History Recap / AngelS01E01CityOf

* BadassBoast: Angel doesn't take Tina's death well.
--> '''Angel:''' Look, I'm not looking to share my feelings. I'm gonna find the guy who killed Tina, and I'm gonna look him in the eye.\\
'''Doyle:''' And then what?\\
'''Angel:''' And then I'm gonna share my feelings.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: At the same time as he is swilling alcohol, Angel is watching a group of men playing pool with some women. They leave with the girls, and Angel silently shadows them. Hey, wait a minute! He's not really drunk at all! Outside the bar, the trio reveal themselves as vampires, but Angel swoops to the rescue. One of the girls tries to thank him, but Angel glimpses the blood on her forehead and snarls at them, "Get away from me" before vanishing into the night. Within the first five minutes, we learn everything we need to know about Angel.

* BeautifulAllAlong

* CheshireCatGrin

* IronicEcho

* RedSkiesCrossover: A despondent Angel calls someone (she doesn't identify herself, but it's Sarah Michelle Gellar on the other end), but hangs up as soon as she answers. Buffy's side of the call is shown in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E1TheFreshman The Freshman]]".

* SpeakOfTheDevil

* StarterVillain: Russell.

* TooDumbToLive: Yes, Cordy, it's a brilliant idea to spout off the reasons that you know someone is a vampire when there's no one else and no weapons within screaming distance.

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Cordelia is able to deduce right away that Winters is a vampire, due to the heavy drapes all over the place and [[MissingReflection lack of mirrors]]. In mid-sentence, she realizes how much trouble she's in.

'''Winters''': [[BlatantLies I don't know what you're talking about.]]

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: At the same time as he is swilling alcohol, Angel is watching a group of men playing pool with some women. They leave with the girls, and Angel silently shadows them. Hey, wait a minute! He's not really drunk at all! Outside the bar, the trio reveal themselves as vampires, but Angel swoops to the rescue. One of the girls tries to thank him, but Angel glimpses the blood on her forehead and snarls at them, "Get away from me." Within the first five minutes, we learn everything we need to know about Angel.

Having left Sunnydale and his true love behind, we pick up with our hero where we previously left off: a depressed, lonely Angel [[DrowningMySorrows getting hammered in a bar]]. After saving some pool-playing women from their dates (who turn out to be vampires, natch), a sullen Angel returns to his underground lair beneath an office complex. A man appears behind him, complimenting the "Franchise/{{bat|man}}cave" decorum. This fellow is Doyle, a [[MagicalNegro magical Irishman]] sent by the PowersThatBe. Doyle's here to enlist Angel in the good fight. Angel retorts that he's got it covered. Doyle warns that Angel is so cut off from humanity that his demon-slaying will only lead to apathy towards people. Furthermore, unless Angel does something to remedy this, he'll start to prey on humans again. Doyle hands Angel a note regarding his latest vision, that of a waitress in imminent peril. Angel agrees to look into it.

** Cordelia greets Angel at Margo's party by asking if he's still "Grrr," then asks to verify that Angel is not there "to bite anybody." Cordelia became aware that Angel is vampire in ''Buffy'' S2 ([[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E6Halloween "Halloween"]]), and has tangled with his alter-ego Angelus (who was very "Grrr", indeed) on more than one occasion.

* PreviouslyOn[=/=]ToMakeALongStoryShort: For the uninitiated viewers out there, Doyle offers to tell Angel a "bedtime story" and recaps Angel's entire past. We see a montage of short clips of Angel's life from Europe to Sunnydale.

** Justified by Russell having a public persona: social security, I.D., properties. Angel has always been a drifter and is not like he ever owned any property he could legally sale.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: WordOfGod states that the BatmanColdOpen is structured toward the uninitiated members of the audience, since it shows off every side of Angel's personality.

* GoodIsNotNice: At the same time as he is swilling alcohol, Angel is watching a group of men playing pool with some women. They leave with the girls, and Angel silently shadows them. Hey, wait a minute! He's not really drunk at all! Outside the bar, the trio reveal themselves as vampires, but Angel swoops to the rescue. One of the girls tries to thank him, but Angel glimpses the blood on her forehead and snarls at them, "Get away from me."

* BeardOfEvil[=/=]TheDragon: Russell Winters' swarthy-looking henchman, Stacy.

** When Marlo rings up Cordy to deliver her "good news," we see her popping pills and swigging alcohol.

* LastSecondWordSwap: Angel remarks on passing through Tina's hometown, Missoula, during "the Depression," then stammers, "--My depression... I was depressed there."

