Characterization In The Buffyverse — “Angel” Season 1, Episode 18

This is part of a bi-weekly series concerning the characterization of Buffyverse characters. The first installment in this series can be found here. Arguably the best place to begin reading this series is at the beginning, but that is up to each reader. As a reminder this column will cover major and some minor characters from the shows Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004). Other Buffyverse media, such as the graphic novel Spike: Into The Light (2014) are not pertinent to this series. Also there will be no referencing real world events that have direct relation to either show in this bi-weekly series.

This week: Evil lawyers hire an assassin to kill Angel (David Boreanaz): the rogue slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku).

(Warning of spoilers from this point on!)

(Trigger warning for mentions of torture)

Angel/Angelus is a bully towards several characters, including Wesley Wyndham-Pryce (Alexis Denisof). Specifically, Angel declares to him that Angel Investigations is not a team effort. This is the first significant example of this attitude from Angel, but it will not be the last. Also, despite over a century of fooling humans in order to do horrible things, he is not good with improvisation while undercover. It is also worth mentioning that this episode is the first one that exposes Angel’s lie to Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) regarding not feeding on humans after the initial soul curse (Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 1, Episode 7, “Angel”). Lastly, Angel’s flashbacks in this episode seem to suggest that he is partly comparing himself to Faith.

Wesley physically and verbally displays regret for not being helpful to Faith in the past (Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 3, Episode 15, “Consequences”). While she is torturing him, he summons the fortitude to not give her satisfaction from his pain. Thus, this is the first episode to feature him as something other than a gag character. Yes, he still has the opening gag with the demon blood at the start, but it does not occur through his own actions or hubris — a marked difference from previous episodes and an indication of the change ahead.

Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) has a sexist moment when generalizing men’s abilities to change. The subject of this conversation having Latin ancestry, plus her using a slur regarding the Romanians of Angel’s past, suggest she is at the least an unthinking bigot. Also, she still retains such concern over money and status that she fails to notice Faith while trying to convince Angel and Wesley to take a case. This moment, combined with her thinking Phantom Dennis is jealous of Wesley, makes her seem vacuous when it comes to what is going on. These negative traits seem to be infrequent enough that one can argue that they are episodic rather than consistent.

Faith torturing Wesley is arguably all the growth she gets in this episode. The reasoning: she is mostly repeating her actions and emotional breakdown from her last appearance in the Buffyverse (Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 4, Episode 16, “Who Are You?”).

Lilah Morgan (Stephanie Romanov) lists some of the things she likes in one scene as part of an effort to stall for the limousine. As a result, it is obvious she knows how to improvise when in danger. There is also the suggestion of a possible flirtation with Faith. Well, at least on Lilah’s end. However, this possible bisexuality does not see exploration in subsequent episodes. Finally, she seems to be good at cutting down others with words, like she does with Lee Mercer (Thomas Burr).

Lindsey McDonald (Christian Kane) seems pretty much the same smooth and mysterious lawyer as in his first appearance (Season 1, Episode 1, “City Of”). Thus, there is nothing to really say about him here.

Lee Mercer has a rather bland appearance and an uptight, all-business demeanor. He also verifies Lilah’s assertion that he is poor at socializing by angering Faith, who then gives him a beating.

Darla (Julie Benz) is pretty much just her usual murderous, seductress vampire self. The one noticeable difference is a retcon that she — not the curse — is the one to drive Angel away in the first place (Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 1, Episode 7, “Angel”).

Brett Folger (Tyler Christopher) is a random lawyer who works for Wolfram & Hart who encounters Angel while the latter is pretending to be a lawyer. Besides Brett’s inability to correctly recognize co-workers, he is apparently in a constant rush to meetings.

Dick (Francis Fallon) is seemingly a pimp. He comes across as a slimeball with a false desire to help runaways.

Assistant DA (Rodrick Fox) is a prosecutor working a case against a client of Wolfram & Hart. He comes off as both desperate and just.

Danny Marquez (Rainbow Borden) is a stereotypical TV gangbanger. While he helps with a case Angel is working on, he does so with the obvious reluctance befitting the stereotype.

The Kalderash Girl (Ginger Williams), The Romanian Man (Thor Edgell), and the Romanian Woman (Jennifer Slimko) exist to help flesh out Angel’s early history. They have no other purpose and their personalities are next to nothing.

The attractive girl (Adrienne Janic) along with the girl in car (Laura Silverman) and the bar patron (Tony Collucci) have no real impact on this episode’s plot. They also lack any substance to their respective personalities, which means that they may as well not exist.

This episode has a relatively decent range of characterization. Yet, a lot of it is rather weak. This is presumably due to it technically being the third part of a four part crossover (Season 1, Episode 19, “Sanctuary” plus Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 4, Episode 15, “This Year’s Girl” and Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 4, Episode 16, “Who Are You?”).