Season 1 – Episode 7 (Original air date 14 April 1997)
I am currently re-watching every episode (for like the 500th time) and am writing this overview post, along with some of my favourite quotes. Please note these are all my personal opinions and I have no affiliation what so ever with any of the cast members or the shows creators. I am just a massive fan. Leave a comment below if you want to weigh in.
Favourite Quote / Quotes:
Buffy! Come on, wake up and smell the seduction. I mean it’s the oldest trick in the book.
What? Saving my life? Getting slashed in the ribs?
Duh. I mean guys would do anything to impress a girl.
Xander & Buffy
Cool, crossbow. Huh Check out these babies. Hmmmm Goodbye stakes, hello flying fatality. What can I shoot?
Buffy
Giles, twentieth century. I’m not going to be fighting fryer tuck.
Buffy
My diary? You read my diary? That is not okay. A diary is like a persons most private place. I – you don’t even know who I was talking about. Hunk can mean a lot of things, bad things. And – and when I said your eyes are penetrating I meant to write bulgy. And A doesn’t even stand for Angel for that matter, it stands for Ahmed, a charming foreign exchange student so that whole fantasy part has nothing to even do with you, at all.
Buffy
You’re in love with a vampire?! What are you out of your mind!
What?
Not vampire. How could you love an umpire? Everyone hates them.
Xander, Cordelia
Where did you get that dress? This is a one of a kind Todd Oldham. Do you know how much this dress costs? Is this a knock-off? This is aknock-off isn’t it. Some cheesy knock-off. This is exactly what happens when you sign these free trade agreements.
Cordelia
And the last time I saw you, it wasn’t high school girls.
Darla
You were such a bad boy during that earth quake.
Darla
That must have been so embarrasing when you thought he had read your diary, but then it turns out he hadn’t, but then he felt the same way –
…
I’m listening.
Willow
So he is a good vampire. I mean, on a scale of 1 to 10. Ten being someone who’s killing and maiming every night. One being someone who’s… not.
Willow
Angel. He was the most vicious creature I ever met. I miss him.
The Master
No no no. No speaking up. That way leads up to madness and sweaty palms.
Willow
It is kind of novel how he’ll stay handsome and young forever. Although you’re still get wrinkly and die. Oh and what about the children.
…
I’ll be quiet now.
Willow
You’re hurting me. That’s good too.
Darla
She lives very much in the now. And history, of course, is very much about the then. She is trying.
Giles
That school is amazing.
Joyce
I have a question. What if we find her and she’s fighting Angel and some of his friends? What the heck are we going to do about it?
Xander
Well, you’ve been around since Columbus, you are bound to pile up a few exes.
Buffy
Close, but no heart.
Darla
Much partier cockroaches.
Xander
If I could go a little while without getting shot or stabbed, I’ll be alright.
Angel
What’s going on.
Nothing.
Well as long as they’re not kissing.
Xander, Willow
Episode Breakdown:
The Master, tired of Buffy constantly killing his cronies, decides to send The Three to kill her. Buffy bumps into Angel on her way home one night, after The Three attack her. He helps her fight them off and they run towards her house. Once inside she locks the door and Angel tells her a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited. She is unconvinced that this is a tried and tested part of the lore.
While attending to his wounds, which he sustained in their earlier fight, Buffy learns that Angel’s family had been killed by vampires. Her mother comes home, to a flustered Buffy as she had a topless older man in her kitchen. Buffy tries to distract her mother, Joyce, but Angel casually walks in and introduces himself. Buffy thinks up a story of how Angel is in community college and is tutoring her in history. Joyce says good night and goes to bed.
After pretending to let Angel leave and go home, they sneak up to her bedroom. Angel sleeps on her floor. Buffy thinks it’s too dangerous for Angel to go home in case he gets attacked by The Three again.
After pretending to let Angel leave and go home, they sneak up to her bedroom. Angel sleeps on her floor. Buffy thinks it’s too dangerous for Angel to go home in case he gets attacked by The Three again.
The next day at school, Buffy informs her friends about the night’s events. Giles finds mention of The Three, very strong warrior vampires. Even though they are aware that The Master is eager to get rid of Buffy, there is some immediate relief as Giles’ research shows that The Three will offer their lives in penance, having failed their mission to kill Buffy.