* VampiresAreRich: Russell is, but subverted with Angel, presumably because while VampiresAreRich, private eyes are expected to be poor.

** EstablishingSeriesMoment: [[{{Showrunner}} Jeff Greenwalt]] was particularly delighted with Angel [[WrongGenreSavvy jumping into the wrong car]]. Joss, on the other hand, was over the moon with regard to Angel failing to save the girl.

* FridgeLogic: The incongruity of a vampire surrounding himself with sunny windows was addressed much later in S4 ([[Recap/AngelS04E22Home "Home"]]), in which Lilah Morgan revealed that Wolfram & Hart encased its building in "necro-tempered glass" that filters out the sun's rays.

* HeyItsThatGuy: The vampire in the RedShirt who gets dusted by Angel in the teaser is actually [[Series/{{Lost}} Sawyer]].

* ImprovisedWeapon[=/=]JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Stacy runs his own gym as a side-gig. Angel tracks him down and 'interrogates' him via a handy barbell.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Having apparently grown accustomed to Russell's habits, his lawyer's already on top of Tina's conspicuous death. Lindsey has paid witnesses ready to report that they saw a "[[{{Profiling}} dark-complectioned man]]" fleeing the scene. No shortage of those!

* PreviouslyOn / ToMakeALongStoryShort: For the uninitiated viewers out there, Doyle offers to tell Angel a "bedtime story" and recaps Angel's entire past. We see a montage of short clips of Angel's life from Europe to Sunnydale.

* RescueSex: Back at Angel's place, Tina assumes that ThisIsThePartWhere Angel "comforts" her. Angel, noting that Tina is accustomed to being used, tells her that he has [[SubvertedTrope no intention of taking advantage]], causing her to break down crying.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Josh Holloway (the vampire who tells Angel to "piss off") and Tracy Middendorf both went on to appear on ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Holloway plays series regular Sawyer, while Middendorf played Bonnie in Season Three.

** A similar scene occurs in a flashback in Season Four, when Angel succumbs to temptation and drinks from a murder victim in 1978 ("Orpheus"). The guilt causes Angel to revert to the pathetic state he is in when Whistler encounters him eating rats in 1996 (''Buffy'', "Becoming Pt. 2").

-->'''Angel:''' ''Then ''I'm gonna [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge share my feelings]].

* VampireInvitation: Russell sets up his victims in apartments that he already owns. As they are ''his'' guests, he doesn't need an invitation to walk in on them.
* VampiresAreRich / ThereAreNoGoodExecutives: Russell is vaguely referred to as "that investment guy", but he evidentially has fingers in alot of pies. Tina says he's a depraved killer, and that he picks people with no family and no one to care.
** The latter trope is subverted with Angel, presumably because while VampiresAreRich, private eyes are expected to be poor.
-->'''Cordelia:''' You're not exactly rolling in it Mr. I-was-alive-for-200-years-and-never-developed-an-investment-portfolio.
* WaitingForABreak: Tina.
-->"I came here to be a famous movie star. But, they weren't hiring."
** Also, (Ssh, don't tell anyone) [-Cordelia.-]
* YouAreTooLate

-->[slurring] "Because, because-- y'know... the hair."
* YouWouldMakeAGreatModel: At the party, an older bearded gent named Oliver observes that Angel is very attractive, and offers to be his management. Angel repeatedly insists he is not an actor. This might have been a self-referential dig at how David Boreanaz was discovered while walking his dog.
* YourDoorWasOpen: Our introduction to Doyle.

-->'''Russell:''' [absently] Oh, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney I own the building. Most of the block]].

* CatapultNightmare / TalkingInYourSleep: As the sun rises after a long, research-filled night, Angel makes his way home through the tunnels. He pops up from the sewer grate just in time to wake Tina, who is having a nightmare.

* CompleteTheQuoteTitle: "City Of"...Angels.
* ContinuityNod: Doyle says Angel needs to stop being a recluse. He also says that because Angel drank Buffy's blood back in the ''Buffy'' Season Three finale ("Graduation Day, Pt. 2") Angel has a renewed craving for human blood, and eventually he will feed off the people he's trying to rescue.
** Cordelia greets Angel at Margo's party by asking if he's still "Grrr," then asks to verify that Angel is not there "to bite anybody." Cordelia became aware that Angel is vampire in ''Buffy'' S2 ("[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E6Halloween Halloween]]"), and has tangled with his alter-ego Angelus (who was very "Grrr", indeed) on more than one occasion.
** Cordy also provides her backstory for those coming in late. In summary: Her parents were rich, they didn't pay taxes, the IRS got miffed, now she's broke. (''Buffy'', "The Prom")

* DecoyProtagonist: Tina is very much set up as a main character and possible love-interest for Angel only die two thirds of the way through the episode.

