merely introduce the characters. It must also have a strong central story to make us care about those characters, and here again 'City Of...' succeeds. Tina is a sympathetic victim, and the fact that Angel fails to save her adds that extra little bit of depth to the proceedings. There are also a great number of memorable moments, from the stake launchers, to Doyle's attempt to ram the gates to Russell's mansion, to Cordelia's realization and Russell's reaction ("You're a vampire!" "What? No I'm not..."), and there's the tantalizing hint that we'll see more of the law firm Wolfram and Hart in the future. All in all, you can't get a much better start than this.