Angel: City Of

Angel: "Why would a woman I've never met even talk to me?"
Doyle: "Have you looked in a mirror lately? No, I guess you really haven't."

I was prepared to be underwhelmed after all the hype, but I really, really liked it.

One of the advantages of a spin-off series is that the actors and writers are already comfortable with their characters. Boreanaz really knows his character by now, and it shows. I couldn't help but notice that Angel seemed a lot more comfortable as a dark hero in L.A. than he did as a teenager's love interest in the sticks. He was definitely able to carry the lead role, and I think they're going to let him stay in touch with his inner monster.

I've always rather liked Cordelia, too, and I think her shallow materialism and uninhibited narcissism complements Angel's angst and depression very well. Poor Cordy isn't used to failure, and that was rather endearing. I really enjoyed the scene where she figured out in fairly short order that Russell was a vamp. She didn't grow up in Sunnydale for nothing.

I liked Doyle, too. I thought his character worked really well as Angel's redemption director. "I'm human on my mother's side?" I wonder what it is he has to atone for. I bet we'll find out.

That opening scene was sooo cute. I really thought Angel was drunk at first. I also really enjoyed the guy at the party who went up to Angel and said, "You're a beautiful, beautiful man." So L.A. And there were two really great car gags -- where Angel jumped into the wrong convertable, and Doyle tried to run down the gate. In fact, the humor in general was understated but fun; we had the same biting :) wit but it was more laid back than on Buffy. It looks like this series won't take itself too seriously, and I think it hit the right balance. At least for this episode it did.

The end was great. "Can you fly? .... Guess not." Very Angel-like. Loved it.

Some bits:

-- Was the library closed? And how come people in TV shows can always find relevant stuff really quickly on the Internet? I'm a librarian, and I can't find relevant stuff really quickly on the Internet. And one more thing. Have we ever seen Angel use a computer before? I don't think so.

-- Wolfram & Hart sounded like fun. A full service law firm. :) Wolf ... ram ... hart? Must be deliberate.

-- The vamp-face makeup changed.

-- I liked the hmm-ing sound that Boreanaz occasionally made between lines.

-- It looked like Angel got shot right where Faith got him with the arrow, didn't he?

Quotes:

Tina: "You've been to Missoula?"
Angel: "During the depression. Ah, my depression. I was depressed there."

Angel: "Doyle, I don't want to share my feelings, I don't want to open up. I want to find Russell and I want to look him in the eye."
Doyle: "Then what?"
Angel: "Then I'm going to share my feelings."

Doyle: "Got it!"
Cordelia: "Finally. I thought I was going to faint while barfing."

Cordelia: "You need somebody to organize things, and you're not exactly rolling in it Mr. I-was-alive-for-200-years-and- never-developed-an-investment-portfolio."

No rating yet, but I'm very pleased, and looking forward to next week.

Billie