After another lesson in training the annointed one, The Master lets Darla kill The Three.
Buffy and Giles have a weapons training session in the library the next day, which lets us see another impressive display of Buffy’s abilities.
That evening Buffy and Angel, who had been hiding out in her room all day, had a bit of a heart to heart about their feelings for one another. He told her he can’t see her, as he’s older than her but they couldn’t resist sharing a kiss, after which he vamped out.
Angel jumps out the window after Buffy screams in shock and fear.
The next day at school, the gang try to figure out what’s going on with Angel. A good vampire is unheard of but Buffy can’t understand what his plan was. Why would he be so good and helpful towards her, what was his ultimate end goal.
Xander and Giles try to convince her she needs to kill him regardless of his motives but Buffy has a gut feeling that something is amiss.
Angel returns home to find Darla waiting for him. It turns out they have a history together. It seems they know each other quite well. She keeps saying to him he’s living ‘like one of them’. Darla mentions something about a curse. She’s trying to convince Angel to join her and embrace his vampire side.
The scoobi gang are in the library trying to do some research. Giles finds reference to Angelus, the one with the angelic face. They find out that Angel is 240 years old and about 80 years ago he came to America and lived on his own, no record of any sort of killing or violence. But his time before that he was just as vicious and violent as the rest of them.
Darla begs the Master to let her kill the Slayer. She also has a plan to bring Angel back to them. The Master refers to Angel as the most vicious creature he had ever met.
Darla tricks Joyce into letting her into Buffy’s house, posing as one of Buffy’s friends who is tutoring her in history. Darla attacks Joyce, feeding off of her, leaving her unconcious. Just then, Angel storms in, saving Joyce from death.
She tries to entice Angel to feed off of Joyce. he is tempted, but fights it. Buffy walks in as he is holding an unconscious Joyce in his arms, while he is baring his fangs.
While in hospital, Joyce mentions Buffy’s friend, but Buffy thinks she’s talking about Angel. she can’t remember what happened. She decides to go after him.
Darla torments Angel, taunting him with Buffy’s fear of him. She is trying to convince him to kill and feed off of Buffy.
Giles realizes that Joyce had had another visitor besides Angel that night and heads off, along with Xander & Willow to back up Buffy.
Angel and Buffy face off. While fighting, she hesitates to kill him, even in his vamp form. They talk, she admits she feels for him. He tells her about his past. After changing into a vampire, he killed off his family and for 100 years he offered an ugly death to everyone he met. Until one day he fed on a young, beautiful girl who was favoured amongst her gympsy Romani clan. The clan elders restored Angel’s soul.
When someone becomes a vampire, the soul leaves the body and the demon takes over. A demon has no remorse or conscience. But when Angel’s soul was restored, he remebered everything he had done as Angelus. The guilt is over whelming. He finally tells Buffy he didn’t bite her mother.
Darla interrupts their bonding moment. Darla and Angelus were together for several generations. She states that Angel loves Buffy. They fight, Giles, Xander and Willow arrive, trying to help but not being able to face Darla who is attacking Buffy with guns. They try to offer a distraction.
Ultimately, Angel stakes Darla, saving Buffy.
The Master is displeased with Darla’s death and Angel’s betrayal. Darla was the Master’s favourite, for 400 years. The anointed one offers him comfort, telling him that he will soon arise.
The gang are at the Bronze. Angel and Buffy talk about what happened. It’s a touching scene, where they tell each other that they can’t see each other and have to walk away from one another. But they don’t, they end up kissing. After she walks away, we see that her cross had burned into his skin during their kiss.
Trivia:
This episode was aired on Sarah Michelle Gellar’s 20th birthday.
This is the first time we see Buffy using a crossbow.
It took the makeup department around an hour to an hour and a half to apply the vampire prosthetic onto the Angel character.
Angel’s tattoo is never mentioned again.
Angel’s coat is a very pricey Hugo Boss duster. One which he wears all the time.
This is the first time that Joyce meets Giles and Angel.
Angel’s not the only vampire in the Buffyverse to be known for his leather jacket.
This is the first time Xander uses the argument that Angel’s a vampire, and Buffy slays vampires.
This is my own personal opinion – This is where I really started to dislike Xander. It was a love-hate relationship for me all throughout the show. On the one hand, he is funny and loyal, but his jealousy of Angel turned him into a douche bag.