Writer:

David Greenwalt

Director:

Scott Brazil

Regulars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers

Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris

Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase

Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest Stars:

Mark Metcalf as The Master

David Boreanaz as Angel

Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

Julie Benz as Darla

Andrew J. Ferchland as The Anointed One

Cast:

Charles Wesley as Meanest Vamp

The belief that a vampire cannot enter one's home unless invited dates back to the eastern European vampire mythos of the middle ages. See "Welcome To The Hellmouth/The Harvest" for a discussion of the vampires themselves.

The Three (all three of them)

Staked by Darla in The Master's lair.

Darla

Shot with an Arrow by Angel in the Bronze.

Total: Four

Xander: "What are you vixens up to?"
Willow: "Just sitting here, watching our barren lives pass us by. Oh look, a cockroach."
STOMP!

Xander: "I mean, guys'll do anything to impress a girl. I once drank an entire gallon of Gatorade without taking a breath."
Willow: "It was pretty impressive. Although later there was an ick factor."

Buffy: "You want Xander, you've gotta speak up, girl!"
Willow: "No, no, no, no. No speaking up. That way leads to madness... and sweaty palms."

Darla: "Don't let her hunt you down. Don't whimper and mewl like a mangy human. Kill. Feed. Live!"

Angel: "You have no idea what it's like to have done the things that I've done... and to care."

More quotes from this episode...

Why even ask? What else are the vampires going to do about the Slayer, sing her a song?

• "I'm not gonna be fighting Friar Tuck."  Friar Tuck was the holy man who preferred the pleasures of the flesh to the pleasures of the spirit in the legend of Robin Hood. Incidentally, it was Little John with whom Robin Hood had his famous quarterstaff battle over the river, not Friar Tuck.

• "Come on, Angel. Just say yes."  Darla's exhortation is the opposite of the famous 1980's anti-drug message "Just Say No," coined by First Lady Nancy Reagan.

• The image of Darla firing both pistols repeatedly while sliding backwards on the pool table is lifted directly from the work of John Woo, a Hong Kong action director famous for violent, almost balletically choreographed action sequences.

• Before she knew he was a vampire, why did Buffy have Angel stay at her house for a whole day instead of having him just go home after sunrise? Did she think he'd be safer in her bedroom than in his own?

• In the hospital, Buffy says, "I invited him into my home, even after I knew who he was, what he was, and I didn't do anything about it."  This is incorrect. Buffy hadn't spoken to Angel since she found out what he was, and she invited him into her home before she knew.

• This episode was released on 20th Century Fox Home Video on September 15, 1998, as part of the first Buffy the Vampire Slayer Box Set.

• Angel lives somewhere near the Bronze.

• When Darla pulls open the blinds, both she and Angel are able to stand in the ambient light without apparent harm, so it would seem that in the universe of Buffy, only direct sunlight can harm a vampire.

• Giles says that there is mention of Angelus 200 years ago in Ireland, but doesn't specifically state that Angel was born there. Angel came to America about eighty years ago. (These numbers are called into question at the end of the second season in "Becoming,Part 1.")

• Joyce tells Darla that she's "been wrestling with the IRS all night," setting the events of this episode before April 15. The episode originally aired on April 14, 1997.

• The Master addresses the Anointed One as "Colin" in this episode.

• Buffy and her mother live at 1630 Revello Drive.

• Darla is the one who made Angel into a vampire.

• Sophie Zelmani - "I'll Remember You" (From Sophie Zelmani, Sony Records Sweden, 1995)
  Plays as Buffy and Angel talk and kiss in the Bronze at the end.

Brian:

One of the best. "Angel" epitomizes everything that makes Buffy the Vampire Slayer the high-quality show it is. SMG and David Boreanaz convey the unwanted but irresistible passion between the star-crossed lovers with utter conviction and believability. Xander's comedic jealousy is priceless, and Julie Benz portrays the twisted Darla with a clear delight and delicious abandon worthy of a Shakespearean villain. The only shame is that it's so heavy in continuity that one can't show this to one's friends first; it's a grabber, but certainly not an introduction. (10/10)

Will:

Angel and Buffy are at the center of this episode. We finally learn about who Angel is and why he helps Buffy. It seems that the two of them REALLY like each other. This episode was a bit heavier than all the earlier episodes (this was unexpected), but it still maintained all the qualities that make Buffy the Vampire Slayer a great show. This is one of the best. (9/10)