* DrowningMySorrows: The episode with Angel in a bar, [[ExploitedTrope pretending to be drunk]], and babbling on about Buffy to a bald guy who is not amused.
** When Marlo rings up Cordy to deliver her 'good news', we see her popping pills and swigging alcohol.
* EekAMouse: Doyle wanders in and asks why Angel isn't more pleased that he took care of Russell. Angel says he didn't help anyone, but Doyle points out that there's a girl upstairs who'd disagree. Cue Cordy's scream. The duo run upstairs and find Cordelia pointing her feather duster and pointing at the floor, where she thinks saw a cockroach. "I think it's a bantamweight!"

-->"[[BondOneLiner Guess not.]]"
* EvilRedhead / TheMole: Cordelia's 'friend', Margo, acts as a go-between for Russell and his new playmates.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Angel complains, "Why me?", Doyle's reply - that the "balance sheet" isn't exactly in Angel's favor - outlines the theme for ''Angel''. When Angel next asks, "Why ''you''?", Doyle uncomfortably replies, "We've all got somethin' to atone for." We follow up on this peek into Doyle's history in the episode "Hero".

* {{Flashback}}: A few flashback scenes from ''Buffy'' are seen whilst Doyle is telling Angel the story of his life. These episodes are, in order: Angelus chomping down on Daniel and Margaret in "Amends" and the hooker in the alley in "Innocence"; Angel being cursed ("Innocence"), an opening credits shot of Buffy (originally from "Anne"); Angel and Buffy getting it on ("Revelations"); Angel's nightmare sequence from "Amends"; and lastly, Angel walking away into the fog, and into his own series ("Graduation Day, Pt. 2").
* FridgeLogic: The incongruity of a vampire surrounding himself with sunny windows was addressed much later in S4 ("Home"), in which Lilah Morgan revealed that Wolfram & Hart encased its building in "necro-tempered glass" that filters out the sun's rays.

* HypocriticalHumor: As Angel and Doyle leave a liquor store, Doyle continues his Jiminy Cricket act. He tells Angel, "It's about reaching out to people, showing them that there's love and hope still left in this world." In the midst of this, a homeless lady asks Doyle for spare change and without missing a beat he responds, "Get a job, you lazy sow!"

* ImprovisedWeapon / JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Stacy runs his own gym as a side-gig. Angel tracks him down and 'interrogates' him via a handy barbell.

* ItsPersonal: Doyle tries to delve into Angel's guilt complex regarding Tina's death, but Angel says he doesn't want to share his feelings:.

-->'''Angel:''' ''Then I'''m gonna [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge share my feelings]].
* LastSecondWordSwap: Angel remarks on passing through Tina's hometown, Missoula, during "the Depression", then stammers, "--''My depression. ..I was depressed there."

-->'''Tina:''' You’ve been watching me?"
-->'''Angel:''' No! [[CringeComedy I was looking towards there-– and you kind of walked through... there]].
-->'''Tina:''' You don't hit on girls very often, do you?"

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: Angel, in a race to catch Tina's kidnappers, is a bit over-enthusiastic in leaping into his convertible. Turns out, it's the ''wrong'' convertible.

-->"Good gate."

* OffscreenTeleportation: Russell strolls casually after Cordelia as she runs from him and sprints up the foyer stairs. No great hurry, because he teleports up the stairs and grabs Cordy at the platform just as the lights go out.
** Then again, Russell is a really old vampire - as his vamp face indicates - which means he may be superhumanly fast. The Master was also supernaturally fast.

->''UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. You see it at night, and it shines. It's a beacon. People are drawn to it. --People, and'' other things. ''They come for all sorts of reasons.'' My ''reason? No surprise there: it started with [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer a girl]]...''
-->--'''Angel''', [[PrivateEyeMonologue Opening narration]]

Things go awry when Tina sees the slip of paper on which Doyle wrote her name. She flees upstairs, and when Angel tries to intervene, his hand bursts into flame from a ray of sunlight and he vamps out. Tina wails and runs outside, while Angel can only watch. Tina races to her apartment and starts packing, but Russell is lying in wait. He's interested to know who was with her last night. When Tina describes what happened to Angel's face, Russel vamps out (aha.) and drains her. Angel arrives too late and discovers Tina's body.

