Diary of a Buffy/Angel Virgin – Buffy’s in college, Angel’s in LA

(Buffy Season 4, Episodes 1-2)
(Angel Season 1, Episodes 1-2)

Welcome to the new and shorter-titled “Diary of a Buffy/Angel Virgin.” I’m a completist by nature, so if I’d been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer when it was on, I would have surely tuned in to Angel. I’ll bet the vast majority of people who were watching did the same, or at least sampled Angel.

So far, both shows feel a little lean. They took two of the regular cast members of Buffy, and put them on Angel. Buffy is just making do with the smaller number, while Angel added one. After high school so much changes, so it’s pretty cool watching two different shows to see how everybody’s lives are moving in such different directions.

B.4.1 – “The Freshman”
(Original Air Date: October 5, 1999) As promised, nothing is the same for the Scoobies. Perhaps the most disturbing difference is that, rather than seeing Giles suited up and in the high school library, we encounter him in his apartment wearing a bathrobe. Whatever will Giles do now without his day job, or his night job?

As for the Scoobies, of course Buffy is going to be miserable in college. It’s how Whedon likes her. I was kind of hoping Sunday would stick around longer, as that whole back-story was interesting. And now there’s an empty building on campus.

But I guess she was there to give Buffy some evil to slay, so she could start to make the campus feel more like home. It’s going to take a bit for me as well. The halls of Sunnydale High just felt so comfortable. U.C. Sunnydale is so large, and filled with strangers.

No Cordelia. No Angel. No Anya, even. The cast is so very small right now.

A.1.1 – “City of”
(Original Air Date: October 5, 1999) I’d always heard that Angel was a much darker show, and it is. Of course, as I was watching it I kind of realized that in one respect, it doesn’t have much choice. It’s not like Angel can prance around in the sunlight like the cast can over at Buffy. He’s nocturnal by nature, so by default this will be LA night life.

The introduction of the half-demon Doyle worked surprisingly well, and he does a bang-up job of giving Angel’s back-story in less than two minutes. That he gets prophetic visions of people in need is maybe a little convenient for the stories, but how else is Angel going to find people to help in a city the size of Los Angeles?

I hate to say it, but I was actually glad to see Cordelia. I think she’ll be a better fit here than she would on the revamped Buffy. While we got a hint of her family’s falling fortunes last season on Buffy, the full extent of that becomes painfully obvious here.

Even though Cordelia got accepted into several prestigious colleges, she couldn’t afford any of them, and so she’s in a very dingy apartment in LA trying to “make it” in the entertainment industry. It’s a very sad reality for too many promising young people. So while we get to see Buffy, Oz, and Willow going through the college experience, Cordy has to grow up and be an adult right away.

And she’s still a kid. She got wrapped up with Russell Winters, the powerful vampire who feeds on aspiring actresses. It pulled her into Angel’s world seamlessly. Bonus points when she called the guy out on his vamp-ness. Even her annoying tendencies are less grating here, without Buffy and Xander to be bothered by them.

Loved Angel shoving the guy through the window. And he’ll get away with it because it was nothing but an office chair by the time it hit the bottom. Advantages of dusting. So Angel‘s basically an investigative procedural now?  Sort of?

Bonus points for Lost’s Sawyer (Josh Holloway) as a short-lived vampire to open the series. Even better was Leverage’s Eliot (Christian Kane) as a short-haired smarmy lawyer for Wolfram & Hart. I know that firm becomes important. It took me a minute to recognize him, though.

B.4.2 – “Living Conditions”
(Original Air Date: October 12, 1999) Buffy’s new college roommate Kathy was shown initially to be a little wacky. Suddenly, things got  much more heated between her and Buffy. I absolutely loved the dramatic music, and zoom-ins on the petty things in the room as they fought for control.

It reminded me so much of my own college experience. My first roommate was the polar opposite of me, and we clashed on virtually everything. He didn’t turn out to be a truant demon trying to suck out my soul, but it felt like it sometimes.

There was a lot of humor in this episode. Buffy running around with the bag of toenail clippings was so surreal, but then so was her behavior in general. It was even more disturbing to learn that she was right the whole time about Kathy.

It was perfect when Kathy’s father showed up and yelled at her the same way you would any kid. And all he did was glare at Oz and Xander when they showed up. No concern that these humans were seeing him. I love how matter-of-fact some of this craziness is presented.

In the end, Willow moved in. I kept wondering why Willow and Buffy didn’t room together to begin with? Maybe they tried and couldn’t get it approved? Or maybe they wanted to try reaching outside their little group to make new friends. Which isn’t always easy on the Hellmouth.

A.1.2 – “Lonely Hearts”
(Original Air Date: October 12, 1999) Poor Doyle. Pining after Cordelia, and yet she thinks demons are just the ickiest things ever. Still, he’ll keep trying I’m sure.

This trio actually works for me, but I do find myself latching onto peripheral characters that show up, hoping they’ll flesh out the cast a bit. I guess I’m feeling a bit cramped with just three principals.

Kate, the LAPD detective who thinks Angel is a serial killer at first, could stick around for a while. She’s got a connection to the law, which would help Angel Investigations find cases.

Loved Cordelia’s business cards; I knew right away that was an angel. It was also pretty funny when they backfired on her in the club, leading people to think she’s a hooker, with Doyle as her pimp. If only they knew how swanky her apartment was they’d — well, probably be convinced she was a hooker. What a dump. And Cordy’s a slob!

The real threat was unique for the Buffy-verse. A parasitic demon that transports from one host to another. Unfortunately, it’s a little too used to its passive methods. When your face is falling off, you don’t keep trying to hit on people and convince them to sleep with you. Go straight for the forced transference.

Angel has a “friend” in Kate, and the business is sort of up and running. The growing pains are fun to watch at Angel Investigations. Maybe they can start making some money so Cordelia can move in somewhere nicer, or just let her stay with Angel. Her place is a du-u-u-ump!

Clacked by Jason Hughes
on Sep 08, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT