Did you get to the part where you're evil?

Angel S1E20 - E22

“War Zone”

Gunn! We’re introduced to his scrappy band of vampire fighters, trying to survive in a tough neighborhood.

“Blind Date”

Ostensibly, this is about an assassin hired by Wolfram and Hart - a blind woman, trained by monks to see beyond the visible spectrum. This makes her very dangerous and also really easy to get acquitted of murder charges. But it’s a Lindsey episode, and I really, really like Lindsey. I mean, I don’t like Lindsey, but he’s a morally ambiguous asshole and a great foil for Angel. Especially when he wants help.

Faith, the vampire slayer

Buffy S4E15 - E16 and Angel S1E18 - E19

This is a really powerful set of episodes, and I think a satisfying closure to Faith’s arc from last season.

“This Year’s Girl”

To be honest, the lack of fallout Buffy took for attempted murder of a human was pretty disturbing. And I’m not really sure that’s really resolved. This episode opens with a dream sequence that gives Buffy the opportunity to face her actions, though, at least a little bit.

So Faith wakes up from her coma and lashes out at Buffy, her friends and her mother. But the Mayor has left Faith a gift to let her finally take down Buffy for good.

Yummy Sushi Pajamas

Buffy S4E10 - E14

“Hush”

This is a fantastic episode, and I’m sure much has been written on the internet about it. The writing, the directing, the music, it’s all great. I need to remember to not watch it late at night while home alone, though.

Fairy tale monsters come to Sunnydale and steal everyone’s voices, and wordless communication becomes the order of the day. Buffy and Riley find out each other’s secret identities, and Willow meets Tara and does some magic.

Poor Willow

Buffy S4E6 - E9

“Wild at Heart”

And we’re back to the show we know and love, the one that rips out our hearts and then stomps on them and worst of all makes Willow cry. Oz becomes attracted to a sexy singer werewolf girl, Veruca, whose movements are probably supposed to convey some animalistic sensuality but instead make her look like confused poultry.

Please compare Veruca the werewolf to Poppy the chicken.

Willow is not stupid, and knows something is up. She tries to get advice, and Xander suggests she actually talk to Oz about it.

You're not going to untie me, are you?

Angel S1E13 - E17

“She”

Okay, I guess technically Wesley isn’t an Angel Investigations employee until this episode. He is nailing the comedy, though.

Maybe I’m just a sucker for Joss Whedon’s dialogue, but I think Alexis Denisof is actually just that good. Plus, that party scene! I wish I made gifs, because Wesley dancing is completely hilarious. As is Angel imaging himself dancing, which I think is the first time we get to see this Angel, the one who likes Barry Manilow.

Low Rats

Angel S1E9 - E12

“Hero”

Do Nazis ever make stories better? They do not make this story better. In “Hero” we get more of Doyle’s backstory, and find out that like Angel, he’s also seeking redemption. And what he’s seeking redemption for is ignoring a fellow demon who needed shelter from demon Nazis. The demon Nazis are, unsurprisingly, seeking to rid the earth of demons that have mixed with humans - such as vampires and people like Doyle - and are so very Nazi that one might wonder why they don’t mind their ideology being stolen entirely from those humans they despise. Seriously. We get the race parallels, Joss. No need to jackboot it into our heads.

But Doyle gets to save the day. He even does the dramatic thing and punches out Angel to get there first, kisses Cordelia, and leaps to his death to save a whole group of oppressed demons. And he gets a proper goodbye, with Cordelia's badly scripted commercial.

I don't know why his death in particular always hits me this hard. He was only there for 9 episodes, but it kills me every time I watch it.

She left him for a fungus demon

Buffy S4E2-4

“Living Conditions”

Didn’t it seem like your freshman roommate was actually a soul-sucking demon from an alternate dimension? Wouldn’t you have liked them to get pulled through a transdimensional portal back to the demon world from which they came? Buffy gets all the luck.

“The Harsh Light of Day”

It continues to suck to be Buffy, as she attempts again to date someone normal. Turns out that after sex not only can vampires turn into soulless demons that try to kill all your friends, humans can also show their true colors as douchebags. For a show that gets such feminist kudos, it sure would be nice if Buffy stopped getting punished for sex. Anyway, at the same time, Spike is back in Sunnydale again, and it’s totally not because he’s obsessed with Buffy, definitely not, there’s just some ring that makes a vampire invulnerable conveniently buried there that he’s looking for. He’s also finding some of his own consequences to sex, in that the newly vampired Harmony has started calling him “Blondie Bear”.