-->'''Oliver:''' [to Angel] This isn't a come-on! I'm in a very serious relationship with a landscape architect.

* BattleDiscretionShot: As Angel and Tina step out of a hotel elevator, two men grab Angel and pull him back into the elevator just as the doors close, while Stacy and his associate drag Tina away. When the elevator doors re-open, Angel is standing over the unconscious bodies of his assailants.
* BeardOfEvil / TheDragon: Russell Winters' swarthy-looking henchman, Stacy.

'''Doyle''' (laughs): Have you looked into a mirror lately? (hesitates) No, I guess you really haven’t, no.
* BigFancyHouse: Casa de Vampire.
* BondOneLiner: When Doyle asks how that business with Russell turned out, Angel deadpans, "He went into the light."
** The scene itself after Russell asserts he pays taxes and he can do whatever he likes, Angel ask, "Can you fly?" ''[[DestinationDefenestration boots him out of his office window where he burns in the sunlight]]'' "Guess not."

* CastingCouch
* CasualKink: According to Tina, Russel is a really big fan of-- well, pain. "He talks about it like it's a friend of his."

* GoodIsNotNice: At the same time as he is swilling alcohol, Angel is watching a group of men playing pool with some women. They leave with the girls, and Angel silently shadows them. Hey, wait a minute! [[CaptainObvious He's not really drunk at all!]] Outside the bar, the trio reveal themselves as vampires, but Angel swoops to the rescue. One of the girls tries to thank him, but Angel glimpses the blood on her forehead and snarls at them, "Get away from me."

* GenreSavvy: Cordelia notes the heavy curtains and conspicuous absence of mirrors.
-->'''Cordelia:''' I finally get invited to a nice place with-- no mirrors and... lots of curtains...Hey -- '''you're a vampire!'''
-->'''Russell:''' [half-heartedly] [[BadLiar What? No I'm not.]]
-->'''Cordelia:''' Are too!
-->'''Russell:''' I don't know what you're talking about.
-->'''Cordelia:''' I'm from Sunnydale; We had our own Hellmouth! I think I know a vampire when I... [[OhCrap am alone with him... in his fortress-like home]]...and you know, I think I'm just feeling a little light-headed from hunger. I'm just wacky. And kidding! Ha ha!
** As a vampire, Russell is well aware of the rule mandating that he be invited in to a potential victim's residence. Therefore, he simply has the girls live in an apartment building that he owns. Since they are at his place, he can enter at will.

Having left Sunnydale and his true love behind, we pick up with our hero where we previously left off: a depressed, lonely Angel [[DrowningMySorrows getting hammered in a bar]]. After saving some pool-playing women from their dates (who turn out to be vampires, natch), a sullen Angel returns to his underground lair beneath an office complex. A man appears behind him, complimenting the "[[Franchise/{{Batman}} batcave]]" decorum. This fellow is Doyle, a [[MagicalNegro magical Irishman]] sent by the PowersThatBe. Doyle's here to enlist Angel in the good fight. Angel retorts that he's got it covered. Doyle warns that Angel is so cut off from humanity that his demon-slaying will only lead to apathy towards people. Furthermore, unless Angel does something to remedy this, he'll start to prey on humans again. Doyle hands Angel a note regarding his latest vision, that of a waitress in imminent peril. Angel agrees to look into it.

* DistressedDamsel: ''Ho'' boy. This episode sets the bar high: Those two girls at the beginning, Tina, and (lastly) Cordelia herself.

-->"[[PostMortemOneLiner Guess not]]."

-->'''Russell:''' [half-heartedly] [[BadLiar What? No I'm not]].

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Angel strolling out of the shadows and declaring (in a voice of TranquilFury): "I have a message... from Tina."

* BloodOnTheseHands: Angel tries to check Tina's pulse at her neck, and his fingers come away wet with blood.
** DeletedScene: In the original script, the scene in which Angel finds Tina's dead body ends with him cradling her, then licking her blood from his fingers. Although creator Joss Whedon claims that moment was his favorite moment in the script, it was removed at the risk of DarknessInducedAudienceApathy. You can see Boreanaz about to taste the blood, but it fades out just in time.
** A similar scene occurs in a flashback in Season Four, when Angel succumbs to temptation and drinks from a murder victim in 1978 ("Orpheus"). The guilt causes Angel to revert to the pathetic state he is in when Whistler encounters him eating rats in 1996 (''Buffy'', "Becoming Pt. 2").